Family Recipe Friday - Elizabeth's Broccoli Salad

When my brother was married in 1974, I gained a new sister, but our family received  a wonderful new cook!  Elizabeth loves to cook and she has discovered some recipes that have quickly become family traditions.  One of those recipes is the one I am sharing in today's Family Recipe Friday. It is Broccoli Salad, and since Thanksgiving of 1976, it has been a staple at just about all our gatherings.

Broccoli Salad
4 10 oz. Boxes chopped Broccoli
2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 Eggs
1 c. Mayonnaise
2 Packages Cheddar Cheese

Cooking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Combine broccoli, soup, eggs, mayonnaise and 1 cup of cheese.  Bake 45 minutes. The last 15 minutes sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Rick and Elizabeth, shortly after their marriage in 1974

This recipe is very simple, but looks and tastes incredible!

Those Places Thursday - Howard Johnson's Motel




My Dad, My Brothers, and Me at the Howard Johnson's

 

When I was almost 4 years old, we took our first, and biggest, family vacation.  It was a road trip to Alpena, Michigan and it would require a couple of overnight stays in a motel.  I can't tell you in which city we stopped, but I do have some strong memories about a Howard Johnson's motel.  Since I was so young, they are just fragments of remembrance, but I can close my eyes and see them clearly.  This was the first time I ever had one of those tiny, single serving boxes of cereal that they served for breakfast at the restaurant that was always attached to the motel.  After that trip, I begged my mother to buy them for me at home! The roof was bright orange, the doors to the rooms were alternately green and orange and there were machines that dispensed ice in the hallway.  We took pictures outside the motel before we headed farther north, everyone smiling and clearly having fun.  Within a few years,  we would spend nights in another Howard Johnson's.  This time in Lexington, Kentucky where we went to see my brothers working together as an evangelistic team.  On this trip our group included my grandmother, sister in law, and my brother's girlfriend.  I was older this time and could appreciate the comfortable bed and free stationary!  Each occasion we would have to travel, we would usually look for a Howard Johnsons because it was a name we knew we could trust. 

Mom and Dad in Lexington at Howard Johnsons

In the 90's, of course,  Howard Johnson's Motels decided to change their image and they became Hojo Inns, which I thought made them sound cheap. Even though they were not elegant places to stay, we never had one complaint about a stay in one of their motels.  I can't say the same about some of today's hotel chains.  Whenever I see these pictures, I have to smile remembering that special place, the Howard Johnsons Motel.

Wordless Wednesday - Grandpa and Grandson

This is one of my favorite photographs. It pictures my father and his grandfather, John Huffman, of Sabina, Ohio.  This was taken when my dad was on leave from the Air Force in 1951.

Tuesday's Tip - Internet Archive - Digital Library

One of my favorite resources for genealogical research is old county history books.  I have been amazed at the amount of personal family history I have discovered in books written in the early 1900's about Ohio and Illinois. My ancestors were early settlers in both states and to my delight I have found entire biographical paragraphs written about my relatives. The Internet Archive Digital Library is a valuable site for anyone who is looking for these types of history books and the fact that there is no charge for it's use makes it even better!    I have had to rely a great deal on the resources that are available to me online, so I am always thankful to discover new websites like this one. 

Another site you might wish to check out if you are interested in Army records is The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center.  You can search for Army information, watch videos and more.

Let me know if you make any new discoveries!

Military Monday - NCR Norris Men in the Service

The above article appeared in the monthly magazine that was published by The National Cash Register Company in Dayton.  It states:  "World Wars I and II - Top picture shows L.V. Norris, of Polishing-Plating Department, as a Corporal in World War I.  Above left: Pfc. Edgar M. Norris, son of L.V. Norris, enlisted in the Air Force in February, 1944 and is now a gunnery instructor of B-29's at Clovis, N.M. Right: Corp. Donald L. Norris, another son, is somewhere in Germany with a medical detachment.  He has been overseas since September, 1944 and has seen many of the father's old camping grounds.  The boys are brothers of Jeanne Norris, Telephone Exchange."

