The Community Kitchen

Historic food memoir about women in the kitchen and history in the making. 1918-1951. Food = Story www.evanstonstoncommnitykitchen.wordpress.com

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"Even after receiving an email from a Pulitzer Prize winner and reading the academic files from her fifth grade in school — getting to know her as a little girl — it just was not enough. More than anything in the world, I just want her back." 

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My mother's school records from Tuxedo Park School, circa 1946-1947 arrived today in the mail! It's like Christmas. Reading about my mom as a 5th grader is enchanting and makes me wish desperately to call her. What is the area code in Heaven?

Pay attention to your parents and grandparent's stories. Record them. Write them down. I wish I did. My mom talked all day long about the headmaster, Mr. Yardley. And now I have a letter she wrote him from her summer camp and a letter he wrote my grandmother.

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American Pin Company. Mourning Pins. 19th century. Because of strict mourning rituals, when a woman was in deep mourning, she couldn’t wear or display anything bright or flashy — even shiny pins keeping her clothing together. So women would use these mourning pins to button their clothes. The pins resemble thin black nails.

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Belle-Sharmeer stockings: the foot size has a number; the leg size has a name (1938)

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I entered a competition where my photo may get licensed as the background image for Big Fish Bingo, a cool iPad and iPhone bingo game. Please click the link to vote for me!

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Nancy Drew Mystery #2 Solved

I love it when a question gets answered through research.

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Hours Logged Writing Tonight: 1 and 1/2

1 1/2 Undisturbed pen to paper writing. I figured out how to tell this story and I think it is clever. Very clever indeed. Basically, I let my heart guide the pen

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These are just some of the photos of the Charles Dawes house, now the Evanston History Center. I was in Evanston last week doing research for The Community Kitchen (www.evanstoncommunitykitchen.wordpress.com). 

I have so many documents and photos to process outside of my general tourist photos like the ones above.  I went on a guided tour on Friday.  

It is a beautiful house.

Charles Dawes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_G._Dawes) was the Vice-President for Calvin Coolidge. Charles Dawes won the Nobel Peace Prize.  

I will be posting a new post on my blog soon at www.evanstoncommunitykitchen.wordpress.com.

Evanston is a beautiful city located on Lake Michigan. My mother's side of my family is from Evanston. My great-grandmother was the co-founder of the Community Kitchen and ran it as a woman owned business for almost four decades.  My grandmother ran it after her mother passed away. The Community Kitchen was located at 600 Davis Street from 1925-1951. It was  cooperative kitchen with a rich history rooted in WWI food conservation.

See my blog for more details at www.evanstoncommunitykitchen.wordpress.com. I am writing a book about this fantastic slice of American and women's history. 

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My grandma "Juney" --her name was Elizabeth Caroline Odell. At the time of this photo my grandma was assisting in the food conservation kitchen. She later became the assistant manager. Juney also ran the Community Kitchen until 1951 after she returned to Evanston from New York.

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Video of Lake Michigan in Evanston