From Nellie's Kitchen - Sugar Cookies

I am a firm believer that the most potent memories are those that call upon sound, sensation or taste to render an impact. Which is why I am fascinated by recipes, musical scores and physical objects of the past. At every opportunity, I attempt to cook with recipes that are from the previous generations. By sharing a taste experience, perhaps we can get just a bit closer to those who came before us. So, from time to time, I hope to share a recipe or two, to bring out the more flavorful elements of my family memories.

Some of my most precious, as well as tactile, memories from childhood are centered on visits to my great-grandmother, Nellie Isabelle Cox Beyersdoerfer's home. She lived to be 90, but passed away when I was nine, so even though my years with her were few, she made quite an impact.....and continues to do so. She was the family's keeper of history. Not only did her collection include stories and family heirlooms, but also antiques from her community of Pendleton County Kentucky. My mother spent many a weekend taking Nellie around to estate sales to buy up some of her favorite items. I have even heard tale of grandma Nellie (aka "Ma") instructing my mother to crawl down into the cellar of a burnt house because she could see a fancy teacup lying among the debris.....a sort of accepted form of looting, I suppose, but Mom still has the teacup, complete with blackened melted glass stuck on the side. Those two were quite the wild pair, but their closeness meant I was taken along for visits to Ma's on a regular basis.

Whenever I would arrive, there on her kitchen table was an antique cut glass covered bowl full of her signature sugar cookies. I would pull up a stool that was part ladder and had supported many of the children in our family over the years, and devour a big, delectable cookie. However, Ma's recipe was not exactly HER signature recipe since she got it from an old William Tell flour package or booklet. My mother still has the original as Ma used it, a roughly torn out piece of paper from the early part of the century. Sadly, Dad laminated it years ago, before we all understood the implications of lamination from the preservation point of view, but we've since made multiple scans and copies to pass out to the family over the years. I have a copy framed and sitting on my counter at all times.....I love decorating with old recipes!

At first glance, this appears to be just your standard, run of the mill, sugar cookie recipe, but it is the addition of nutmeg that makes this little cookie unique. As you can see, the recipe calls for a half teaspoon of nutmeg, but no salt, which is a staple among other sugar cookie recipes. I will confess that I use salted butter when making this recipe, so there is a little salt in there. Otherwise, I can say I don't miss the extra saltiness. Although, if you can swing freshly grated nutmeg, which is much easier than it sounds, the taste is a bit more robust.

All in all, it turns out to be a very light and soft cookie. Ma always followed the tip at the bottom and added sugar with her own addition of cinnamon to the top of the cookies prior to going into the oven, and I completely agree with this little step. The cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg, make this cookie a delicious little treat.

When I make this one at Christmas, I forgo the cinnamon and sugar in lieu of a simple confectioner's sugar icing which adds even more sweetness with a bit of a bite. I have always noticed that the fine print at the bottom suggests the addition of lemon for a smart little lemon cookie. I haven't tried that simply because I love the original version so much. Either way, the secret to this cookie is taking the cookie out of the oven after it has puffed up a bit and before you notice any golden color at the base. If you see the light brown forming, the end product can be a little more crispy than desired. One thing I have changed from the recipe, I cook them at 350 or 375 instead of the 450 as recommended. It cooks them a little slower, and gives you plenty of time to watch over them to prevent burning. One other thing I remember....Ma's cookies were much larger than the standard cut out we use today. I was never around when she made these, but I'm guessing she used a lid or jar for her cookies to get them so big. All kinds of shapes work well with this cookie, as long as it has been well refrigerated first! Oh, and be sure to keep them in an air tight container to keep them soft!

Enjoy this family memory, and have some fun experimenting with it!

C

6/26/10

In case you can't see the print of the original recipe very well, I have transcribed it below:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar (granulated)

2 eggs

1 tablespoon cream

2 1/2 cups William Tell Flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Cream butter and sugar; add beaten eggs and cream. Sift the dry ingredients and beat into mixture. Roll and cut. Sprinkle with sugar or nuts and bake at about 450 degrees F.