I have written previously about NCR and it's importance to my family and to my hometown.  Each month NCR distributed a magazine that detailed not only the business news, but also information about the employees and their families. I am lucky enough to have several of those books and newsletters in my collection.   I have always loved this particular article, which discusses my grandfather, two of my uncles, and my aunt who all worked at NCR along with both of my parents.  

Sentimental Sunday - Grandma at the Grocery Store

Today I was searching through my family history folders when I spied this photograph of my grandmother, Imogene Huffman Shoemaker.   She is pictured standing in the produce department of the little grocery store in Sabina, Ohio where she worked.   She was only 43 years old when my grandfather passed away suddenly of a heart attack and was overnight a single mother without an income.   I remember being told that her parents wanted her to move in with them so they could take care of her and my aunt, who at that time was just a little girl.  My father was just out of high school and soon would be married and entering the service.  My grandma was determined that she would take care of herself so she declined my great grandparents offer of a home and she got herself a job working in the grocery store.  By the time I was born, she had been employed there for many years and  I can well remember driving to Sabina on a couple of occasions when she would still be at work and we would stop in and surprise her.  At Easter, she would sometimes bring me decorations that had been hanging up in the store and she never failed to bring my brothers and me a chocolate bunny or fruit cream eggs as a special surprise.   So, today, I am feeling a little sentimental about this photograph and the memory makes me so proud of all my grandparents and very grateful for the legacy of integrity and determination they gave me.

Shopping Saturday - May, 1940

It's May 10, 1940.  The minimum wage is .30 per hour and the average yearly salary is $1900.00

Winston Churchill has just succeeded Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister of the UK,  Adolph Hitler has just announced the beginning of a fight that would "decide the fate of the German nation for the next 1000 years", James M.Cox, publisher of the Dayton Daily News is visiting his friend and former running mate, Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House.  It also happens to be only 2 days before Mother's Day and you still have to purchase a gift for your mom.  Opening the Dayton Daily News, looking beyond the frightening stories of the war in Europe, you find numerous advertisements for the merchants in the Dayton area.  At Elder's Bargain Basement (one of the stores that will become the Elder-Beerman Department Store) you can buy spring coats for $8.00 and sheer print dresses for only $3.99.  A chenille bedspread is selling for $2.98, while at the Finke Furniture Company on East Fifth St. a complete 11 piece bedroom can be purchased for $59. with $2.50 down and $1.00 a week.

If you want to update your kitchen with a gas range that has "completely everything" you can drive down Fifth Street to the Home Equipment Co. and buy this one for $69.95 with no down payment and $1.00 per week.  So many choices! What do you think she will want?

As I carefully turned the pages of the newspaper for May 10, 1940, I found it interesting to note that the advertisers on the sports page included not only quite a few men's clothing stores but also numerous liquor distillers like the Bardstown Distillery and Rittenhouse Bourbon, while on the society pages furriers and soap companies, like Palmolive ruled the space. 

As much as I love reading the news articles in these old papers, I almost enjoy looking at the advertisements even more.   The Rike-Kumler Company (now Macy's), Thal's, The Metropolitan, Zapoleon, Inc,  Muir's Cut Rate Drugs, and so many more are  now long gone but are a part of our city's rich history.  I try to buy these old newspaper whenever I find one that is affordable. What a wonderful way to see "the way it was" and the products from which our ancestors had to choose!

Family Recipe Friday - Mom's Sloppy Joe's

For today's Family Recipe Friday post, I am sharing my mom's recipes for Sloppy Joes.  I will always remember my mom cooking supper in the kitchen, waiting for the hour when my dad would walk through the door.  I was lucky enough to grow up in a house where we were able to sit down at the dinner table together just about every night.  To this day, whenever my brothers and I need some comfort food these sloppy joes are what we ask for!

*Please note: June Cleaver had nothing on my mom! She always looked this great when she was cooking dinner!

Mom's Sloppy Joes

2 lbs. Hamburger

2 cans Chicken Gumbo Soup

Onion

2 T.  Catsup

1 T. Mustard

1. Brown Hamburger

2. Add soup, onion, catsup, mustard, and simmer for at least 20 minutes.