Unlike most of the celebrities, whose ideas sounded rather outlandish to me (an endless supply of chocolate, very popular with celebrities, made me smile a bit) my needs are somewhat simpler and more realistic, given that desert islands don’t have electricity, let alone broadband internet.

1. My husband, Jack, is my first selection as I’m sure that between the two of us, we’d make the best of the situation. We’ve weathered quite a few storms together over the years and have complementary skills, which means that we’d soon have a hut in which to live plus a huge beacon fire pile to signal for help. Our ability to laugh with each other would also be essential.
2. A box of matches or some other way of creating a fire, which means that we could cook food, keep warm and alert passing ships or aircraft of our situation.
3. A supply of pencils and paper for us to write down our memories of life before arriving on the desert island and to record our daily life while living on the island. I know that our family would treasure such a written legacy. This exercise would also keep us sane as we remembered different aspects of our lives.
4. A sharp knife would have many uses – scaling and gutting fish, opening shellfish found on the rocks, cutting palm leaves to thatch a roof on our shelter to name but a few.
5. Some books to read. I can’t imagine life without reading and would be bereft without at least one book. If limited to just one book between us, which one would we choose? At a guess, I’d say “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen, which seems as fresh today as it did when it was written. The characters still retain their charm, despite many readings, and I love the double wedding at the end!

Australia has some superbly trained athletes who have had to make a daily commitment to train for sports which are not common in our country. Little by little, week by week, they trained to reach their Olympic dream.

Inspired by these athletes I am offering a free family history course to help you start collecting your family stories and save them for the future. The March Memories Marathon gives you an idea a day for the whole month – 31 ideas and hints to inspire and encourage you.

Taking less than 30 minutes a day, you can focus on your own family and their life stories. Family stories -everyone has them. They tell where you come from. They hold the secrets to who you are. They are how your family came to be the family it is today.

Have you wanted to save some of your family’s special stories for the future but just haven’t got around to it? Now is your chance to do something about it.

Register for the March Memories Marathon and learn from the comfort of your own computer – it’s free, it’s fun and it’s rewarding.

How does it work?

Each day during March, you will be emailed a daily tip/idea on collecting and/or writing family stories along with a brief (15/20 minute) skill session related to the tip.

By the end of March, you will have thirty one family history tips, plus a collection of personal and family stories which will have got you well on your way to saving your stories for future family generations.

Register by clicking on the link below to send me a quick email. If you have any special questions then I’ll be pleased to help where I can.

Contact Annie here and don’t forget to leave your name, email and your address.

Look for the first email to arrive on Monday 1^st March.

Aunt Ruby as a trainee nurse

Hospital food had a dreadful reputation and many patients refused to eat the meals which were overcooked, watery and often congealed on the plate. Today’s patients are given a menu list of selections to suit all tastes and heath requirements and can even order a glass of wine or beer.

Syringes were made of glass, and both the syringe and the needles were cleaned, sharpened and autoclaved for sterility by nurses. Today’s syringes are made of plastic and both the syringe and the needles are made to be used once and then thrown out. There are even special syringes for taking blood that contain a vacuum, which greatly assists in this procedure.

Bedpans were made of stainless steel, flushed after patient use and then placed in a machine which hygienically washed out the pan and steamed it, ready to be placed on the pan rack for the next patient. Today’s bed pans are made of papier mache and are designed for one use before being  thrown out.

Dressing trays were made of stainless steel, draped with sterile cotton drapes and set with steel gallipots, kidney dishes and instruments such as forceps, scalpel handles and scissors. Today’s dressing trays are made of plastic, with paper drapes and plastic instruments and are designed to be used once and then thrown out.

Hospital beds were made out of cast iron, with a back rest which was pulled out and then screwed into place by the nurse. To elevate the head or foot of the bed involved propping the bed legs on a wooden block and the beds were high to prevent backache for the nursing staff. Today’s electronic beds contain 3 segments which can individually move up or down at the press of a button, and lowered to suit each patient’s needs.

Have you ever been in hospital? How old were you and what do you remember about your hospital stay?

Perhaps you were a nurse and have some wonderful stories of your nursing days – I know I have and my family are urging me to write down these stories of a different era in medical care, which they now find difficult to imagine.

When you are writing your stories, don’t forget to add how you received any surgical scars – perhaps you fell out of a tree or maybe you had a sporting injury or war wound? Behind every scar lies a story!

I have shared some of my ‘then and now’ hospital observations with you and I’d love to hear about your hospital experiences.

Paul McCartney summed up Valentine’s Day with the lyrics of his song “Love is All You Need”. The universal day of lovers need not be an expensive, commercial time but rather one of expressing your love for those people you love and cherish.

