So I have a friend, my first childhood friend named Marsha. We visited her and her DH, Parker, in Tennessee where they live back in 2014.
Here is Marsha back when we were little.............
Marsha is the one shoving cake in her mouth, I am the one mugging for the camera at my 2nd birthday party.
Anyway on that trip I got to talking about genealogy(duh!)and Parker pulled out some of his paperwork to compare notes.
He told me he was related to Martha Washington through his Dandridge line(She was born a Dandridge, married a Parke and then a Washington, and is his 1st cousin 7 x removed)and Patrick Henry who married secondly Dorothea Dandridge(who his 5th Great Aunt).
He also said he was related somehow to Earl Hamner, the writer who is known as the creator of the epic tv series "The Waltons".
Earl Hamner, Jr.
I fairly quickly years ago found all his Daindridge related ancestors. Then I found that Parker and I are 9th cousins 1 x removed through our common ancestor Robert "Potato Hole" Woodson(he's my 9th Great Grandfather and Parker's 7th Great Grandfather).
Parker's Martha Dandridge shows as more distant for me-the wife of my 11th cousin 8 x removed(Geo. Washington)and Martha's cousin, Dorothea Dandridge shows as the mother in-law of my 3rd cousin 6 x removed-her son Patrick Henry Jr. married Elvira Ann Cabell, who is my 3rd cousin 6 x removed).
Dorothea Spotswood Dandridge, the second wife of Patrick Henry
Incidentally I found years ago that my direct ancestors, John Mason III and his wife were neighbors of Patrick Henry and wife Dorothea Dandridge Henry, and they sold 400 acres of land to Patrick Henry's widow(Henry died before the actual transaction happened)for 80 pounds in July of 1799.
Parker and I also share Payne and Cole cousins on these same allied lines.
But I digress......back to the Hamners.
A photo of Earl Hamner with Richard Thomas the actor, who portrayed the character base on Earl.
I just couldn't seem to find the exact link from Parker's Hamner line to Earl Hamner's line. When I get stuck like this I'll usually start another tree for the person I am trying to link to, in this case Earl Hamner.
So I start going back and once I hit Earl's Great Grandparents I find Andrew J Mann(born in Campbell County, died in Charlotte County VA)and wife, Tabitha Holt(born in Prince Edward County, married in Campbell County and not sure where she died abt. 1832, probably in Charlotte as Andrew remarried in Charlotte County).
Holt, I have a lot of Holt ancestors! So I search MY Holts.
Tabitha's father was Josiah Holt who was my 5 x GGrand John Francis Holt which makes her my 1 st cousin 6 x removed.
So this means Earl Hamner Jr. was my 5th cousin 2 x removed through his maternal grandmother's side.
Everybody of my generation knows what a phenomenon "The Waltons" tv show was, running from 1972 to 1981. There were specials and tv movies after that into the 1990's too.
You can go read all about the career of Hamner HERE if interested.
Earl Hamner Jr. based The TV show on his childhood living during the Great Depression in Nelson County in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Earl Hamner wrote a novel in the early 1960's that was turned into a major motion picture called "Spencer's Mountain" in 1963, starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara.(It's a good old movie if you are looking for something to watch too.) Even though they moved the setting in that film to Wyoming from Virginia, it was the genesis for the TV show, "The Waltons".
Hamner wrote another novel, "The Homecoming: a novel about Spencer's Mountain".
Spencer by the way was Earl Hamner Jr.'s paternal grandmother's maiden name, Susan Henry Spencer, the part played by Ellen Corby in the series. And Susan's mother's name was Olivia, the name given to John Boy's mother in the TV series too.
That "The Homecoming" novel was turned into a tv special called "The Homecoming"(starring Patricia Neal, Richard Thomas, Ellen Corby and a few of the same kids from the tv series)and further gelled "The Waltons" tv show concept.
Something else I found interesting while rooting around in Earl Hamner's mother's family. His mother was born Doris Marion Giannini. A surname like that makes your ears perk up in rural early 20th century Virginia!
Seems her Gianninis go back in America to the 1700's.
