When I was a very young child in Cuba, we had domestic "help" who cooked, cleaned and generally took care of the business of running the household. That "household" consisted of our two parents, five daughters and a son and various staff. We lived in a large (semi-mansion-size) home with eight bedrooms, two kitchens and a courtyard.
All of that abruptly changed when our family had to leave Cuba in early 1961. Take a group of five girls, raised in privilege and suddenly plunge them into another world where they had to struggle and pitch in to help keep up with the daily chores.
It was a bit traumatizing. My parents, to their credit, never spoke much about our former life. That was in the past. "This is our new reality."
And so we managed as best we could to learn the skills we formerly took for granted. We worked hard to learn the new life skills that were required of us – the cooking and cleaning and general running of a household.
Not only were we expected to clean our new home, but it had to be "Cuban clean." That means perfectly spotless and spelling of PineSol. (I am still missing this particular skill. I think it skips a generation, but that's not important right now.)
There are things that, to this day, still elude me. I confess I'm never really sure how to get certain stains out of my laundry. And a chore list? I must have one somewhere around here….
I do make a regular menu list, but I'm always kind of flying by the seat of my pants. What I need is Home-Ec 101. If only someone, somewhere would write a book!
Meet my friend, Heather Solos. She not only wrote the book, she is the brains behind the very popular and informative website, Home-Ec 101. (Go there. Bookmark it. Thank me later.)
I had the privilege of meeting Heather in Texas last year when we were both part of the Cooking With the Troops team in San Antonio. We all immediately fell in love with her and embraced her as an honorary Cuban. She quickly became an integral part of Team Cubanaso. 😉
This woman seriously knows how to do everything. (I'm not kidding about this.) She is amazing. Last year when we were struggling with an ant problem, the first person I contacted was Heather. She knew exactly what to do. And it worked! Read all about that right here.
I was so excited to receive my very own (autographed!) copy. I quickly turned to Chapter Eleven – Laundry: The World's Most Thankless Chore and read it as if my life depended on it. (So that's how you pre-treat stains!)
I promise you will enjoy this book immensely. It should be a staple in everyone's home. Speaking of staples, she covers just exactly what you should have in your kitchen in Chapter 18. (Get this book!)
Or maybe you could win it…
Heather has graciously offered to host this week's giveaway: An autographed(!) copy of her fabulous book (which everyone totally should have!) Home-Ec 101, Skills for Everyday Living.
1) To enter this drawing, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or both of the following questions:
- What household skill are you particularly good at?
- Where do you still struggle?
To enter this drawing for Heather's must-have book, please leave your comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Friday, March 30th, 2011 at 8pm PST.
Would it be an over-share to tell you that I may or may not have found some pertinent information I needed under the heading: Dealing with Tub Funk? 😉
Good at cooking/ baking….not so good at cleaning and organization…sigh..
I’m REALLY good at decluttering…ruthless even…ask my parents:) Still struggling in the meal-planning department.
I’m good at dishwashing but I dont really know how to cook, though my mom says I make amazing sandwiches in our panini press.
I’m Mrs fixit. To an extent… Hang up curtains, blinds. Install vynil tile, etc . Not a consistently good cook. But thanks to Kikita for her Cuban coffee video! Very instructional!
I’m a rockstar when it comes to cleaning, however, I’m terrible in the kitchen. I can’t cook to save my life!!! No matter how many times i read and follow instructions, my ricr still turns out hard as a rock! Lol
I am a really good cook/baker. I love it and I’d rather do that than anything else as far as household chores are concerned.I really struggle with organization (not cleaning) on a daily basis. I’m an all or nothing person, so my house is either really messy or super organized.:(
Good at cooking, loves everything kitchen. (i secretly spend my whole day in it) I would love to know more fixit things so i dont have to leave it all to my husband!
My numero 1 household skill- como no derrumbar un torre de platos sucios. And what do I struggle with? hmmmm… ever had so many ideas come to you at once that you’re blank?? Si, that’s what that question does to me.BB2U
I love to cook (and eat, unfortunately) but have trouble with paperwork. I don’t know how it piles up so quickly. Also please don’t look in my closets if you know what’s good for you!
I love to organize.(I wish I could get paid to do it). I wish I could have a green thumb so I could have a yard with green,green grass and pretty flowers everywhere.
