Food for thought

It's November, so naturally my thoughts turn to FOOD! I was planning to share the homemade lemon sherbet recipe. I remember that being such a treat--it was so good! I recall the metal loaf pan that Mom would put the sherbet into and the little bits of lemon rind giving the sherbet a slight bitter taste to offset some of the sweet. I am pretty sure it was the same metal loaf pan Mom used for meatloaf. How could that wonderful sherbet come from the same pan as that meatloaf??

So, I went looking for the recipe. I have Mom's 1950 Betty Crocker Cookbook, her handwritten cookbook and her recipe box. Talk about misplaced heirlooms. These should be with someone who cooks and might use a recipe the way I use phone numbers to make dinner.

But I discovered tonight that these do have significant family historical value. Here you see a scan I made of a cookie recipe from Mom's handwritten cookbook that notes it was from Nanny Ryan in 1963. I don't ever remember these particular cookies but I find it fascinating that it comes from Nanny Ryan, whom I know was a good cook.

There are recipes in Mom's handwriting, Nanny's, Kathy's, mine, Dad's and a couple others I am not certain of. Most are handwritten or typed. Very few are clipped from magazines or newspapers (most of mine are). The lemon sherbet is typed out on an index card and has obviously been pulled out many many times. It is too badly stained to scan and place up on this blog for you.

There are a couple of things I remember in particular: lemon sauce for gingerbread and the famous chicken barbeque sauce/marinade. The original recipes are here and my versions of these lack several of the ingredients from the original!! I guess it's evidence of recipe evolution.

It occurs to me that it would be fun to have everyone grab a couple of these and try them out. Then we could have some kind of buffet. Maybe we could do something with them for the Ryan Christmas celebration. What do you think?

I do not check this blog often, but am always amazed when I do. Patty Anne, the work you do on the geneology is great. Thanks for everything that you do.

We are in-between seasons (unless you count hunting as a season!) right now. Ryan went to his first homecoming dance with a girl. They seemed to have a good time. (as far as I can tell - it is very difficult for Mom to get any information from a teenage boy) He will be playing basketball and is loving the high school. Matthew has just started basketball practices and is elated to be back with his favorite buddies (Joe, Jeff and Cam). He has matured a lot this year and is taking his studies very seriously. I do tell them both how proud I am of them, but thank you for the reminder.

I think that we should start looking at dates for Christmas as I know that everyone's calendars fill up quickly. I think that it is my turn to host this year. How about Saturday the 3rd or the 10th? Look it up and let me know.

Here's to Nanny

Nanny Flynn was born 98 years ago today in Salamanca into a family with 3 girls and a boy to welcome her as a sibling. William Howard Taft had been President for a little over a year. There were probably Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys in the house for the children. Comics in the newspaper were a relatively new addition to daily reading. States were beginning to adopt speed limits due to the increasing presence and popularity of the automobile (20 MPH!). Bobbed hair and large hats were often seen. Radios brought music like jazz and ragtime into the living room. Nanny's parents Henry and Caroline probably went ballroom dancing for entertainment. Generally it was an era of hopefulness in the United States. World War I and Prohibition were right around the corner and certainly must have affected her life at home.

This is a picture of Nanny in her Halloween costume with another child (not a sibling). This costume is a little spooky looking to me but that's from a view almost 100 years later and not a contemporary one. I think this costume shows a great deal of care and preparation--much more than I was ever able to drum up for Halloween!. Happy Halloween to all. Get those pumpkins painted!

So proud you could cry

So here's what I'm thinking about today. Twice today, people mentioned things Ryan had done recently that are the kinds of things that really make a parent proud. All day long I smiled to myself because I am so proud of him and the adult he seems to be growing into (actually it was closer to "teary eyed" than to smiling, but who's counting?).

There aren't many other parental moments that rise to the level of pride in our children over the behaviors they exhibit, especially when they have no way to expect we would find out. Of course, in some ways, it's all about us right? And our parenting? Mostly our doubts about how we are doing with that job as time goes by. Then we get validated by learning our child has made us proud. And we smile (or wipe tears away) for the rest of the day.

In this case, these were little things --as they often are. Little gestures or responses that can easily go unnoticed and often go undetected by mom-radar. Which made me think about my parents and their parents and so on. Was there anything I did that made Mom feel the way I do today? I don't recall that she ever mentioned such a thing but I suppose there had to be at least SOMETHING. Maybe when I was about 6 or so! I think I'd like to know. Especially because it's usually those little everyday things that define our relationships in this world and make such a difference with those looming life-defining moments we all face eventually.

