February 9, 1946 Mailing Scrambled Eggs, Out of Coal, Weaving and Blackberry Dumplings

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"Your letter this week was real exciting.  There were so many kinds of paper.  Ha!  But I don't care what they're written on as long as we get at least one a week.

The weather hasn't been so terribly cold here and it looks like it was going to start raining.  We have been living in the kitchen for the past week for we're out of coal and can't get any.  They say there is plenty of coal here but our dealer hasn't any.  The oil range in the kitchen keeps it and the bath real warm so we could live like this the rest of the winter if we have to.

B has had a pretty bad cold but I've escaped so far.  There is an awful lot of flu around here.  So many of the college teachers have had it.

The eggs arrived but not in very good shape.  The egg case looked like we did when we came home the first summer.  It was filthy and there were 25 cracked eggs.  They were not spoiled though so we've been getting our fill of scrambled eggs.

I finally found some flannelette for Beulah.  It was awfully nice but only 27 inches wide.  I mailed it today so she should have it the first of next week. 

We don't get to do much weaving for there are other things like knitting, etc. that we have to learn and there isn't much time.  I'm making a bath set out of chenille and have woven enough rayon cloth of real fine thread to make a cosmetics bag.

Your letter came just in time.  I had the Journal all ready to send and B was ready to leave when your letter came.

I tried the blackberry dumplings and they were awfully good.

I hear B coming.  He has been to the grocery store.  It is lunch time so I had better fix us something to eat.

                          Lots of love,

                                   B & Bonnie

We mailed the egg case back today."

NOTE from Ann:  While coal was available in early '46, by the spring a major coal strike crippled industry.

Blackberry Dumplings

Mix together 1-1/2 c. unsifted flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 c. sugar and 1/2 tsp. salt.  Cut in 1/4 c. oleo and stir in 2/3 c. milk.  In a saucepan mix together 4 c. blackberries, 1 c. sugar and 1-1/2 c. water.  Cook and stir until berries soften. Bring to a boil, adding more water if needed.   Drop in 
dumplings by the T.  Cover and simmer about 12 min.  Serve warm with cream.

Maple Dumplings

Using the same dumpling recipe, bring 3/4 c. water and 1-1/2 c. maple syrup to a boil in a 12" skillet.  Drop dumplings, cover and simmer about 12 min. until done.  Also serve with cream.