February 16, 1952 Men Who Fix Things, Loads of Fun, Cross and Cranky, On the Sled and Cream Puffs

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"B and Bobby are working on the alarm clock so I might as well start this for I won't get Bobby to go to bed as long as there are tools around.  I guess he has a lot of both B and you, Daddy, in him, for he loves to tinker and fool with tools.  I hope so anyway for it is certainly nice to be able to fix things.  Do you remember how Beulah and I used to wonder what we'd do if we married men who couldn't fix things?  I guess we were both lucky. 

We are getting some pictures for our walls at last.  At least we are starting with two for the living room.  They come unframed so B is going to try to make frames although he really doesn't have the tools.

Our pottery class is loads of fun.  I started a teapot last night but didn't get done so I just hope it won't be too dry by next week.  The class just meets once a week for 1-1/2 hrs.  After the things are modeled of wet clay they are just set on a shelf to dry for a week or more until they are hard as rock.  Then they are baked-- or fired as it is called.  The design is painted on with colored clay and a liquid glaze is pour on it, then dried again on a shelf and fired for the last time.  It's a long process.  The glazes are different colors or clear.  That is where the color on dishes comes in.  The clay is cream colored after it is fired.

I have to iron tonight but I don't dread it like I used to.  I very foolishly left half of it the other night when I could have finished it and Ann has been so cross in the daytime and I've been out at night so I must finish it tonight.   She has been so cranky and hasn't slept well either but she took a nap today and was not so bad.  I am wondering if it might be a tooth.  It's about time for her two year molars.

I have been making cream puffs and we really eat them up in a hurry.  They would be a nice dessert for your club refreshments sometime and are real easy to make.

We have had some wonderful days but now we have a big sleet and snow storm on everything.  It is slick as glass everywhere.  B had the kids out on the sled this afternoon and they love it.

I wrote to Bessie right after Christmas but I never have heard from them.  Did she ever mention getting my letter?

I thought you might be interested in this letter.  You can give the stamps to Charlotte if she wants them but if she doesn't save them for Steve.  We gave him the ones from Egypt that we had from these people."

                         Lots of love,

                                   Bonnie

NOTE:  I'm sure that the letter Bonnie referred to is one from Edna and Woody Sorensen, lifelong  family friends who were traveling in Pakistan and Egypt.  Woody left the ISNU faculty to become the president of Augustana College in the early 60s.  The books are some that he gave to B & Bonnie from his collection prior to his move.

For information on the collection of artifacts and photos from his travels;  http://www4.uwm.edu/libraries/AGSL/Sorensen/SorensenPhotoInventory.cfm

Cream Puffs

Using a heavy pan, heat 1 c. water and 1 stick of butter until butter melts.  Add a dash of salt.  Turn heat to high and when the mixture boils, add 1 c. of flour all at once.  Turn off the heat and stir until a ball is formed.  Turn on heat, cook and stir until a film forms on the bottom of the pan.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.  Beat in 4 eggs, one at a time.  Drop in 12 mounds on greased cookie sheet (or use a pastry bag to pipe into mounds).  Bake @ preheated 425 for 20 min.  Lower heat to 375 and bake 15 min. longer until golden brown and feather light.  Turn off heat.  Remove puffs and make small slit in each.  Return to oven for 10 min. with heat off and door ajar.  Cool on rack.

Vanilla Custard Filling

Put 3/4 c. sugar, 3 T. cornstarch, a dash of salt and 2 cups of milk in a large sauce pan.  Mix well and heat until mixture is thick and shiny.  Remove about 1/4 c. of mixture to a small bowl and add 3 beaten eggs.  Return that gradually, beating, to the other mixture and cook and stir for about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat, add 1 tsp. vanilla and 2 T butter.  Stir until butter is incorporated.  Cover and cool mixture until ready to use or fill cream puffs and serve immediately.  (Variation:  Add 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, grated, with the milk mixture for dark chocolate filling.)

Hot Fudge Sauce

Mix together one can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk and 2, 1 oz. squares of unsweetened chocolate, grated.  Cook and stir until mixture is very thick and dark.  Remove from heat and add 1 tsp. vanilla.  Thin with milk to desired consistency.   

