Notes from the Field | 007

I told myself I wanted to sit down and write more, but every time I turn around it seems like another week has gone by and I haven't made it much of a priority. Which is actually alright with me, because I've been doing a lot of fun things around the house and outdoors, spending time with my husband and kids, visiting and doing projects with my brother and really enjoying life these days! 

I think the weather has something to do with it. Spring is in full effect here and we're outside more than we're in. Yesterday my brother and I wrapped up a project we started Monday morning and it feels so good to say "I'm gonna build a window box!" and then just do it. And I should clarify there because I just designed and spec'd it out and my brother built and installed it. It's all part of my front porch makeover which has been many months in the making, but its nearing completion and I'd like to take photos and show you soon. 

Speaking of being outside, do you remember playing as a kid? It seems like in the summer we'd have breakfast and go out exploring the neighborhood, without adults, for hours at a time. When we were tired or hungry we'd come home, only to go out again until dinner time. I remember chugging a huge glass of cold milk after sitting down at the dinner table and then shoveling down food and back outside until it was too dark to see or too many other kids had been called home. 

I was thinking about all of this the other day as I watched my own kids play in the yard. Now that we have space, far from the road and other people, it only feels right to give them a little room to do their thing. Felix digging in the mud, Bea picking flowers. The two of them on the swing set together, brother with his arm around little sister. Watching them hold hands, fall down, chase one another, get into a spat, make up, and repeat all over again. I want to be around to see it happen, but I want them to really enjoy being a little kid and feeling some independence like I did when I was young.

On the subject of childhood, I'm not sure if I've shared here that my brother is staying with us for the summer and he's been here a couple of weeks already. I haven't lived with him in about fifteen years and we've lived in different states all over the country since then. It's been so great to have a friend to chat with, a partner for projects, and having the kids get to know their uncle. Believe it or not, of the dozen or so words Bea says regularly "Uncle Dan" are two of them. It's hilarious and we egg her on to say it all the time. "Uncle Dan Dan! Uncle Dan Dan!" I can't tell you how many times a day I hear one of the kids ask about him and it's been so cool to have him as a neighbor.

In the pop culture front, I am like... at least two years behind on some things and right up to the minute on others. We don't have a TV so we watch our "shows" on the laptop at night and right now I am so into The Handmaid's Tale. It's got the perfect combo of religious cult plus dystopia which is my favorite combination of evils. It's dark and so effed up but... I like what I like! If you're into that you might also like Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime or if you can find it (don't ask me how I tracked it down), a British show from a couple years ago called Utopia. And of course there's Black Mirror on Netflix.

So even though I'm up to the minute on my dramatic TV programming, I'm a few years behind on HAMILTON! Gah! I am so obsessed. I have a biography on hold at the library and I told Adam that if I could do one thing this summer, it would be to see the show in Chicago.  I have some ducks to get in a row before that can happen (see also: night weaning and saving up) but when mama has a goal, mama achieves the goal. 

Well, a huge storm is about to roll in, so I better go sit on my front porch and watch! Have a great Thursday everyone! 

Jessica Bakes | Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

It's strawberry rhubarb season and that means it's time to whip up some pies, baby! I use my grandma Dorothy's recipe as a base. I've made some really minor changes and the end result is quite near pie perfection! And it's not hard at all! 

Part of the ease (at least for me!) is that I've given up making my own pie crusts. This stage in the process always stressed me out and it wasn't fun so now I just use two pre made (but not baked) pie crusts. And I always get compliments on them too! I think the way you handle them does have an impact on the final pie, so I'll tell you more about that in the recipe. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

• 2 premade pie crusts, frozen
• 2 C rhubarb, diced
• 2 C strawberries, quartered
• 1 C sugar
• 3 eggs
• 4 T flour
• 3T milk
• 1 T freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 T butter, cubed plus a little extra for pie plate

Chilled pie dough is an essential part of getting a flaky crust, so I like to keep mine in the freezer and take them out about 45 minutes before I plan to assemble my pie.

Pre heat your oven to 400 F.

