May is here...

Hello everyone!

We hope you enjoyed our first attempt at our family Blog recently. We're back with additional images and stories that hopefully will bring back some fond memories of our family history.

This time around we feature someone in the "Family Spotlight" that truly represents the core of the Burns family roots...someone that unselfishly puts faith and service to others first. We believe you will enjoy the profile of Carolyn as she checks in with us from afar. In another post we get to see the reality of life back in the thirties from Bette Staab...put your piece of KFC down while reading it I must warn you. Great photos supplied by Deb Burns that take us back in time with a smile attached. A recipe that we all grew up on and an image of two of man's best friends that will make you jealous I am sure!

Our first Blog entry, we featured a photo of an object that "hung" around in the family for a long time. The correct answer was the "pig plate" that resided in the kitchen of Edna and Charlie Burns! How many of you may remember it now?

Please remember to contact us with any photos or stories you would like to share. Next update we will feature one of your family members that has an amazing creative talent...you will have to wait until then to see.

In closing, if you would like to have your email address posted for others in the family to see and be available to contact you please let us know and I will add it to the sidebar section on the right side of the Blog under "Family Links". Thanks!!

Sarah Ann and Rich

A dog's life...

Meet Abby and Lucy, both belonging to Stephen Staiger. This beautiful image was captured at the top of Max Patch, NC in the Pisgah National Forest.

Reflection...

My memories of Pennsylvania when young are ones I hold dear. Dad and Mom took me up there at least once a year. It was a three story home that literally was up on a hill. The kitchen and storage room were on the first floor with the formal living room on the second floor at the top of the stairs. No one ever went in there (it was only for formal company). However, the "live-in" room was across the hall with a pot belly stove. The third floor was up the "crooked stairs". Three bedrooms were in front and a fourth was around a corner with a floor that was slanted. This is the one I slept in with two of my aunts. Can you believe, in the winter Grandma would heat a brick and wrap it up and we would go to bed and freeze until we finally fell asleep?

Grandpa Burns worked in the mines and to everyone he was really gruff, but really deep down he was a softy. Dad and Mom used to take me to PA in the summer for vacation and then leave me and go home. That was often short lived though, I would get home sick after a short while and back they would have to come and get me.

When I was there, I would wait for Grandpa Burns to come home from the mines because he always had a part of his sandwich that he saved for me...remember, I told you he was a softy. Grandma Burns had chickens that ran around the yard. I would run when it came time to catch one for dinner. She would catch one, chop off it's head and yes...it would run around the yard without it's head. Trust me, it took me a long time to eat chicken after that.

There was no bathrooms in the house. We had pails to use at night. During the day, there was a two hole "john" that was in the rear of the yard. We would run to it under the grape arbor. The toilet paper was the Sears catalog (No Kidding!). The bathtub was a round tin tub that Grandma had to heat the water to pour in. That was fun (Only kidding)....sounds like an old western flick, eh?

There was a huge field of huckleberries, which are wild blueberries across the street from the house. My assignment was to pick them for pies. I have to admit, I ate more than I put in the pail for the pies.

Although the accommodations weren't five star hotel standards it was family, home sick or not, single ply Sears paper or chicken trauma I look back and wouldn't trade my Pennsylvania time for anything.

Bette

A step back in time...

High fives to Deb Burns for sharing the following images with us. Please look through your old archives and if you have something you think the entire family would enjoy please email it to either Sarah or me, thanks!

Wendy Burns, Leslie Staab, Billy Burns, MaryBeth Staab, Nancy Staab, Debby Burns, Donna Burns and Peter Staab.

You name them! :)

Spog and crew having fun.

Family spotlight...

Hi, dear "Burns Blog" Family!   :) 

          

I'm Carolyn Burns, daughter to Tom & Ruth Holland-Burns, & older sister to Sarah; and I grew up in "our little red house on Campbell Street" in Woodbridge, NJ. We took that same drive to "Grandma's house" up Route 1&9 and Parkway (ie: not "over the river & thru the woods") to her Newark apartment that Pete & Richard did, because we were next door neighbors.

