Family Ancestry

No, this is not a treatise on evolutionism. My family is not descended from King Kong.

Well, not exactly.

My maiden name was Schoedsack. Now that probably means absolutely nothing to you, unless you are a major classic movie buff. Specifically a fan of the original King Kong.

If you look very closely down in the lower right hand corner, you will see...



Yep. "A Cooper-Schoedsack production."

That would be my great uncle, my father's uncle, my grandfather's brother: Ernest Beaumont Schoedsack. The story goes that my grandfather got his younger brother his first job in the film industry in 1914. He was stationed in France in the first World War as a newsreel cameraman in the Signal Corps. He later worked in Polish war relief efforts to assist Polish refugees fleeing from the Bolsheviks. In 1925 he flmed Grass, a forerunner of the documentary travelogue which followed the migration of Bakktiari tribes in Persia as they crossed the Zardeh Kuh mountains to find grazing land for their sheep and cattle. King Kong was released in 1933. Ernest Schoedsack was known as an adventurer and judging from other postcards I found, I think my grandfather was as well. Could be a bit of an understatement!

If anyone reading this has been following my Flashback Friday posts here, here and here, you will recall that I have unearthed a case of old family pictures. Among these treasures are photographs, postcards and other memorabilia that I will be sharing in future posts. But I thought I would share King Kong today. And this postcard to my father from his Uncle Ernest. The date is unknown but the message is priceless!




In case you can't decipher the handwriting, it reads:

Saigon, Indo-China
September 17th

I'm over here looking for tigers and wild elephants but expect to return to Siam in three weeks. Going up into the jungle tomorrow. Your Uncle E.

There is no year on the card nor can I make out the postmark, but it doesn't really matter. Wouldn't you just love to get a card like that in the mail!
 

Six Random Things

 
I'm always amazed that anyone actually reads my blog so it was a surprise to me when I was tagged by Alexia at The Mommy Rambles for this meme!
 
Here are the rules:
 
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write 6 random things about yourself.
4. Tag 6-ish people at the end of your post
5. Let each person know he/she has been tagged
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.
 
Here are my six random things:
 
1. I grew up in Southern California but have lived in the northeast since I was 21 years old.

2. I hate (yes, HATE) winter! Hey, I'm a California girl!

3. I am a chocolate snob. La Maison du Chocolat is the very best but I rarely get any - I've received it twice as a gift. But I can afford Lindt and indulge in their dark chocolate truffles.

4. I MUST HAVE cheese. Every single day. For the calcium :)

5. I'm a morning person. I need my quiet time to to handle the day. 6:00am is sleeping in.

6. I'm a garage sale addict. Apparently it is a genetic trait because my granddaughter needs to do this too. We're dangerous together.
 
I'm tagging these bloggers!
 
Shannon at Muzbeecrazy

Colleen at Mommy Always Wins

CanCan at My Greening

Chris at Dad of Divas

Renee at When 2 Became 3 or 4

Micaela at Mindfulmomma
 
Enjoy the weekend!
 

Flashback Friday #4

 
Since I have posted photos of my parents when they were younger and of my mother as a child, I searched through the storage bin for the envelope of old photos of my father's family. I really liked this one, taken at the beach in 1919. The little boy is my Daddy. He would have been around two and a half. His mother is second from the left and his father is on the far right. I don't know who the other three are but I like the attitude of the woman in the center!
 

 
This is the same photo after someone artfully applied some color. Can't say how accurate the colors are to true life but I do know that my Daddy had red hair just that shade!
 
I love the tent...and the cars! Would you wear a swimsuit like that? (I think I probably should!)
 



 

Check out Mommy Always Wins for more Flashback Friday participants!
 

An OCD Toddler?

 
My first two sons are exact opposites. I clued into this fact when M was very young. Everything his older brother was, M was not.

W was colicky
M was an easy feeder and good sleeper

W loved food, all food
M loved cereal and fruit...only

W was outgoing and gregarious
M was painfully shy and reticent

W self weaned at 15 months
M was still nursing at 2.5 years. I had to leave town.

W loved language
M loved math

W could make a mess and ignore it for days
M was a little OCD. He lined up all the family shoes in a neat row...daily

You get my drift. My point is that once I understood this dynamic, it made #2 son very predictable. Usually. I really should have known....

