Saturday, February 29, 1936

Cloudy and dull all day and cold-
Made a layer cake with lemon filling and oatflake cookies*, mopped and done usual Saturday work
Done all the chores- took bath this eve
Mother has been fine all day-

Butterscotch oatmeal cookies

*First of all, 1936 was a leap year, hence me posting 2 diary entries today. Secondly, I made Butterscotch Oatmeal cookies the other day! I figured I would combine Irene's love of 2 things into one. Just follow the recipe from January 21, 1936 post, but substitute 1 c. of butterscotch morsels for the cherries & nuts.

Friday, February 28, 1936

Colder but plesant
20 [degrees] above zero at noon
Had headache all day
Done all the chores and got meals and every day work-
Mother has been fine all day-
Rec'd letter from Lloyd-

Thursday, February 27, 1936

Thawed and plesant getting colder this eve-
Snowed a little this afternoon and again this eve*-
Done all the chores
Stewed prunes and made apple pudding^-
Cleaned out under the oven this A.M.
Took Mother over to Anna Bowers and Iliff and I went to Ithaca-
Aunty has been fine today-
Rec'd letter from Mildred Searles.

Baked Butterscotch Apple Pudding

*Same here. I guess the weather is one thing Irene would not find too different in 2014.


^You'll never guess what I found. No, unfortunately not Irene's recipe for apple pudding, but the great world of Google spit out a recipe Irene would have been happy to try- Butterscotch Apple Pudding! 

Baked Butterscotch Apple Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 1/2 cups sliced apples mixed with 1/3 cup brown sugar

Preparation:

In a saucepan, combine 1 cup brown sugar, and cornstarch, 1/4 cup butter. Stir in 1 cup water; cook over low heat until thickened. Pour mixture into a lightly buttered 10x6-inch baking dish. In a bowl, combine sifted flour, baking powder, salt, and 2/3 cup brown sugar. Blend in 1/4 cup butter and the 1/2 cup milk, stirring just until dampened. Stir in the sliced apples with 1/3 cup brown sugar. Pour apple batter over syrup in baking dish. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. 

Wednesday, February 26, 1936

Thawed but snowed some-
got grain from upper barn and done all the chores-
Washed kitchen windows out and inside too-
Finished apron* for Aunty and started one for myself.
Mother has been fine
Sent letter to Clara.
Rec'd letter from Christine
Iliff called this eve-


*OK. I've counted. Irene has finished 5 aprons; 4 for Mother, one for Aunty. Now she is working on one for herself.

Tuesday, February 25, 1936

South wind and thaws today-
Cloudy and dull but snow has melted a lot-
Harry Baker came this P.M.
I made tapioca custard* and stewed apples^-
1 1/2 tons of coal delivered today
Rec'd a letter and check from Clara- paid to March 2-
Mother has been fine today-
Wrote to Clara this eve-

Baked Tapioca Custard*

*I'm not sure if Irene would have made a baked tapioca custard but these two recipes looked rather promising. (Above image from the Cookmap.com recipe below.)

Baked Tapioca Pudding on Cookmap.com

Tapioca Custard Pudding on Lovetoknow.com

^For stewed apples see the February 6, 1936 post.

Monday, February 24, 1936

South wind and thaws-
Cloudy and dull-
Done all the chores and got 2 bushels of corn from corn house-
Finished the 4th apron* for Mother and have one well started for Aunty-
Mother has been fine all day

Aprons for the March 1931 issue of Needlecraft magazine*

*Since Irene has made about 10 aprons in less than 2 months, I thought I would look around the internet & see what I could find. I found this great blog called Apron History where I found the above image. The blogger (Heidi) even has vintage 1930s aprons in her collection. She has some great images, tutorials, & vintage aprons.

Sunday, February 23, 1936

Cold and plesant
24 [degrees] above zero at noon
Had a quiet Sunday all day- nothing eventful happened-
Done all the chores and got the meals*
Iliff called this eve-
Mother has been good all day but turned difficult after supper-
went up stairs to bed 11-30 o'clock

Meatloaf, roasted broccoli & potatoes with Ranch dressing

*Embracing my inner Irene, I made dinner (above), dessert, did 3 loads of laundry, swept the kitchen floor, & did the dishes. In my own diary I don't usually write these things down. I do mention what I did over the course of the day. I nearly always mention Fiona. Many times I mention my parents, family, & friends, but I don't usually tick off my to-do list. Here is my meatloaf recipe (based on my mom's whatever-is-in-the-cupboard meatloaf).

