Tag Archives: Scottsdale

Pets Are Family Part Two

Read about earlier Family pets here. I resume the story after Ken and I had married and moved into an apartment on King Avenue in Columbus Ohio while he finished school.

Liz the Cocker Spaniel

Liz, the Cocker Spaniel

Liz, the Badertscher Cocker Spaniel , Columbus 1962

In my first post on Pets Are Family, I  mentioned Liz, the Cocker Spaniel Ken and I adopted  at the Humane Society in Columbus Ohio (no AKA papers for us). We were newly weds and she was a loving and obedient dog, who knew she was not supposed to cross the line onto the living room rug, but would lie on the wood floor in our 1920s era apartment and stick her nose into forbidden territory.  When our first child was about one year old, Liz had a litter of pups.  Kenny’s first words were “Puh-puh”.  We found homes for the puppies, but Liz decided she liked freedom and took off one day, not to return.

Bitsy the Terrier Mix

After we moved to Arizona, now with a suburban house and fenced lawn and three little boys, we thought it was time again to have a dog.  This time it was a cuddly little terrier puppy who stayed with us through becoming mother to a litter of puppies, lots of adventures, and a move to a new house.

“Happiness is a warm puppy.”
Charles M. Schulz

Every boy should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one.

Anonymous

Budweiser the Rabbit

At that new house in Scottsdale, after  Bitsy and before the German Shepherds Mack and Suki, I had a rabbit.  My father named it Budweiser because it was full of hops. (Feel free to groan).  Rabbits are great pets, except that they like to chew on electric cords which is a habit that could burn the house down.  Bud liked to nestle up beside me when I laid out on the small grass patch where I sunbathed. I think he thought he was a cat.

Our boys also had a succession of mice (OOOO the smell!), gerbils and hamsters.

The Friendly Siamese, Chat

Later,after  another move to our fourth Arizona home, a Tucson house with no yard for a dog, we got a cat, named, obviously (if you speak French) “Chat.” (pronounced more like shot than chat.) She was a Siamese, and unlike the general reputation of Siamese cats, she was loving and affectionate. Like other pets, Chat endured a move to another house before she disappeared.

Chat the cat

Chat the Cat in the middle of a family Christmas gathering.

Eric Price and Chat Xmas 1981, Paseo Cimarron, Tucson

Chat making friends with nephew Eric Price at our home in Tucson.

The World’s  Best Dog, Pumpkin

[Apologies, Bogie, but Pumpkin was a smart an loving dog that it will take a lot to beat!] Our third Tucson house, way out in the desert, called for a tough dog and offered in exchange lots of space.  Before we had a chance to go looking, our son Mike spotted a puppy at the Swap Meet that someone was going to give away or dump in the desert if no one took her by the end of the day. She was a pitbull mix, and Mike could not stand the thought of the beautiful little pup being abandoned, so he took it home. She was too much for apartment living, so he asked us to take her “temporarily.” Pumpkin, because she was acquired near Halloween, came to live with us in our desert home and stayed with us for fourteen wonderful years, through a move to our present townhouse.

Pumpkin the dog

Grand daughter Baby Rachael and grown up Pumpkin

She charmed everyone she came in contact with, from the babies and little ones she loved to the elderly grandparents.

Itsy

While we lived out in the desert, we also acquired our first AKC certified dog, a Golden Lab puppy we called Itsy. (That comes from a Greek saying, itsy-kitsy, which is like saying “whatever.”  Itsy grew into a large and rambunctious and when we moved to our townhouse, we realized that two active dogs would be on too many. Fortuitously, we found a couple who had another Lab and wanted to adopt Itsy.

And Back to Bogie, the Poodle Yorkshire mix

When Pumpkin died at fourteen years old, we had an interlude when our son lived with us with his dog, but when he moved out, we went back to the Humane Society to look for our newest family member, Bogie.

Bogie the dog

Bogie as Humphry Bogart

He was named for the irony of his big brown eyes and tiny stature making us think of tough guy Humphrey Bogart, who wowed all the ladies–just as Bogie does.

Bogie greets Aunt Paula

Bogie greets Aunt Paula

I may revisit this topic and this post because there are other pictures that I know exist somewhere, and I want to add them as I find them.

“There are three faithful friends: an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.”
Benjamin Franklin

A fellow genealogy blogger decided to join me in this effort with her SECOND post on pets in her family. You can see her furry family members on her blog, Cow Hampshire

——-
Read more quotes at http://dogtime.com/dog-health/general/16344-25-famous-quotes-about-dogs#vuLpjS2xMDAL3b7t.99

and at http://goodreads.com/works/quo

Thanksgiving Recipe: Hilton Corn Pie, aka Killer Cornbread

cornbread at First Thanksgiving

“The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth” (1914) By Jennie A. Brownscombe
Date 1914. This painting is in the public domain.Corn in one form or several seems a natural at the Thanksgiving table. After all, it is one of the foods the Natives taught the Pilgrims to use, and they could make a rudimentary cornbread.  In fact, a Smithsonian article quotes  Willliam Bradford, Pilgrim leader, writing of that first Thanksgiving feast:

“And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion.”

Having researched the matter, I’m convinced that my foremothers–from Pilgrims to mother and grandmother– when they donned their aprons at Thanksgiving, worked some corn into the menu. But those early Pilgrims could not have made this recipe–poor things. They had no dairy (no butter or cheese), no chiles, and probably did not have hen eggs. Forget baking powder, let alone a pyrex dish!

