Wecipe Wednesday: Crazy Cake

When my little brother was old enough to go to school, my mother went to work. I was too young to be responsible for my rambunctious little brother; I was too young to be responsible for myself. Summertime would have been problematic if it had not been for Ruthie. Ruthie was our babysitter for that first summer. Because Ruthie's father was an Apostolic minister, her family did not watch television or go to the movies.

In the morning, we would go to Summer School. When we got home, Ruthie would come over and make us lunch and then we would play. As I recall that summer was unusually wet and we had lots of rainy days. Rather than turn on the TV, Ruthie would bring over puzzles and games. We played Old Maid and Crazy Eights. We played Authors and Go Fish. We made potholders and painted rocks. One day Ruthie taught us how to make Crazy Cake.

I had made box cakes before, and I had taken Fun with Food in Summer School. This was absolutely bizarre to me. It didn't have the ingredients that I thought it should have. It had vinegar in it, but no eggs. How could this possibly work and not taste like pickles.

"That's why they call it Crazy Cake," Ruthie said.

Every time I make Crazy Cake, I think of Ruthie and her gentle way off getting my little brother and me through that long, wet, latchkey summer. So here it is.

• Crazy Cake
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups cold water

1. Sift flour, sugar, salt, soda, and cocoa together into a 9 x 13 inch ungreased cake pan. Make three wells. Pour oil into one well, vinegar into second, and vanilla into third well. Pour cold water over all, and stir well with fork.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Frost with your favorite icing or dust with powdered sugar.

What recipe tickled your fancy as a child? Comment below.

Listography: Places I've lived

I have moved a lot in my life. In fact, each of my eight children was born in a different state. Well, that's not exactly accurate--my oldest and my youngest were both born in Wisconsin--but still, lots of moving in between. Lots.
Partly it was our economic situation, partly it was the Air Force, and honestly, some of it was escapism. The grass is greener, and all that.  My poor descendants are going to have a terrible time tracking me down. 

So here's the list:

1965-1971--Detroit, Michigan

1971-1983--Algoma, Wisconsin

1983-1984--Provo, Utah

1984-1985--Orem, Utah

1985--Algoma, Wisconsin

1985--Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

1985--Forestville, Wisconsin

1985-1986--San Antonio, Texas

1986-1987--San Angelo, Texas

1987-1990--Berlin, Germany

1990-1993--Ft. Meade, Maryland

1993--Creston, Iowa

1993-1995--Provo, Utah

1995-1997--Duchesne, Utah

1997-1998--Osceola, Iowa

1998-2006--Sheboygan, Wisconsin

2006-2010--Peoria, Arizona

2010-Present--Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Twenty-five addresses, eighteen cities, eight states, two countries--all in 46 years. That's an average of 1 year 10 months per address. I'm not yet living in the house I want to stay in, so I have at least one move left.  My plan is to stay here in Sheboygan, but you know what they say... If you want to give God a good laugh, tell Him your plans.

Where have you lived? Has your family been the community mainstays or the gypsies? Comment below.

Four Generations Last Chance Photo

If you want to be successful, do what successful people do. So, I am becoming a student of successful blogs. I've been visiting other genealogy blogs, including Geneabloggers.com. I mentioned in a previous post that an issue of Family Tree Magazine on the newsstand needed to come home with me. In addition to information on researching Detroit roots, was an article highlighting the years 40 best blogs. 

Special thanks to Amy Coffin of We Tree. She has posted prompts to help newbie bloggers with crippling writer's block.  In 2009, Amy offered 52 Ideas to Jumpstart Your Genealogy Blog. Idea number one was to upload a favorite picture. 

The photo above was taken in June of 2006. The day before my children and I moved from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, to Phoenix, Arizona. 

Left to right you see Katherine Joan Carroll Thurman holding Noah Wyitt Thurman, me, Donald Norman Mitchell, and Joan Frances Carpen Mitchell. 

The picture not only captures meeting my new grandson, but also the last time I saw my father well. He died in October of 2009.

The stories of the move and my dad's passing are topics for another post.

Poor, Sad, Neglected Blog

So here's the problem: fourteen hour workdays, kids starting school, crippling writer's block, a terrible case of the weeps, and several nights of coming home dragging my purse behind me, deciding to sit down for just a minute and waking up in the recliner in the clothes I wore to work the day before--Eww! Plus, I suspended internet service at the house for the time being.

Blogging just isn't happening.

The good news is that we are settling into the school routine (complete with the werewolf's first nuclear meltdown of the season--you who know me, know what I'm talking about).

The other good news is that my silly, little newsletter at work is being very well received. Even people who don't want to buy a car from me have asked to stay on my newsletter mailing list. I'm getting a lot of satisfaction from my newsletter. If you would like to receive News from Your Car Gal just comment below and I'll add you to my list. You'll be getting car-buying tips, specials, coupons, recipes and a comic strip called The Dealership by Max Carroll.

Before diving back into my blog, I've been studying what other genealogy bloggers are doing. I've been checking out what I like and what I don't like. Unlike the newsletter which is for a very specific readership--and I know who is reading and who isn't--the blog is just going out into the ether and I have very little idea who my readers really are.  So my blog is really more for me than for you. But you are most welcome.

 Special thanks to Amy Coffin of We Tree. She has posted blogging prompts that I find very helpful in breaking through the writer's block and the resulting case of the weeps. For the next little while, I expect you'll be seeing lots of material suggested by her prompts. By all means, join me in the comments, or you own blog, or both.

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.