Wecipe Wednesday: Roasted Sweet Potato Sandwich

I experienced this amazing sandwich at a teacher appreciation luncheon that the PTO arranged for us. The lunch was catered by the Wildflower Bread Company in Phoenix. I was craving this sandwich, but I live 1,900 miles out of their delivery area. So I Googled...and I adapted...because I couldn't find figs to make a fig confit. So this is my mostly plagiarized version.

Sweet potato
Tomatoes
Onions
Fresh mozzarella
Chopped dates
Balsamic Vinegar
Spring greens, arugula, spinach, romaine, whatever (no Iceberg allowed!!!)
Hearty whole grain bread
Mayonnaise

Bake the sweet potato and slice it into thick slices. Slice the onion, tomato, and mozzarella. If you're using dried dates, soak them in hot water for 15 minutes or so. Drain. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Toast the bread. Spread the mayonnaise on one slice the date mixture on the other slice. Layer sweet potato, onion, tomato, mozzarella and greens.

I guarantee you won't miss the cold cuts. Even my carnivorous teenagers liked these!

Yes, fig confit is even better than the dates, but you work with what you have.

Do you have a favorite food that came as a total surprise? You didn't expect to love it but you do?
Comment below!

Newbie Tuesday: You say To-may-to; I say To-mah-to

I have had difficulty balancing work, keeping house, making a living, raising children, writing a newsletter, writing a blog, researching my family tree and on and on and on. So my blog posts have been few and far between.

I have had a recent breakthrough in my research that has restored my motivation. Again it was a matter of going back to the basics. Reading the instructions. Starting with what you know and building on it.

Rather than continuing to bash my head against the Iron Curtain Brick Wall searching for my Romanian grandfather, I decided to turn my attention elsewhere and come back to Romania later.

Where to go now? I decided to start at the top with my Mitchell line. The Mitchell line marches back fairly simply: Donald Norman, son of Norman Wilfred, son of William Richard, son of George William, son of William. (I must say the English show little imagination in choosing names for their children.)

It's with George William that I get stuck. He has been conspicuously absent from census records. In fact, it wasn't until I started searching for William Richard as a child that I found anything.

By searching for the children I was able to find the parents, the grandparents and some younger siblings that nobody knew about before. I found George's marriage record and learned that he was a mariner. This explains his absences and it also explains Patrick's passion for sailing. Check out his blog here.

I was also able to correct the mistaken identity of my great-great-grandmother. Dad had her name listed as Ellen Daily. Turns out her name was Eliza Darby--transcribed in FreeBMD as Eliza Darley. This is why seasoned genealogists advise newbies to keep an open mind about spellings.

By being open to alternate spellings, I found that the surname Schaeferling, which means Shepherd evolved from Schifferle, which means something to do with sailing ships. Another clue into Patrick's nautical blood.

Wecipe Wednesday: Arizona Date Pies

This is the time of year that dates are plentiful in Arizona. My dear friend Jeannie just came to Wisconsin for a visit. So these super-easy, super-yummy cakes came to mind. Tip: if you're using dried chopped dates from the raisin aisle, you might try soaking them in hot water for a half-hour or so to plump them up and make them moist.

1 cup Powdered Sugar
1 cup chopped Walnuts
1 cup pitted dates (I like Medjool--whatever you've got is fine)
2 eggs

2 Tbsp. Flour
1 tsp. baking powder

The official recipe calls for beating the egg whites until stiff and creaming the egg yolks and the powdered sugar together. You can fuss if you want. I just throw it all into the food processor until it's all well blended--it comes out the same either way. Bake in a lightly greased cupcake pan at 375 for 15-20 minutes. They should look caved in--it's ok, that's what holds the whipped cream. Cool and serve with whipped cream (real whipped cream please, not the aerosol spray stuff or the non-dairy whipped topping--trust me on this).

These are great for brunch, afternoon tea, or dessert...or whenever you've got the blues.

Happy Belated Pioneer Day!

This past Sunday was our one and only real Mormon holiday. We celebrate all the standard holidays Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving--any excuse to reflect, get the family together, and serve food. Pioneer Day is our own. July 24th, 1848 is the day that  the Mormon Pioneers first entered the Salt Lake Valley. It's the day that we honor our spiritual, if not biological, forebears who made great sacrifices and demonstrated remarkable courage in the face of overwhelming odds.

There are many, many stories of courageous men, women and children who trekked west to escape persecution and enjoy religious freedom. None of these stories are mine. The closest we have is the ancestor of my ex-husband's step-uncle who started west, said Screw this! and stayed in Iowa. Not terribly inspirational--but that's a story for another post.

