Tuesday, January 13, 2015

A recipe for your enjoyment



     This article was originally written last year to submit to a magazine for a section on recipes they requested from their readership. It was selected on an initial round and then about a month later, the magazine folded. $400 just trickled down the drain! So, I might as well make use of it. I have added a few full names and dates that were not in the original.

Scottish Shortbread
     This recipe arrived in the United States when my husband's paternal grandparents, Annie Mackie McAlister and David Buchanan immigrated. Davy arrived just before WWI and served for a short time in the service. Because of the war, his fiancee, Annie, didn't come to the United States until 1919, they married almost immediately and spent most of their lives in Boston. They had both been born in Glasgow, Scotland.
     Scotland is not known for its cuisine, but one of the recipes Annie brought with her is still made in the family, four generations later - Scottish shortbread. It was, and still is, traditionally made for the holidays and other special occasions.
     After Davy passed away in 1953, Annie spent more and more time with her only child, Stanley Mackie Buchanan and his wife Barbara Lindberg, and their family. At 82, after being mugged near her home in Boston, Annie finally agreed to live with them and moved to Houston, where they were living at the time. As Annie aged, Barbara took over the shortbread duties. Annie lived to age 97, died in 1986, and never lost her brogue, sense of humor, excitement for living, or enjoyment of her family.
     I joined the family when I married the oldest son, Bruce, in 1976. I had always loved baking, so naturally, as my mother-in-law got older, I began to take over the shortbread duties for family occasions. It was not easy to master the finer points. Annie never followed a recipe and couldn't tell you the measurements of the ingredients. One day, my husband's sister, Leslie, stood next to Annie as she "measured" out the flour, sugar and butter. Leslie put them in a measuring cup and wrote down the results. It worked! We had a recipe. But something we couldn't write down was how to determine the right consistency after mixing on the counter with our hands. It takes practice. It is always baked in old metal layer cake pans, cut in pie wedges and cooled on a rack.

RECIPE FOR SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD
     2 1/4-2 1/2 cups flour
     1/2 cup refined sugar
     1/2 lb butter - not quite room temperature, cut into pieces

         Blend the flour and sugar by hand, on the counter. Next, blend in the butter pieces. The consistency needs to be moist, but not sticky.
         Pat the dough into two round 9-in. layer cake pans. Press the fork around the edges of the shortbread to make a nice pattern. Prick around the top of the dough with the fork, all the way to the bottom. Bake at 325 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. It should be a nice golden brown color when done.  Cool slightly before cutting into small pie wedges and cool further before removing from the pans.  Gentleness is needed at this stage. We put a towel on top of the pan, and turn the pan over gently until the shortbread is on the towel. Transfer it to the cooling rack. Store in a covered metal container.
     Requests for shortbread are still lovingly granted by me for now, but our son is learning to conquer the recipe. He has made it for his friends and is the fourth generation in this country - one hundred years later, to make Scottish shortbread - brought here by Annie.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Article and Preserving History



     It is very exciting to see my name in print - both as author of: "Water: Both Life and Death to the Beckington Family," AND seeing it as one of the featured articles listed on the cover of the Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly. It appears in Vol. 46, No. 4, Winter 2014 issue. It turned out looking good as well as an interesting read (bragging here a bit). Thank you to Managing Editor, Julie Tarr, for all her help. Also, Rebekah (Beckington) Fleury, a cousin, for her support and help with many of the footnotes and proofreading. I also appreciate all the editing help from my writers group "Writers on Wheels." It is a story of the Beckington's journey to the United States from England in 1847. Most of it is true and backed by stories written and passed down. There is a link on my website so you can enjoy reading it.
     On another note: I received a phone call the other day from a man in the DC area. He had been searching online for anyone connected with a Matthew Gault Emery. Mr. Emery is in my genealogy database and on my website. He is connected to the Hazeltons. He was born in 1818 in New Hampshire, but spent most of his life in the DC area. He married Mary Kittredge Hazeltine probably around 1853, youngest of eight children of William and Abigail (Emery) Hazeltine. You can put his name into Wikipedia and find out quite a bit about him.  He was the last Mayor of DC (1870-1871). It was 104 years before DC once again elected a Mayor. Matthew also served as Marshall of Abraham Lincoln's inaugural parade in 1860. He died in 1901. He has even more accomplishments and it is an interesting read. Check it out! His wife, Mary, is my 2nd cousin, 6x removed!  Just sayin'.....
     The reason for this man's call to me is that he helped an elderly lady many years ago clean out her attic before downsizing. She let him have a few papers that they found. Among them was the "Certificate of Indebtedness for Paving Pennsylvania Avenue," stamp -dated December, 1871. It is signed by M. G. Emery. It is a blank form, so not sure of the significance of it or what purpose it served. Maybe other similar forms were filled in and given to those that participated in the paving. This man would like to sell it. I suggested giving it to an Historical Society. He says he has tried and they are not interested, but I don't know if money was required before handing it over to them. I did find a descendant of Mr. Emery's and contacted him via email. He had already heard from this man. Hopefully the Certificate will not just disappear. History needs to be preserved!