Smyth Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget

Smyth Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

Ruth and Florence Paget are related to the Smyth family through their ancestor Phoebe Ann Throop. 

G1 refers to Generation 1 and so on 

Mother Lines 

G1 – Florence Paget

G2 – Ruth Pennington (Married Name: Paget) 

G3 – Beatrice May Sawle (Married Name: Pennington) 

G4 – Daisy May Bardsley (Married Name: Sawle) 

G5 – Etta Pearl Carpenter (Married Name: Bardsley) 

G6 – Phoebe Ann Throop (Married Name: Carpenter) 

-daughter of Joseph Allen Throop and Elizabeth Brundage 

G7 – Joseph Allen Throop 

-son of Calvin Throop and Anna Ripley 

G8 – Calvin Throop 

-son of Benjamin Throop and Mary Burgess 

G9 – Benjamin Throop 

-son of Joseph Throope and Deborah Buell 

G10 – Joseph Throope 

-son of Daniel Throope and Deborah Church 

G11 – Daniel Throope 

-son of William Throope and Mary Chapman 

G12 – William Throope 

-son of William Throope Sr and Isabell Redshaw 

G13 – William Throope Sr 

 -son of Thomas Thrope and Elizabeth Smyth 

G14 – Elizabeth Smyth 

-daughter of John Smith and Alice Smyth (uncertain data at this time) 

Born: About 1585 in Nottinghamshire, England 

G15 – John Smith 

-parents unknown at this time 

Born: 1540 

Died: 1589 in Sturton le Steeple, Nottinghamshire, England 

Note: Son John Smyth matriculated Christ’s College, Cambridge, under age in 1589 (date of father’s will) (From Alumni Cambridgeshire, vol 4 p 100) 

Will written, with son John as a minor in 1589. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Redshaw Family Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget

Redshaw Family Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

Ruth and Florence Paget are related to the Redshaw family through their ancestor Phoebe Ann Throop. 

G1 refers to Generation 1 and so on. 

Mother Lines 

G1 – Florence Paget 

G2 – Ruth Pennington (Married Name: Paget) 

G3 – Beatrice May Sawle (Married Name: Pennington) 

G4 – Daisy May Bardsley (Married Name: Sawle) 

G5 – Etta Pearl Carpenter (Married Name: Bardsley) 

G6 – Phoebe Ann Throop (Married Name: Carpenter) 

-daughter of Joseph Allen Throop and Elizabeth Brundage 

G7 – Joseph Allen Throop 

 -son of Calvin Throop and Anna Ripley 

G8 – Calvin Throop 

-son of Benjamin Throop and Mary Burgess 

G9 – Benjamin Throop 

-son of Joseph and Deborah Buell 

G10 – Joseph Throope 

-son of Daniel Throope and Deborah Church 

G11 – Daniel Throope 

-son of William Throope and Mary Chapman 

G12 – William Throope 

-son of William Throope Sr and Isabell (Izabell) Redshaw 

G13 – Isabell (Izabell) Redshaw 

-daughter of William Redshaw and unknown mother at this time 

Born: about 1617 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England 

Died: June 22, 1658 in Lound, Nottinghamshire, England 

G14 – William Redshaw 

-parents unknown at this time 

Born: about 1600 in Nottinghamshire, England 

Died: October 17, 1643 in Sutton cum Lound, Nottinghamshire, England 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Chapman Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget

Chapman Family Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

Ruth and Florence Paget are related to the Chapman family through their ancestor Phoebe Ann Throop. 

G1 refers to Generation 1 and so on. 

Mother Lines 

G1 – Florence Paget 

G2 – Ruth Pennington (Married Name: Paget) 

G3 – Beatrice May Sawle (Married Name: Pennington) 

G4 – Daisy May Bardsley (Married Name: Sawle) 

G5 – Etta Pearl Carpenter (Married Name: Bardsley) 

G6 – Phoebe Ann Throop (Married Name: Carpenter) 

-daughter of Joseph Allen Throop and Elizabeth Brundage 

G7 – Joseph Allen Throop 

-son of Calvin Throop and Anna Ripley 

G8 – Calvin Throop 

-son of Benjamin Throop and May Burgess 

G9 – Benjamin Throop 

-son of Joseph Throope and Deborah Buell 

G10 – Joseph Buell 

-son of Daniel Throope and Deborah Church 

G11 – Daniel Throope 

-son of William Throope and Mary Chapman 

G12 – Mary Chapman 

-daughter of Ralph Chapman and Lydia Wells 

Born: October 1643 in Marshfield, Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts 

Died: June 6, 1732 in Bristol, Bristol County, Rhode Island 

Note: Mary Chapman is the daughter of Ralph Chapman who arrived in the America Colonies in 1635 on board the “Elizabeth” the next ship to come after the Mayflower. 