To Giovanni Antonio Giannini(or Gianniny as it was written back then)and Maria Modena Giannini from Lucca, in the Tuscany region of Italy. They arrived in 1773 on the "Triumph" into a port on the James River along with Fillippo Mazzei, and Italian entrepreneur, who hoped to establish a wine, olive oil and silk business in the Virginia Colony.
Antonio Giannini was one of the ten Vignerons(or vineyard cultivators)who traveled with Mazzei and his family.
Mazzei's plan was to set up in Western Virginia but after sending his workers to scout out conditions in the west, Mazzei stopped over at Monticello to see Thomas Jefferson and Jefferson, so taken with European culture and that lifestyle(he was ambassador to France for years you know)and Jefferson wanting to help get wine making going as an ecomony in the Virginia Colony(and my guess is Jefferson though having a neighbor who made wine could only be a good thing too!), sold Mazzei land nearby Monticello to set up his operation. Mazzei called his plantation "Colle". And that is how Doris Giannini, Earl Hamner, Jr.'s mother's 3 x Great Grandparents came to the Albemarle region of Virginia.
And Earl Hamner didn't let this Italian winemaking heritage go to waste as it was the basis of his writing of the TV series "Falcon Crest" about a family of California winemakers. lol
Go HERE to learn about the Giannini Family in Virginia and their Thomas Jefferson connection.
Just the most interesting stuff you dig up when you discover your family roots!
Now I'm honing in on Parker's direct connection to the this Hamner line.
I felt like making my world famous carrot cake this past weekend since I had all the ingredients needed. It's my variation of a recipe I cut off the bag of Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour bag years ago.
I don't add the oil and sub apple sauce for that fully. I also add more fruit/veg including raisins. It turned out so good and moist it doesn't need any frosting!
I know it doesn't look impressive and ignore that piece missing on the back end corner. Somebody needs to taste test it and make sure the family doesn't get poisoned, right? ;-)
I still have a huge amount of carrots(had to buy a 5 lb. bag and don't feel like roasted carrots with the temps here now so does anyone have any carrot recipes(something for hot weather like a carrot salad)they can share? Let me know. 8-)
Moving On....
Onward to the meal planning-
This is what was planned.........
1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself
2. Monday--Beef and Broccoli, Rice 3. Tuesday--Stuffed Shells, Salad
4. Wednesday--Chicken Pot Pie
5. Thursday--Leftovers or FFY
6. Friday--Breakfast for Dinner
7. Saturday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Squash and Onions
And this is what really happened........
Here is this week's "food plan".....
1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself
2. Monday--Beef and Broccoli, Rice 3. Tuesday--Stuffed Shells, Salad
4. Wednesday--Chicken Pot Pie
5. Thursday--Lobster, Corn on Cob
6. Friday-Fend For Yourself(FFY)(I had leftover lobster)
7. Saturday--Breakfast for Dinner
Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 0 night of Take-Out. The only thing that didn't happen was the Rigatoni with Meat Sauce and Salad because, well.....Lobsters for $5.77 lb.! Rigatoni moves to this week.
What got put into the freezer last week....
* 2 lbs. ground turkey breast
* 5 lbs. of ground beef
What got taken out of the freezer and used..... * 1+ lb. bottom round roast * 1 lb. shredded mozzarella * 2 pie crusts * 1/2 bag mixed Veggies * 1 roll of Sausage We used up that quart of liquid whole eggs I got for .50¢ this week. If I can get that again at that price I will get more and put some in the freezer. I used 1/2 of that leftover ham steak in the eggs I cooked for Breakfast for Dinner.
2 trips to Weis(PMITA)Markets and Hubs' trip to Price Chopper had me spending $140.61 total this past week and brings my May Total spending on food to $447.04.
I spent more than that but those groceries purchased for the cook-out today will be tallied up under the Eating Out/Take-Out category.
I doubt I'll shop any more in May at this point and we are over $400. Considering "things" lately $50 over budget is a-ok in my book.
I am at $17.75 earned in Ibotta rebates in May after Friday's trip to Weis. I really didn't think I'd even hit that this month since I didn't shop at qualifying stores until I hit Weis last week.
