Week 5: Favorite Food

Week #5 – Favorite Food Week 5: Favorite Food. What was your favorite food from childhood? If it was homemade, who made it? What was in this dish, and why was it your favorite? What is your favorite dish now?

In case someone not related to us is reading this, I'll let you know that this is Jeanne writing this post. Neither of my sisters would ever claim this as their favorite! I'm a food lover so picking just one food or meal as a favorite is not easy. However, the one that stands out to me is a dish called Martha's Company Casserole. It's a recipe that someone gave to my Mom when I was young and she started making it occasionally. I think I am the only one in my family who actually LOVED it and requested it all the time! It's a casserole with ground beef, egg noodles, sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, and tomato sauce. There are no secret, or really very special, ingredients, but for some reason it is just so delicious. I think it may be the combo of cream cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream which I believe are the same three ingredients that make it one of Heather and Susan's least favorite! You can find the recipe here (not sure if this is the exact recipe that my mom has but if not it's very similar).
Anyone else have a childhood favorite that they want to share?

Surname Saturday - France

Our paternal grandmother's maiden name was France. Here is the history of the France name in our family.

Jeanne, Susan and Heather Grubb (that's us)

David Austin Grubb III (our dad)

Phyllis Gray France - Born July 14, 1911 in Ravenna, Ohio. Died August 2, 1965 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Carl Haymaker France - Born June 8, 1887 in Kent, Ohio. Died December 18, 1952 in Kent, Ohio.



Elmer Ellsworth France - Born April 22, 1863 in Kent, Ohio. Died December 10, 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio.



James France - Born June 20, 1820 in England. Died January 8, 1894.



John France - Birth/Death unknown

All photos were taken at Standing Rock Cemetery in Kent, Ohio.

Who Do You Think You Are: Season 2

Next Friday, February 4, is the season 2 premiere of Who Do You Think You Are on NBC. This season will feature another set of celebrities exploring their family history, including Tim McGraw, Vanessa Williams, Rosie O'Donnell, Ashley Judd, and several others. It's a fascinating show even if you are not a geneaology geek so check it out and let us know what you think.

Family Names

Many families like to reuse names from generation to generation. My brother is an example of the reuse of both first and middle names (David Austin Grubb IV). But I love how my husband's family has done this by using a first name as the next generation's middle name. The below example spans five generations.


Sadie (Bagley) Watts - my husband's great-grandmother


Anneliese Sadie (Watts) Harrison - Sadie's granddaughter


Moriah Anneliese Watts - Anneliese's niece


Amani Moriah Dukes - Moriah's niece

Wordless Wednesday - Happy 84th Birthday Bop!

Tombstone Tuesday - John and Hannah Ferris

The first cemetery we visited during our weekend in Kent, Ohio this fall was Newbury Center Cemetery. It's a small cemetery about a half hour north of Kent. Buried there are our 5th great-grandparents - John Ferris and Hannah (Black) Ferris.



Our family line leading back to John and Hannah:

Jeanne, Susan and Heather Grubb (that's us!)

David Austin Grubb III (our dad)

Phyllis Gray France - Born July 14, 1911 in Ravenna, Ohio. Died August 2, 1965 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Carl Haymaker France - Born June 8, 1887 in Kent, Ohio. Died December 18, 1952 in Kent, Ohio.

Cora May Haymaker - Born October 15, 1864 in Earlville, Ohio. Died May 12, 1931 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Mary Selina Burlingame - Born June 26, 1842 in Newberry, Ohio. Died November 19, 1926.

Mary Ferris - Born February 28, 1817. Died August 31, 1842.

John Ferris - Born May 19, 1782. Died January 18, 1870.
Hannah Black - Born April 15, 1787. Died February 24, 1875.

Week 4: Home

Week #4 – Home. Describe the house in which you grew up. Was it big or small? What made it unique? Is it still there today?

In the early summer of 1979 we moved into the house that we grew up in. At the time Jeanne was 5, Susan 3(almost 4), David 1 (almost 2), and Heather was still hanging out in utero(due in July).
It was a good sized house, and to us it seemed HUGE, with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a full basement. It was a cream colored colonial style home with dark brown shutters and doors. From the outside, it was a very tame looking.
However, being a new build, our parents got to pick everything out, from the carpet colors to the bathroom and kitchen fixtures. My parents, for some reason, let "the girls" pick out their own bedroom carpet color and we apparently chose GOLD! Don't worry, the other bedrooms were light green, blue, and yellow! The upstairs hall bath had a blue sink, a blue and white marbled countertop, and blue toilet. Is anyone cringing yet?
Other than the fabulous decor, it had one fun feature that none of our other friends had (unless they had a two story home in the same neighborhood by the same builder) - a laundry chute! What a fabulous invention! Besides being a great way to get your laundry from the upstairs bedrooms to the basement laundry, it had about a dozen other great uses discovered over the years --Forgot to take something vital to the basement with you? No problem, just yell up the chute to someone willing to listen and have them drop the needed item down the chute to you! We threw many things up and down that chute over the years. We used the doors on each floor as mailboxes and sent "mail" up and down it on strings. Many conversations with our mom were had through the chute as she was often found at the bottom (in the basement doing the mounds of laundry we created daily).
Writing this makes me miss that house. Luckily I still live a few minutes away and when I feel nostalgic I'll drive by to check on it. I was shocked this past fall to see that the newest owners had the whole exterior redone and now it's BLUE! Maybe they wanted it to match the upstairs bath?