G13 – Ralph Chapman 

-son of John Chapman and Grace Bishop 

Born: December 9, 1515 in Southwark (within present London), Surrey, England 

Died: June 4, 1672 in Marshfield (Present Plymouth Colony), Plymouth, present Massachusetts  

-Immigrant to the US onboard the Elizabeth, the ship to arrive after the Mayflower in Plymouth in 1635. 

G14 – John Chapman 

-son of William Chapman (1565 – 1620) and Elizabeth Garrett (1570 – deceased) 

Christening: February 1, 1587 in St. Michael-at-Pleas Church, Norwich, Norfolk, England 

Died: 1641 in Norwich, Norfolk, England Spouse Note: Grace Bishop (Will do a separate file) 

Married in 1608 in Leicestershire, England 

G15 – William Chapman 

 -parents unknown at this time 

Born: 1565 in Finedon, Northhamptonshire, England 

Died: St. Bride’s Parish, London, England 

Spouse Note: Elizabeth Garrett (1570 – Deceased) 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Church Family Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget

Church Family Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

Ruth and Florence Paget are related to the Church family through their ancestor Phoebe Ann Throop. 

G1 refers to Generation 1 and so on. 

G1 – Florence Paget 

G2 – Ruth Pennington (Married Name: Paget) 

G3 – Beatrice May Sawle (Married Name: Pennington) 

G4 – Daisy May Bardsley (Married Name: Sawle)

G5 – Etta Pearl Carpenter (Married Name: Bardsley) 

G6 – Phoebe Ann Throop (Married Name: Carpenter) 

-daughter of Joseph Allen Throop and Elizabeth Brundage

G7 – Joseph Allen Throope 

-son of Calvin Throop and Anna Ripley 

G8 – Calvin Throop 

-son of Benjamin Throop and Mary Burgess 

G9 –Benjamin Throop 

-son of Joseph Throop and Deborah Buell 

G10 – Joseph Throop 

-son of Captain Daniel Throope and Deborah Church 

G11 – Deborah Church 

-daughter of Joseph Church Sr and Mary Tucker 

Born: March 13, 1676 in Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America 

Died: June 8, 1752 in Compton, Colony of Rhode Island, British Colonial America – buried in Lebanon, New London, Connecticut, British Colonial America 

G12 – Joseph Church Sr 

-son of Richard Church and Elizabeth Warren 

Born: March 9, 1638 in Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America 

Died: March 5, 1711 in Compton, Newport, Rhode Island, British Colonial America – buried in Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America  

G13 – Richard Church 

-son of Richard Church Sr and Alice Vassall 

Born: February 6, 1608 in London, England 

Died: December 27, 1668 in Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America – buried in Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America 

G14 – Richard Church Sr 

-son of John Samuel Church, II and Joane Titerele 

Born: May 9, 1570 in Camps, South Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire, England 

Died: 1623 in Barnstable, Massachusetts, British Colonial America -Immigrant to the US 

G15 – John Samuel Church, II  

-son of Lord Knight John Church, of Runwell Hall and Catherine Swann  

Born: 1548 in Essex, England 

Died: November 4, 1593 in Little Sampford, Saffron Walden, Essex, England 

G16 – Lord Knight John Church, of Runwell Hall 

Born: 1519, Runwell, Chelmsford Borough, Essex, England 

Died: April 20, 1577 in Runwell, Chelmsford, Essex, England 

Spouse Note: Catherine Swann (Will do separate file as well) 

Born: 1526, Sanford, Essex, England 

Died: 1582, Sanford, Essex, England 

Marriage: 1547, Essex, England 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Buell Family Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget

Buell (also written as Bewelle and Buel) Family Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget

Ruth and Florence Paget are related to the Buell family through their ancestor Phoebe Ann Throop. 