Note: Grated rind of a lemon and a tablespoon of lemon juice will make delicious lemon cookies over this recipe.

Sepia Saturday - Looking at Anna

By all genealogical accounts, Anna Beyersdoerfer runs a high risk of becoming invisible to history. Known as the maiden aunt of our family, there are no pictures of her in a wedding dress, nor any of her holding babies. She had no descendants, and therefore, very few people to remember her. We have a few pictures of her, but none or next to none within the larger family gatherings. Anna seems to stand alone in artifact as well as she did in life. However, Anna recently made a grand showing that has piqued my interest in this very independent woman.

Born to John and Emma (Fliehmann) Beyersdoerfer in 1901, Anna was the youngest daughter of nine children. Her parents had a farm in Bracken County Kentucky, near the small town of Foster, which sits on the Ohio River. Both sets of grandparents, the Beyersdoerfers and Fliehmanns had large farms overlooking the river. Her family's small farm was tucked down in a valley known as Willow Creek. The steep hills of northern Kentucky meant a pretty challenging farm life, but her parents tapped into their German heritage and produced wine to sell in Covington as a supplement to their income.

According to census records, most of the children stayed on the farm to help well into their twenties. Marriage was usually the impetus to move on and begin a life for themselves, but when marriage did not appear as an option for Anna, she moved forward on her own, opting for life in the big city of Cincinnati Ohio. Her brother Lawrence and his family lived in Cincinnati as well, so she was not completely alone. However, she did not live with her relatives, but took a job as a domestic servant.

By 1930 she was residing in the home of Walter and Francis Klein up near Clifton. This couple apparently had no children and she was the only servant in their household. At the time, she was 28, and the Kleins were 44 and 38. Hardly elderly, this merchant couple also piques my interest. They must have had a decent size home to have a servant during the depression, yet, not a house full of servants, which demonstrated either a sense of modesty, or frugality in tough times. But at such a young age, with no children to care for, I can't help but wonder if they had a more exciting social life.

Skipping ahead to her death in 1988, we knew Anna had been a nurse most of her life. By 1951, she was listed in the city directory as a "nurses aide" at Bethesda Hospital. My mother visited her shortly before her death in Newport Kentucky, and she had a sharp, clear mind. She gave my mother details about the family history that we had never heard before. She included maiden names, burial locations, married names, etc. As an evident keeper of the past, her information turned out to be priceless as I began my own journey into our family history a few years later.

However, it is the time frame between about 1920 and 1951 that has set off my detective radar. An independent woman of the 1920s and 30s was not a common thing. Spinsters were, of course, fairly common, but Anna somehow did not fit that mold.

A few years ago, due to my main Journeys Past web site, a relative by marriage learned of my existence, and decided to send me some family artifacts they had in their possession. They were the family of Anna's brother Myron's wife. Ok, try to un-cross your eyes on that one! Anna's brother Myron married rather late in life to a woman names Eleanor, but they had no children. After Eleanor's death, her family found some items that belonged to Myron and they decided to graciously return the items to our family. After checking with the other Beyersdoerfer men, they unanimously chose me to be the recipient since they weren't all that interested in the family history - definitely a perk to being known as the family historian! I plan to write a piece about Myron soon, because his artifacts included some things from his service in WWII, and one picture in particular that had me up in the stacks of the library researching campaign locations....so stay tuned for that one.

Among Myron's things, was a photo of him and his sister Anna sitting on the front of matching cars. I could tell the cars were sitting at the farm on Willow Creek, and the back of the photo said "Myron & Anna, Brother & Sister, with our new cars, Ford bought same year, Richie Brothers auto Dealers took it." According to the license plates, the year was 1935, and both brother and sister look rather dapper in their fancy outfits and brand new cars. After a few minutes of awwing over this awesome photo, it suddenly hit me that Aunt Anna was a single woman in 1935. How could a single domestic servant make enough money to purchase a brand new car during thos tough economic times? I'm assuming Myron was still on the farm since family reports says he even lived there as long as Grandma Emma was still alive. But then, those don't exactly look like farmer duds. Interesting, since he would have been about 28 while she would have been about 33.

