Month: May 2025

Cinnamon Rolls and Lucy Jane – A Taste of Family History

Cinnamon Rolls and Lucy Jane – A Taste of Family History

Cinnamon rolls and Lucy Jane go hand in hand. While we don’t have her exact recipes or written memories, the tradition of warm, homemade cinnamon rolls has been passed down through generations—and we know it began with her.

Lucy Jane was a mother and grandmother deeply rooted in faith, family, and the land. She was known for her baking, her vibrant gardens, and her devotion to raising a home filled with love. Farm-to-table wasn’t a trend for her—it was simply the way she lived.

She managed both the farm and the kitchen, creating meals that brought people together. Her skills and techniques were passed on to my mother and grandmother, shaping the way our family cooks, gathers, and loves today.

Though the recipes may not be written, the legacy of Lucy Jane’s kitchen lives on—in every batch of cinnamon rolls made with care and shared with joy.

Lucy Jan Cinnamon Rolls

The Sweetest Smell

There are few things in life as comforting as the smell of cinnamon rolls baking on a chilly morning. For me, that scent is more than just sugar and spice—it’s a time machine. It takes me straight back to the heart of my childhood, to the kitchens of two remarkable women: my mom and my grandma.

My earliest memories are filled with the soft hum of the mixer and the gentle clatter of pans as my grandma worked her magic in her kitchen. She never needed a timer. She just knew when the dough had risen enough or when the rolls had turned that perfect golden brown. Her cinnamon rolls were a ritual, an offering of love wrapped in butter and sugar, always ready for holidays, snow days, or just because.

Mom learned from the best. When I was little, I’d perch on a chair in our kitchen, watching her hands—so much like Grandma’s—press the dough flat, sprinkle it with cinnamon and brown sugar, then roll it up with care. I loved how she’d let me help slice the roll into perfect spirals, each one like a little cinnamon galaxy, sweet and endless.

When the rolls baked, the whole house would fill with that warm, buttery scent. It wrapped around me like a blanket, telling me I was safe, loved, and home. I’d press my nose to the oven window, watching the sugar bubble and caramelize, counting down the minutes until we could dig in.

No store-bought pastry ever came close. These weren’t just cinnamon rolls—they were family history. A pinch of Grandma’s patience, a dash of Mom’s joy, and a whole lot of love in every bite. They tasted of early Saturday mornings in pajamas, of flour-dusted hugs and laughter at the kitchen table. They tasted like childhood.

Now, even as the years go by and my life takes me farther from that kitchen, I still carry the memory. Sometimes, my wife will bake a batch for me, trying to recreate the magic. They’re never quite the same—but they’re close. And when that familiar scent fills my home, I close my eyes and smile, because for a moment, I’m a kid again, and everything is warm and good and sweet.

Just like Mom’s. Just like Grandma’s.

Contributed by Uncle Troy Dennis

Lucy Jane’s Story

Lucy Jane was born January 12, 1887, in Wilard, Utah, to Susannah Viola Pettingill and James Lewis Bronson. At the age of three, the family moved to Raft River, and she attended school there. They later moved to a ranch at Almo. Her mother died in 1904. She left eight children, most of them very small, and some of them were also suffering from typhoid fever.

Lucy stepped up to assist in raising her siblings. She married Ernest Dennis, Albion, on April 11, 1906. She was pregnant at the time of their marriage. The marriage was later solemnized in the Logan Temple on June 7, 1922. They had 5 children: 2 sons, 3 daughters. The 2 sons passed by suicide. 18 grandchildren, 52 great-grandchildren, and 17 great-great-grandchildren.

Her hobbies were gardening, baking, and making quilts. She made over 100 quilts, most on a foot treadle sewing machine. Her son, Ross, finally put a motor on the machine. Her lifetime span went from horse and buggy to cars, planes, landing on the moon, and the first personal computer. She lived in Springdale, UT, Oakland Bay, CA,** and Rubert, ID. Her husband died in 1969. She moved to Burley in 1971; this is where she lived out her life. Lucy Jane died July 10, 1984.

Miscellaneous

Lucy Jane’s Quote, “Long life is a lot of hard work, keep busy.”*

The burning of toast, not just burnt but burning, was a morning treat for Grandma Lucy Jane. She loved this cooked in the oven on broil. A treat I would make for her each morning when spending time at her Burly home. She would go out and garden in the morning. The afternoon brought a praline and cream ice cream cone from the A&W across the apartment parking lot. I was sent to get the treat, not sure how they made the journey home. We would sit outside and eat the treat. Days with Grandma Lucy were filled with game shows, soap operas, and gardening.

She made me a quilt that brought me so much comfort, warmth, and peace many nights. In 1997, I took that quilt apart as it was fraying. I made a quilt that connected the past with the current generations. This quilt had the living generation for the Mormon pioneers’ feet, with the names of the ancestors who made the trek west. Her influence in my life is there every day.