G1 refers to Generation 1 and so on. 

Mother Lines 

G1 – Florence Paget 

G2 – Ruth Pennington (Married Name: Paget) 

G3 – Beatrice May Sawle (Married Name: Pennington) 

G4 – Daisy May Bardsley (Married Name: Sawle) 

G5 – Etta Pearl Carpenter (Married Name: Bardsley) 

G6 – Phoebe Ann Throop (Married Named: Carpenter) 

 -daughter of Joseph Allen Throop and Elizabeth Brundage 

G7 – Joseph Allen Throop 

 -son of Calvin Throop and Anna Ripley 

G8 – Calvin Throop 

-son of Benjamin Throop and Mary Burgess 

G9 – Benjamin Throop 

-son of Joseph Throop and Deborah Buell 

G10 – Deborah Buell 

-daughter of William Buell and Elizabeth Collier (1675 – 1729) 

Born: July 23, 1718 in Lebanon, New London, Connecticut 

Died: February 14, 1811 in Kent, Litchfield, Connecticut 

G11 – William Buell 

-son of Samuel Buel Sr and Deborah Griswold 

Born: October 18, 1676 in Killingworth, Connecticut 

Died: April 7, 1763 in Lebanon, Connecticut Colony

G12 – Samuel Buel Sr 

-son of William Buel and Mary (unknown last name) 

Born: September 2, 1641 in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut 

Died: July 11, 1720 in Clinton, Middlesex, Connecticut 

G13 – William Buel 

-parents unknown at this time 

Born: Circa 1610 in England  

Died: November 18, 1681 in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut Colony 

Married in Connecticut Colony on November 18, 1640 to Mary (last name unknown) 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Burgess Family Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget

Burgess Family Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

Ruth and Florence Paget are related to the Burgess family through their ancestor Phoebe Ann Throop. 

G1 refers to Generation 1 and so on. 

Mother Lines 

G1 – Florence Paget 

G2 – Ruth Pennington (Married Name: Paget) 

G3 – Beatrice May Sawle (Married Name: Pennington) 

G4 – Daisy May Bardsley (Married Name: Sawle) 

G5 – Etta Pearl Carpenter (Married Name: Bardsley) 

G6 – Phoebe Ann Throop (Married Name: Carpenter) 

G7 – Joseph Allen Throop - son of Calvin Throop and Anna Ripley 

G8 – Calvin Throop - son of Benjamin Throop and Mary Burgess 

G9 – Mary Burgess 

- daughter of James Burgess (1716 – 1789) 

Born: 1756 in Hartford County, Connecticut, US 

Died: May 26, 1818 in Litchfield, Litchfield County, Connecticut, US 

G10 – James Burgess 

- parents unknown at this time 

Born: February 9, 1716 in Branford, New Haven County, Connecticut 

Died: February 9, 1789 in Washington, Litchfield County, Connecticut – Buried in Old Judea Cemetery, Washington, Litchfield County, Connecticut 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Ripley Family Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget

Ripley Family Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

Ruth and Florence Paget are related to the Ripley family through their ancestor Phoebe Ann Throop. 

G1 refers to Generation 1 and so on. 

Mother Lines 

G1 – Florence Paget 

G2 – Ruth Pennington (Married Name: Paget) 

G3 – Beatrice May Sawle (Married Name: Pennington) 

G4 – Daisy May Bardsley (Married Name: Sawle) 

G5 – Etta Pearl Carpenter (Married Name: Bardsley) 

G6 – Phoebe Ann Throop (Married Name: Carpenter) 

G7 – Joseph Allen Throop 

-son of Calvin Throop and Anna Ripley 

G8 – Anna Ripley 

-father and mother unknown at this time 

Born: 1784 in Litchfield, Connecticut, US 

Died: August 18, 1856 in Grenville, Canada West 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Brundage Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget by Ruth Paget

Brundage (Also known as Brunderage) Ancestors of Ruth and Florence Paget 

Ruth and Florence Paget are related to the Brundages through their ancestor Phoebe Ann Throop. G1 below refers to Generation 1 and so on. 