Chop strawberries and rhubarb into small pieces. I like to cut the rhubarb stalk into 4 inch pieces and then halve it before I dice it up. I usually quarter small strawberries or further cut them down for larger berries. Put into bowl and set aside.

Mix sugar, eggs, flour, milk and nutmeg together to create custard.

Once dough is easily pliable yet still cold, lay into buttered pie plate. Sprinkle a small amount of flour onto crust. Layer fruit next, turning strawberries outside up for a pretty top. Cover with custard, distributing evenly. Finally top with cubed butter before layering the second pie crust over top.

Here's your chance to get fancy fancy and make a pretty topper! I dust my counter with a little flour before I unroll out my top crust. Then it's up to you! For this pie I used the wide end of a icing tip to cut out holes, but you can do a lattice, braids, where ever your creativity takes you! If you check out the tag #jessicas100pies on Instagram, you can see all of the variations I've made over the years! (I'm on pie 56/100!) Crimp your top and bottom crusts together.

Lastly - use the custard on the sides of the bowl to coat the pie top with your fingers. If you're a real sweetheart, dust the top with a little more sugar (although this isn't necessary!)

Bake the pie for 50 minutes and then let it cool in the oven. If the top is getting too brown, just place some aluminum foil over the top. Whip up some cream and enjoy! 

You might also like... a Key Lime Pie, Pumpkin Pie or my personal favorite - Mulberry Pie! 

More Spring Dressmaking for Beatrix

Since last week's post on the yellow romper I made for Bea, I have been sewing at least one new piece for her each day! While it might sound like a lot, these little pieces stitch up so quickly that I can make one in a couple of hours. I set up my sewing machine on the high bar of the kitchen and have realized I really like sewing standing up! Less hunching over for my aging eyes and the machine is out of reach of the kids! My ironing board is flat on the counter next to it. I've realized that if my kids can deal with me cooking, they can also deal with me sewing! I usually let Felix watch a show/movie while Bea plays at my feet or in a nearby room (or naps!) And it should also be noted, when I am excelling in one place in my life, I'm neglecting something else (ie. tidying my house!) No one can do it all or at least do it all well. Sometimes I let cooking inventive meals slide for prioritizing play dates or let cleaning come second to feeding my creative needs. I also believe children need independence (obviously within safe boundaries) so I'm fine with them playing solo (right now they are opening and closing the front windows and climbing on chairs!) Let kids be kids! And let mommy sew one more seam!

Now... let me tell you a little more about each piece!

Red, White + Blue Romper

This is the same design as the yellow romper (which I sketched and patterned out myself) and I used fabric I had on hand in my stash. The blue ground with white and red flowers is vintage (I'm pretty sure at least... I can't remember when/where I bought it!) and the contrast white eyelet is the same I used for this top for myself a couple of years ago.

I also added some red trim to the shoulder and bum ruffles as well as on the sides of the front faux placket. To finish it off, some sweet little red buttons.

Dark Blue Paisley Dress

This was the next piece I made and I wanted to switch things up just a little with a skirt instead of romper bottom (using a very simple bib + dirndl skirt combo). The blue was in my stash and I used left over yellow from romper #1 under the double shoulder ruffles and behind the sash. It was feeling a little flat so I added white pom trim at the hem and on the sash. It's a shorter left but looks so darling with a coordinating cloth diaper underneath!

Aqua and Navy Romper

I just love this little color combo! Both fabrics came from what I already had and this piece sewed up very quickly. I made the straps out of both colors but placed the navy outward in front and the aqua out on back. I also added a little neckline detail using some of the scrap of the strap (say that ten times fast!) I can't wait to see her run around in this little piece!

Purple Dress

For this piece, I used a vintage 1952 Simplicity pattern as the starting point. I omitted the pockets and sleeves and added trim (also leftover from the yellow romper) to the neckline and on the empire waistline scallops. This one looks very cute with a cloth diaper peeking out too! 

Up Next...

