Great Oma Margarete's German Marble Cake~

For the upcoming Holiday 2009 edition of the GeneaBloggers cookbook. Now is the time to gather those favorite holiday recipes along with any photos and stories that help illustrate how important the recipe was to your family. For details on how to participate, head on over to Geneabloggers.

The family history of our marble cake~

The little girl on a relatives lap is me! great Oma Margarete ~ 1888~1972 ~ sits next to my Opa all the way to the right. My two uncles Helumt and Adi (twins) are standing along with my cousin Meggi who was always near and protective, even as I grew older! This photo captures one of the many visits held on each Sunday!

My Oma (grandmother), my Mom and the author of this blog, grew up on this German Marble Cake! This cake is my childhood favorite out of any of the German dishes my mom made. Mom would make this cake just about every Sunday, and I would get to lick the bowl too (best part)! It’s great with coffee or tea.

Every Sunday afternoon in Germany, tradition would be that the family members would get together for coffee at my great -grandmother, Margarete Kaiser Saule’s home. This German Marble Cake was part of that tradition at every visit!

Little did she know it would be passed all the way down to me! Thank you Mom, Oma and great Oma, I will continue to pass this recipe – with pleasure!


~ My Great Oma Margarete's German Marble Cake ~
♥
1 cup soft butter

2 & 2/3 cup sugar (2 or up to 2 & 2/3 cups)
2 & 2/3 cups flour
4 eggs
1 package vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon vanilla essence/extract
2/3 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 pinch of salt
½ cup of milk (add additional milk slowly if needed for smoother batter)
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon powder sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a fluted tube pan or bundt pan.

In a large mixing bowl, crème together the softened butter, sugar and vanilla essence/extract until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

In a separate mixing bowl, sift and combine the flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and blend together thoroughly.

Pour half of the yellow batter into greased pan. Add cocoa powder to remaining batter and blend. Slowly pour the cocoa batter on top of the yellow batter. Carefully (not too much or you will loose the effect), draw the knife several times through the batter, creating a marbleizing effect.

Bake for one hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in pan for 20 minutes, invert onto a plate or cake plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!


Mom lives about an hour and thirty minutes away from me, she drove down and stayed with me during Thanksgiving week. As we sat together, mom translated this recipe from German to English, she shared tradition and stories about this marble cake. Our time together was very special. Thank you mom, you are the best!

Photo now owned and held by Gini Webb (further research to be done on other relatives in photo).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Giving Thanks...

...to all the geneabloggers. I have been blessed with so many new friends and have had the opportunity to learn and grow from each and everyone of you. I have always felt that the genealogy blogging community is more like family than strangers over the Internet, and I am thankful to be a part of it.

I am very thankful that everyone in my family is healthy. My mom has been here since Monday visiting, and we had the best time together. After her heart attacks in May, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to see her happy, and back to her beautiful lively self! I have the best mom: loving, supportive, and always there no matter what. Thank you mom, I love you with all of my heart.

I am thankful to have a wonderful family: my husband, my daughter and my grand kids. That we are all here with each other to spend the day together laughing, and hanging out making many more memories.

To my best friend Sandy, who has been through it all with me and never ever left my side, I love you Sandy. We have been best friends since the third grade! I cannot say thank you enough.

To Honor, my sister-in-law who is more like a sister. We have known each other since I was fifteen years old (and that was a long time ago)! I so enjoyed our time together yesterday. The love and support that she has given me so unconditionally, is rare. This lady is remarkable and has left a footprint on my heart forever. Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you Graphics Fairy for the use of a wonderful image!

Happy 30th Birthday, my precious baby girl!!

Today, November 20th, - thirty years ago - you came into this world, what a very sweet day that was. Your birthday is really my celebration...because your life has made such a difference...

Happy Birthday my sweet daughter with these birthday wishes for you ~

Of all the things I wish for you, I would give anything if these wishes could always come true...

I want you to be happy. I want you to fill your heart with feeling of wonder and to be full of courage and hope. I want you to have the type of friendship that is a treasure ~ and the kind of love that is beautiful forever.

I wish you the insight to see your inner and outer beauty. I want you to know millions of moments when you find satisfaction in the things you do so wonderfully.

Of all the things I'll be wishing for, wherever you are and whatever I may do, there will never be a day in my life when I won't be wishing the best for you...

I love you ~ Mom

Wordless Wednesday ~ San Diego Skyline

Digital photo taken and owned by Gini 2009

San Diego Skyline taken from a friends boat on a Sunday afternoon.