Mother Lines 

G1 – Florence Paget

G2 – Ruth Pennington (Married Name: Paget) 

G3 – Beatrice May Sawle (Married Name: Pennington) 

G4 – Daisy May Bardsley (Married Name: Sawle) 

G5 – Etta Pearl Carpenter (Married Name: Bardsley) 

G6 – Phoebe Ann Throop (Married Name: Carpenter) 

G7 – Elizabeth Brundage (Married Name: Throop) 

-daughter of Abraham Brundage and Mrs Abraham Brundage 

Born: September 10, 1821 in Preston, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada 

(Lived in New York in 1870 according to Family Search Organization) 

G8 – Abraham Brundage 

Born: 1796 in Canada 

Marriage in Preston, Greenville, Canada to Mrs Abraham Brundage 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Colonial Pudding Cap Pattern for New Walkers reposted by Ruth Paget

Colonial Pudding Cap Pattern for New Walkers Information reposted by Ruth Paget

I first saw a colonial pudding cap at the colonial France’s Land House in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  The blog below gives a pattern for one and its history:

https://crazyconcordchicks.blogspot.com/2012/01/mrs-hancocks-pudding-cap-pattern.html?m=1

The following blog shows puddings caps on historical portraits:

https://sharonlathanauthor.com/pudding-caps/#:~:text=1780),%2C%20velvet%2C%20and%20so%20on.

Pudding caps look like they would a child’s head warm as well as protecting them from falls.

Happy Sewing!

Last-Minute Ticket Sales for Pro-Am Golf Tournament at Pebble Brach, California on sale posted by Ruth Paget

There are still some last-minute tickets available for the Pro-Am Golf Tournament at Pebble Beach, California on February 12, 13, 14, and 15, 2026:

Ticket details and information are available at the link below:

https://www.attpbgolf.com/spectators/tickets/

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Vienna Coffee Society Gsmr

Rodeo 2026 Tickets go on sale 2-12-2026 reposted by Ruth Paget

The Monterey Herald announced that Salinas Rodeo tickets will go on sale on Thursday, February 12, 2026 at 10 am.  This year’s concert will be headlined by Grammy winner Miranda Lambert.

Ticket information is on the Monterey Herald site below:

https://www.montereyherald.com/2026/02/09/miranda-lambert-to-headline-kick-off-concert-at-salinas-rodeo/

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Vienna Coffee Game

A link to Ruth Paget’s Vienna Coffee Game follows:

https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2021/07/vienna-coffee-games-created-by-ruth.html?m=1

French Baguette Bread Hors d'oeuvres Recipes by Ruth Paget

French Baguette Bread Hors d’oeuvres Recipes by Ruth Paget 

One of the reasons the French seem so adamant about eating their white bread baguettes is that they can easily turn them into rounds for toast, topping, and microwaving into hors d’oeuvres or dinners depending on how many hors d’oeuvres are eaten. 

Baguettes from a bakery are pretty reasonably price, but if you make your own even for weekend consumption on a regular basis, the savings can be tremendous without sparing flavor or texture. If you are interested in seeing how baguettes can be made at home, I have provided the following link to my daughter Florence Paget’s forays in the kitchen.  The recipe makes 2 to 3 baguettes:

Traditional French Baguette Recipe with Photos and Videos

The seven recipes below require you to cut 12 round slices from one baguette that are about ½-inch wide. Then, the baguette slices are grilled or toasted to make a solid base for your hors d’oeuvres. 

*Baguette slice with melted gruyère cheese rectangle sprinkled with crushed Calabrian red peppercorns. It takes about 45 seconds to 1 minute to melt the cheese in the microwave. You can butter the toast first, if you would like.  

*Baguette slice with melted goat cheese slice studded with halves of black Niçoise olive. It takes about 1 minute to microwave to melt goat cheese. You can drizzle on olive oil on the toast first, if you would like. 

*Baguette slice with shrimp-mayonnaise spread made with Japanese mayonnaise or homemade mayonnaise (1/2 cup) and ¾ to 1 cup cooked shrimp without their shells. Place the mayonnaise and shrimp in a blender and mix to a paste. Spread shrimp paste on baguette rounds and sprinkle with Calabrian crushed red pepper. 

