A few years ago, Walt and I were at a model engineering show checking out the many cool engines and tools. There were a couple of dealers who had older Gerstner tool chests for sale. I managed to sweet talk one of them down in price a bit and walked away with a rough looking but solid tool chest – for my studio.
Author: Michelle Page 17 of 35
I had originally planned to write about the anniversary of one of Walt’s great-great aunts, Rhoda Hole. Our information had her marrying John Christy on January 13, 1861. But it turned out not to be the case.
The family information we had told us that she was John Swisher Hole’s younger sister, born in 1846. The notes also mentioned that she had been married twice, the second time to someone with the last name of Monroe, but that was all the information we had.
You most likely noticed that there have been a bunch of documents showing up on the blog lately – census reports, marriage certificates and the like. We have a temporary subscription to Ancestry© and I have been using it to gather information. Using an online genealogy service like Ancestry© has the potential to provide huge amounts of information. They have family trees, census records, marriage records and other resources located in one place.
We enjoy food from a variety of cultures, Indian, Asian, Italian, German, and Mexican. It’s always nice to make foods from scratch and I like this basic red sauce with tamales and enchiladas. I talked about cooking up meats for use in Mexican dishes in this post. I may do a post on making tamales at some point, but I will have to make them when Walt is home to help with pictures. Tamales are a three-handed operation at the best of times.
Alfred Bernard Denning and Irene Deloris Link were married on December 30 1942. Irene is Walt’s first cousin twice removed. Her father Eustace was Isadore Link’s brother.
Stollen is a traditional German holiday bread with nuts, dried or candied fruit and spices. Most recipes are fairly similar, using flour, water and yeast as a start, then adding various other ingredients. The recipe I use comes from The Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book. The copy I own was published in 1989.
Cooking and baking for the holidays is a tradition for many. Whether it is cookies and candy for Christmas or latkes and kugal for Hanukkah, many cultures enjoy special foods around major holidays. Decorated sugar cookies are always a favorite of ours.

When the weather starts to cool off, I love to put in some baking time. Okay, I like to bake anytime, but especially enjoy it when it’s chilly. Here’s my recipe for Crackle-top Molasses Ginger Cookies. I got it from a friend’s mom many years ago.