Monday, May 15, 2006

Laundry day


I love those teatowel sets which are embroidered with the days of the week and the specified job the happy housemaker is meant to be doing:
  • Monday: washing
  • Tuesday: ironing
  • Wednesday: sewing
  • Thursday: cleaning
  • Friday: shopping
  • Saturday: baking

Makes you tired just looking at the list, doesn't it?

In a spasm of happy home-making I decided to call Monday my laundry day this year: instead of doing one load of wash a day, I do many on one day. And as embarrassed as I am about such organization (which also includes a recent alphabetization of my spices!), I do find it efficient and somehow enjoyable to devote a day to be at home, finding many other things to do between the loads. It also lends a holiday air to the other days of the week (woo-hoo, no laundry!).

In the spirit of Monday wash-day -- when housewives used to put a pot of beans on the fire while they hand-scrubbed at the stream -- I made slow-cooked chickpeas in BBQ sauce today. I soaked the chickpeas overnight, then cooked for 4 hours in the slow cooker on high (they could have done with less initial cooking but I broke the rules and left the house for a couple of hours). Then I drained the chickpeas, and added pureed tomatoes, a dab of mustard, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, brown vinegar, and sauteed onions, red capsicums and lotsa garlic. A couple more hours in the slow-cooker, and the result was a rich BBQ flavor. Served with rice, plain yogurt, and steamed carrots and broccoli.

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