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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2006-10-04, Page 9The Huron Expositor • October 4, 2006 Page 9 Seaforth Manor opens doors to bygone days AnnaDoImge shares display of antique farming and kitchen utensils Susan Hundertmark While it was never her favourite job on the farm, Anna Dolmage shared the various utensils used in making butter on her. Winthrop -area farm at the . Seaforth Manor's Open Doors event on Sunday. "It was just a job that had to be done. We made butter anywhere from once a week to twice a month, depending on how much was used and we cooked with butter liber- ally in those days," she said. Showing her collection of milk strainer, butter ladle, cream skimmer and butter press, Dolmage explained the process to interested peo- ple at the open house. "We had a beef . farm but we milked 10 cows, sold the cream and kept milk for our own house. It was unpas- teurized but nobody died," she said. Preparing to make butter, she said the milk was strained through a filter that fit into a bowl -shaped strainer. Cream was poured into a five -gal- lon churner which sent a plunger up and down into the cream until the butter formed. "It depended on the weather but it usually took about half an hour until the butter came," remembered Dolmage. Then, the but- ter - was taked out of the churn, washed and kneaded like bis- cuit dough until all the water was worked out of it. "Then, we'd add a little salt, press it into pounds and sell it at the grocery store," she said. When electrici- Yi Anna Susan Hundertmark photo Dolmage ty finally came to the rural homes in the area in the late 1940s, Dolmage remembered the necessity to make butter ended for many peo- ple when they bought refrigerators. "Refrigerators were the first things all the neighbours got. If you wanted cool food before that, you had to take it down to the cellar and sit in on the floor," she said. "But, I was married for 10 years before we got electricity," Dolmage, who's kept many of her kitchen utensils and household tools over the years, has won prizes at local fairs for her exhibits. "M -y house is full of stuff - tart tins, nut- meg graters, old wire toast- ers we used to hold over the coal fire. The only things I ever threw out were badly ripped, broken or worn out. I think I'm a hoarder," she admitted. Dolmage, who recently moved into the Seaforth Manor, said she's already figuring out which .of her antiques to display at next year's open house. "I used them all and I have just as many at home," she said. Manor staff also dressed in antique clothing provided by Marion Kernighan for the Open Doors event. Seaforth Manor Retirement Residence 100 James St. Seaforth Mark Your Calendar! DINER'S CLUB DINNER & DANCE Tuesday, October 17th 5:00 p.m. $8.50 per person Featuring Entertainment by Brian Melady COMMUNITY EUCHRE PARTY Tuesday, October 24th 2:00 p.m. $1.0(} per person Bring A Friend ti{lacc plea'- ca�� {�I111in' For rc,,cr\totL ,It tli� Retirement 1 h)Inc- �7-OO_;O c\t.