My mother was the first Mormon in our family's history. She is our Mormon Pioneer. Her decision to listen to missionaries in Oakland, California has impacted three generations, so far. As a direct result, my son served as a missionary in England and Wales. The ripples continue.

The fact that my mother was even born in the United States and could enjoy religious freedom is a direct result of my grandfather George Carpen emigrating from Romania in 1914--before the Communist regime.

Combine that with the courage of my great-grandmother, Hannah Mary Reynolds Goddard Moore. She was a midwife, mother of 9, and had lost her husband to pneumonia and her eldest son to the war. She took in the church laundry, sold everything to the bare walls and got on the first passenger liner to leave England after World War I.

Because of my family's pioneers, the great cosmic choreography made it possible for me to celebrate Pioneer Day with my little band of Mormon Pioneers.

Newbie Tuesday: I Know You Are But What Am I?

OK, true confessions time. I have to admit it and come to terms with the fact that I am a genealogical newbie.
I have been an amateur genealogist since 4th grade. I thought this blog would allow me to help others who were just starting out to avoid the research pitfalls and enjoy generation after generation of blissfully waving little leaves on their family trees.

NOT!  What the bleep do I know?

Here's what I learned this past week. I was reading Megan Smolenyak's Who Do You Think You Are. I felt my batteries recharging (Seriously, Megan, call me. Let's get together for a piece of pie). I realized that when ALL of the experts tell you to look through your home for clues you've already got, there is a reason.

I pooh-poohed that nugget of advice because we've moved so many times, all of my genealogy documents are together in the same accordion files in the same milk crate they've been in for the past three moves. This past week, I started looking at my documents with fresh eyes. I found loads of information that I didn't glean and connections I didn't make.

I can GoogleEarth addresses on censuses. What about poverty maps, like Patsy Kensit used in her episode of WDYTYA? What about starting with what you know and working backwards?

For example, when my great grandparents emigrated from England in 1893 (see previous post) they had already decided to settle in Detroit. My grandfather was a boiler makerDid he already have job prospects lined up? Was he merely banking on the boom of the industrial revolution? Were they escaping Jack the Ripper? Was he Jack the Ripper?

The point is that I have a lot more clues at my fingertips than I thought I did--just because I'm taking another, closer look at what I already have. Maybe you have more than you think you do. You just need to take a closer look.

Who Do I Think I Am Thursday: How I Made My Father Light Up Like a Christmas Tree

My father had a great passion for life-long learning. There is a scripture, Doctrine and Covenants 130:19 which reads,

And if a person gains more ^aknowledge and intelligence in this life through his ^bdiligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the ^cadvantage in the world to come. (http://lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/130.19?lang=eng)

It could almost read, "...if a person gains more knowledge...like Don Mitchell"

There are two times in my adult life that I remember making my father beam. Once, after reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, he asked me how the Fibonacci Sequence applied to music and I knew the answer. (That's a story for another post).

The other time was shortly after I had bought my first laptop. He had brought a diskette (remember those?) to my house and let me transfer GEDCOM files into PAF. He asked me if I could find immigration records for his grandparents who had come through Ellis Island.

The family in question were my great-grandparents, William Richard Mitchell and Alice Mary Ann Hudson. According to the family legend, William and Alice had 2 sons born in England, 1 born on the passage over, and 2 born in Detroit. The shipboard delivery of my great uncle George would certainly help narrow down their dates of passage.

I rolled up my sleeves and clicked away at www.ellisisland.org. I started with a search for "William Richard Mitchell" and guess what I got? Bupkiss. So I broadened my search and looked for just "Mitchell" Now I got 12,195 hits. Too many to wade through.

Mitchell, W=1003 hits....Hmm...many, many men traveling, not many women.
Mitchell, Alice=68...that's doable. Eliminate the ones that are too old or too young. Limit it to women were born in 1868 and who traveled around 1892, when Uncle George was born. There was only one.

We had found her. Alice Mitchell, age 25, traveling in 1893 aboard the ship Campania. I looked at Dad; he looked at me. He grinned.

Now who was traveling with her? The website did not yet have images of the manifest. So I was going to have to search for the family members one by one.

New Search...Oh look...an advanced search page. Where was that before?

So we searched for people with the last name Mitchell traveling in 1893 on Campania.

Wm. Mitchell age 25
Willie Mitchell age 4
Arthur Mitchell age 3 and
George Mitchell age 0. (Family Myth busted. Uncle George was born 5 December 1892. The ship arrived in New York on 24 June 1893. He was tiny, to be sure, but definitely 6 months post-natal.)