I loved "both our Harriets" there, kind quiet devoted grandmother and "Aunt Joy Joy" (named for the "miracle dish detergent", AND the joy she brought into our lives!  :O) .  I loved meals in the kitchen at the big oak table, next to the ever-attractive little "dumb waiter" door, & I always loved the little hot cinnamon candy hearts. I, too, remember the "Lincoln logs", but not with fondness... because "Lincoln had never given Grandma enough"! When I was very little and "too sad to go" home from Grandma, I was always comforted and tempted to put on my coat and "smile thru my tears", for we were going to "see all the taxis 'sleeping' and the big flying Budweiser eagle on our drive home (I think my Dad drove a little slower there..)

Well...after lots of "smiles...tears...coats and trips"...I grew up & graduated from Woodbridge Senior High, then Columbia Univ, NY, School of Nursing  (yep! another nurse in the family!...following in the steps ofAunts Florrie, Harriet, Sal, Bea, and beautiful cousin Susan).

For a few great years I pediatric-nursed in NY & NJ, before God took me on "the journey of a lifetime" & by surprise & joy, turned & brought me in 1975 to "my 2nd beautiful homeland", Israel ! (the 1st in the family to do this!) Visits to America while my dad, Tom, and the aunts and uncles were still with us, brought yummy Yorkshire pudding feasts, and sweet & funny stories from their childhood to my "Burns treasury"...Uncle Spog's name, from his small-child-"non-cursing" "spogedy-mogedies!"...Tom's "mercy haircut" to a poor neighbor boy...Spog biting the mine-mule's lip in retribution!...the girls' berry-filling of the boys' baskets, because the boys' had eaten all theirs and feared going home empty-handed...the clanking of the potty under the girls' bed, rigged by "string & spit" from  the tipping of the occupied outhouse!...little Tom

and the gang "zoom-riding" his Christmas scooter, from its hide-away in the upstairs closet, down the hall any time parents were out in the pre-Christmas season!...and oh-so-much-
more!...

Life has been "full & wonderful", with my 1st 2 years on Kibbutz-communes Gat/"Gath"(Biblical Goliath's hometown) and Na'an (from the Hebrew "na'a'neh"/"we will answer!"), and then on to Jerusalem, where God "planted me" for over 20 years, working a long & satisfying career in Hadassah, Mt.Scopus,' Preemie & Newborn ICU. In addition I taught Shabbat-school Bible classes and worked with our Messianic teens, 15-years-each!....and I now have "grandkids" to nurture and love.

Blessing followed blessing, & God brought me to live in Beit Shemesh (where the Biblical Ark of the Covenant "lived" for a while, before Jerusalem & the Temple). I then worked here in the national public health system, teaching & vaccinating & intervening in the schools, & caring for infants & toddlers in our well-baby clinics, called "A Drop of Milk", where I still volunteer....BECAUSE...I'm now retired & thankful to God for every second I worked...& every second I'm a pensioner! There's no retirement, tho, from a busy & full life of enjoyment, service, and sharing God's love!...and when people I meet ask me how many children I have, I say "thousands"!  :)

Blessings on you all, family! I'll be eager to read your "blogs"...  :)

Summer of '58...

Rich Kee, Charlie Burns, Billy Burns, Edna Burns, Grandma Burns and Harriet Burns.

Family recipe of Yorkshire Pudding...

So many good meals growing up and in an effort to not let those recipes fall by the wayside we have shared an old standard growing up in the Burns family...that of Yorkshire pudding. Some of you hated it, others loved it...hey, it could be worse...remember the fruitcake no one wanted to take home at Christmas?

Enjoy!

• 4 large, fresh eggs, measured in a container
• Equal quantity of milk to eggs
• Equal quantity of all purpose/plain flour to eggs
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp lard, beef dripping or vegetable oil... Grandma insisted on it being the grease from the roast beef.

Heat the oven to the highest temperature possible, however, do not exceed 450F/230C or the fat may burn.

Pour the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl and add the pinch of salt. Whisk thoroughly with an electric hand beater or hand whisk. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.

