Daddio

Happy Fathers Day! I found this retro children's book in the library at my work and thought it was very fitting for today.



(What Fathers Do, 1977)


(The best dad in the world...mine. 1976)

Plaid

I'm a little funny about trends. When a trend first hits, I tend to avoid it like the plague. But then later, usually when its shininess has worn off, I give in. Plaid is timeless, which is probably one of the reasons why I like it.

My grandpa was renowned for his plethora of plaid shirts. My super talented brother, Simon, put together a Visual Biography of our late grandfather. I especially love Simon's plaid gradient (above) featuring an assortment of grandpa's finest plaid.

Paris '71

Recipe: Bliztkuchen (Lightening Cake)

I inherited from Grandma Edie a 1953 edition of "The Joy of Cooking." I keep finding her handwritten notes in the margins, hidden messages intended to save me from kitchen disasters.

It took a long time to narrow down my first recipe and in the process I learned what aspic was (yum!). Opting for something safe I chose to bake Blitzkuchen, a German tea cake known for it's quick baking time. My co-worker says it tastes a bit like a Snicker-doodle, but the cake version.



Beat together until light and creamy:
1 cup powdered or granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
Stir in:
4 well-beaten egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla

In a separate bowl, sift together:
1 1/8 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
Combine wet and dry ingredients, then mix in:
3 Tbsp milk

In a separate bowl, whip until stiff:
4 egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
Fold egg whites lightly into the batter mix.

Place the batter in 2 greased 8x12 inch pans (*I cheated and used one 9x13 pan). Spread top with 1 egg white mixed with 1 Tbsp water. Sprinkle on top:
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup shredded almonds
Bake cake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Birch Bay

I spent the rainy Memorial Day weekend with my family in Birch Bay, WA., a small, infamous beach town about an hour south of the Canadian Border. Our family has been going to Birch Bay for generations. We meet there every August for the Graves Family Reunion (which happens to coincide nicely with crab season). To most outsiders Birch Bay is a pokey little town with a mish-mash of quaint beach cottages and large, impersonal condos, tacky t-shirt stands, and a rinky-dink water park better known as 'Wild n' Wet'. But to us, there is no place like it. (Pictured above: Some of the Graves Family circa 1960)


(The Seven Dwarfs Cabins - part of Davidson's Terrace and owned by my Great Grandfather and Grandmother)


(Great Grandma Eva outside of the Davidson's Terrace Gift Shop)

Like many beach towns, Birch Bay saw its hay-day in the 1950s and 60s, when it could boast such attractions as the Birch Bay Carnival, the Roller Rink, and Dance Hall. According to my mom, on summer holidays the cars were lined up, bumper to bumper, on the waterfront road.


(Aunt Susie with Davidson Terrace in the background, 1955).