I was excited today to find out that had sold one of my genealogy books on Ebay! I have been researching the family trees of both myself and my husband. Les had wanted to start it but didn't follow through, so I dived in. I started with The Family Tree Maker Program which is a great program to start out with. You can add information in and generate reports to see what you have, how relationships work, and so much more. Then I purchased an Ancestry.com account, which also connects to the FTM program.
I made a HUGE mistake at first. I followed everyone's trees, assuming they had done their research and knew what they were doing. I found out that all trees lead to the Mayflower and Royalty, whether they should or not. I have spent many years pruning my trees, using a paper trail versus everyone else's research. My husband does actually have some German royalty on his side, but mine consists of pickpockets released from Newgate and sent to New England as indentured servants. That isn't entirely true, Nathaniel Woodward came after the Mayflower and was the surveyor for the Plymouth Colony, and others from Ireland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and England who came to look for a better life. Some were founders of various towns across the United States. Some were infamous such as John Wesley Hardin. All are interesting and part of my history, good, bad, or indifferent.
My husband passed away in 2009 and I worked harder on genealogy just to keep my mind going in a positive way. I started writing books on the various lines of our family tree. Now I take care of an invalid mother, so my writing and research keep my mind busy as I sit at home. My trees are growing and are always interesting. The one thing I have found is that my husband and my trees connect in various places. We share a distant great grandfather, his uncle married one of my distant cousins, and various distant cousins married each other's distant cousins. We are from different parts of the US. (My kids think it is creepy). With my research, I feel certain to find friends I am related to.
I have a growing list of FREE genealogy links in the page section of this blog. Great resources to help you get started in you research.
If you are interested in learning more about starting genealogy or interested in getting a jump start, feel free to contact me. Are we family? I am always looking for Woodwards, Andersons, Spears, Bakers, Hansons, Steel(e)s, Ruddick (various spellings) and Cattles.
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Years ago I purchased a book called Cheaper & Better by Nancy Birnes. It is no longer published and hard to find. It has some great recipes on how to make products and food you use often. Here are some fun recipes for your pantry.
Healthy Bread Crumbs
2 cups stale bread
1. Preheat oven to 250F degrees
2. Arrange bread in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes to crisp. cool.
3. Break into small pieces and feed, slowly, into a blender or a food processor. Store crumbs in an airtight container. Crumbs will keep for several weeks on a pantry shelf and indefinitely in the freezer. Continue to replenish as you get stale bread. Stir the new crumbs in with the older to mix.
Diced Minced Vegetables
Good use of batches of vegetables before they get totally limp, ie celery, green peppers, onions, or mushrooms
1 to 2 cups vegetables, finely chopped
1. Preheat oven to 120F degrees
2. Spread finely chopped vegetables in a thin layer on a cookie sheet. Dry in oven until crisp. The drying time will vary, depending on amount of moisture in the air and in the vegetables. Plan on leaving the tray in the oven for at least 12 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. Cool and store immediately in a sterilized dry glass or metal container with a tight-fitting lid for up to 6 months in the pantry.
Shake-in-a-Bag Mix for Chicken
1 cup Healthy Bread Crumbs
1/2 cup Flour
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons Dried Minced Celery (recipe above)
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1. Mix all ingredients and store in a tightly closed container. The mixture will keep on the pantry shelf for 1 to 4 months in dry weather. if the temperature is hot or humid, you can keep the mix in the freezer for 6 to 12 months.
To Use:
If you have the around, use brown paper bags to shake chicken in
Have ready
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Gently beat the milk and egg together in a bowl deep enough for dipping
3. Cut chicken into serving size pieces; wash and pat dry with paper toweling. Fill a paper bag with 1 cup of the coating mix.
4. Dip each piece into the milk-egg mixture and then drop a piece of chicken into the bag and shake. Let pieces dry thoroughly before baking.
5. Place chicken in a shallow, lightly greased baking dish and bake for 1 hour or until very tender when you test with a fork.
Look for more ideas every Friday.
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