To serve cream puffs:  Slice off the top of each and reserve the tops,  fill with custard, put top back on and drizzle with fudge sauce.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

February 25, 1956 Finding Gold, Showing Slides, The $5.00 Article and Not a Bed Made or a Dish Washed

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"It is beginning to sound springlike and I can't wait.  Tulips are coming up in our yard and there are a lot of them.  There were bare spots next to the house and I had planned to plant some flowers there but now I'll wait till the tulips are through.  When the kids first discovered the tulips they were as excited as if they'd found gold.

The kids have marble fever now and that's another sign of spring.  They do more trading with them than playing.

We had friends in last night to see some pictures so I got my house cleaned yesterday.  There are still a lot of our friends who have not seen the slides.  I served cream puffs filled with ice cream and topped with a chocolate sauce.  They were real good and are so easy to make.  That would be something nice for you to serve your club.

I got a $5.00 check for my article that I told you had been accepted.  It is only one page so I think that was a good rate.  They sent me three copies of the magazine so I'll save one for you.  They sent one of my articles on flower arrangement back and said it was too hard for children but they have kept two others.  If they think they can't use the articles they send them right back but others they keep until they can fit them in their plans.  I don't like having to wait so long to be paid but lots of magazines do that.

Yesterday was wonderfully warm but the wind is cold today and there is a light snow on.

B and I are on a committee for a tea for foreign students next Wednesday.  We will have about 50 people.  I have to make cookies and help pour coffee.

We still haven't had an announcement from Ruth & Francis.  The baby sure has a pretty name.

I want to go downtown this afternoon and look for wallpaper for the hall.  It is going to be hard to pick it.

We have our hopes up again on the garage deal.  We had decided we would tell the teacher to draw the blueprints whether his class could build it or not and we would pay him for it.  Then we would have the plans at least and would know what to plant and where.  The man draws house plans for some of the lumber yards in his spare time so we thought it only fair to pay for our plans.  He had his class up here last week to look over the prospects and then told B there was still a chance they might do it.  He is still figuring.  We are hoping they will, even if it means extending our loan for it will save us a lot of money in the long run.

I must get busy.  There isn't a bed made or a dish washed."

                  Love to you both,

                            Bonnie   

 NOTE:  I don't know what article was written and published.  There are several undated manuscripts with the letters, but with the exception of the 2 Japanese books, they are fictional children's stories and plays.  I will post the published material when they are mentioned in the letters.

For the cream puff recipe, see these posts:  http://www.annbkennedy.blogspot.com/search?q=cream+puffs

Our dad was busy heading up the effort on curriculum revision for I.S.N.U. Much of his travel was related to the work and he was released from teaching responsibilities during the semester in order to work on this task.

3rd paragraph from the bottom should read...Two successes already have been reached.  Typos in the daily paper were a frequent point of conversation in our home.

January 22, 1977 The Good Time, The Cream Puffs, The Inauguration, The Shake-Up and The Filling Station

Dear Mother,

"Yesterday was such a busy day I didn't get this written. The quilt committee came this morning for a coffee and so I spent yesterday getting the house cleaned and some baking done. When we have  a party of any kind the people are all over the house. I guess it is because our house is so open but people wander all over & look at everything. We did have a good time this morning but I just finished washing all the dishes.

We went to a dinner last night and our potluck group meets tonight. I take dessert and have made cream puffs but have just finished the pudding (custard) to put inside them.

Thursday was a better day than we've been having and the streets weren't so bad so I shopped for a few groceries and ran errands. Today is a beautiful day but it is still very cold.

Did you watch the inauguration? I thought it was all so nice. Bob said they didn't plan to go to any of the events. It was real cold and he was supposed to have the day off but he said he'd be working anyway. He has some baby chimpanzees he's giving shots of his vaccine so he has to take care of them. Pat's grandmother is still with them, I think.

Ann called this week, too. She had some questions about school to ask her dad so we both had a real good visit. She sounded so happy. Her school is working hard to desegregate next year. It is the only all-white school in the state and they have been ordered to bus the kids. It means a shake-up for the teachers too so she doesn't know whether she'll be in this same school next year. She doesn't care and has said she'd go to any place they needed her.