*Baguette slice spread with sour cream with a slice of smoked salmon on top and garnished wit dill. Whipped cream cheese can also be used as a spread. 

*Baguette slice spread with tapenade – a mixture of pitted black olives, capers, crushed garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and parsley. My family does not like tapenade, but this spread is a popular one and is often served with melted goat cheese on top. 

*Baguette slice with a cream cheese and walnut spread that is made by blending the two main ingredients in a blender.  Other nuts can also be used in a spread this way.

*Baguette slice with a cream cheese and black olive spread that is made by blending the two main ingredients in a blender. 

Suggested Beverages: San Pellegrino Sparkling Water, white wines like pinot grigio (pinot gris), sauvignon blanc, and dry Riesling, hard cider like Henry Hot Spurs, and lager beers like Peroni Nastro Azzuro (Official sponsor of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics). 

Suggested Side Salads: Grated carrot salad, lentil salad, and organic greens 

Bon Appétit! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of Teff: The Global Flour Game

Making Traditional French Baguette Online Exhibit with Florence Paget by RuthbPaget

Making French Traditional Baguette Bread Online Exhibit with Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

In 1993, the French government decreed that bread that is sold as French traditional baguettes can only contain 4 ingredients in its Décret Pain (93 – 1074): wheat flour, water, salt, and yeast. 

My daughter Florence Paget wanted to bake baguettes as a family heritage project, so we bought organic ingredients and she set to work on the following recipe, which I recorded in step-by-step photos and videos below. 

Traditional French Baguette Bread Recipe 

3 ¼ cup flour 

1 ¼ cup warm water 

2 ¼ teaspoons yeast (1 package active dry yeast) 

2 teaspoons sea salt 

Oven temperature: 480 degrees Fahrenheit 

Baking time: 20 minutes 

Florence first sprinkled yeast on the warm water and mixed it up till it was cloudy and beginning to slightly bubble. 

Florence placed all the flour in a mixing bowl and all the water and blended the dough with a mixer while it was liquid. As the water was absorbed by the flour, she then mixed the dough with her hands. This is a sticky operation. 

At this point, she made the dough into a ball and covered it and placed it in a cool oven to rise. The time for rising will vary depending on the temperature in the room. Dough rising can take between 1 and 2 hours. 

After 2 hours, Florence set out her bread baking pan on the stove and pulled the risen dough out from the oven. Florence turned on the oven to preheat to 480 degrees Fahrenheit and placed a pan of water on the lower rack of the oven that would steam the bread as it cooked to make a crunchy crust. Next, she floured the kitchen counter for kneading the risen dough. (Note: We have a well-seasoned pizza stone in our oven which also helps keep the oven warm when baking other items.) 

As you can see from the photo, the dough has doubled in size. Florence carefully peeled the ball of dough out onto the floured counter to avoid crushing air bubbles in the dough. She gently kneaded the dough a few times before shaping it into long loaves by cutting the dough in half, shaping it into a rectangle, and rolling up the rectangles into loaves. Do a minimum of dough handling to avoid popping air bubbles. 

Florence stretched the dough loaves out and placed them in the baking dish. She then scored them with a knife into diagonal shapes on one loaf and down the center of the bread on the other. She then covered the loaves to let them rise again. 

When the stove had preheated and the dough loaves had risen, it was time for them to go in the oven on the rack above the steaming water in the pan on the lower rack. 

The bread should be done baking in 20 minutes. It should have the characteristic round patterned bottom as seen in the photo. The thick crust on the bread keeps it fresher for an extra day it seems when you bake baguettes at home. 

The photos and videos below will walk through the baguette baking process that Florence Paget used:

 

Note: French baguette bread hors d’oeuvres serving suggestion follows:

 https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2026/02/french-baguette-hors-doeuvres-recipes.html?m=1

Note: When baguettes become a day old and rather hard, cut them into thick rectangles and use them for dunking in soup.

Note: When baguettes are a day old and become hard, they can be cut into chunks and placed in a food processor to make bread crumbs.  You can add the bread crumbs to pasta or on top of casseroles.