No surprise here - I have enough fabric to make up two more little rompers and I'll probably mess around with that today and tomorrow. It's so fun and quick to sew and I've worked out any kinks through the first versions. Now just for a warm day so we can see those baby legs! 

Top 10 Tips for Researching Your Genealogy and Family Tree

Above, the wedding party from my great grandparents Mary Katherine Stoppenhagen and Charles Werling. See more about them here!

1. Call Your Parents and ask for birthdays, marriage dates, deaths of any grandparent, aunt or uncle they can remember. These details will help you connect to the huge amount of established trees and fill in your own more quickly. 

2. Check Your Spelling! I've found that many of my German and Dutch ancestors simplified or Americanized their names after emigrating to the States. Schroeder could be Schröder or Roush could be Roesch. If you cross check a name and birthday, along with some siblings or parents, you can confirm that name change and potentially find older generations using the earlier spelling.

3. Search Nicknames or Common Names. One ancestor I had trouble with is listed alternatively as Sarah and Sally/Sallie on census records. I believe it's the same person because she has a constant birthday, listed with same husband and same children over the course of decades.  I ended up merging two different entries for the same person and I'm still working on tracking down her parents. It's not uncommon for people to go by their middle names either, so check those!

4. Use a Round About. If you're searching for someone and getting no leads, try looking up someone else in the family you've confirmed - a child or spouse, for example. Marriage licenses are great because a lot of them require the applicants to list their parents, including the mother's maiden name. 

5. Google It. In my example above I was only certain of Ora's birth and death dates when I found her headstone. She was buried near her parents, so I was able to add them into the chart (and by add I mean I matched with existing data) and a whole new branch of my tree became available. The site that's helped me a lot FindAGrave.com

6. Cross Check Ages. It took a couple of different census records for me to uncover a distant grandmother had her child at 17. Presumably no father was involved because she lived with her parents and her son, and it appears the child took his mother's last name instead of the father. But how this was entered into the tree was misleading (and a dead end!) It took me a census record listing parents, daughter and grandson (with their ages listed right next to their names) to have the aha moment. She later married and had children with another man which complicated things a bit during my searches!

7. Search with Less Information. Sometimes you just have the wrong info and if you omit that from your search, you can sometimes find the right info. Try searching without a spouse's name attached, or no birth year (especially if you're really not sure)

8. Take Notes While You Work. Because I bounce around a lot on my browser, I keep the name of the person I'm working on right in front of me written down with any dates I might want to cross check. It's also really fun to yell out BINGO! or write it next to a big breakthrough!

9. Get excited... but not too excited. If you're connected to someone who might have a really extensive family tree, say the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Joseph Smith (we share the same Mayflower ancestor - Elizabeth TIlley Howland), then your chart is basically going to take you all the way back to the Bible. (FamilySearch is a free service provided by the LDS) I stopped clicking on ancestors when I got to Jesus times (literally.. BC!) because I don't have the ability to verify that info... I'm really not sure that's even possible. So get excited, especially for all of those written records that confirm things, but don't get crazy about finding your way back to Noah or Adam and Eve (unless you want to! You do you!)

10. Take a Break. Sometimes you'll feel like you're just going in circles or frustrated with missing info. Or maybe it's already 2am and you're wondering how you stayed up so late (because it's SO FUN! That's why!) Sometimes it just pays to take a break and come back to it with fresh eyes.

BONUS: Read the actual records - many of them have been indexed so they're easy to search and read, but if you're able to decipher the handwriting or scanning quality, check out the original document! I've had to download some and pop them into Photoshop to adjust the balance/make them legible, but it's worth it! I always knew Eva was a wonderful seamstresses and worked as a cake decorator but in this record I learned at age 18 she was a telephone operator! 

Finally, it cannot go without saying how grateful I am for all of the researchers, my distant cousins and family members, whom I'll probably never know, who have updated and shared this information and connected the dots. I've probably solved two or three mysteries, but someone (many people!) set me up for success without even knowing it.  I'm doing my part by adding photos and documents (like the ones in this post!) too in hopes of weaving a tapestry of my family history.