Tisha's Meatloaf

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 T garlic powder
• 1 T onion powder
• 1 t black pepper
• 1/4 t Kosher salt
• 1 c stuffing mix (like Stove Top or Bell's)
• 1 egg
• 3/4 c canned diced tomatoes

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk egg. Put diced tomatoes in food processor or blender for a few seconds to puree. Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl. Pack meatloaf mixture into a loaf pan (I prefer glass) & bake until internal temperature is 160-170 degrees F (about 35 minutes).


02/23/2015 UPDATE: I neglected to mention that the dinner plate in the above image is from my grandmother Mildred's set. We still have a couple of dinner plates, & a couple of salad plates. My mother tells a story about going to visit Iliff & Mildred at the farm in the Town of Ira where my dad grew up. At dinner, Mom was trying to get the mashed potatoes off the serving spoon onto my sister or brother's plate & she accidentally banged the spoon on the plate. Mildred complained that Mom didn't know how to treat the dishes. To this day, if someone clangs silverware against a dish we jokingly say they "don't know how to treat the dishes!"

Saturday, February 22, 1936

Cold and plesant
Still zero weather trees covered with frost this morning like fairy land
Made a cherry pie and jelly tarts and a layer cake*
Done all the chores- and regular Saturday work-
Mother has been fine all day-
500 lbs of coal delivered
No mail today^-

Jelly or jam tarts*

*Another busy baking day for Irene! (Image & recipe below from Mumsnet.com)

Jam Tarts

Ingredients

• 3/4 c butter
• 1/8 c caster (superfine) sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/5 c jam
• 7/8 c plain flour
• 1 pinch salt

Method

1. To make pastry, sift flour, salt and sugar into a bowl, rub to crumbs, stir in egg and make a ball - chill for half an hour.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and grease tartlet tins. Roll our pastry and stamp out circles, press into the tins and spoon a heaped tsp of jam into each.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

^So the coal truck can deliver, but that mail carrier didn't make it out. Interesting.

Friday, February 21, 1936

Cold and plesant
Made oatflake cookies*
Swept and dusted my bed room and kitchen-
Shovelled path to corn house and got a bushel of corn-
Done all the chores-
Mother has resented my presence all day stayed in Auntys kitchen except for her meals^-
Aunty had letter from Lloyd-



*If it's not butterscotch pudding, its oatflake cookies.

^I wonder if it was the oatflake cookies that kept her leaving Aunty's to grudgingly eat with Irene? Mother must have been in rare form.

Thursday, February 20, 1936

Cold and plesant
Chas came over and shovelled out driveway and caught the four hens at the woodhouse and we took them to the barn with the others-
I washed out my underwear and hose* and mended three dresses and hose and made butterscotch pudding-
Rec'd a letter from May Phelps-
Mother has been fine-

Woman draping stockings 1936*

*I find it interesting that my great-grandmother felt compelled to mention washing her underwear & stockings out. (Image from the National Archives. Titled: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Hosiery. Minnesac Mills. [Woman draping stockings.], 1936 - 1937 by Lewis Hine- National Archives Identifier: 518687 Local Identifier: 69-RP-500

Wednesday, February 19, 1936

Cold but plesant
10 [degrees] below zero this eve-
paths blowed full-
shovelled them all out. time 2 hours to do it-
Done all the chores-
I went over to the Brick house to get Chas. to shovell out drive way so coal truck* can deliver coal-
Mother has been rather difficult today-
Iliff called this eve-

A coal truck c. 1936. (from Old Cars Weekly)*

*During the Great Depression many homes were still heated with coal. This was changing. Soon oil would take over. A coal delivery truck like the one above is what Irene & Chas. would be shoveling the driveway for. (image from Old Cars Weekly posted Jan. 3, 2012)

Tuesday, February 18, 1936

Cold and windy
10 [degrees] below zero this eve-
paths blowed full-
Shovelled them out and done all the chores-
got three eggs* today-
Rec'd letter from Alice^-
Mother has been fine all day-

Chicken eggs (Taken or created by Fir0002)*

*I believe this is the 1st mention of eggs in all the times Irene has discussed (or implied about) the chickens. The days are getting longer, so more sunlight may be helping the girls along in their laying. The low temperatures are not helping. I found an great article on chickens & laying eggs in winter on a website called Local Harvest if you are interested. (Above image from Wikipedia.)


^Alice Fletcher. You can find an image of Alice on the Jan. 5, 1936 post.