Note: Of course, cubes of day old baguette are used in fondue.  See my blog below for details: 

 https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2026/01/family-fondue-night-for-sustainable.html?m=1

Bon Appétit!

Photos, Videos, and Text By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of Teff: The Global Flour Game

Fundraiser Sandwich Night Supper by Ruth Paget

Fundraiser Sandwich Night Supper in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

One of the traditional Main Street economic motors of the Midwest that I grew up with in the 1970s in Royal Oak, Michigan was food fundraisers by religious organizations, amateur sports teams, and community service clubs. 

Today the remnant of these fundraisers are bake sales and chocolate sales, but once sandwiches, potluck lunches, pancake suppers, and soup suppers used to be the backbone of local fundraising that gave parents a night off from cooking and helped support Main Street supermarkets at the same time. 

All the above is background for my family’s viewing of the Olympics Opening Ceremony in Milan-Cortina, Italy while we ate items from a food fundraiser. 

My daughter Florence Paget bought pastrami and rye bread from a local synagogue as part of their winter fundraising. Pastrami is a tender, salty, sweet, and smoked beef brisket usually that is cut into thin slices as sandwich meat. 

Pastrami was easy to purchase in Detroit (Michigan) where I grew up due to its large Jewish population at the time. I took pastrami sandwiches for granted then, but know now from watching youtube videos that it can easily take more than a week to produce pastrami. 

I appreciate the sandwich more now as an adult and like it that Florence’s support for the fundraiser helps with local youth programs and social hours for seniors like pancake suppers helped at my parents’ Baptist church when I was a child. 

The traditional bread that pastrami is served with is a rye bread. Rye has a bitter flavor due to rye seeds, which can seem oily. I can almost feel harsh, dry weather of a vast windy plain when I eat rye bread.

Rye bread is an acquired taste, but if you like it, you can benefit from its seed-grain combination for what vegetarians call a protein combination based on matching amino acids. The rye bread’s protein adds to what is present in the pastrami. 

Rye bread and pastrami taste especially good with mustard. I used French Maille mustard from Dijon (France) on the sandwich. Mustard contains antioxidants and selenium, making it a good winter condiment when access to fresh fruits and vegetables are often limited in places with cold weather and snow. 

A dill pickle is the traditional accompaniment to the pastrami sandwich on rye. I drank an Italian Peroni beer with the pastrami sandwich since it seems to be an official sponsor of the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. 

I enjoyed reliving a bit of my youth in Detroit (Michigan) with this meal. I also like the idea of a multicultural sandwich night as a way for local sports teams, service organizations, and religious organizations to do fundraisers that help working parents and support Main Street markets at the same time in Salinas, California and the surrounding Monterey County region.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorodand Bento War Games

Cashew Shrimp at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Cashew Shrimp at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

One of my favorite authentic Chinese-American meals is cashew chicken, which I recently ordered from Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California. 

The shrimp in this dish gets its salty taste and blackish color from being marinated in soy sauce before being stir-fried (about 10 minutes) 

The cashew chicken at Golden Star makes maximum use of the organic produce available in Salinas Valley with vegetable ingredients such as celery (one of Salinas Valley’s top selling crops), green peppers, mushrooms, carrots, and onions being put in the stir-fry. 

The aromatics used to flavor the vegetables and shrimp tie it all together. Fresh chopped ginger, minced garlic, and chopped green onion along with sweet mirin cooking wine flavor the sizzling cooking oil (usually peanut oil) that the shrimp and vegetables are stir-fried in. 

Roasted cashews are added in at the end of cooking along with oyster sauce and sesame oil. Golden Star makes sure everything is bite-size to be easily picked up with chopsticks, if using. 

I love vegetables, shrimp, and cashews independently. When they are all put together in this dish with ginger, garlic, green onions, and sesame oil as seasonings, I think the combination pretty terrific tasting and full of vitamins, minerals, and protein. 

Diners who like shrimp and vegetables might also like these ingredients with cashews to try something new at a reasonable price at Golden Star Restaurant in Salinas, California.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Californian Salmon Dinner Photo Essay by Ruth Paget

Californian Salmon Dinner Photo Essay by Ruth Paget 

I use three go-to products from Costco to make dinners during winter in Salinas, California. These products are Morey’s Wild Alaskan Salmon, Bibigo Sticky Rice, and Earth Green Organic Spring Mix baby greens. 