Gradually sieve the same volume of flour (as the eggs) into the milk and egg mixture, again using an electric hand beater or hand-whisk to create a lump free batter resembling thick cream, if there are any lumps pass the batter through a fine sieve.

Leave the batter to rest in the kitchen for a minimum of 30 minutes, longer if possible - up to several hours.

Place a pea-sized piece of lard, dripping or small amount of vegetable oil into your chosen tin or pyrex pan or a 4 x 2"/5cm hole tin or 12-hole muffin tin and heat in the oven until the fat is smoking. Give the batter another good whisk adding 2 tbsps of cold water and fill a third of each section of the tin with batter and return quickly to the oven.

Leave to cook until golden brown approx 20 minutes. Repeat the last step again until all the batter is used up.

Welcome...

We hold open the Internet door to you, our extended family. You're invited to be a part of YOUR cousin's extended family site. This Blog has been created with the hope that along the way all of us, young or old, will be able to introduce ourselves to some and basically share our lives with each other. Time and life always brings about change and those days of dedicated gatherings with the extended family are behind us. Through technology and a good dose of dedication let's bring our family closer, regardless of our geographical locations. We ask that you check the right side of the page and if you wish, write us with your contact information, we suggest your email address. Please check our listing of birthdays and notify us of mistakes or omissions. This is a work in progress and will only get better with YOUR additions and your photos that we would love you to email us so we can post for all to enjoy. Your suggestions for storylines on life back then or just as importantly life now with the newest generation carrying on our family names. Our email list is small, initially we ask that you forward our first Blog posting to those that aren't on our list and ask them to email us if they wish to be added each month.

 

This first edition takes a few steps back in time to revisit memories of life at Christmas, a monthly recipe that belonged to Grandma Harriet Burns, a monthly profile of a relative who loves the fast lane and has some fun memories of a very long gravel driveway leading to yellow jackets. A pig plate guessing game...where did it reside? Also, some vintage photos we hope you will enjoy.

 

Remember, this Blog is not about vintage, with your help it will be a mix of then and now. Don't be shy, we welcome your input and feedback. In the meantime...enjoy!

 

Sarah Ann (Burns/Hampshire) and Rich (Kee)

 

P.S. We ask that you not be too critical of the grammar and spelling...we're old but we write from the heart.

Eight is not enough...

The start of it all. Check out the portrait and all roads lead home to this family. We plead guilty to not knowing what we should about our family history but having said that we reach out to those that can shed daylight on our family roots and the stories we can all appreciate and learn from. Write us please and share, we'll all be happier as a result. From Pennsylvania to New Jersey, New York and beyond let's compare notes.

In 1966 the 'kids" gather to celebrate Grandma Harriet Burns' birthday at the home of Sal and Kurt Staiger. 

Nineteen forty...

Front row left to right, Graydon and Donald (Spog). Middle seated, Hannah Ruth. Back row, Tom and Aunt Martha (Grandma Harriet Burns sister).

Christmas at Grandma Harriet Burns...

How many of us remember those words "Ok, time to put your toys down, get dressed, we need to leave for Grandma's?" Christmas back in the day consisted of morning at home opening Santa's gifts and then for us it was up the Parkway, necktie in place and orders sent to the back seat that we were to behave, no running down the hallways, put the Lincoln Logs away when you were finished, don't you dare touch the door to the dumbwaiter and be sure to thank everyone for your gifts. This mantra was repeated I'm sure to all cousins throughout the extended families en route to Grandmas' on every December 25th.

For those of us that experienced this back in the 50's and 60's it was a scene right out of the Leave it to Beaver culture. Men dressed in suits, wives with pearls, aprons in the kitchen...kids with their Sunday best. No t-shirts, ball caps or Nike running shoes permitted on the grounds. The heat was never regulated and we endured what seemed like over the top sauna temperatures...always seeking an open window to get a breath of fresh cold air. Don't knock over the canary stands...not to mention get too close and totally freak them out. Candy dishes were strategically placed throughout the apartment, many containing ribbon candy. The life span of those figs rolled in sugar was safe with me.