My savings percentage last week was 33.56%(without Rite-Aid trips)for May and the monthly savings total comes in at 39.54%(w/out R-A). I have 6 more food shopping/spending days in May.
Leftovers going into this week........1/2 ham steak(which will probably go to the dogs' dinners), quiche,stuffed shells(4 after I gave a bunch to the nephew/brother in-law too), beef and broccoli w/rice, 1/2 of a large chicken pot pie.
And we had no food waste.....yay!
What needs buying for this menu? Mushrooms. The only place they aren't too much $$ is Aldi so I'll need to hit Aldi this week when I go out on Tuesday. Will probably pick up some fruit there too to get us to the end of May so I'll be spending a tad more
What's left on my master list of meals we can make from what's here...........
*Shrimp Tempura
*Kielbasa sandwiches
*Tuna Casserole
*Chili Dogs, Beans
*Roasted Chicken
*Chicken and Dumplings
*Shrimp Ravioli
*Cheese Ravioli
*Hungarian Goulash
*Spaghetti and Meatballs
*Haddock Fish Dinner new
*Chicken Tenders new
* Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce new
We're suppose to get cold weather next Sun. and Mon. so maybe I'll squeeze Chicken and Dumpling and Goulash from my list into next week's menu. It's getting to the time of year where I want to limit running the oven so more stove top, crock pot or cold meals need to happen.
What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?
Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?
Since my Bread Store Outlet is still closed(2 months and counting)I have been reduced to this........
I had to pay full retail price for a loaf of bread at Weis(PMITA)Markets!
I tell ya, it about killed me to do it but we were totally out of sliced bread.
Ok, so it was on sale(kind of)so I saved a WHOLE .30¢ but still.......
I have a feeling my Bread Outlet will be one of the casualties of this pandemic and never reopen. sigh.
I'd bake my own bread but you have to sell your soul to the Devil to get yeast around these parts too!!
What are you having to pay what you consider too much $$ for lately during this crapfest?
Back after Hubs retired the end of June of 2017 we had BIG plans, I tell ya BIG PLANS!
We were going to take the Mother of All Road Trips from Pennsylvania to out West and back.
The trip ended up taking a whole month(mid July to mid August)and we hit many of the places/sites as we could fit into a month on the road. We planned on knocking 8 states off our "Never Been There" List.
The first day was a long one with not much to talk about. It involved a lot of driving and a lot of boredom.
We left at dark o'thirty on July 18th to set out on the first of many interstates. We wanted to get to Kentucky by nightfall. First was a stop for coffee, iced tea and breakfast biscuits at Mickey D's at home. Then we were off down I-80!
This interesting thing was being towed Southward. Some type of military vehicle bound for who knows where?
We hit the Maryland line from I-99 in PA. Then it was westward onto I-68 through western MD.
Of course we hit traffic and delays this being mid July. Ironically this photo was taken somewhere north of the town of Accident, MD. lol
We knew we were getting close to the state border when we saw ever larger hills to climb.....
And then it was into "Wild and Wonderful" West Virginia.
We decided to just take potty/drink breaks and not do lunch and do an early dinner.
We found a Bob Evans in South Charleston WV off the interstate and ate there.
I got my fav Salad with Pecans, Cranberries and Chicken.
Hubs opted for a plate of white foods.....mashed taters, country fried steak smothered in white gravy, cole slaw and biscuits.
Less than hour later we hit the Kentucky line on I-64, outside of Catlettsburg KY.
Eastern KY is not known for it's lovely vistas, unless you consider petroleum refineries lovely.
Two more hours(through some truly lovely parts of KY)and we were in Frankfort where our motel for the evening was located.
Except our Garmin couldn't find the motel for some reason.
We did find it and once in the parking of the motel the Garmin GPS found the motel too. lol
Thanks a lot Garmin!
I took this photo through a very dirty car window of the motel. It was suppose to be a Days Inn but it also had a Knights Inn sign in the window. WTF?!
Truly an au courant motel......with all the talk of transgender we stayed at a motel with "brand confusion".
We got a quick dip in their not so great pool(old but serviceable and nobody else in it)then it was back to the room to settle in for a much needed sleep.
Part 2 coming up next time..........the one where I avoid getting food poisoning.