Why not write each other a love letter? A letter is a precious thing, a first-hand account of another person’s innermost thoughts at a given moment of time; a tangible record of direct, open communication between the writer and the reader.

A letter travels some distance from the author to the recipient, the envelope plastered with stamps, perhaps franked with the names of faraway places. Your letter is able to pass through time zones, across borders, sometimes via air or sea……..travelling from distant places you have only heard about! Words travel well, tucked safely inside their snug envelope, and often the receiver will take a few moments to sit down in a quiet place, perhaps with a cup of tea, before slitting open the envelope to read the precious contents.

Do you have a sense of excitement and anticipation when you hold the envelope in your hand? Does it contain good, much anticipated news, or maybe bad, or sad, news? Perhaps you sniff the envelope to gain a quick scent of the origin of the writer, or maybe the envelope has a lipstick-stained kiss on it or the initials S.W.A.L.K. (Sealed with a loving kiss)

Writers of love letters carefully select the words used in a handwritten letter as they seem to carry more weight that an impersonal typed letter. Reading words that have been scratched into the page or perhaps blurred when tears made the ink run really has a different kind of emotional impact on the reader. Consider also, the difference between letters handwritten with a fountain pen (perhaps in violet or sepia ink) to those printed via a computer printer.

One of the greatest writers of love letters was the late US President, Ronald Reagan, who was prolific in declaring his love for his wife, Nancy. Printed below is a letter her wrote to her while he was in office.

Aboard Air Force One
4^th March 1983

Dear First Lady,

I know tradition has it that on this day I place cards, Happy Anniversary cards, on your breakfast tray. But things are somewhat mixed up. I substituted a gift and delivered it a few weeks ago.

Still this is the day, the day that marks 31 years of such happiness as comes to few men. I told you once that it was like an adolescent’s dream of what marriage should be like. That hasn’t changed.

You know I love the ranch but these two days made it plain I only love it when you are there. Come to think of it, that’s true of every place and every time. When you aren’t there, I’m no place; just lost in space and time.

I more than love you. I’m not whole without you. You are life itself to me. When you are gone, I’m waiting for you to return so I can start living again.

Happy Anniversary and thank you for 31 wonderful years. I love you.

Your grateful husband,      Ronnie

After the late President’s death, Mrs Reagan collected all of the shopping bags (she’d stored Ronnie’s letters in these) which she had printed into a book, “I Love You, Ronnie”, with the proceeds of sale to be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association of America.

Are your letters gathered together in different sized bundles and tied together with various coloured ribbons?  Many families do not realise what a treasure trove is tucked away in assorted shoe and glove boxes. They should ensure that each letter is protected by being placed in a special (Mylar) sheet and stored in archival boxes – it is part of your family heritage.

Have you considered writing a love story for your lover, with the two of you as the leading characters? Print it off on some special paper and tie it with a red ribbon. Perhaps it could be the story of how you both met and fell in love – amazingly you will both have different recollections of this event! Imagine how delighted your grandchildren will be to discover how strong the bond of love was when you were younger, as they see you with grey hair and glasses!

Scanning your love letters and posting them into your family vault in the Treasury of Heritage is an ideal way to store your love letters, photos, memorabilia (such as heart shaped Valentine’s cards) and any other family love tokens you have discovered.  Make a start by sorting through your letters and saving them as a part of your family heritage in your personal Treasury of Heritage vault. Your family will be enthralled to read of their parents or grandparents love for each other in years to come.

“Love is a promise, Love is a souvenir,

Once given, never forgotten, Never let it disappear”

John Lennon, singer/songwriter.

How do you get started?  Where do you begin? How do I break down family barriers?  But I’ve never written more than a shopping list in my life!

1. Let’s start at the very beginning, with your immediate family – your husband, wife or partner, both sets of parents, brothers and sisters and your own children.
2. Note down (a note book will do) all the basic statistics like birth day, time and place, education, employment and where each person lives at present. Allocate a separate page for each person (however don’t be surprised if you end up keeping separate files for the main characters whose lives intertwine with yours).
3. If you intend collating all of the stories, photos and other printed memorabilia, be aware that you will need to digitize these items by scanning them before they can be up-loaded into your family computer. Scanning fragile items such as newspaper cuttings will not damage them, and, once scanned, these items can be easily accessed by other family members.
4. Draw up a timeline (a timetable of your life listing important events in the order in which they occurred) for the various members of your family and then do some background searches of world or national events they may have experienced (World War Two, JFK’s assassination etc). Make a list of questions to ask that person about their understanding of that time, e.g. where were your parents during the first moon landing?
5. Do you or your family have old audio or home movie clips? Again, it is important to have these digitized and uploaded into your computer, where other relatives may share them, resulting in a more comprehensive and multi-faceted story. Don’t forget the family photo albums – pick a few of the  best and  get them scanned -  it’s easy and well worthwhile.
6. What about family heirlooms? They often have poignant or romantic stories behind them which should also be preserved for future generations – Grandpa’s war medals from WWII, Nan’s diamond engagement ring, the old battered sea chest covered with the names of ports all around the world……….