Monday, February 17, 1936

Icy & cloudy with snow this P.M.
Made crabapple pie* and stewed prunes and washed Mothers sweater-
Done all the chores and got two bushels of corn from corn house-
Mother has been quiet and good but kept in Aunty's kitchen most of the day-

Preparing a crab apple pie from Three Clever Sisters blog*

*I have to say, I had the same view of crabapples as Sara of Three Clever Sisters blog, where I got the recipe below. "I’ve long thought that crabapples weren’t good for much of anything, figuring they were one of those ornamental fruits that tastes horrible–or worse." Apparently, we were wrong. Irene mentions using crabapples often. So give it a try when you are next faced with a batch of crab apples.

Crabapple Pie (from Three Clever Sisters blog)

 

Print

Ingredients

• 6 cups of unpeeled cored and quartered tart crabapples. (A generous 2½ pounds)
• 1c sugar
• 1T all-purpose flour
• ¼t salt
• 1½T lemon juice
• 1t vanilla extract
• ¼c water
• 1T milk or cream
• One prepared recipe of double-batch pie crust, divided into two discs.

Instructions

1. Have your pie crust prepared and chilling in the fridge.
2. Preheat the oven to 450F. Roll out half of your pie dough and place it in your pie pan. Return to the fridge or freezer to chill while you prepare the filling.
3. Toss crabapples with sugar, flour, salt, and lemon juice.  Pour this filling into your pie pan. Stir the vanilla extract and water together, and then sprinkle over the filling.
4. Spread filling in crust, sprinkle with vanilla lemon juice water  Roll out the second piece of dough and cover the filling.
5. Pinch or crimp the two crusts together, paint with the milk or cream, and then make several slits in the top layer of dough.
6. Bake for 15 minutes at 450F, then lower the heat to 375F and bake an additional 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling.
7. Cool 1-2 hours before serving.

Sunday, February 16, 1936

Icy but plesant
30 [degrees] above zero at noon-
Thawed some in the sun-
Had company dinner and not any one came*- Roast pork^- mashed potatoes, brown gravy, spinach, sweet potatoes, pickle pears, bread and butter, and pumpkin pie-
Iliff called this eve-
Washed Mothers neck and combed her hair- She has been good all day

Pork loin from The Comfort of Cooking^

*This is so sad. Irene spent 2-3 days preparing this amazing meal & no one came, probably due to the ice. Poor Great-grandma.

^Roast Pork Loin recipe here.

Saturday, February 15, 1936

Icy and colder
20 [degrees] above zero at noon-
Made pumpkin pie and a cake and roasted a porkloin roast and mopped kitchen
usual Saturday work-
Mother has been restless and quarrelsome* with Aunty today and kept away from me also-



*Readers have been wondering what affliction Mother was suffering from. We are unsure. The family doesn't have any medical information regarding Mother. Plus, all the family members that would remember her, like my grandfather (Iliff Dolton, Sr.) & his cousins (notably Hazel & Vera Dolton) are all dead. My parents & I speculate that Mother may have been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease or Dementia. I have to say that I am pleased that readers of this blog seem truly interested in the well being of these women. Thank you for reading & caring about my family.

Friday, February 14, 1936

Warmer 30 [degrees] above zero
Icy all over the snow-
Had to shovell out the paths
They were drifted full-
Cooked pumpkin for pies also prunes-
Mother has been very quiet and good all day-
She rec'd valentine* from Clara-

1936 valentine like Mother could have received from Clara*

*Vintage valentine courtesy of the Vintage Valentine Museum.

Thursday, February 13, 1936

Cold 16 [degrees] above zero S.E. wind at noon today- stormy*
Mended Mothers sweater
Rec'd a valentine and letter from Christine today.
Susie Harring called this P.M.
Mother had a bad spell this afternoon- determined to walk alone to Leroy Browns-
She got quiet before bedtime-
She wrote a letter to Clara-

Nor'easter in Greenwich, NY- February 13, 2014

*I'm thinking Irene's storm in Ludlowville in 1936 was nowhere near what we are getting in Greenwich right now in 2014. Holy nor'easter Batman! The snow & wind are crazy right now.

Wednesday, February 12, 1936

Lincoln's birthday*
Cold but moderating a little
14 [degrees] above zero at noon
Made chocolate pudding and cup custard and oat flake cookies today-
Done all the chores and swept and dusted-
Mother has been fine today
Rec'd a letter from Clara to Aunty-

Abraham Lincoln in 1863 daguerreotype*

*Irene made a point of saying it was Lincoln's birthday even though her diary has some pre-printed historical facts for each date. This leads me to believe that his birthday was important to her as a remembrance. I have a friend who's mother used to make a special cake for Lincoln's birthday. I can't remember if it was a log cabin, or just a log. (Image comes from Wikimedia Commons & is in the public domain.)