Blog is Decorated and Ready For The Holiday's~

Ginisology is ready for the holiday's! I love Christmas so my blog and I are ready to go!

Thomas over at Destination: Austin Family has a great tutorial to get you and your blog ready for the holiday's. There are so many wonderful free templates to pick from too - just be sure to backup your blog first. So head on over and enjoy - thank you Thomas for getting us into the Holiday spirit!

Happy Veteran's Day~ To All Who Serve ~

Happy Veteran's Day~

I want to thank all who have served - are serving now - their families and to so many who have lost their lives so that we are protected and have our freedom. We are eternally grateful and will never forget.

The following have served in my own family~

Adalbert Haf ~ 27 Feb 1907 ~ 9 Feb 1967 ~ my maternal grandfather served in the German Mountain Troopers in Russia during WWII. A gun shot shattered his shoulder, he returned home, however, due to his injury, he was unable to continue with his profession as a Webermeister - a fabric weaver. He is Buried in Augsburg,

Germany.

John Adam Eimes ~ 27 Dec 1931 ~ 14 Jan 1997 ~my father ~ served for the United States Army in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He was injured by shrapnel but continued on and retired from the Army many years after. Date of retirement is unknown at this time. He is buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Robert Newton Eimes ~ 06 Jun 1898 ~ 25 Aug 1979 ~ my paternal grandfather ~ served in the United States Army in WWI. As of this date, I have very little information on his military status. He is buried at Camp Nelson National Cemetery in Nicholasville, Kentucky. I have no photos at this time.

James E. Eimes ~ 07 Sept 1950 ~ 15 July 2006 ~ my paternal first cousin ~ served in the U. S. Navy and received training as a nuclear machinist's mate propulsion plant operator.

He served as a prototype nuclear plant instructor from 1970 until 1973 when he was selected for the Naval Enlisted Scientific Education Program. He earned his bachelor's degree and a master's degree in nuclear engineering from Purdue University in 1977. He was then commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy in 1977. James was hand selected by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover for duty at Naval Reactors ( a joint program of the Department of the Navy and the Department of Energy) with cradle-to-grave responsibility for the reactors aboard all U.S. naval nuclear-powered warships. He retired from the Navy in 1989.

A building in Bremerton, Washington, was dedicated in his name:

A4W Fleet Interactive Display Equipment (FIDE) Training Simulator on September 11, 2008.

Building Dedication Ceremony front page of booklet reads as:

In recognition of his tireless commitment
to the training principles of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program,

we dedicate this building on September 11, 2008 to the memory of

JAMES E. EIMES

"Too much training is just about right"

To all who have fallen - rest in peace - we will never forget. To all who fight for us, we are grateful to you and your families - we will never forget.

The Kreativ Blogger Award ~ Thank You, Carol!

What a pleasant surprise to receive the "Kreativ Blogger Award" today from Carol and her wonderful blog "Reflections From the Fence" - we share the love of RV'ing! It's always fun to read about Carol's "RV" traveling adventures and whats going on with "Tana."

Thank you so much Carol - I am very honored and grateful to have been chosen.

The winner of the award has to list seven things about themselves and then pass the award along to seven other bloggers.

Here we go:

1. My family means the world to me and they come first. Grateful that my Mom is my best friend, the one I can trust and count on. She is an amazing Lady.

2. I love spending time with my precious grandkids, what we learn from them, is priceless.

3. The friendships I have here in the blogoshpere and with my "non" genealogy friends, have made me a very rich girl and I treasure them.

4. Although fairly new, I am extremely passionate and very serious about the preservation of my family history~ genealogy for generations to come.


5. I love to make my own cards using pretty papers and writing with my huge selection of different colored pens!


6. Surrounding myself with positive, supportive and geniune people. I love helping others when I can.

7. Camping and going to the desert in our RV coach. It's nicer than my home - just kidding but it is nice!

It was very difficult to pick just seven, each and every blogger out there has their own wonderful unique Kreativness. Here are my seven~

1. Herstoryan ~ Herstoryan

2. I Never Knew My Father ~ Sandra Taliaferro

3. Georgia Black Crackers ~ Mavis Jones

4. Heritage Happens ~ Cheryl Palmer

5. Elyse's Genealogy Blog ~ Elyse Doerflinger

6. Life From The Roots ~ Barbara Poole

7. Kick-Ass Genealogy ~ Katrina McQuarrie

There are so many more I would like to list here but I had to leave some for other bloggers to choose from! Enjoy - each blog is full of interesting reading enjoyment, information and family stories.