I'm not positive that Anna was with the Kliens in 1940, but in that year's city directory, Anna was still listed as a "maid", and living either in her own place, or in another family's household. Her new address was 2831 Vernon Place, which was in the same general Clifton area as her 1930 residence on Alaska Avenue with the Kleins. So needless to say, in 1935, she was still a domestic servant, and obviously a well paid one. I can't help but think there may be more to her story than she is telling us, but conjecture will only go so far until it reaches my frontal conspiratorial romanticized lobes, and loses all sense of reality.....so I will speculate no more.

Since researching her paper trail only created more questions, I started looking for more pictures of Anna. As I stated before, I'm having a really hard time finding her in the family group photos, but I did find a few more of her with two different men. Both men were from the area and about her age, but both went on to marry other women. I cannot say for certain that they were love interests, but in one photo from May of 1926, the two are sitting very close together and she is holding a small bouquet of flowers. She is obviously fairly young in the photos, no more than her twenties, but usually with that trademark tilt of her head and wry smile. I get the feeling I would have gotten along very well with the young Anna. I sense she had a tremendous amount of spunk and independence......or perhaps spunk and the determination to work hard enough to forget a broken heart? Sorry, couldn't help that one.

Even though I cannot remember meeting "Aunt Annie", as the younger generation called her, I remember her estate dispersal. We were allowed into a storage room full of shelves that were loaded with odds and ends. Her life was scattered about the room in the form of tangible objects. If she could have been there, what stories could she have told us about each item? Were there family artifacts there that were rendered silent as we passed by and therefore left to be sold to a stranger? My mother tried to locate things she thought looked old enough to be from the family. She picked up a depression era pink cherry blossom glass bowl, and a single glass goblet with bubbles in it. Several people in the room passed by a very large portrait that leaned against the shelves, until my mother recognized the face....it was Anna's mother, Emma Fliehmann Beyersdoerfer. Mom quickly brought it to the attention of my Grandmother (Anna's niece) Frieda, and they quickly saved Grandma Emma's portrait from the auction block. Reflecting back on the things we don't know about Anna, were there mementos among the possessions that spoke of lost or unrequited love? Sadly, or maybe appropriately, that remains Anna's secret.

CD

6/12/10

This is my first Sepia Saturday post - week #27! To join the fun, click here.

Ode to the Brave

Our family history is crammed full of military men, serving in various capacities and fighting in various wars. However, in my research, I have not come across any fallen among our ranks. I'm sure they exist somewhere in the side branches of my family, but the main branches seemed to reside under a blanket of protection that brought them all safely back home once the fighting was over. Today is meant to honor those fallen while serving our country. While I value all military men and women, past and present, as those most precious to our freedom, those who gave the ultimate sacrifice deserve this day in May to help us remember what they sacrificed for all of us. The photo below was taken in August 1938. My grandfather, Charles Daniels, is among the group, but he made it home. I can't help but wonder - who among these precious souls did not make it home after that terrible war darkened their smiling faces? We honor them today.

How sleep the Brave, who sink to Rest,
By all their Country's Wishes blest!
When Spring, with dewy Fingers cold,
Returns to deck their hallow'd Mould,
She there shall dress a sweeter Sod
Than Fancy's Feet have ever trod.

By Fairy Hands their knell is rung,
By Forms unseen their Dirge is sung;
There Honour comes, a Pilgrim grey,
To bless the Turf that wraps their Clay,
And Freedom shall a-while repair
To dwell a weeping Hermit there!


Ode to the Brave by William Collins, 1746

CD 5/31/10

Our Family Political Bible

A few years ago my paternal Grandmother (as seen in the previous post) gave me the glorious task of cleaning out some of my great great Grandfather's book collection. Since there are probably about 200+ books, and since my own space is limited, I only take home a few at a time when I visit. My plan is to review the subject matter and pass on a few copies to the rest of the grandchildren, possibly with titles of subject interest to their chosen career, but that is a work in progress. The reason this plan might work is due to the original owner's system of labeling his collection, which should result in the new recipients always being able to remember where the books came from.