We had found them all. Robert Langdon had nothing on us. Dad's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. That is the look I would give anything to see again.

PS--Months later when an image of the original manifest was available online. I was amazed that anyone was able to accurately transcribe that penmanship. But guess who was traveling with the Mitchells--Mary Hudson-age 70. Alice's mother or grandmother? That's a story for another post.

Tender Mercies: God Likes Me!

First of all, let me just tell you how grateful I am to have my computer back. I must say the Geniuses at the Apple Store at Bay Shore Mall are my new best friends. They gave me great customer service and got my computer back to me in two days rather than the 5 to 7 they had prepared me for. At work, we are reminded to under promise and over deliver. This clearly works, because I can't stop giving the Apple Store free advertising.

Secondly, I have just been raking in the good luck. I found Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's Who Do You Think You Are? The Essential Guide to Tracing Your Family History. I definitely want to have Megan over for dinner. She speaks my language. I feel like I should at least send her a muffin basket. More on this book in another post.

Third, I was sitting at the piano in Primary (Children's Sunday School for those of you who don't speak Mormon). Half of my brain was focusing on the paralytic perfectionism that has been keeping me from writing anything of substance and it's kept my researching wheels spinning. The next song I played for the kiddos to sing was Families Can Be Together Forever, the last line of which is "the Lord has shown me how I can." I felt as though this song was directed at me.

The Lord knows what I'm trying to do. He knows how to teach me to do the things I'm trying to accomplish. He's putting resources in my path to help me be successful. I just have to look around and recognize them. 

So as the Primary children were singing this song, I felt God tell me, "You're okay Kiddo, just keep plugging along." I've always known that God loves me. Today it feels as though He likes me, too. 

Serendipity Saturday: Family Tree Magazine--Just for me???

The spacebar on my darling MacBook broke...off. So, Saturday, after work, while my kids were having a Father's Day/Birthday picnic with their dad and new step-mom (that's a post for another day) I drove down to Milwaukee to Bay Shore Mall to visit the Genius Bar at the Apple Store. I got really, really good service. Which is why, even though genealogy is a little less convenient on Mac, I still love Apple. 

Anyway, Barnes and Noble (my other place of worship) is conveniently kiddy-corner to the Apple Store so I had to go in. I picked up the July 2011 issue of Family Tree Magazine. In the sealed plastic wrapper there was a copy of Family Tree Builder 5.0 (this is of no use to me, I have Mac, see above--if you want it, it's yours). On the cover, the featured articles got me excited. Not only did they have articles about the state census and top 40 genealogy blogs (so I can check out how to do this right), there is an article on 

research tips for Detroit!

This article alone is worth the price of the magazine, the drive down to Milwaukee, the broken spacebar...and the order of Mushroom Stroganoff with Braised Beef at Noodles & Co. 

My family came from the various old countries (England, Germany, Switzerland and Romania) and settled in Detroit between 1832 and 1923. My nuclear family moved to Wisconsin in 1971, but aunts, uncles and cousins remain in Detroit. 

I was thinking that I was just going to have to take a trip to Detroit to visit family and to raid the courthouse. Good thing I picked up this issue of Family Tree Magazine. Now I have a wealth of resources to try online before making a trip. This also gives me a new angle to use when reconnecting with my cousins: "I saw this article about genealogy in Detroit and so naturally that made me think of you and how long it's been since we talked." I'd totally go for that if the shoe were on the other foot.

So, all because Family Tree Magazine was publishing an article on Detroit research tips, God arranged for my spacebar to break, so I'd be near the bookstore and of course go in and buy the magazine, thereby opening the path for finding more dead people to write to you about. That's Serendipity.

Wecipe Wednesday: Max Makes Cookies pt I & II

Yesterday was my birthday. As a little gift to myself I'm posting two of my top ten favorite videos of all time (Part 1 and Part 2)--and one of my top ten favorite recipes of all time (Chocolate Chip Cookies). Thank you to my talented 18yo. Take 17 minutes out of your day and enjoy the film-making elan of Max Carroll. You can watch more of his videos on YouTube. Look for TheOtakuMax.

Tender Mercies: Happy Father's Day

Today's post is a talk I gave a year ago when I was visiting the branch I grew up in. I've been thinking about it lately so I decided to pull it out, dust it off and post it.

Most, if not all, of you knew my father. You know how blessed I am. I feel like Nephi did at the beginning of the Book of Mormon. "I, [Margaret] having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father.”