About the time my third son was born (M would have been 33 months) I noticed that my HUGE carton of sanitary pads had been opened. Not only had it been opened, MOST of the pads were missing. Seeing as I was the only female in the house, I just knew something strange was going on. I looked in the bedrooms. I looked in the bathrooms. I looked outside (yes, even outside) Nothing! There was nothing!

I broke down and asked M. Holding up one of the few remaining pads I said, "Do you know where the rest of these are?" Big grin. You cannot be angry at a grinning toddler. "Can you show Mommy?"

Off he runs to his bedroom and flings open the closet doors. There, neatly aligned in rows like little soldiers were my pads stuck to the back wall of his closet. He was so proud of his work. So nice and neatly organized. He had obviously put in a great deal of effort here: multiple trips between my bathroom and his closet, peeling off each sticky strip and arranging them all in straight rows. He had done a mighty fine job although I'm not sure what exactly he thought he was doing!

He had made his very own padded cell.
 

Wordless Wednesday: Princess Tea Party

 

 
Sweet little princess granddaughters having tea.
 
Check out Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom for more participants.
 

Trading Up

Maybe you caught Dad of Divas post last week on Wordless Wednesday. A very creative, eye catching photo, I think you'd agree.
 
I posted a comment and he responded. Little did I know that his creative mind works in other wild and crazy ways.
 
You may have heard of the red paper clip tradeup that eventually (really only 14 trades in 12 months)led to the acquisition of a house. Well, Dad of Divas is attempting to acquire a Toyota Sienna minivan by trading up, item by item, starting with a vintage Kodak Camera.
 
Or you may have read about this exploit over at World of Weasels. Weaselmommma is participating in the tradeup by offering an evening of her company. No, that doesn't sound right. It's an evening of drinks (yes, her Hubby will be there too) plus an autographed photo AND her coveted cookie and candy recipes. It's Tradeup #5 at the The Great Minivan Trade Up site.
 
Now this method of commerce is not for everyone, but Dad of Divas certainly has my vote for thinking outside the box in these times of economic uncertainty and restricted cash flow. And if he can be patient, he just might end up with a minivan!
 
So at the very least, check him out. Offer some words of encouragement, spread the word or even trade up!
 

Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

 

 
Michelle of bleeding espresso, Sara of Ms. Adventures In Italy and Jenn of The Leftover Queen are hosting the O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest.

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of Gina DePalma, author of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen and Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy, Jenn of The Leftover Queen, and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are asking you to donate to the:

Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (via FirstGiving.org)

and then, out of the goodness of your hearts and to be eligible for the O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest, please do the following:

1. Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato) and include this entire text box in the post;

OR

2. If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word about the event and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

AND

3. Then send your post url [along with a photo (100 x 100) if you've made a recipe] to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on September 30, 2008.

We will post a roundup and announce prize winners on October 3.

Prizes:

1 Recipe Prize for best “O food” concoction: $50 gift certificate to Amazon;
1 Awareness Prize for only publicizing event: Copy of Dolce Italiano cookbook.
———

From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 21,650 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the U.S. in 2008 and about 15,520 women will die from the disease.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
In spite of this patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.
 
Please donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and help spread the word!
 
So without further ado, here is an "O" recipe for CARAMELIZED ONION TOASTS that I have adapted from a Tyler Florence recipe. I made it for two separate dinner parties over the weekend and it was devoured by young and old alike on both nights!
 
4 T unsalted butter
2 large onions, sliced
3 anchovy halves, chopped (I use anchovy paste, 1.5 t)
2 t chopped fresh thyme
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 baguette (mine was quite long and I only needed half each night)
1/3 c pitted kalamata olives
extra butter, softened for spreading on the bread
extra virgin olive oil
Parmigiano Reggiano
 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
 
Heat 4T butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, anchovy paste, thyme, salt and pepper and cook until the onions are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
 
With a serrated knife shave off the top and bottom of the baguette so it will lie flat, cut off the ends and slice the loaf in half lengthwise. Spread cut side with softened butter.
 
Spread the caramelized onions over the loaves, garnish with the olives, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes until the bread is crispy around the edges. Sprinkle with the parmigiano, cut into pieces and serve.