Start gathering all of the memory aids from throughout your family and commence writing, talking or filming the stories that you (and other members of your family) associate with your own unique family.

Once you get started, and realise how many amazing stories are linked to your kith and kin, you will wonder why you didn’t commence this lifetime legacy much earlier.

With the technology we have today it is so much easier too, short stories, quick audio memories, 2-3 minute videos, digital photos – all can be uploaded to you computer and shared with  family.

So it doesn’t matter if all you have written is a shopping list – does it? It’s all about starting and collecting the stories not about writing biographies.

In the past, some of my resolutions have been a trifle unrealistic – to lose 2 whole dress sizes by Easter! I really gave the ‘spend 30 minutes of each day meditating’ resolution a good run for about 10 years before accepting that the only time I had to use was when I was driving the car.

This year starts a new decade and looks to be filled with some really exciting projects, so I decided to spend some time sorting and tidying myself (and business) of all of the extra ‘stuff’ I accumulated over the past year. But my dilemma is how strict I should be e.g.  reducing my contacts file?

I know from the past, that as soon as I dispose of a specific article, I find that I have a new use for it. So I’m trying to develop an improved filing system, using a series of colour coded storage boxes. I have labelled each box with the various family members and placed memorabilia, photos, certificates, news paper cuttings inside for each person.

The same goes for all letters, emails, digital photographs which are also being filed and saved under each person’s named folder, as I am confident that in a few year’s time, these items will be needed for some important reason.

I have also started boxes for each year of the past decade and my ‘tidying’ regime has been both pleasant and organised. Why not adopt my mantra for January 2010 “Get Organised” and discover the peace of mind that comes when you know where to locate a missing item or article.

Let me know if this system works for you, or if you have any other tips you’d like to pass on.

I offered nuts, olives and an old ‘70’s favourite – a grapefruit studded with cubes of cheese, tiny pickled onions and gherkins and slices of cabana, which brought howls of laughter from our friends. Jack poured beer for the men and we ladies sipped either sherry or vermouth and soda as we started exchanging memories of nearly 40 years ago.

Seating everyone around the table, I served halved avocadoes, filled with prawns and homemade seafood sauce. We talked about such meals as fondue parties, serving the traditional roast dinner to the family(including our parents and in-laws) each Sunday, the introduction of such fast food outlets as Hungry Jacks, Colonel Sander’s Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut to Australia.

Ben talked about working on a kibbutz in Israel as I brought the Beef and Guinness pie to the table and Sue remembered serving gratin potatoes as her ‘dinner party’ potato specialty as I cut slices to serve with the pie. Geraldine talked about the various pies she’d eaten around the UK – Beef and Stilton, Star-Gazy Pies in Cornwall, Chicken and leek pie in Wales and Eel pie in London.

I’d really dithered about what to make for dessert – Australia’s perennial favourite Pavlova with strawberries and passionfruit, Crème Caramel, an old fashioned Sherry Trifle? In the end I decided that a light mousse would be ideal and settled for fresh lemon mousse was preferable to the much richer Chocolate version.

Over coffee we discussed music from the 70’s and favourites ranged from Rod Stewart, Elton John, Abba, Kate Bush, John Denver, Billy Joel, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Bread and Neil Diamond. Movies such as ‘Midnight Cowboy’, ‘The Sting’,  ‘Love Story’, ‘Cabaret’, ‘Star Wars’, ‘Rocky’ and ‘Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid’, ‘The Godfather’, ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and ‘Catch 22’ were amongst our top films from the decade.  The women recalled wearing Laura Ashley frocks, crocheted vests and chucky shoes, while Jack and Ben talked about such fashion horrors as flares, body shirts, floral ties and ‘Che’ moustaches.

Do you remember the 70’s? Were you at Woodstock or perhaps at the Sunshine Pop Festival in Melbourne? How did you wear your hair? I’d love to hear some of your memories about that decade.

Ev’rywhere you go’

Do you, like I, remember this 1958 hit for Perry Como?

While out shopping the other day for some gifts for overseas family and friends, I was bombarded with the ‘Christmas is coming’ message’ which seems to get more strident every year. Christmas Carols were being piped through each shop, artificial trees and decorations were attractively displayed and the butcher was advising patrons to ‘order your Christmas ham now!’