When my dad was in the hospital, and then when he passed on, I thought quite a bit about being taught in the learning of my father. He was an accountant, very skilled in math. I am a music teacher, I can count to 4 over and over again. I thought about the lessons my father had taught me. My brother and I were talking about this. We realized that our dad was not the type to sit us down and have heart-to-heart talks with us. Of course, we talked about all manner of things, but he never said to me, “Peg, a good work ethic is an important character trait.” He simply got up every morning, put on his tie and went to work. He never said, “always be honest” he simply was honest. He didn’t tell me how important education was, he just never stopped learning. He didn’t explicitly teach us life’s lessons, he simply lived them. He just walked the walk. I am eternally grateful for the example that he set for me.

Unfortunately, in our society, and indeed within our Church, there are many who are not as fortunate as I have been. According to the National Center for Health Statistics nearly 40% of all babies born in the US are born to single mothers. Twenty-five million children are being raised in single parent households. Maybe this is your story as well. Maybe your own father was absent. Perhaps he died, perhaps your parents were divorced, perhaps he was there in body but not in spirit. For you, Father’s Day may be a difficult day to celebrate. 

Our Heavenly Father loves us, he knows us individually, and he does not leave us comfortless. If your story is a fatherless one, who filled that gap for you? Did your mom play both roles? Was it an uncle, a grandfather, a step-dad ? (the Savior was raised by a step-dad by the way) I hope that we will take time today to thank and honor not only our biological fathers, but also our good father figures.

I have had some very fine examples set for my children not only by their grandfather, but by bishops, home teachers, quorum leaders, and family friends. I have offered many prayers of gratitude for these men. 

I remember a deacons quorum leader in the foyer with his arms around Max’s shoulders teaching him how to tie his tie. I remember coming home in the wee hours after one of many visits to the ER with my daredevil son Spencer and having my home teacher chastise me. “I don’t care if it’s three in the morning...911 first, home teacher second.” Many, many calls for priesthood blessings when Liam was raging out of control from a misdiagnosed, incorrectly medicated mood disorder. Good bishops and leaders who taught my sons how to perform their priesthood duties. A home teacher who baptized my youngest. Full-time missionaries and ward missionaries who came to my home and taught my son-in-law the gospel. Family friends who took my boys along on Father and Son campouts, taught my daughter how to change tires and change oil, made household and automotive repairs I couldn’t do on my own.

How grateful I am to these men for taking to heart the Apostle James’ words, “Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction...” (James 1:27) 

How grateful I am that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, while sensitive to those in differing circumstances, continues to teach that a traditional nuclear family with a mother and a father, legally and lawfully wedded, is the correct model to follow. 

In The Family: A Proclamation to the World the Church makes clear Heavenly Father’s revealed pattern. 

WE, THE FIRST PRESIDENCY and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. ¶1

HUSBAND AND WIFE have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations. ¶6

THE FAMILY is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

¶7

WE WARN that individuals ... who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets. ¶8

What an inspired document this is! Yes, individual adaptation is sometimes unavoidable. As a non-traditional family, we have to look at ourselves and say, “This is the way things are and we will do the best we can with what we have. HOWEVER! this is not the way it is SUPPOSED to be.” 

The world’s loud clamoring sends a very different, very persistent, very repetitive, and very destructive message. Even supposedly wholesome family entertainment that demonstrates two-parent households portrays those parents as bumbling idiots not worthy of respect. Shows that portray loving parents with respectful children are derided as corny, schmaltzy and unrealistic. It seems that it is more important to be witty and ironic than it is to be kind and unselfish.

May we make a conscientious effort to block out and reject the world’s clamoring and Satan’s none-too-subtle attack on the home and family. 

This past year and a half, our home has had a very fluid and chaotic structure as our household went from being myself and four minor children to being myself, four minor children, my married daughter’s family of four, two extra grandchildren, a returned missionary, a returned 19yo and his buddy, two dogs, four guinea pigs, a rat, a toad, a gecko and a tank of fish. As we struggled to adjust a multi-generational, multi-family household, my 19yo encouraged me to remind myself with a chant. Whose house? MY house! 

Let’s take back our homes and our families with this protective attitude. Whose house? MY house. Practice saying it on the way home today. It’s fun!

Let us make our homes havens where “Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.”

The Proclamation concludes with these words: WE CALL UPON responsible citizens and officers of gov- ernment everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

Let us be as Joshua when he issued the challenge “Choose you this day whom ye will serve; but (say it with me) as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."