Down the Rabbit Hoel

Stories of family, creativity, and diverse distractions.

Mapping out your family history

When you are researching your family history, learning where they lived helps you find out more information about them. It’s even better when you can see who their neighbors were and where that store they owned sat.

Image shows a map of West point Iowa in 1916, with the city colored light green. All text is hand written, with the names of various landowners written in.
A plat map of West Point, Iowa from 1916. The map shows things like the post office, churches, schools, and the fair grounds south of town.

We can see on this map that the hotel is in section two, lot ten. The post office is across the square in section five, lot eighteen.

RPG Props: A Wanted Poster for Some Real Scoundrels

A good prop can make an RPG session really memorable. A map written on actual parchment, for example, grabs the imagination a little harder than the same drawing on a page ripped from a spiral notebook. Good props help the players feel immersed in the game, and give the setting verisimilitude.

Some purchased adventures include such handouts. But if you’re writing your own adventures, you have to make your own props too.

And if you play online, the props have to be digital.

Happy anniversary Henry and Ada Link Schippert

Henry Schippert and Ada Link were married on November 29, 1922 in Edina, Missouri.

Henry and Ada on their wedding day.

Homemade bagels need smoked salmon!

We enjoy bagels with salmon, and several years ago, we started smoking our own salmon. We have an electric smoker, which is convenient for the job. You can find my bagel recipe here.

The image shows a plate with a pile of smoked fish sections on it.
Several pounds of smoked salmon, ready to enjoy.

Happy birthday to a first generation American: Anna Wellman Vonderhaar

Anna Wellman Vonderhaar was born on November 27, 1884 in West Point, Iowa. Her parents were Elizabeth Terborg and Bernard Wellman. She was the first of five children born to the couple. Both of her parents were born in Germany.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be grateful for, and I think of these things as we sit at the table to enjoy our meal. Tradition and family mean so much.

Thanksgiving at Our House- Cornbread Stuffing with a Twist

Thanksgiving is always a feast at my house, even if it is only Walt and I. I like to do the entire meal, turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, two vegetables, cranberry sauce, and pie. Walt is the gravy cook in our family, and I am doing the last minute things like mashing potatoes and putting everything in serving dishes while he makes it.

Amos Barnes Kellogg – Happy birthday Great Grandpa

Amos Barnes Kellogg was my great-grandfather. He was born November 15, 1889 in Whitewater, Wisconsin to George Olney Kellogg and Margaret Barnes. He attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Not Your Average Chicken Dinner – Chicken Pont Alba

Last week, I posted the recipe and process for Bearnaise Sauce here. This recipe is why I made Bearnaise Sauce for the first time. Chicken Pont Alba is a rich dish with many layers of flavor.

Dinner is served.

In recognition of their service

A fair number of our relations have served in the military over the years. As we remember on Veteran’s Day, I thought we might take a quick look at some of them.

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