Tuesday, February 11, 1936

Cold but plesant
Done chores and washed out table linen and towells and ironed them-
got corn from corn house-
Fringed* on the linen lunch cloth and overcasted the seam.
Cleaned mothers head today-
Mother has been fine today-
Iliff called this evening-

Fringed napkin like Irene and Mother were working on*

*I found this tutorial on how to fringe linen napkins. Above image from Molly's Sketchbook on The Purl Bee as linked.

Monday, February 10, 1936

Monday*
Cold but plesant
6 [degrees] below zero this A.M-
Done chores and had biscuits with chicken dinner-
Mother has been very good all day-




*My Monday in 2014 hasn't been very interesting either. A bit warmer than Irene's Monday in 1936 though. No chicken dinner, though I am going out for Buffalo wings with my daughter's father. My mother broke her ankle last week & hasn't been good all day. She is getting antsy already & she still has 5-6 weeks in a cast to go.

Sunday, February 9, 1936

Sunday
Harry and Clara left 2 o clock this P.M.
Had nice chicken dinner-
Clara measured the front south room and measured linen for lunch cloth and 4 napkins for Mother to fringe-
Vera and Gib* called this eve
also Iliff and brought me some of Mildreds birthday cake^ and ice cream
Mother has been fine today




*Vera Dolton was the daughter of Frank Dolton. Frank & Irene's husband Willard were brothers. Gib (or Geb) was, supposedly, Vera's husband. No one in the family would talk about the relationship & some deny Vera was ever married. I actually met Vera & her older sister Hazel a couple of times. They lived together in a house in Niagara Falls for many years.

^I have to say, that Mildred's chocolate cake that I made yesterday was better the second day. My pastry chef sister suggested I cut the flour to 2 c & add 1/4 c cocoa powder for a moister, more chocolaty cake.

Saturday, February 8, 1936

Mildreds* birthday
Made a layer cake^ and tapioca pudding for dinner-
Dressed a rooster and done all the chores this A.M.
Cleaned the kitchen this P.M.
Harry and Clara came about 10- o'clock this eve-
Mother was quite difficult this afternoon and evening-
Weather moderated some today-

Mildred and Frances Searles c. 1925

*As stated before, Mildred Searles is the oldest daughter of Irene's friend Florence Searles, & her husband Adelbert. Mildred was born in 1910. Mildred's sister Frances married Donald Sharpsteen & had one son, also named Donald. The younger Donald is my father's only cousin. Frances died of tuberculosis in a sanitarium in the Adirondacks when she was only 25 years old.

^I do have a recipe or two of Mildred's. To celebrate her birthday today I used her chocolate cake recipe & baked a layer cake. The recipe is below.

The recipe below in Mildred's handwriting

Mildred's Chocolate Layer Cake

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. shortening
3 eggs (large)
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 1/4 c. flour, sifted
2 t. vanilla
1/2 c. buttermilk (or sour milk)
3 oz. unsweetened or semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 c. boiling water

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease & flour two 9" round pans. 

Beat brown sugar, shortening together. Mix in eggs. 

Beating the eggs, shortening, & brown sugar

Beat in salt, baking powder, & 1 c. of flour. Mix in  another 1 c. flour. When mixed, add remaining 1/4 c. flour, & vanilla. 

Adding final bit of flour & vanilla

Mix in buttermilk until combined. 

Mixing in buttermilk

In heat proof bowl, melt baking chocolate in boiling water. When chocolate is completely melted, slowly add the mixture to the cake batter. Beat one minute. 

Pouring in chocolate melted in boiling

Pour 1/2 batter in each pan. Bake 28-34 minutes. Let cool 3 minutes. Remove cakes from pans to continue cooling on wire rack. Assemble layer cake with your favorite icing. 

Chocolate cake frosted with chocolate icing

The cake is moist & not too dense. It has more of a subtle, milk chocolate flavor, & is not too sweet. I only made a 1/2 batch of icing (the recipe on the inside of the Baker's chocolate box), & used all of it. I'm not a big icing fan, so it is a very thin layer. I like it, but I think most people would prefer more of a chocolaty flavor.

UPDATE: My pastry chef sister suggests cutting the flour to 2 c & adding 1/4 c cocoa powder. This would make it a bit moister & more chocolaty.  