I knew Marjorie would like to have the quilt. She'll probably be happy to put it together, too, if that's hard for you to do.

I'm so glad the baby is here and I can't wait to hear what they name it. Did you say it came on the 18th? That is Bob's birthday you know, so he'll be happy to hear about the baby. He kept asking. I'd love to see Michelle's face when she sees it.

We finally got help from a filling station and got the Mustang going again Tuesday evening. It has been fine since but that 20º below weather was too much for it.

All of us are having horrible heating bills this winter but there isn't much we can do about it. I guess we should be thankful we have the gas to heat with. Some parts of the country don't have enough natural gas and that must be awful. So keep warm and don't worry about it."

Love,


            Bonnie

NOTE:  For the tried and true cream puff recipe, find it here on a 1952 post.

http://annbkennedy.blogspot.com/2012/09/february-16-1952-men-who-fix-things.html

June 27 - 28 1954 Rice Planting

Diary Entry:  June 27, 1954

"Spent morning making cream puffs for supper party at Bray's.  Brays and Belshes are entertaining Inuoe family from Toyonaka.  Cloudy all day.  B went out to get pictures of rice planting anyway.

Just before we were to go to Bray's Mrs. I came running for help.  Margaret Bray was choking on a plastic ball.  Bill got it out but Margaret's throat scratched badly.  Took her to Dr. for treatment.  Finally sat down to nice dinner & then showed slides.  Mrs. I brought me some bamboo mats."

Diary Entry:  June 28, 1954

"A day of packing.  B kept appointment in Kobe with school board member.  B went out in morning for pictures.  Farm women tried to get him to take pictures of one fixing work pants.  "Chotto shashin" (a little photo)they called & pointed to her laughing."

B/W Images and text below are from the book, Japan, by Horace Bristol, 1953

After 25 - 50 days, the verdant seedlings are pulled in bunches, transplanted in straight rows

This is all hand work--goes on rain or shine.

Water must be pumped into the fields by foot power

Or by gravity wheels

In the mountains, rice is planted high on the slopes

Some fields are near the shore

NOTE:  For cream puff recipe:  http://www.annbkennedy.blogspot.com/search?q=cream+puffs

October 13, 1957 The Fall Yard Report, The Raging Flu, The Apples and The Popcorn

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"Everything is so fall-like now.  We had a dark, drizzling day and that seemed to change everything.  The leaves began to fall and they are all colors now.  My mums are beginning to open but I still can't tell what colors they will be.  Last Sunday was such a wonderful day that I worked all afternoon in the yard and B cut the grass for the last time this year.  The dahlias are still blooming hard even though the wind has broken them all to pieces.  Next year I will know to use tall stakes.  If it is nice tomorrow I want to plant peonies along our property line on the north side of the yard.  Our neighbor on that side has the peonies and we planned this for a year.  She has been sick but called me the other day and told me to come and get all I wanted to put any place.  I told her I would try to put them where we first planned for they will look nice there.  It will make a low hedge.

The flu is raging here but no one knows if it is the Asian kind or not.  It takes a special test to tell & that has to be done in Chicago.  School activities where food is brought in from homes have to be cancelled.

We had a party and a potluck supper planned for Bob's & Ann's rooms next week.  It will give us a chance to catch our breath now that they have been cancelled.

Toni & I went to an orchard one morning and got apples (Grimes) for $1.25 a bushel.  They aren't big but about right for the kids to eat.

Today was Edna's birthday.  I took them some cream puffs for lunch.  She is still having trouble with her back but is a little better.  She hasn't been any place since the last of June and she misses it.  She can't even go to church and sit that long.

Daddy sounds busier now than he did when he went to the store everyday.  That old fence can wait a few days.  You had better just decide on a time to come and then come.

I went to Quill Club last night but we are all home together tonight.  There was a church supper but we decided to stay home.

Come over & we'll have popcorn.  I think I'll go pop some."

                         Lots of love,

                               Bonnie

NOTE:  Popcorn, in any form, was a family favorite.  Every fall we looked forward to Baked Caramel Corn.  A huge quantity was made, easily a leaf-bag full, and given to students who raked the yard, friends as Christmas gifts, and there was always plenty left to go around.  It was stored in coffee cans and plastic buckets.  I still associate the scent of popping corn with autumn!