This illustrious collector of books, our great great Grandfather, was Horace Schilling. In order to describe where Grandpa Horace was from I would need to list a few places. He was born in Pennsylvania, to John and Elizabeth Schilling, also of Pennsylvania. However, he settled with his new family, wife Paulina Strawderman and children, in Chili Indiana and Columbus Ohio. It appears that while in Chili Indiana he acquired one book that has shed a bright light on Grandpa Horace and his children, in a very intriguing way.

The first time I picked up this book, The Life and Public Services of James G. Blaine by Russell H. Conwell, I was surprised to see that it had two nearly identical embossed covers. When I mean nearly, I mean that the titles and images were entirely the same, but the colors were different. One side was on a green faux leather with faded gold embossing, while the other side consisted of a brown faux leather, embossed in black or dark brown. On the inside cover, there was a spine portion of what would normally be on the outside of the book, but much thicker than would normally be on this size of book. Upon further exploration, I found an advertisement for the sale of this book, as well as the writing from my great great Grandfather inside the front cover: The property of Horace Schilling, Chili Ind. The loose advertisement gave me even more information. On the outside of this folded ephemera was the writing: August 1884, Life of Blaine & Logan, Horace Schilling, Agent.

So evidently, Grandpa Horace was an agent for the publishers of this book. In 1884, he went around the nearby towns to sell this new publication, in one of the two possible covers. The choice was a hard one to make....either the "best English Terra Cotta cloth" for $1.50, or the "best English Gold Cloth" for $1.75. In the back of the book was a series of lined pages for the purpose of recording the customers and their choice of cover, plus the money paid, of course. Judging from the list, I don't think Grandpa Horace was very successful at this new venture. He had a total of 14 "subscribers" from the towns of Chili, Pettysville, Ambury?, and North Grove.


To put this book in family context, it could mean a couple of different things. Was Grandpa Horace so politically active that he felt passionate enough to go door to door to sell the life story of candidate Blaine who would hopefully become the next President? Or, was he simply taking on an odd job for some extra cash? According to census records, he would have been 25 years old at the time, and only married for two years. Horace and Paulina already had one baby, by this time, Sarah Emma, and would have Harry Anthony by the following year. One other thing the census records have told me about Grandpa Horace: he was a man of many trades.

Each census has him listed with a different occupation. From Ice Cream Manufacturer to Teamster, Grandpa Horace was a man willing to try anything, or so it would seem. This actually fits some family oral history. Just before he died, Horace's grandson, my Grandfather, Charles Daniels Sr, remembered his Grandpa Schilling as an electrician with the Pennsylvania Railroad. He noted that someone accidentally fired a torpedo inside the area that he was stationed for work and ended up with metal stuck in his legs which created a limp for his remaining years. To compensate for work after retirement, he was something of a local veterinarian. According to Grandpa, this new profession did not sit well with Grandma Schilling because "he wouldn't take payment for his services."

In the hopes of learning another tidbit about Grandpa Horace I examined this book thoroughly for any other notes, etc. To my great surprise, after a few pages of the blank lined order sheets, I found more entries. What I read was the very LAST thing I ever expected to find! Each line for several pages held a family record of sorts. The first entry was written by my great Grandmother Ruth Elizabeth Schilling at the age of 12 years old. She lists her birth date and the location of her birth with the words "is now 12 years, 7 months, and 18 days old." She entered another duplicate record at the age 13, followed by an entry by her brother Alfred.

After many more blank pages, Ruth Elizabeth must have entered the rest of the family once her handwriting got better......or perhaps these clean entries were placed there by someone else, and Ruth Elizabeth was merely using the other pages to create her own entries as a mimic? We will never know, but the writing is that of a much more mature person. Basically, the entries are the complete family unit history: birth date and place of the parents, their marriage date and location, and the birth of each child within the family.....plus a couple of deaths. In short, what a person would traditionally find in the family record pages at the beginning of a Bible had been recorded in the publisher's example of a political candidate biography! (To view the rest of the family record pages, see the Bible Records main page.)

