Put Down That Broom!

Today is National No Housework Day. Yep, that one day a year when we can say no to mopping, dusting or anything else housework related. I couldn’t find anything about not cooking today, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

In researching National No Housework Day, I found some very interesting articles about housework. First off, in most social structures, housework and child rearing are still very much considered women’s work. That explains why, when the country shut down, and schools remained closed, it was women who put their careers on hold to care for the children.

A study conducted over the span of nearly 40 years showed that while men and woman might both work outside the home, when it comes to housework single women do less housework than married women, while single men do more than their married counterpoints. On average, a husband creates an extra seven hours of housework a week for his wife, while a wife saves her husband an hour of chores. So that means while he only does an hour less than he did when he was single, he creates an additional six hours of work for his wife. I can only assume that’s more dishes to wash and laundry to do. The study also found that married women in their 60s and 70s did 24 hours of basic housework a week, while women with more than three children in the home spend 28 hours cleaning, cooking and washing. But things have improved. In the mid-seventies, it was closer to 26 hours for the older gals, while the men did about 6 hours a week.

That said, there’s another study that says women aren’t doing enough. According to one study, the reason for the rise in women’s weight is that we are doing less housework than women did in the past, before washing machines, dishwashers or no-iron fabrics. Can you imagine suggesting to women that we are overweight because we don’t do enough housework? But then, look at the image of a housewife of yesteryear – just silly!

To observe National No Housework Day, put off that spring cleaning until tomorrow. Let the vacuum remain banished to the closet. Let the mopping wait a day. Rinse the dishes, but leave them in the sink. Hit the pause button on unnecessary household chores. While we can’t overlook necessary sanitary needs, we can forget about organizing the cupboards for a day.

Call the ladies over and enjoy another National Day today. It’s also National Coffee Cake Day. So let’s bake a yummy cake, and have a good old fashion 60s style Coffee Cake Party.

Have a great day!

---

Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake
Streusel
1/3 cup Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2/3 cup Flour
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.

Let butter soften in a small bowl almost to the boil of slightly melted. Add brown sugar, flour and cinnamon to the softened butter with a fork. Work together to create a crumbled streusel topping. Set aside.

Blueberry Coffee Cake
4 Eggs
8 oz. Cream Cheese
1/4 cup Water
1/2 cup Oil
1 box White or French Vanilla Cake Mix
3 cups Blueberries

Let eggs and cream cheese come to room temperature.

In the larger mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk. whip eggs with water and oil until pale and frothy.

Switch attachment to a paddle. Add cream cheese and cake mix. Beat until just blended without over-working the batter.

Spoon half of the batter into the prepared baking pan, spread out evenly. Top batter with blueberries, spread out evenly. Spoon remaining batter over the berries. Sprinkle streusel topping over the cake.

Place cake on the center rack in the heated oven. Bake for 45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.

Place cake on a cooling rack. Put on a pot of coffee, serve cake warm with butter and enjoy!

• 

•