And the less popular recipe, "crisp & nice", but only rated "Fair": 

 

March 3, 1956 The No-Cake Birthday, The Seed Catalog and The Sears Catalog

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"Seems like I've had a birthday all week.  I've had a card or package most every day.  Thanks so much for the money.  I hid it away and will get something for the house with it.  I've been drooling over the seed catalogs but I don't want to plant a thing until we know about the garage.  The class has been out here to look and measure a few times.  They are drawing plans but have never promised definitely to build the garage.  Of course, they want to be sure they can get what experience they need from it before they can go ahead with any project.  If they do build it we want a combination drive and sidewalk and then we'll have to take up the brick walk that cuts across the yard.  After the drive is done we may want to do some planting on each side of it.

B surprised me with a fireplace screen but it was too big and he had to take it back.  We couldn't find one we really wanted but I dug out the old winter Sears catalog and they had one we liked.  We ordered it and it came today.  We have it up and it looks so nice.  The kids can't wait to build a fire but we are having such grand spring-like weather we don't need a fire now.  The screen had to be screwed to the front of the fireplace.  We hated to do it but managed to put the screws in the mortar rather than a brick and we couldn't find another screen we wanted.  Most of them were brass all over and I wanted the curtain part to be black.

I didn't make myself a birthday cake but made cream puffs for dessert instead.  Toni and Watty and Edna & Woody came down for the evening.  Edna & Woody brought me a potted hyacinth.  It smells so good.

Bessie wrote me a nice birthday card.  She said Dana was better now and could come to the table to eat.

Bill is here to play and they are all having a big time.  Lynn & David come to play often and Bill gets awful mad because he doesn't get to come much.

B goes to Chicago on Sunday and will be there until Tuesday.  The kids have been telling him all week what he should bring them.  He won't have much time for present buying so they probably will get a candy bar.

Bob plays in a recital Monday night.  They have been practicing hard for it.

I guess I'll stop.  It takes me so long to do anything when all the kids are around."

                 Love to you both,

                          Bonnie

December 11, 1942 The Parties, Passing Exams and Gingerbread

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"There isn't any news, but I know how it is to look for a letter and not get one.  We got four nice letters Monday and none since.

It started snowing yesterday afternoon and there is a light snow on now.  I was really thrilled.  The streets were really slick last night.  The Dames had a Christmas party and we sang carols and played games.  We had a Christmas tree and we got Xmas packages for prizes.  Mine was a box of three powder puffs.  Then the Dean's wife brought over a box of presents for all of us.  They were just small things like little socks with candy, and snowmen filled with candy.  I got a little red wax boot about 3 or 4 inches tall filled with mints and I'm saving it for a table Xmas day.  For refreshments we had gingerbread with a spicy syrup poured over it and coffee.  One of B's seminars meets Wednesday nights, so two of the men came home with him and their wives came home with me.  We had some popcorn and bottle cakes and so we had a little party of our own.

B passed his French Exam and has started studying for his German test.  We still haven't had a chance to go to Teachers College to see about me entering.  We'll have to soon so I can resign my job.

Maybe there'll be more to write next time.  We're awfully busy now."

                             Lots and lots of love,

                                          B & Bonnie

 Bonnie's Gingerbread

Cream 1 c. sugar, 1 stick oleo and 1 c. molasses.
Combine 2-1/2 c. flour, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. soda, 2 tsp. ginger, 1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. cloves, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg.  Add alternately dry ingredients and 1 c. boiling water.  Begin and end with dry ingredients.  Beat in 2 eggs (well beaten).  Mix till smooth.  Pour in greased and floured pan (large cake).  Bake 25-30 @ 350 or till toothpick tests done.

Warm Brandy Sauce

Mix 3 T cornstarch, 1/2 c. sugar, 1/4 tsp. salt and 2 c. water.
Cook till clear and thick.  Add 6 T brandy and 2 T butter.  Beat with a little of the hot sauce 2 egg yolks and add to sauce.  Cook 2 min. more.  Serve warm on gingerbread.