Friday, February 7, 1936

Cold zero this A.M.
Done all the chores and got corn and grain-
Swept and dusted up stairs-
Rec'd a letter from Christine today-
Harry Baker came this after-noon and brought groceries & meat and shovelled out driveway
Mother has been wonderfull all day



*Irene really loved to double up on her "L"s. I was just chatting with someone on Twitter about weird double letters in English, like bookkeeping, misspelled, & earrings, but in Irene's case these are misspellings. At least she is consistent with it.

Thursday, February 6, 1936

Aunt Emmeline's* birthday-
Plesant but cold- 4 [degrees] below zero tonight-
Made oat flake cookies^ and stewed apples** today-
Done all the chores but Aunty went to barn this P.M. and brought in the sick white rooster.
Rec'd letter from Clara today-
Iliff called this eve-




*Aunt Emmaline refers to the wife of Eli Dolton. Eli & Willet Dolton were brothers. Willet was Willard's father. Willard was Irene's husband & Iliff's (Sr.) father.

^The oat flake cookies have made another appearance. I warned, you she makes them a lot!

**Stewed apples & prunes were popular with Irene too. I found a simple stewed apples recipe on Penny's Recipes by Penny Ritson.

Stewed Apples
1-2 apples per person, peeled and chopped
Splash of apple juice (or water)
1 teaspoon of sugar per apple

• Place the apples, juice/water and sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan
• Heat up on a medium heat until bubbling
• Stir, cover with a lid and turn down heat a little
• Cook for 20-30 minutes until soft (depends on type of apple)
• Adjust liquid as necessary

Wednesday, February 5, 1936

Colder today wind in north
8 [degrees] above zero at noon
Done all the chores and some washing* this A.M.
Ironed this P.M.
Mother has been wonderfull all day-

Maytag wringer/washer 1936*

*Irene may have had a wringer/washer like this one from Maytag. Image from North Country Public Radio.

Tuesday, February 4, 1936

Strong south wind getting warmer, thawing a little -
Done all the chores and shovelled out paths
Mother* has been difficult all day accused me of borrowing her mittens and now they are lost.
She has hid them some place.
gave her a new pair-



*As far as my parents can tell, "Mother" refers to Irene's step-mother, second wife of her father Irvin Smith. My mom (the genealogist) thinks she has tracked down the name of this women, but is still working on it. Irene's own mother Ophelia died on Christmas day 1894 when Irene was about 14 years old. We are unsure who "Aunty" is, but since she also receives correspondence from Clara, like Irene & Mother, we assume Aunty is Mother's sister. We also believe that Clara is the daughter of one of Mother's children (Frank, Violet, Mary, or C. Alfred), making Clara Mother's granddaughter.

Monday, February 3, 1936

South wind but cold
Stormy this eve-
Mother been good all day-
Iliff came and took me to Ithaca-
Had my shoes that I bought in Buffalo repaired
bought me a pair of jersey* gloves for chores-
Wrote to Aunt Emmeline and sent her a birthday card also one to Mildred^-

Jersey work gloves like Irene's

*I was thinking this referred to hide of a Jersey cow, but it turns out it is Jersey knit work gloves.

^Mildred Searles, daughter of a fore mentioned Florence Searles, friend of Irene.

Sunday, February 2, 1936

Sunday Cold but plesant-
Mother has been difficult all day-
Took my bath-
Done all the chores-
Aunty has a head cold- gave her cold tablets every 2 hours all afternoon-
Iliff called this evening-

Saturday, February 1, 1936

Cold Zero weather
Made three pumpkin pies* and layer cake and mopped kitchen and usual Saturday cleaning-
Done all the chores-
Mother never went to bed all night and has been tired but good all day-
Rec'd letter and $10.00 check from Clara- pays Feb. 3- from Jan 20-

Pumpkin pie recipe from Fannie Farmer Cookbook 11th ed.

*My mother's, Tamaris Dolton (nee Martin), favorite cookbook is the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, 11th edition (1965). A few years back, I bought my little sister, Heather Dolton, a copy as a gift. She is a pastry chef. Then I bought myself a copy. Mom still has hers. The spine is gone, & the binding is broken. It opens right up to 4 or 5 recipes she always made, sugar cookies, hot milk cake... Yum!

Friday, January 31, 1936

Cold 4 [degrees] below zero at 8 oclock A.M.
Mother has been pouty and restless all day-
Cooked pumpkin for pies-
Done all the chores-
Wrote letter to Florence Griffin