Although this is a modern recipe that I added to our Thanksgiving traditions, I still have the presence of other generations in my kitchen.  Thinking about what kind of corn recipes they made. Heeding my mother’s hint about greasing the pans. Save the butter wrapper when you dump the butter in the mixing bowl, and wipe the buttery residue over the inside of the pan.

I’ve been making this particular cornbread recipe ever since the late 60s when I found it on the recipe pages of the Scottsdale Progress. Yes, there WERE newspaper pages totally devoted to food stories and recipes back then. During the 60s, somebody came to the conclusion that women were also interested in sports, the stock market and breaking news, and little by little the “Women’s pages” disappeared from the newspaper. (And now the newspaper itself has disappeared from Scottsdale.)

First to go was the Society Page, where all women were either Miss Smith or Mrs. Thomas Jones–as though they had no identity of their own. And the coverage ran to bridal stories that detailed what everyone in the wedding party wore–including the mother of the bride; reports on who was inviting whom to tea; and Hints from Heloise. I appreciated the new attitude toward women readers, but I would also have appreciated having my cake (recipes) and eating it too.

Corn bread from Scottsdale Hilton

Scottsdale Hilton

Feminist rant aside, I am grateful for the interview in the Progress with the chef of the then-new Hilton on Scottsdale Road at Lincoln Road.  I have used the recipe he shared for what was called Corn Pie, Scottsdale Hilton, at many a potluck and family dinner since.  It is one of those dishes whose absence is noted if I ever dare to neglect it at Thanksgiving time.

At that time, chefs in upper scale restaurants were just beginning to realize the benefits of incorporating Mexican ingredients, if not whole recipes, into their fancy menus, and stressing the Southwest. Corn pie sounded like tamale pie, hence the recipe name for what is really cornbread.  I’m inclined to call it Killer Cornbread, with the subtitle–“The dish you never want your cardiologist to know you are eating.”

Hilton Corn Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter (softened)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs (room temperature)
  • 4oz green chiles (diced, mild)
  • 1 can creamed corn
  • 1/2 cup cheese (Cheddar, shredded)
  • 1/2 cup cheese (Monterey Jack,shredded)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup corn meal
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Cream together buter and sugar
2. Beat 4 eggs and add to the butter/sugar mixture
3. Mix in chiles, creamed corn, cheese.
4. Sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.
5. Killer Corn Bread batter
Stir flour mix into other ingredients. Note: Mixture will look lumpy.
6. Killer Corn Bread in dish
Pour into greased and floured 8 x 12 or 9 x 13 pyrex baking dish.
7. Bake at 300 degrees one hour, until slightly browned on edges and pulls away from sides of dish.
8. Serves 12 or more.

July 4 : A Slice of My Life

U.S. Flag in front of our house

Happy July 4

The picture above is of the flag in front of our house against a stormy sky. July 4 is the traditional start of the summer storms in southern Arizona, and hanging the flag is sometimes a dicey affair, if you want to bring it in before the rain starts. Likewise, the public fireworks displays routinely get canceled because of high fire danger.

I can’t say for sure how all my ancestors celebrated the 4th of July, but it was probably the traditional Parade, Political speeches and Picnic. I do know that I had ancestors who served in the Revolutionary Army, and signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution .  We’ll get around to their stories later, but imagine they were feeling like John Adams when he wrote to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776:

Yesterday the greatest Question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater perhaps, never was or will be decided among Men. A Resolution was passed without one dissenting Colony “that these united Colonies, are, and of right ought to be free and independent States,  and as such, they have, and of Right ought to have full Power to make War, conclude Peace, establish Commerce, and to do all the other Acts and Things, which other States may rightfully do.”  You will see in a few days a Declaration setting forth the Causes, which have impell’d  Us to this mighty Revolution, and the Reasons which will justify it, in the Sight of God and Man. A Plan of Confederation will be taken up in a few days.

Later the same day, Adams wrote:

But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

Although the new country took his advice in celebrating with pomp and parade, shows, bells, bonfires, guns (now fireworks representing guns) and illuminations–the date that became enshrined in history was not July 2, the date of the vote to declare independence, but July 4, the date of the acceptance of the written Declaration of Independence. John Adams didn’t mention speeches specifically, but they became a tradition of July 4 gatherings. You can find much information about the early celebration of Independence Day in the book written by James R. Heintze. American University, Washington, D.C .

For Independence Day, 2013, here’s a look back to a parade of celebration only about 50 years ago, when our country was 180 years old.

When we lived in Scottsdale, I  belonged to the Scottsdale Junior Women’s Club (a Federated Woman’s Club) and we sponsored a children’s parade each July 4. Kids came with wagons and strollers and bicycles all decorated with red white and blue and some of us dressed in colonial costume, or as Statue of Liberty.  Here’s me with Brent one year and Brent the following year.

July 4 parade, 1965

Vera Marie and Brent Badertscher, Scottsdale July 4 parade, 1965

July 4, 1966 Brent Badertscher

Brent Badertscher, Scottsdale Parade, July 4 1966, Az Republic

Enjoy your July 4 ice cream!

Note: I get a token percentage of anything bought from Amazon when you follow my sponsored link.