In my family, we have usually given gifts of home baked cakes, mince pies and Scottish shortbread to friends and neighbours and each October my mind turns to making lists of dried fruits – sultanas, raisins, cherries and apricots and bottles of brandy with which to macerate the fruit until plump, ready to be added to handed down family recipes for Christmas cakes, puddings and our secret recipe fruit for mince pies and truffles.

Since I was a wee child, I have helped firstly Gran, then Mum with the preparation, baking, storing and wrapping of these family favourites from our kitchen. I have taken a special delight in using these traditional recipes for my own family Christmas celebrations and have revived the process with both of my own children when they were younger, especially having a wish with stirring each pudding and the reward of licking each sticky spoon!

What family traditions have you brought into your family?

Do they originate in your cultural background, like my Scottish shortbread? Do you remember the origins of each much loved recipe?

Have you thought of collecting all of the family favourite Christmas recipes and copying them, accompanied with both a photo of the originator and a story about that person, for the members of your family? I’d love to hear about your family recipes.

Here’s my family Melting Moments recipe to help you start your own traditional recipe book.

Annie’s Best Ever Melting Moments

Ingredients:

250 gm butter

½ cup icing sugar (not mixture)

1 cup SR flour

1 cup cornflour

Pinch of salt

Turn oven on to 160degrees C. Line 3 oven slides with baking paper.

Place butter (at room temperature) and icing sugar into bowl of food processor and whiz for a few seconds. Add other ingredients and whiz until mixture forms a ball around the blade. Using a teaspoon, roll small amount of mixture into a ball and place on lined baking tray. When tray is full, pour a little cornflour into a saucer and dip a fork into the cornflour before pressing down on the balls of mixture to flatten slightly.

Bake in oven for approx 15 minutes (don’t let them brown!). Cool on tray for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Filling:

1 passionfruit

1 cup (or more) sifted icing sugar

1 tbsp butter

hot water.

Place butter and icing sugar in a small bowl and with a balloon whisk beat until butter disappears into the mixture. Add passionfruit pulp and stir again. If mixture is too stiff & unwieldy, add a tiny amount of hot water.

Spread the icing mixture onto the unmarked side of the biscuit and place another on top, squeezing slightly until icing mixture fills the space between the two biscuits. Leave for about 30 minutes, until icing had set and firmed.

Store in an airtight container.

Tips: can also make the icing either lemon or lime by finely grating the rind of a lemon or lime and adding the juice until the mixture forms. I have also used chocolate, coffee or victoria (using sherry as the liquid) icing, but I prefer the tartness of passionfruit!

Little Miss Ruby and koala

We always had these for afternoon tea when I was a little girl in Brisbane. The passionfruit vine grew over the outside toilet at our Clayfield house, so we had them on everything!

At Christmas time, Gran used to tie a cellophane bundle of Melting Moments, tied to a bottle of beer, as a gift of appreciation for the postman, milk man, green grocer, baker and the garbage collectors.

Why not share your family recipes, Christmas memories with us? I would love to hear from you.

]]> http://www.historyfromtheheart.com.au/aunt-ruby-remembers-traditional-family-recipes/feed/ 0 http://www.historyfromtheheart.com.au/a-helping-of-history/ http://www.historyfromtheheart.com.au/a-helping-of-history/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:26:14 +0000 Annie Payne http://www.historyfromtheheart.com.au/?p=399 Food and family meals are a key ingredient in any family history – just think about the memories remembered by a taste of Dad’s famous BBQ sauce or the mouth-warming aroma of Grandma’s freshly baked apple pie. Mmmh, delicious! Why not celebrate those unforgettable dishes, and the family traditions surrounding them, by creating a personalised recipe book for your family?

Ask all family members and old friends and neighbours to contribute their favourite recipes to your family recipe book, and then share it at a family gathering such as Christmas, Gran’s birthday, an anniversary…. or, make it a special wedding, graduation or leaving home gift. Here are some tips:

• Send requests for recipes and information about the book you are collating. Ask each donor for the memories they associate with each dish, eg. how they came by the recipe and when it was served. Set a deadline to encourage donors to get back to you.
• Add some fun to your recipe book by gathering extra information, and a photo of the donor, such as the culture it reflects or how it originated. Remember to translate old measurements in old family favourite.
• For an easy, cleanable recipe book, purchase a plastic coated folder and place each recipe inside a plastic sleeve, as drips and spots can be wiped off with a damp cloth.
• Another idea is to create the book using a digital photo-book service such as Snapfish, Shutterfly or MyCanvas. Depending on the size and type, books cost around $25.
• If you plan to make a large number of books, consider a self-publisher such as HeritageCookbook.com.
• Don’t forget to add a contents page to make recipe location easier and add a page from you, describing why you collated this book.

What is your favourite family recipe? Why does it hold such significance? Is it only made at certain time of the year? I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.