I truly have no explanation. I have not researched this family sufficiently to learn more about their religious leanings, although I do know that great Grandma Ruth attended a spiritualist church in the early part of the century in an attempts to talk to her dead children, but that is the sum total of religious mention for that family. Does this mean there was no Bible in the house to record these special events, and so the publisher's copy was the only thing they found with enough pages to preserve their lineage? The one thing I do know is that this proves without a doubt, the necessity of examining EVERY item or book in your family before ever thinking of disposing of them. I know it is very tempting to sell off estates or disperse fairly quickly after a loved one dies. It is not conceivable to keep everything they owned.....but take this as an example to take the time to look through EVERYTHING....you never know what you may find!!

Here's to happy hunting!

C

5/17/2010

For Those Who Mother Us...

In honor of Mother's Day, I pulled out this old family favorite from the Beyersdoerfer Collection. All of these women are Beyersdoerfer mothers holding, what appears to be, their children of near identical age. The photo was taken sometime around 1915 on the Beyersdoerfer family farm in Bracken County, Kentucky. I am very rusty on which woman is which, but I'll give it a shot: from R-L: Aunt Addie (Hiles) Beyersdoerfer, Aunt Rose (Beyersdoerfer) Pangburn, Aunt Nora (Beyersdoerfer) Reuss, Great Grandma Nellie (Cox) Beyersdoerfer, Can't remember the name of the lady with the cloth on her head - could this be Aunt Gladys - the wife of Uncle Charlie Beyersdoerfer?, Aunt Celia (Beyersdoerfer) Gosney. Needless to say, it must have been a long winter to have all of these babies born in the same season!

As an added highlight to this year's Mother's Day weekend, we are also celebrating the 90th birthday of my grandmother Bessie Louise (Pace) Daniels. She was born in Magoffin County Kentucky to Albert and Fannie (Connelly) Pace. Not only did she raise four of her own children, but in 1988 she (along with Grandpa Charles) was named Foster Parent of the year in the state of Ohio. Over the years she cared for over 60 foster babies.....and I mean babies - some newborn to a few months old! She's still going strong these days....going to church, shopping, and family functions.....and still playing mother to her Shih-Tzu - Sarah Jane.....you go Grandma!

Of course I mustn't forget my own Momma, Pamela (Watts).....the dearest, bestest and most loving Mother a kid could have! And believe me, my brother and I gave her fits while growing up! She too is still mothering us all the time while being very active in her church and tending to her half acre perennial garden. Being the daughter of farmers means she loves this time of year that allows her to be in the garden getting those fingers dirty!

So Happy Mother's Day to all those special mothers out there - those dear mothers of the past, or the dear ones of the present......we couldn't have done it without you!

C

5/9/2010

Kentucky Derby Days!

As the first Saturday of May looms on the horizon, its echo of past glories fills the air. If you've ever been in the Central Kentucky area near Derby season, you understand the excitement and colorful celebration that permeates the local environs. Personally, I've never been to the Derby - for, pretty much, two reasons only: money and a touch of snobbery. Yes, I will admit that I am not wealthy enough to purchase a new gorgeous outfit complete with elaborate hat to wear for one day, let alone purchase decent tickets in the stands. Here is where the snobbery comes in: I have never had a desire to attend the Derby by standing in the in-field. I know this is supposed to be one of the biggest parties of the year.....and the liquor flows just as freely in this giant grassy area surrounded by the track, but the weather gamble is just too much for me to consider spending any time there. Either the weather is great, and usually hot by early May - which means you roast with these beer crazed fans. Or, the weather is cold and rainy which makes it a muddy beer crazed fest. Either way, I prefer watching the race at home.....some years with a local group having a party, or other years, simply racing inside to turn on the tube just before post time.

