Ancestor Hunt - Granny Bishop's Apple Crisp

I hit the jackpot!

I found ancestors and a recipe while I was online searching for ancestors tonight.  I found a web page full of information and an e-book of ancestors which includes my own mother.  How cool is that?

I was searching online, picking through the hyper-links, when I came across is a recipe that I recognized from childhood.  It was one my mother used to make all the time.

The following apple crisp recipe can be adapted for lower sugar / carb count by substituting the brown sugar in the recipe with the artificially sweetened brown sugar substitute.

Anyway, I am pleased and excited about finding a branch of the family which brings me further back in the history of my mother's side of my family tree.  I am also looking forward to making Granny Bishop's Apple Crisp Recipe tomorrow!

Thanks to Granny Bishop and the Noggins Corner Farm Market, Nova Scotia Canada.  The Farm is owned and operated by the Bishop Family - My grandmother was Nancy Bishop of Springhill NS. 

Granny Bishop's Apple Crisp

INGREDIENTS:
4-6 apples, thinly sliced
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup rolled oats
½ cup flour
½ cup butter
cinnamon optional
PREPARATION:
Place sliced apples in baking pan. Combine brown sugar, rolled oats, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter. Sprinkle mixture over apples.
Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes. Serve hot with whipped cream or ice cream.

(This recipe is copied from the Noggins Corner Farm Market Newsletter)  For more recipes, please join our newsletter (using the form on lower left) or visit their Recipe blog.

Reflections On A Saturday Morning in September

Ten years ago today there was no such think as Facebook, Twitter or even iPods!  It was a different world. We've all changed - we dared to rebuild and life went on. We have witnessed amazing bravery, love, courage, and agony. Just For Today, let us love one another and see where it will bring us.

On 9/10/2010

I was a different person. I had not yet turned 50. My mother was alive. I'd just quit smoking for the 3rd or 4th time. I had a system for working the business Alpha-Interiors my husband Vin and I own. I'd begun to enjoy the fruits of being an entrepreneur - I was choosing the time of day when I'd do my share of the work for the business.

I had high cholesterol and needed to increase exercise, lose weight, and stop living like I was going to last forever. I had a few medical conditions as a result of taking a diet drug that was removed from the market and the weight piled back on after I stopped taking the "magic" pill. I was afraid that my foolish attempt to lose weight with a magic pill would bring my life to a sudden end.

I was intentionally working on eliminating refined sugars and white flour from my system. To help me in my efforts to stay off cigarettes I was walking our young dog several times a day (actually she was walking me). Also, I spent several hours a week working at The Great American Stamp Store in Westport, CT as a sales clerk. The work at the store was a delight to me. I loved every minute.

We were preparing for a guest artist who was coming to teach at the store the next day. The classes were booked up solid as the guest's art rubber stamps were a popular commodity in the store. Then next day, I believe just one person who had signed up came to the classes. It was a solemn afternoon as we listened to the radio learned new techniques to apply to our rubber stamp art together.   

Just about a year later, I met a young mother who was a 9/11 widow.  We became friends.  She was pregnant with a second child on 9/11/2001 and had another young child as well.  Knowing her opened my world and my heart to meanings and appreciation for my own life that I am yet unable to put into words.  Today I’m reminded of a poem I wrote as a result of knowing such a courageous woman.  I will share it sometime if I can find where I put it for safekeeping. 

Memories to Treasure: Honeyhill Elementary School Grads Gather

The Hour Story about the Reunion

Last month there was a most unusual picnic held at Cranbury Park in Norwalk, CT.  It was a 50 year reunion of Honeyhill Elementary School graduates and teachers.  That's right FIFTY year reunion of ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. My husband Vinny was on the committee. 

Former students - some of whom are now retirees themselves gathered with some of the retired teachers from Honeyhill Elementary School.  The former teachers brought everything from homemade salads to baked ziti, meatballs and an impressive variety of delicious picnic foods.  The former students provided hotdogs, hamburgers, condiments, cake and water.  The event was a huge success.  Eighty six people attended.  The DJ played music from the fifties and sixties, there was dancing, laughing and catching up with old and new friends.  What a delightful story to hear about.  Alas it wasn't front page news.