Morey’s Alaskan salmon is kita salmon. Kita salmon are a numerous subspecies of salmon that swim in the Pacific and then fight to swim upstream in fresh water to spawn (reproduce and die).  Salmon tend to spawn during late summer through winter.  Salmon also swim in Northern Californian rivers by the Oregon-California border in the Klamath River and in the Sacramento River. 

Morey’s frozen salmon comes in individually wrapped packages. I place frozen fillets on a baking tray lined with parchment paper for easy clean up when baking is done. 

The fillets bake to a reddish brown and are seasoned with sea salt, garlic, reddish paprika, onion, and red bell pepper. 

When the fish are done baking, I warm up Bibigo Korean Rice in the microwave for 90 seconds and place organic greens next to the rice and salmon. (My plated meal looks like an upscale TV deal, but nutritionists did advise on what to put in TV dinners.) 

I am happy with my protein-carbohydrate-vegetable meal. I also like this meal, because rice grows in the Sacramento area of California and lettuce grows in the Salinas Valley. This meal could be totally sourced in California, if necessary. 

Clean up is easy is easy, if you gather up the parchment by four corners as in the video below. You still have to wipe down and wash the baking tray, but you do not have baked on grease on the tray, if you use parchment paper. 

Note:  You can substitute steamed or microwaved canned green beans for the salad, if you would like.

The photos and short video below show the step-by-step process of making a salmon dinner during winter:

Bon Appétit!

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Bento and Novgorod War Games

Celebrating French Chandeleur with Crêpes Photo and Video Essay by Ruth Paget

Celebrating French Chandeleur with Crêpes Photo and Video Essay by Ruth Paget 

When I lived in France, I learned that all French people seem to observe the Catholic holiday of Chandeleur whether or not they are practicing Catholics or not. 

Chandeleur occurs 40 days after Christmas on February 2nd and celebrates the presentation in the temple of Jesus Christ by his parents Mary and Joseph. The temple referred to is not pagan, but a Jewish synagogue. Jesus was born a Jew to Jewish parents. 

Chandeleur marks the beginning of Christ’s life in society and prepares believers for the celebration of Christian Easter in spring. 

The French celebrate Chandeleur with a pile of crêpes that can last several days if wrapped in plastic and kept in the refrigerator. I love the nutrition in crêpes at an economical price. 

The crêpe recipe my family developed for California uses milk, eggs, flour, water, fleur de sel sea salt from Guérande (Brittany, France), and California olive oil. The recipe follows: 

Paget Family California Crêpes Recipe

When your crêpe batter is made, it should be liquid with no lumps. Heat your crêpe pans with olive oil on high. Pour two ladles of crêpe batter into a hot pan and swirl the batter around till it coats the pan with the batter. 

The batter will begin to set so that you can move the crêpre back and forth gently like in the videos below. Carefully flip the crêpe over. You are working with extremely hot oil so you might want to use spatulas and mitts to turn over the crêpe. 

The flipped crêpe has a golden brown color and dry texture. Let the other side cook for 1 to 2 minutes before placing it on a serving plate. 

The French drink hard cider (alcoholic cider) with crêpes. If you prefer sweet cider try Martinelli’s. It pops open like champagne, but has no alcohol. We drink Henry Hot Spurs Cider from Trader Joe’s. 

According to webMD.com, hard cider retains vitamins like Vitamin C and antioxidants in its production. Apple cider is also considered to be a laxative by WebMD.com . 

The typical French additions to crêpes are butter and grated gruyère cheese. Spreadable Laughing Cow is also liked but not traditional in crêpes. 

Dessert crêpes are usually made with jam. Both kinds of crêpes are rolled up and can be heated in a mircrowave. 

The following photos and videos illustrate the process of preparing a French Chandeleur celebration at home with crêpes, cider, and fillings for this February 2nd holiday.

No-lump batter is necessary.

Fleur de sel is a fine grain sea salt that 
reduces lumps in the batter

American, Swedish, and Crocheted French Kitchen Towel by Laurent's grandmother

The flipped crêpe has a golden cooked sid.