However, I do have one special Derby memory that I can share: I got to personally meet Secretariat when I was about 12 years old. My family had not yet moved to Kentucky and while on a visit to Mamma & Pappa Watts' farm in Bourbon County, we met a woman at the Duncan Tavern (DAR Headquarters in Paris) who had been invited to visit with Secretariat in his retirement on Claiborne Farm. He was such a massive animal that we were all intimidated to stand next to him. The caretaker wanted to sit my 2 year old little brother on his back, but Mom would have none of that nonsense! I'm sure she had visions of that wild stallion racing off with her precious baby - after the powerful display of him racing down to the gate and skidding to a halt when we first arrived, I don't blame her at all! I'm also sure that Secretariat sneezed some beautiful green snot on her white skirt in retaliation. Horses are sensitive you know! One lesson learned that day.....he LOVED peppermint lifesavers!

To best celebrate this rich tradition, I have pulled some 18th century newspaper clippings from the Kentucky Gazette, published in Lexington (1795, I believe). I have also included a brief history of the industry which I wrote last year for a small online exhibit. Enjoy!

In 1775, George Rogers Clark extolled the beauty of Kentucky with the statement: “A richer and more beautiful country than this I believe has never been seen in America”. With the 18th century pioneer migration into Kentucky, the horse was a natural accompaniment. By 1789 the horse population of Kentucky had risen above the human population by 607 to make the horse population of the time 9,607. Not only were the pioneer conditions difficult enough to require the work of horses, but the gentle rolling bluegrass landscape was perfectly suited to the breeding and development of champion bloodlines.

By the late 18th century, racing a favorite horse was a widely accepted activity and only grew in popularity as a focus on the bloodlines developed. Along with the horse industry grew the development of large farming estates which solidified a hugely successful agricultural economy. Breeding horses for stamina and speed seemed to naturally evolve with the culture of the young state, with racetracks popping up in several surrounding counties.

Thoroughbreds first entered the territory by way of Virginia, with the first English bred Thoroughbred, Blaze, arriving here in 1797. Throughout the first half of the 19th century Kentucky horsemen continued to breed and race successful lines of Thoroughbreds. By 1850, the most famous of all 19th century racehorses, Lexington, was bred by Dr. Elisha Warfield and after an illustrious career nationally “begot more champions than any other stallion and led the nation’s sire list for a longer period than any other in history.” (Wharton p.27) Ironically, the bones of Lexington are a current source of issue as Kentucky is seeking to have them returned to the state from their current residence in the Smithsonian.

After the conclusion of the Civil War, the sport of racing horses had a quick decline as the sport was dominant in the south. However, it was not long before wealthier men of the northeast, familiar with the racing traditions of Europe, soon brought this sport back into popularity by building racetracks in the north. With Kentucky remaining the top breeding state in the country, it was only natural for a track to be built here in Kentucky which had not suffered the same level of war devastation as the rest of the south. By 1875, a new Louisville track called Churchill Downs was inaugurated with a new race, known as the Kentucky Derby.

For more information on this subject:
Book: The Horse World of the Bluegrass by Mary E. Wharton & Edward L. Bowen (1980)
Book: The Thoroughbreds by Barbara Berry (1974)
Website: http://www.allhorseracing.com/kentuckyhorseracing.aspx
For more about the bones of Lexington: http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/725923.html

CD 4/27/10

Kentucky's Newest Historical Marker

On Thursday April 15th, the University of Kentucky unveiled the state's newest historical marker: honoring the University's first librarian, Margaret I. King. The marker was purchased by the class of 2009 and placed just outside the lower main entrance to the library that bears her name....affectionately referred to as the King Library. This library was built in 1931 and served as the University's main library until the present structure, the William T. Young Library, was opened in 1998. Currently, the King Library houses the Special Collections and Oral History Center on one side, and the Science Library on the other side. As a librarian, and as someone who has worked in libraries since the age of 16, this newest marker dedicated to a librarian holds a special place in my heart. However, as a two-time UK alum, I can't help but smile at the prospect of this marker serving another very important purpose......no longer will the student tour guides refer to this building as the Martin Luther King Jr. Library. They hear "King Library" and think of the only famous one they know.......now Ms. King will have her rightful honor in the middle of campus, and our students will be reminded of the important role this librarian served! I will let you read of her accomplishments from the new markers themselves.

Enjoy!

C

4/18/10