 

After several hours of which we typically didn't abide by the earlier parental threats, one or two 'timeouts' for some infraction or another we would eventually collect our gifts, usually something that had our monogram on it from Aunt Bea, Aunt Harriet and Grandma, knitted sweaters from the aunts that we foolishly didn't appreciate at the time, received hugs and kisses from everyone and once bundled up in our winter gear headed for the car. The sisters would decide who was hosting Easter and off we would go. The car pointed home where our favorite Christmas toys awaited us. Only in time did wisdom creep into our lives for when looking back most of us realized the real joy of the day was not the toys at home but rather the extended family that we were blessed to be a part of.

A step back in time...

September 1953...New York meets New Jersey. Relatives gather for Richard Kee's first birthday in Woodbridge, NJ. Home of Don and Hannah Ruth. Pictured: Left to right; Pete Staab, Bill Burns, unidentified, Hannah Burns, Bette Staab, Pete Kee, Ruth Burns, Carolyn Burns, Richard Kee and Don Kee.

Family spotlight...

He was the favorite of Aunt Elizabeth (Bea) and knew exactly who to go to as his ally throughout the years. His name is Pete, the eldest son of Hannah Ruth and Don Kee. He has a charm that he unapologetically used throughout his growing up within the Burns family. In the eyes of the Aunts, he could do no wrong.

 

Today, after leaving his footprints in Metuchen, NJ; Long Valley, NJ; Castleton, VT; West Port, NY he has finally settled down in retirement calling Murrieta, CA home. Happily married to Cathy for nearly eight years now Pete enjoys his friends along with golf and his love of custom automobiles.

 

After dedicating thirty eight years to the communications field he retired from Verizon in 2003. A career he is proud of, culminating in his management role on the team responsible for restoring the communication data service for Wall Street immediately after 9/11. As a result, being onsite at Ground Zero during that time will always have a profound impact on his life.

 

If not for leisure travel or taking on his favorite golf links, he can be found working on his collection of restored custom cars. Always an admirer of fast cars growing up, time now permits his passion to be a reality. To mention a few, a yellow '32 Chevy, '32 Ford roadster, restored pickups, '55 Chevy Nomads, custom one of one Harleys or his latest addition a '32 three window red coupe. Along the way he has won national recognition and awards for his driven art.

 

When talking about the family Blog and discussion centered around growing up in the Burns family Pete's favorite memories were tied to time spent at the Rosses. He recalls visiting the original home on Young's Road...no need for a security system back then, they had a boxer called Chang. Afterwards, the new home was built on the property and when we would be invited to enjoy the Fourth of July we navigated around a collection of black and tan terriers that Aunt Bea had shadow her every move (Personally my heels lost more than one encounter to the rust colored Betsy, never liked those dogs). Pete recalls his curiosity led him into the old jeep on the grounds only to be confronted with the ever present yellow jackets. Did we ever avoid a holiday there without someone not getting stung near the pool? It didn't matter the temperature, it could have been sixty two degrees on the 4th, we weren't going to pass up the opportunity to swim in a "in ground pool"...living the high life for a day.

 

Both Pete and Cathy wish everyone well and would love to hear from you. If you find yourself some day in Southern California please know the door is open, family...no matter what generational level is always welcomed. Mention your love for Aunt Bea and you'll probably get to drive one of the rods!

Family recipe of the month...

GRANDMA BURNS' MOLASSES COOKIES

2 1/3 cups flour

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda (one tablespoon hot water)

1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 egg

6 tablespoons sour cream

1 cup seedless raisins

Sift flour, ginger, salt, and cinnamon together. Dissolve baking soda in one tablespoon hot water and now combine butter, sugar, egg and mix all together. Add flour mixture, and add six tablespoons sour cream, and mix well.

 

Drop tablespoons of dough on a cookie sheet a couple of inches apart. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. (Watch them--may take less time.)

This is an actual recipe Aunt Bea (Elizabeth) wrote out and gave to Aunt Edna.

 

 

Name that residence...

Anyone recognize this vintage wall plate that was displayed over the years in the kitchen of one of the family? Write us and take a guess! For those old enough to remember, it oversaw many a great cheesecake baked in it's presence.