Except for The Hour, the news media forgot to show up.  The Hour had a misprint stating that it was a high school reunion. The Norwalk Mayor came, along with our State Representative Larry Cafero, School Superintendent Susan Marks, and State Senator Bob Duff. The gathering was sweet and endearing.

Ed Farris, Vinny's fifth grade teacher in the golden 1960's attended the picnic along with many other former teachers at Honeyhill. Ed who is79 years old and still substituting in the Norwalk schools, was working at Honeyhill the day they opened and was still there the day it closed.  The City of Norwalk closed the school due to falling student numbers. A Scholarship fund has been created as a result of the warm memories of an era long past.  The members of the reunion committee decided to honor Ed.

The Ed Farris Scholarship has been awarded to a local Norwalk High Scholl Graduate going into the field of teaching.

Sadly, the committee wasn't notified of the event and no one was there to present the student with the certificate.  We do not even know if the recipient knows what the scholarship means to those who contribute to the ongoing fund.  Former students, co-workers, current friends and family members have contributed.  As a result there will be scholarships available in the future.  A formal presentation is being arranged to right this oversight.

As an aside to this event I want to mention that Vinny and I bought a house on St. Mary's Lane in 1980 so our children could experience a similar grade school education that Vinny enjoyed.  By the time our girls were old enough for kindergarten, Honeyhill Elementary School was closed.  The site now houses The  Honeyhill Healthcare Center which I believe is owned by the Norwalk Hospital.  The city gave the property to the hospital despite an offer from the Norwalk YMCA to renovate and rent it from the city and to give it back to us if we decided not to renew a lease in the future.  I am not going to address the politics of that!

I attended the event and discovered that despite our daughters not being able to attend the school that we wanted them to; the girls did have several wonderful elementary school teachers from the Honeyhill Lunch Bunch - that is what a group of former Honeyhill teachers who still gather regularly call themselves. 

Mrs. Dayton taught Melissa and Stephanie in Kindergarten.  Mrs. Jones had them in the First Grade.  Mrs. Fodor taught Stephanie, and Rev. Jeanettte Olmstead-Sawyer taught the girls Science at West Rocks. 

The gift of Norwalk's Honeyhill Elementary School is still giving.  How special is that?

The Best Daily Deals in Southern CT: Three-Course Catered French Meal

The Best Daily Deals in Southern CT: Three-Course Catered French Meal

30 Tips from Diabetes Forecast Magazine

An interview with Tracey Neithercott from Diabetes Forecast Magazine ended up with a photography session in Norwalk.  Andrew Kist is the photographer who met with me at Italia's Restaurant on Main Avenue.  The photo shoot took about 2 hours from start to finish.  The magazine placed a full page picture of yours truly in the April 2011 Issue of Diabetes Forecast.  I post this for your information and to share what I am learning about Diabetes. 
The title of Tracey's article is
Back To Basics: Carb Counting Tips
30 top pointers from real people with diabetes


By Tracey Neithercott

The article has 30 tips that Tracy harvested from several Diabetics who were interviewed for this helpful article.  Please take the time to follow the link and print out a copy for your reference or share a link to this blog with a loved one who may benefit from the information. 
 
The tips she harvested from our 40 minute interview are below, numbers 6, 7, and 9.
 

Back To Basics: Carb Counting Tips



photo by Andrew Kist

 6. Enlist help.
“In the beginning, I needed the team to help me,” says Denise Costabile, 57, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in April 2010. So when she ate at her favorite Italian restaurant, her husband put the bread on a chair so she wouldn’t be tempted to snatch a slice. “Having his help was key. I needed to surround myself with people who will help me.”

7. Learn from setbacks.
“Last night, I cheated completely, which I never do,” says Costabile. Instead of looking up a food’s carbohydrate content, she guessed. “When I do that, it prompts me to learn that number. I really try to be ready.”

9. Keep it simple.
“When I was first diagnosed, I found things I really love,” says Costabile. “I find comfort in keeping it simple. I have a certain salad dressing on my salad that I like. I stick to it. It’s simpler that way.”