Cool Colorado Springs

At the end of July, Ken and Lisa took us on a tour of the McAlister House in Colorado Springs.  This historical house was the very first home built in Colorado Springs, at a time when landscape was devoid of trees and the wind was fierce.  Now this street is lined with trees and surrounded by lush plants thanks to the owner and builder of this house.

 Major McAllister traveled to this area at the request of his friend, General Palmer, to create and develop the city.  Both of them fought together in the Civil War and Henry McAlister obtained the rank of Major.

This special house was almost destined to be demolished and become a parking lot (the horror of it😟) but was saved, refurbished and became a museum in 1961.  Thank goodness for people who wanted to preserve it.

Although the furniture in the house came from other places, it was still indicative of the time period when the McAlister family occupied it.

The walls of the house are at least 18 inches thick, enabling the house to stay cool during the summer and warm during the winter.

The beautiful fireplace in the living room was made from Italian marble.

The stove in the upstairs bedroom kept the occupants warm, but it sure wasn't as pretty as the living room fireplace.

Below are a few pictures of the kitchen, which was probably state of the art when it was built.

Notice the irons sitting on the stove, waiting to be used.  I grew up having to iron all of my clothes and even having to iron sheets and pillowcases!  I guess I can be thankful that now almost nothing has to be pressed.  Makes me wonder if any of my grandchildren even know what an iron is for. 😕

As I sauntered through the kitchen area, I noticed a recipe on the dresser. This must have been good since it was in the Quaker Women's Cookbook.  All church cookbooks that I own contain favorite recipes from all the contributors.  I offered to make it for my daughter Heidi and her husband Glen when we got together, but the offer was politely declined.  Guess I won't be trying this out on them.  I surely couldn't even taste it since both the milk and the butter would work disaster on my lactose intolerant digestive system.  

After you read this post, maybe you will be gutsy enough to try the Milk Toast recipe.  Let me know. 😉