Treasure Chest Thursday ~ The Genealogist's Psalm~

~Another treasure from my email inbox from my dear friend Rachel~

The Genealogist's Psalm

Genealogy is my pastime, I shall not stray;

It maketh me to lie down and examine half~buried tombstones.

It leadeth me into still Court Houses,

It restoreth my ancestral knowledge.

It leadeth me in paths of census records and ships'

passengers list for my surname's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the shadows

of research libraries and microfilm readers,

I shall fear no discouragement;

For a strong urge is with me;

The curiosity and motivation

They comforteth me.

It demandeth preparation of storage space for the

acquisition of countless documents;

It anointest my head with burning midnight oil,

My family group sheets runneth over.

Surely birth, marriage, and death dates shall follow me

all the day of my life;

And I shall dwell in the house of a family~history seeker

for ever.

~Author ~Wildamae Brestal

Wordless Wednesday ~ Bates Nut Farm~

Bates Nut Farm

Valley Center, California

October 2009

Pumpkin patch, and Fall time events for family.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Titanic Headstones

I have always had a deep interest in the Titanic, it's history, victims and her survivors. My dear friends Michael and Linda, recently returned from a cruise that took them from New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they toured the Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax. They then when onto Quebec, Canada. Knowing my passion and love of family history, genealogy, cemeteries and the Titanic ~ they gifted me with these photos from their tour of headstones from several victims that perished in the Titanic disaster. I am anxious to share them with you on "Tombstone Tuesday" ~ Thank you Mike and Linda, you are the best!

 

A brief timeline:

Commissioned by The White Star Line, the construction of the Titanic began on March 31, 1909 by shipbuilder Harland and Wolff's Belfast, Ireland, yard.

The Titanic's maiden voyage was on April 10th, 1912, approximately at noon. On April 14th, 1912, at approximately 11:40 p.m., the Titanic's starboard side scraped past an ice burg, causing a series of small punctures below the waterline. Water began rushing into the Titanic's hull. Around midnight, Captain Smith gave the orders to ready the lifeboats. The first lifeboat was lowered into the ocean at 12:45 a.m. The band, led by, Wallace Hartley, continued to play as passengers filled the lifeboats. The last life boat left at 2:05 a.m., there were still 1,500 passengers stranded on the ship. Shortly afterward at approximately 2:10 a.m., the Titanic's bow sinks further underwater. At 2:17 a.m. the stern rises out of the water, causing a strain and the bow and stern break apart, landing 2,000 feet away from each other. At 2:20 a.m., the Titanic slips from view and sinks to the bottom of the ocean where she lays at rest today.








April 17th, 1912, Mackay-Bennett chartered by White Star Lines, leaves Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the North Atlantic to start recovering victims' bodies. April 21st, 1912, the Mackey-Bennett crew begins recovering over 300 bodies in six weeks, one-third are buried at sea. On May 3rd, 1912, burial of victims begin at Halifax cemeteries. About 50% of the 150 bodies buried were unidentified

~ Rest in Peace ~

I took brief excerpts from the Timeline of the Titanic ~


Source: 
History.com
 I am not related to any persons named in the photos above (as far as I know). The photos used in this post were taken by Michael and Linda B. and given to me with full permission to use on Ginisology Blog.

Happy 126th Birthday, Great Opa, Peter Saule~

My great grandfather, Peter Saule was born on this day, November 2nd, in the year 1883 in Waldberg, Germany ~ died the 20th day of May in 1957 in Augsburg, Germany.

Great Grandfather Saule was actually my maternal step great grandfather. I have not researched my Saule line as of yet, so I have very little information on him or family members.

Peter Saule married my great grandmother, Margarete Kaiser Saule (1888~1972) when my grandmother "Oma" (as I call her) Lieselotte Haf was only six years old, Oma is still living in Germany.

Opa Saule's occupation in life was a Mortician. Opa also managed the goings on at the cemetery. As I gathered this little bit of information from my mom, she said, "he was a very quiet man, and I had a lot of respect for him." I am looking forward to researching the Saule family. As to the identity of my natural maternal great grandfather, I'm afraid I will never know, unfortunately, no one knows who that was.

The photo is of my great grandmother Margarete Kaiser Saule, my Oma~~ Lieselotte Kaiser Saule Haf and my great grandfather, Peter Saule.

Happy Birthday Opa!