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

Tuesday, December 8, 1936

plesant but cold
6 [degrees] above zero this morning
Made a grape pie* and macaroni and cheese for dinner-
Harry put weather strips on my bedroom door this morning-
He went home to Half Acre this afternoon-
Susie Harring called this afternoon-
She invited me too come to church-
I got warmer shirt and another skirt on Mother this morning-
She has been good today-

Grape Pie recipe by Irene Bouchard*

*Grape pie is a Central NY tradition. Check out this recipe featured in the Fall/Winter 2002 edition of Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore.

Sunday, September 20, 1936

Sunday plesant & cool
Made a cake* this morning and took the canned corn down cellar-
Combed Mothers hair and washed her neck & ears and I took a bath this afternoon
Charles reports a baby girl born today about noon-
named Gertrude Carrol-
the mother Florence got along fine-
Just 15 months to the day of Charles Jr's birth June 20, 1935-



*I am embracing my inner Irene. Tonight I am baking cheddar herb biscuits, cranberry orange scones, & brownies for my best friend's baby shower tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 1, 1936

plesant and cool
Made bread today had fresh biscuits for supper-
gave Aunty 3 cups of light bread dough to make bread cake*-
It all came out fine-
I ironed some of the flat pieces an hour and a quarter-
Clara & Mother went for a ride this eve-
Clara has had indegestion all day-
Mother got nervous this P.M.

Bread Cake from Quinn's Baking Diary blog*

*I had never heard of this before. Apparently, it is simply bread & cake baked together in a loaf pan. I wasn't able to find a lot of recipes online, but I did discover this one from Quinn's Baking Diary, though she made hers in a fluted pan. <Image from Quinn's Baking Diary blog>

Friday, August 28, 1936

plesant cool but rain all evening-
I made a lemon pie and canned 4 pints of Damson plum* preserves
Leroy Hall worked all day cutting wood and relaying the walk and cleaning out rubbish in the garage-
I made muffins for supper-
Mother has been very keyed up all day-
Mary Brong Miles and daughter & Mrs. Youngs called-

Damson plums are the small, dark purple ones^

^Image attribution: By Alois Lunzer (Brown Brothers Continental Nurseries Catalog 1909) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons


*Damson plums are a small European plum. The recipe below is from Ten Thousand Places blog...

Damson Plum Jam

1 quart damson plums, stemmed and washing, but still whole

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup water

Bring all ingredients to a boil, mashing the plums with a potato masher (my favorite jamming tool!).  

The  pits will mostly float to the top, but they are tiny and I found it difficult to scoop out while the jam is cooking, so: once the jam is mashed and cooking (it will seem very very juicy), pour it through a fine mesh sieve or, if you have it, a food mill, into a heat proof bowl.  With the sieve, you will have to use a spatula to press the pulp through the sieve, so some of the skins get into the jam too (they will continue to flavor the jam with their tartness).  Thrown out the remaining pulp/pit mixture, and return the jam to the pot.  If you want to be really really diligent, you can scoop out the individual pits and put the entire pulp back into the pot, but I got lazy after about ten minutes.  So long as you are using a nice flexible spatula with the sieve, you'll be able to press almost everything good out of the skins through the sieve.  A food-mill would just make it that much easier.

Boil till jelly state, continuing to stir and scrape the bottom of the pan.  You can tell this by several tests, but I usually eyeball it.  When you lift you spoon, if they jam comes off it in sheets, rather than individual drops or streams, then it is ready.  I tried to take a picture of this, but, failed.  The picture to your left is of  not-yet-jelly stage, badly out of focus.

Pour into hot sterilized jars, sealing them or covering with paraffin according to your preference.  This recipe makes about five 4oz. jars.  I successfully doubled the recipe to make to 11 4 oz jars.

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."

