Thursday, December 24, 1936

plesant s wind
Made a layer cake with date filling and cherry pie and 2 shells and apple turn over for dinner-
Mopped the kitchen and dustedthrough the two living rooms & kitchen-
Clara & Harry came about four o'clock this afternoon-
Iliff came and took me over to the Searles' tree
Had a wonderfull evening-

My Christmas Tree from 2009

Sunday, November 15, 1936

Sunday rainy & windy changing to snow this eve-
Iliff came for me to go to Searles' for dinner and the afternoon-
Had baked ham and a big dinner-
Leon Apgar & wife and Wm Apgar* & wife and Donald & Francis & Donnie called-
Iliff brought me back 7 o'clock and went on to Buffalo-
Stormy night for him to drive-



*Mildred's mother Florence's maiden name was Apgar.

Saturday, September 5, 1936

plesant & cool
I made butterscotch pudding and swept & dusted the two south living rooms and rubbed with cedar oil the furniture in Auntys north living room and washed the windows inside in the south room
Clara took Mother for a ride-
Took my bath at bed time.

The wedding announcement of Searles/Slocum*

*I am asuming this Mary L. Searles is a cousin to Irene's daughter-in-law (my grandmother) Mildred Searles Dolton.

Saturday, August 15, 1936

Thunder shower 4- P.M.
Iliff and Harry drawed in 3 load of oats-
I baked huckleberry pie* & custard pie and made veal stew^ for dinner-
Iliff went to spend evening with Mildred so Harry and I called on Clara, Mother & Aunty this eve-
Had a very interesting time-

Veal Stew from the recipe below- saveur.com

*Huckleberry Pie recipe
^Veal Stew recipe

Thursday, August 13, 1936

plesant all day Hot
I made corn starch custard & chocolate bar cake and moppd Iliff's bedroom, dining room & kitchen-
Iliff threshed and pressed straw all day for Alvord Baker-
Harry split some more wood and went up to see them thresh after dinner-
Harry & I went to a show "The Devil meets a Lady."*
Iliff spent the eve with Mildred.

*I think Irene means the 1936 film starring Bette Davis, "Satan Met a Lady."

Tuesday, July 7, 1936

plesant all day very warm
Clara & Mother went to town in forenoon and Clara and Aunty went back to town in afternoon-
I picked lettuce and black raspberries in forenoon and cleaned the tea kettles and got the dinner-
and entertained* Mother in the afternoon-


*Interesting phrase. Irene hasn't used this before. I wonder what her tone was as she was writing this.

Friday, July 3, 1936

Had a little shower about noon
Shot a wood chuck today
Alice Bristol called this A.M.
Mrs. Evans called this P.M. and Genie Hall stayed to supper-
Clara went to Ithaca
Leroy Hall cultivated the corn.
Mother has been good today.

Thursday, July 2, 1936

plesant all day
Raining at 10-30 this evening
Done up the washing while Clara took  Mother to Ithaca
Shot at^ woodchucks this P.M.
Harry hoed the potatoes & fixed a little run for Aunty's chickens and put chickens wire in garden to keep woodchucks from beans and they bothered all afternoon-
Harry left for home 11-30 A.M.
Iliff and Mildred came to pay Aunty for wheat.
*Mother bad all day.



^This is double underlined in the diary entry. Must be Irene was trying to scare the woodchucks away, rather than kill them.

*This line is written vertically up the left hand side of the diary entry.

Wednesday, May 13, 1936

Thunder showers last night and this afternoon-
Killed Delbert Searles'* white cow and struck his shed and tore off boards and broke windows of the shed-
Iliff came & told us about it,
I mowed lawn all forenoon-
Rec'd card and package of Townsend Weekly papers from Ella Miller today
much colder this eve
Mother good-



*Delbert Searles' real name was Adelbert & he had a twin sister named Adele. Delbert was Mildred Searles' father.

Sunday, April 5, 1936

Sunday-
cold and coudy with rain this eve-
Harry Baker came this morning-
went for a ride this afternoon-
called at Searles' to see Iliff and went to Groton-
called on Bertha Suley on the way back.
Had strawberry shortcake for dinner and asparagas*-
Mother has been unhappy today



*Interesting combination. I guess Irene lives by the motto "Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first." by Ernestine Ulmer.

Wednesday, April 1, 1936

Cold but plesant but changing to rain 8-30 P.M.
Aunty and Florence Searles both Fooled me*-
I made two elderberry pies and a molasses cake-
combed Mothers hair etc-
Mother got mad at dinner time and Iliff took her in car to brick house-
Iliff and I went to Ithaca and got groceries and then got Mother-
Robert Bower called this eve to see Clara

April Fools' Day is often portrayed with a jester^

*Darn! I wish Irene recorded what the pranks/ jokes were. For a taste of the kind of April Fools' Day joke the media was playing in 1936, check out this hoax from the Honolulu Star- Bulletin.

^Free coloring page can be found on Kids Coloring.

Sunday, March 22, 1936

Sunday
Plesant all day North wind-
The electric line men* fixed the wires so we have lights tonight-
Iliff called this eve-
brought me his make of doughnuts and Florence^ sent me a bowl of ice cream-
both gifts were wonderfull-
Mother has been quiet all day-
We are all tired from lack of sleep and nerves caused by the storm and lack of lights.



*Now I have "Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell stuck in my head. 

^Irene's friend Florence Searles, mother of Mildred Searles.

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.  

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.

Thursday, January 23, 1936

Clara's birthday
Christine's birthday*
Stormy and windy and cold wave-
Rec'd letter from Clara telling about a storm in Newburg-
Done all the chores today and hemed Aunty's dress and finished an apron for Mother
Mother has been pretty good all day-

List of birthdays found in Irene's diary

*Christine refers to Christine Smith. I never met her, but I did meet her brother Chester Smith & his wife Laura when I was in high school. They grew orchids for Cornell University. You can see Chester & Christine's birthdays listed on the paper above.

Tuesday, January 14, 1936

Bright but windy all day
Washed Mothers wool dress and my nubby crash* dress and ironed it and sewed on buttons
Done the chores-
Mother has been quiet and good all day- Rec'd a letter from Florence Searles and also one from Clara with check for $15.00 from Dec. 30 to Jan 20

*I had to look this up. Crash fabric is fabric made from "rough, uneven yarns." Crash fabric is inherently "nubby" because when uneven yarns a woven, they create bumps, or nubs, in the finished cloth.