My all time favorite chore is the laundry. There, I said it and I’m out of the closet. Literally. My home has a very small room dedicated to the laundry. Many years ago I christened it, ‘Mommy’s Room’. I painted the walls with faux red draperies and a window overlooking a beach scene. It has a plastic sink which holds hurricane emergency supplies, like batteries, a radio that runs on ‘crank’ power, and several cans of Spam. There are shelves and the washer and dryer. The most essential equipment is my wall radio/cd player. When the kids were younger, I would bypass my guilt and close myself up in this little ‘closet’. Between the music and the smell of Bounce, I was in heaven. It would take me forever to fold, but it might have had more to do with my dancing to Gloria Estefan, than the actual folding. I would sometimes overhear the kids passing by the hallway asking, “Daddy, where is Mommy?” hehehe Now, that they are grown up, I still fold a little, dance a little. When it’s all done, I get a big satisfaction from seeing everything smelling great and neatly stored in drawers and closets.
Great at keeping the fridge clean and baking! I wish I could successfully grow a herb garden.
Wow, this is a really interesting post because you are asking us to (literally) air our dirty laundry. What am I best at? Ignoring that my house needs to be cleaned… It is the bane of my existence. I’m ok with the day to day things – laundry, cooking, cat box, dishes (although I hate them). Where I struggle is the big stuff – floors, counters; jobs that require me to move a bunch of stuff, clean and then move it all back. UGH!I also find it interesting that we all are so balanced. Good at cooking = bad at organizing etc… If Jenny Rodriguez and I lived together we’d eat well and have a clean house, but alone… not so much lol!
It’s really encouraging to read so many posts from people proclaiming what I only whisper in my head, “I can’t do it all!” My Home-Ec teacher would say she told me to pay more attention to my class work and less to assuming I’d marry rich. To her credit, I did learn to sew and sew well. I can tailor clothes, mend rips, make curtains and whip up the best Halloween costumes for my kids. The thought of darning socks even briefly crossed my mind – before sanity took over! If I could only sew up a meal menu, food shop with a sewing machine and use a dress pattern to put dinner together and on the table, I’d be all set.
The very first comment here sounds just like me! I need help organizing on a regular basis and my house is either messy or clean- no in between for me. I dream of being able to do it all even though I feel like it is a big, fat dream! I would love to read this book and get some expert tips. Thanks for the recommendation!
I’m right there with a lot of the rest of you. The little day-to-day things are no problem, it’s the big organizing and decluttering that I’m terrible at. I must say, though, that do load a dishwasher quite well! 😉 I would rather spend time on Pinterest than scrub the kitchen floor.
I’m an excellent cook and gardener, but kind of on the fence about cleaning and organizing. The bane of my existence are the “rooms” that I forget exist, which are my garage and my lanai (screened in back porch). It NEVER occurs to me to clean these at all. Both are tiled, which brings me to an unrelated topic, which is, “why do Cubans feel we have to tile garages?”. LOL
I’d love to have this book! As a matter of fact, I’m going to Amazon now to buy it and if I win, I know just the friend who would love my copy!I’m particularly good in the kitchen-cooking, cleaning dishes, etc. I struggle with keeping closets organized and other sundry organizational items.
Thanks to you both for the great giveaway!
Hi Martica,The household shore that I’m still not good at is claning bathrooms! and who is? I think it’s just the thought of it being a bathroom, turns me off. We have two bathrooms and I have four men in the house! so you can imagine! Our bathrooms are NEVER clean, no matter how much I try to train my boys, they just can’t help themselves! Besides that, life is good!
Laura M.
I’m really good at cooking and decorating, because I just LOVE it.But I struggle with papers, filing and my closets. I just procrastinate about this, and I know I need to do it. Sooo I really could use this book.
Esther
So. Calif.
With a mom who IS a domestic goddess, it’s hard to follow in those footsteps but, she did manage to pass along her amazing laundry skills. My clothes last forever and always keep their shape and color! As far as help, I could still use a little more of mom’s genius– perfecting effortless, cookbook-free cooking!
My best area of cleaning skill is the kitchen. Not only am i good at it – I enjoy it. After coming to the US in 1961 and having to live in some pretty nasty places – i learned very quickly to never go to bed without cleaning the kitchen first. My American Cuban children(ABC’s – as Gustavo Perez Firmat says)think I am nuts but they can count on one hand how many times I have NOT done this (only when extremeely ill or in hospital)I actually do all my dishes by hand. But, cleaning the floors and/or vacuuming – OMGoodness, I bandage, but put off the real deep cleaning until forever – or wait till my daughters do it for me! HELP! Socorro!
I am good at cleaning the kitchen…I have a hard time trying to clean my entire house in one day. I seem to go off track all the time, I go to put something away and I stay in that room and never go back to the other room to finish. I definitely need help!!!