Category Archives: Women’s History Month
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – If you could have lunch with any female family member who would it be?
Rebecca Holmes Williams – photo in author’s possession
I read Randy Seaver’s prompt for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun and immediately thought I’m in on this one! Randy takes a cue from Lisa Alzo and her blog’s inspiring Women’s History month. Here’s our question:
If you could have lunch with any female family member (living or dead), or any famous female, who would it be and why? Where would you go? What would you eat?
Short of having lunch with every one of my female ancestors I’ve narrowed it down to two. Either my grandmother Flora Nantz Frueh who died when my dad was just a 17-year-old. So little is known about her or my gggrandmother Rebecca Holmes Williams. After much deliberation I went with Rebcca Holmes Williams.
I’d like to have a cup of coffee with Rebecca at her house early in 1872. My ggrandmother, her youngest child, would be an infant in a nearby crib. We could keep an eye on baby Mollie (Mary Ellen Williams Marshall) as we talked. By this time Rebecca has lived through enough for three lifetimes. I’m sure life’s wisdom is apparent in her.
Rebecca was born in 1833 in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. She married Isaac Williams there in Tuscarawas County in 1853. They were the parents of seven children but all four of their sons died either in infancy or as toddlers. The devastation this young couple must have felt
Women’s History Month – Share a Favorite Recipe or Dish From Your Mom or Grandma
My Mom
Lisa Alzo over at The Accidental Genealogist is posting a series of blogging prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month in March. The daily prompts give us the opportunity to write about our female ancestors. Today’s prompt is:
Share a favorite recipe from your mother or grandmother’s kitchen. Why is this dish your favorite? If you don’t have one that’s been passed down, describe a favorite holiday or other meal you shared with your family.
Now let me tell you my mom was not the world’s greatest cook. She did all right. Our meals were good but she didn’t have a flair for cooking or the desire to try new or different things. I can say this because I am my mother’s daughter. I cook well enough but I don’t pursue many new recipes or leaf through cookbooks. It’s just not my thing. So cooking or a favorite recipe isn’t something I’d readily associate with my mom. Except for one dish.
My mom’s homemade noodles. Whether it was chicken and noodles or beef and noodles (although I preferred beef and noodles) they were delicious!
I can still see her in the kitchen cracking eggs at the counter. She would separate the egg white from the yolk by pouring it between the two egg shell halves. There would be a bowl where the whites would drop and the separated yolk would go into another bowl. Mom would crack and sift a dozen eggs, then add flour and salt. There may have been other ingredients added that I missed as a kid. My sister has mom’s recipe so I need to get a copy from her.
Mom then rolled that mixture out on the floured counter top adding flour to keep the egg mixture from sticking to the rolling pin.