So, I'm going to make a point to tell Ryan tonight that I am so proud to be his mom. I hope you will do the same with someone you love in the near future. Maybe they will remember it and understand a little better what makes them the people they become.

More Ryan stories

I have to say I really enjoy getting these other (or maybe one of them will be our) Ryan stories. This is from Phil Ryan just down the road in Kingston NY:

I believe Tipperary was Ryan country, and still is, to this day. My grandfather, Richard Ryan, was born January 2, 1871 in Cashel, Tipperary. His parents were William and Catherine Ryan. Richard had seven siblings, none of them were Timothy. My understanding is that Richard is the only one to come to the U.S. He came to New York and was naturalized as a young man, in the early 1890s. He was a property owner and had an ice delivery business in Harlem. Family lore is that our family was known as the "Ryans of the Racecourse," and we learned that there had been a racecourse in the Cashel area in the 19th century. We have some birth records and they variously indicate that the family lived in "Cashel Commons" or just "Commons" or "Racecourse." Meanwhile, we are assured that we have Ryan relatives in Ireland...but we have never made an effort to find them.

Indeed there are bunches and bunches of Ryans in Tipperary! Although we have our share of Williams and Catherines, this Richard Ryan doesn't quite fit into the time frame of our Timothy (born about 1839 and immigrated before 1852 probably during the Famine). This does not mean Phil is not one of our Ryans. We just don't know yet. Most likely we will have to wait for several more Ryans to join this DNA surname project. It's just another good thing worth waiting for.

Amy is home this weekend and got to spend some time with Paula yesterday at Ryan's game. Ryan's been having a rough time in football recently and I'm proud that he is handling it pretty well. Support from all of you has certainly made a difference. "Back in the day" such support seemed to be part of everyday life for most families. Of course, they lived closer to one another usually and were often in the same line of work or would see each other regularly at church or other social clubs. Not so much today but we do "see" each other and share news almost as fast electronically. A new world with some of the same patterns. I think I love it!

Some DNA feedback

I have finally gotten around to contacting by email all the potential Ryan matches produced from Chris' DNA test results. Nine Ryans have been contacted and already I have one response.

Since the oldest Ryan I know of is the old fisherman Timothy from Tipperary, he is the one I am hoping to link somehow. It's difficult as I do not know much of anything about his parents or siblings. Back to the naming traditions, I am presuming there may be a Michael in Timothy's family (father perhaps) as that is his oldest son's name. But that is pretty weak.

I have no idea how this will progress, but I thought you might be interested in the first story I received from Patrick Ryan in Australia: My great grandfather John Ryan left Tipperary about 1855. John Ryan was a farmer who married Mary Leahy 8/11/1855, Cappawhite, Tipperary, Eire. My understanding is that he was about 19 and Mary was about 17. They departed from Eire by Lord Hungerford boat arriving Botany Bay, Sydney, Australia circa June 1856. I have not been able to confirm this; it is what my father has told me. We do not know anything more about the great grandfathers Ryan family in Tipperary. In Australia he took up land 35 miles from Toowoomba, Queensland and was a Farmer. Of his siblings we know nothing. My great grandparents had 13 children.
Interestingly, I have an Irish friend from Tipperary and his family surname is Ryan. Tipperary is full of Ryans. Obviously conversation got around to our surnames. He pointed out that most Ryans over there have nicknames to try and distinguish between families. For example there are the Ryan giants, Ryans of the bucket etc... He asked me did I know the family’s nickname. My father who is 94 has no recollection of the family nickname. My father and his brothers were all over 6 foot and so are my brothers and my sons and nephews. Maybe they were of the Ryan Giants’!?

I am guessing we might be Ryan's of the Genesee!!!

October

I am always happy to see October, and not just because it's my birthday month! It's usually very nice weather and a more relaxed schedule for us. But then, there are the birthdays!!! Jim and Ryan both as well as Taylor, Jess and Breyen.

I always liked sharing my birthday with Nanny. She would have been 98 years old this year, can you imagine? Mom would make the birthday cake with the candy corn decorations for us which always made me feel special. Do you remember some kind of merry-go-round circus cake decoration Mom would use sometimes?

October has not always been good to us, losing both Nanny and Jim's dad in October only about a year apart. Such anniversaries give us good reason to think about the people we love on a regular basis, so even sad memories serve a purpose by keeping loved ones in our hearts.

This picture is from 1960. Paula sure had one saggy pair of diapers going there! I love the Tinkertoys in the background and seeing that dining set we had for so long!