Friday, May 27, 2016

Information When We Need It

by Linda Farmer Harris

I'm adapting my mother's favorite recipes and my father's baking for our high altitude Colorado living. I grew up on the high plains of New Mexico where dryness and high winds were our cooking enemies. Dad built a proofing box so his dinner rolls could rise in a stable temperature environment. A waterbed heater served as the heat source. You can see the white thermostat on the right side.


Dad was a baker in the Merchant Marines and made bread, dinner rolls, and cinnamon rolls throughout his life. He passed his secrets down to me and my sister, and taught his great granddaughter his techniques.



On one of Mom's recipe cards she added "a pinch of salt" in the margin. I think of a "pinch" as how much salt can I pick up with my thumb and first two fingers, but is that really a true measure.

I remembered Margaret Brownley's November 24, 2015 blog "A Pinch of This and a Dash of That" and the list of some weights and measures used by pioneer cooks. A Pinch is an eighth of a teaspoon.

That made me think of some of the other pieces of great information that have flowed daily through HH&H since its inaugural post on February 1, 2013. When I started research on my novella The Lye Water Bride (Barbour, 2016) I searched for info from HH&H posts. Articles like Miralee Ferrell's "Women in the Gold Rush Era" and "The First Gold Rush in the United States" by Patty Smith Hall. Included in the more than forty blogs using "gold rush" as a search term is my own "Pie for Sale: Lucy Stoddard Wakefield."

Have you referred to a previous HH&H post for information on one of your projects, your child's history assignment, or just because you were interested in a topic?

Blessings,



Linda Farmer Harris
Turning Tidbits of History into Unforgettable Stories

Lin and her husband, Jerry, live on a hay and cattle ranch in Chimney Rock, Colorado. Her novella The Lye Water Bride is included in The California Gold Rush Romance Collection (Barbour Publishing, August 1, 2016).




8 comments:

  1. I love this blog. I've learned so much....it's all so fascinating, especially the tidbits about California. Born and raised in California and I know so little about it's history. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Hi Debbie, thanks for compliment. The ladies and I appreciate knowing the daily blogs are useful. In our New Mexico high school we learned the state capitals, the dates and key phrases about the California Gold Rush, but nothing about California. It was interesting to learn more about the state.

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  2. I love HHH and I regret that I wasn't familiar with it when I was developing programs for our local Senior Citizens center. As Adult Services librarian at our public library, I went at least once a month to present a program and the attendees exoecially enjoyed reminiscing about the past or discussing historical events. This blog would have been s treasure lode!
    I appreciate all of you contributors and all of the information I have been given.
    Blessings!

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    1. Howdy Connie, thanks for stopping by. Glad you found us. We appreciate the compliments. It's fun for us to investigate topics that are sometimes out of our realm of historical focus. Looking forward to hearing from you again. I bet you've heard enough stories to fill a book. Have you ever consider writing them down?

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  3. I envy those hand-me-down recipes, Linda. Even though I've largely given up bread! It's a nice thing to inherit from our forbears: KNOW-HOW. We lack this in today's world of google and you tube--knowledge from our own past! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Hi Linore, you're welcome. I'm trying to decipher my mother-in-law's recipes. She was a wonderful family meals cook. Made pie turn-overs, but didn't bake. My mother's handwriting was more legible and her note cards newer since she was trying to capture some of my grandmother's recipes. You might be enjoy reading some of the Fred Harvey restaurant recipes. This is a link to some of the 4th of July recipes — http://www.stephenfried.com/blog/?p=596

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  4. I enjoy this blog because I seem to learn something new each time :)

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    1. Hi Betti, thank you for stopping by and commenting. I hope you'll stop by HH&H often and take advantage of the give-aways.

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