Henry Hot Spurs Hard Cider is similar to apple cider
from Brittany, France

Typical crêpe fillings for a home celebration of Chandeleur.

So easy to eat, but time consuming to prepare.

A little butter and cheese for filling before rolling up the crêpe.

Time to eat!

Bonne Fête de la Chandeleur!!

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and Novgorod War Game Developer

Family Fondue Night for a Sustainable, Nutritious Winter Meal by Ruth Paget

Family Fondue Night for a Sustainable, Nutritious Winter Meal by Ruth Paget 

One of our family’s go-to winter meals in Salinas, California is Swiss fondue with cubes of day-old artisanal baguette bread to dunk. We purchase both of these protein-, calcium-, and energy-rich items at Nob Hill in Salinas. 

My husband Laurent cuts half a loaf of baguette per person into cubes for the fondue. He says chopping the baguette into cubes takes about 5 minutes per person to do. Each person gets a bowl of bread cubes to dunk by their plate. 

Once the bread is done, Laurent puts the fondue pot on the stove along with the contents of two Emmi Swiss Knight fondue packages and ½ to 1/3 bottle of Chardonnay wine. (We use Kirkland brand Chardonnay from Costco which tastes like a Kendall Jackson chardonnay. We drink the remainder of the bottle with our meal.) 

You have to constantly stir the fondue cheese sauce and wine till they become smooth. This takes about 20 to 30 minutes. We like Emmi’s Swiss Knight Fondue for several reasons. First, they make the fondue with Swiss cheese and kirsch (Swiss cherry brandy). The packaging is secure and very neat to open. You can also store the fondue at room temperature till you are ready to open it, making it perfect for pantry storage. I think the packaging also discourages insects and rodents, because it is very sturdy. 

I doubly like Emmi, because they have a subsidiary in Stoughton, Wisconsin outside Madison. This location has an all new facility devoted to sustainable product production. Emmi’s headquarters which are in Lucerne, Switzerland set up the Wisconsin location to create sustainable sourcing, production, and distribution. I like buying a brand that promotes a sustainable supply chain. 

These are thoughts that come to you as you stir the fondue. The same is true of ruminations about the fondue set. My family uses a Swiss Cousances fondue set that my in-laws gave Laurent and me for Christmas when we were first married. We have saved money eating fondue throughout winter. If you like cheese, you might consider buying one. 

When Laurent and I came back from living in Germany, we gave our daughter Florence Paget a Cuisinart fondue set, since California is also the number one producer of dairy goods in the US. I told her she would always have dinner, if she eats fondue here. 

Once the fondue becomes liquid and bubbles with steam rising, it is time to move the fondue pot to the table. Fondue sets come with a stand with a hole in the center. This hold is for steno quick flame containers with flammable gel. You have to take off a secure lid and light these with a stove lighter before the fondue comes out. There is a cover with holes that you open to distribute flames underneath the fondue pot. 

Place the fondue pot on top of the stand and dunk your bread in the cheese with forks provided with the set. California is rich in Chardonnay, so you can find it at all price levels. 

The Swiss in Switzerland drink a wine called Fendant du Valais with fondue, which is sometimes listed on Swiss restaurants in the US. 

A salad with creamy dressing and chopped tarragon are a nice finish to a fondue supper. 

 

Fondue Bubbling on a Fondue Stand
We used two packages of Swiss Knight Fondue
You can see bread cubes in a bowl in back

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Anthropology Now - Oral Histories, Museums, Documentaries reposted by Ruth Paget

I thought this posting about the centennial of the anthropology department at the University of Chicago had interesting information about the role that oral history, museums, and documentaries play in the field now:

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/new-course-explores-100-years-anthropology-uchicago?utm_medium=01.29email&utm_source=UChicagoNews

Posted by Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Museums Dealing with Extinctions book by UChicago Press posted by Ruth Paget

Ghosts Behind Glass by Dolly Jorgensen published by the University of Chicago Press deals with how museums preserve records of extinction in the natural world.

Eco-tourists might enjoy this work with more details below:

 https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/465/#cv/priority/%5Esmartlabel_promo/19c09f4b7659470d

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France