Friday, August 7, 1936

foggy this morning early plesant all day-
Done the washing this forenoon
Shot a rabbit  in the garden this morning and dressed it and cooked it for dinner-
Ella Miller and Leroy Lobdell came this afternoon and brought a quart of ice cream^ and ice cubes and tomatoes for supper-
I made a cake and baking pow-biscuits for supper and made a platter of cold rabbit fine time
*Iliff called this eve-

^The ability to buy ice cream in a variety of flavors to enjoy at home we owe to confectioner & inventor Augusts Jackson. Jackson was a chef at the White House during the Madison Administration. After her returned to Philadelphia he opened a candy shop & began experimenting with ice cream recipes, like chocolate & strawberry. Eventually he came up with an improved method for manufacturing ice cream & began selling it in tins for home consumption, becoming one of the richest African Americans in that city. <Above is singer/songwriter Ellis Paul's song about Augustus Jackson from his album "The Hero In You" recorded February 23, 2014 at KDHX St. Louis.>

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

Monday, August 3, 1936

Hot day-
Monday plesant all day
Aunty and I both washed curtains
Aunty for north room upstairs and I washed the three in pantry and the two pair in kitchen-
I made oat flake pudding* for dinner from the left over cooked oat flake-
put in an egg, sugar, and milk with vanilla-
It needed raisins, dates, or prunes or something else to give flavor
Mr. Bergdoff did not press hay-

Visitor list from Irene's diary

*At first I thought Irene wrote pudding instead of cookies, but as I read further... how ingenious! I think dates would be a good choice, though I make my oatmeal cookies with cherries, so that would be my choice.

Saturday, August 1, 1936

plesant and cool
Made a layer cake with the center layer chocolate this morning-
Aunty and I rec'd a letter from Clara in Montana-
They are having a wonderfull time-
Been sore and lame today for the weeks cleaning-
Aunty has been fine- but lonesome

Saturday, July 18, 1936

plesant but had a sunshiny sprinkle this afternoon about a dozen drops
Made elderberry pie and layer cake and worked in garden this afternoon
hoed tomatoes, cabbages and onions.
Mrs. Evans & Elnora called this eve-
A skunk ate Aunty's setting eggs-
A dog got in Leroy's sheep killed one bit 2-
*Rec'd telegram from Clara of safe arrival-


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

Friday, July 10, 1936

plesant but Hot
cooked chicken and made fruit jello, baking powder biscuits & cooked asparagus for dinner
Clara went to town-
did not have dinner untill 2-30
Harry came this eve all ready to go to Montana-
Harry, Clara & Mother went for a ride this eve brought back ice cream-
Mother not so good-

Saturday, July 4, 1936

plesant all day
Harry came this morning
I made a jelly layer cake and strawberry short cake and macaroni & cheese and green peas for dinner-
Had deviled eggs for supper-
Harry took us for a ride this afternoon to Geo. Junior Republic* and called on Maggie King Dedrich and also Iliff-
Mother very nervous


*The George Junior Republic was founded in Freeville, NY around 1890 by William Reuben George which, eventually, turned into a colony to assist wayward children to become better citizens. The organization was revamped, & in 2006 became The William George Agency for Children's Services.

Saturday, June 6, 1936

plesant all day
Made oat flake cookies, & cake
Roasted beef, stewed rubarb & prunes-
Mopped & dusted the kitchen & woodhouse-
changed Mothers dress & apron & cap and combed her hair-
Very nervous, looking for Clara through the house all day-
Harry cleaned up Aunty's burdock patch in back yard and made her chicken-coop & cut grass to mulch around tomato plants-
*Mr & Mrs Warren Dean came to buy hay- $5.00 per ton^

Hay Prices- June 12014^

*This line was written up the outer, left-hand side of the entry.

^Current hay prices are quite a bit higher now, probably due to inflation. Bale Price Calculator

Thursday, June 4, 1936

plesant all day but cool-
Made elderberry pie* & shell and two cup custards & stewed prunes-
Combed Mother's hair and washed her neck-
Mother good-
mowed the lawn on all four sides & only left a narrow strip-
Iliff called this eve-
Charles got groceries & told us Will Hall died this A.M. at 9 o'clock-

*Irene is obviously feeling better because she is baking & cooking! Check out this elderberry pie recipe & video from Urban Nature Man. It even tells you how to pick & clean the elderberries.

Elderberry Pie from Food.com

Ingredients:

• 4 cups elderberries 
• 1 1/4 cups sugar  
• 6 tablespoons flour 
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 2 tablespoons butter  
• pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie

 

 

Directions:

• Combine berries, sugar, flour, and lemon juice in a medium sauce pan.
• Heat mixture until it just starts to boil, stirring occasionally. 
• Remove from heat and let cool for 15 minutes.  
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 
• Spread bottom crust in a 9 inch pie pan. 
• Spread berry mixture in pie shell. 
• Sprinkle cinnamon on top. 
• Dot butter on top.
• Put top crust on and seal edges. 
• Poke several vent holes in top crust.
• Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Turn oven down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, leaving pie in oven, and bake for 30 minutes longer.

Wednesday, June 3, 1936

A little shower this afternoon and cooler-
Made apple pudding and stewed apples for supper
Still feel miserable with my cold and nearly speechless-
a very unimportant day as not anything happened and felt too dull to make anything happen*
Went up stairs to look over work  to do for Aunty-
Mother fairly good-



*Three days of being ill must be taking their toll on Irene. This is language we have not heard from her. She has always come across as rather resilient, even when Mother  is difficult.

Saturday, May 16, 1936

plesant but cold
made a jelly layer cake & tapioca custard pudding & stewed greening apples  and swept , dusted, & mopped the kitchen & woodhouse-
Harry Baker came this afternoon & brought red & black raspberry plants^ and delphinium plants and made a bed and set them out-
Mother has been fine all day-
Rec'd letter from Alice
*Elenora Evans called

Black raspberries or black caps^

*This line is written up the left side of the post.

^Black raspberries are a type of raspberry. Blackberries are different.

Thursday, May 14, 1936

plesant but cold wind
Had a fire so baked molasses cookies, lemon pie & macaroni and cheese* this forenoon-
finished mowing the lawn so it is mowed all around the house-
four sides-
this afternoon-
Mother has been good today-
wanted the fire-



*Ah, so there is a fire. Don't waste it! Get some baking done.

Saturday, April 18, 1936

Snow on the ground this morning but melted off by noon-
Snowed some all day but melted as it fell.
Made tapioca custard and 32 cup cakes* and stewed apples-
Swept and dusted and mopped the kitchen-
and done all the chores as usual-
Mother has been fairly good today

Cupcakes by Heather Dolton

*Considering the amount of baking Irene did weekly, I think she would be proud of her pastry chef, great-granddaughter, Heather Dolton, who created the cupcakes in the picture above.

Thursday, April 16, 1936

Cold north west wind with flurries of snow* at times-
made a lemon pie this morning and done the chores as usual-
measured the couch for tape to make a new cover and wrote a letter to Clara-
Finished the ironing this afternoon-
Mother has been very good today-

About an inch of snow fell in Greenwich, NY on April 15-16, 2014

*Well, Irene, we got more than flurries. We got an inch of snow overnight after a lovely weekend in the 70s.

Sunday, April 12, 1936

Easter Sunday
Rainy this afternoon
Baked a pie shell and filled it with strawberries sweetened and covered with whipped cream
Had short steak and asparagas*
Clara took Aunty over to see Dr. Stuard this morning-
Clara left us at 1 o'clock-
and Harry left us at 3 o'clock P.M.
Mother has been good today-
Iliff came this eve
Crocuses are in bloom

Easter Eggs by Jan Kameníček 2006

*Asparagus is a spring vegetable. My father hates it because his mother always boiled it & the smell made him ill. Mom & I love it & make it frequently on the grill drizzled with balsamic vinegar. The other day Dad told me he would try it the next time I make it. Victory!