Cinnamon Rolls and Lucy Jane

Serving Size:
1
Time:
3 Hours
Difficulty:
Difficult

Ingredients

  • Dough:
    2 cups whole milk
    ¾ cup butter
    1 tablespoon salt
    ½ cup sugar (or ¼ cup sugar + ¼ cup honey)
    2 whole eggs well-beaten
    6–7 cups all-purpose flour
    2 pkg yeast
  • Filling:
    ¾ cup brown sugar (my mother/grandmother used white cane sugar)
    2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
    ¼ cup softened butter
    ½ cup raisins or chopped nuts, optional
  • Icing (optional):
    1 cup powdered sugar
    1 Tablespoon softened butter
    ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Warm the milk mixture:
    Heat the milk, butter, salt, and sugar/honey in a saucepan until the butter melts. Let it cool to lukewarm (about 110°F).
    Mix the dough:
    In a large mixing bowl or Kitchen Aid, add 3 cups of flour and yeast, add the milk mixture, and blend well. Add eggs to the flour and mix well.
    Gradually add more flour (1 cup at a time), blending well after each addition until a soft dough forms. The dough should be slightly sticky but pull away from the sides of the bowl.
    Knead:
    Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 8–10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
    Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 1–1½ hours, or until doubled in size.
    Make the filling:
    Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Punch down dough, roll it out into a large rectangle (about ¼-inch thick). Spread the dough with softened butter, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the surface. Add the additions you want in your cinnamon rolls.
    Shape the rolls:
    Roll the dough up tightly from the long edge. Slice into 1–1½ inch pieces and place in a greased 9×13-inch pan (or two smaller pans).
    Second rise:
    Cover and let rise again for 30–45 minutes, until puffy.
    Bake:
    Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 20–25 minutes, until golden brown.
    Icing (optional):
    Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 TBLS softened butter 2-4 TBS milk/cream (add 1 TBLS at a time), and 1 TSP vanilla. Drizzle over warm rolls.

Susanna Viola

Susanna Viola was born on 28 December 1864 in Willard, Box Elder, Utah Territory, to Elihu Ulysses and Emma Maria Zundel Pettingill. She was the oldest of eight children, four girls and four boys.

Her family came to the Utah Territory with the James C. Snow Company in 1852. Starvation was the struggle on the trail. They killed a couple of buffalo for meat on August 1. They had to rely on buffalo chips for fuel because there were no trees.

They had a severe snowstorm on October 1 and could not travel because it was so severe. On October 5, there were 5 wagons from the valley bringing flour, they were becoming destitute for food. They finally entered the Salt Lake Valley on October 9, 1852.

Susanna sang in the Tabernacle Choir when Evan Stephens was director. James and Susanna settled in Willard, Utah Territory, where three of their children were born. They moved from Willard to Almo, Idaho, before 1889. The rest of their children were born there. Her husband was a rancher with cattle and sheep. Susanna died at the age of 39, on September 18, 1904, in Almo, Cassia, Idaho, “from a typhoid fever epidemic that hit the little town of Almo. She was silently buried in the Sunny Cedar Rest Cemetery, Cassia, Idaho.”***

Susanna Viola Pettingill Lucy Jane Cinnamon Rolls
Susanna Viola Pettingill

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls evoke the senses and memories. The memories of Halloween cinnamon rolls. Grandma Ruth’s baking bread smell and cinnamon would fill the air when visiting on occasion. You knew it was ice cream and a cinnamon roll treat. The cinnamon roll traces back to Sweden’s kanelbulle and Germany’s schnecken, both sweet, spiced bread rolls. Immigrants from Scandinavia and Germany brought these recipes to the U.S. in the 18th and 19th centuries.

In the early 1900s, American bakers began modifying traditional recipes with richer ingredients: more butter, sugar, and often a glaze or frosting. The U.S. version became sweeter and heavier, often served warm and sticky. (Facts generated by ChatGPT)

Aunt Tara Lynn, mother to 3 cute little boys, took the cinnamon rolls on a new journey with her Cinnamon Roll Cookies.

Aunt Tara Lynn, mother to 3 cute little boys, took the cinnamon rolls on a new journey with her Cinnamon Roll Cookies. This recipe may be found on Lemon8. The family recipe has been altered from Grandma Ruth’s Basic Sweet Rolls to create these cinnamon rolls. Tammy Ann created this to work well with modern equipment and taste. Remember to try the recipes and accommodate your family’s tastes and changes in food culture. Keep your recipes with the ancestors’ recipes to pass down.

Sugar in Southern Idaho

Almo, Idaho, is a small rural community near the City of Rocks National Reserve in Southern Idaho. While Almo itself wasn’t a hub for sugar production, it is historically tied to the sugar beet industry, which was a major agricultural force in southern Idaho in the late 1800s and early to mid-1900s.

  • Sugar beet farming expanded rapidly in Cassia County and neighboring areas like Burley, Declo, and Rupert, with irrigation from the Minidoka Project.
  • The Amalgamated Sugar Company, founded in 1897, operated multiple processing plants in southern Idaho and played a key role in the region’s economy.
  • While Almo’s terrain is more suited for ranching and dry farming, residents may have:
    • Participated in sugar beet harvests in nearby towns.
    • Traveled seasonally for work in beet fields.
    • Sold or traded crops like wheat or livestock to neighbors engaged in beet production.
  • Sugar was precious and rationed, especially during the Great Depression and World War II.
  • Many recipes used honey, sorghum, or fruit as sweeteners when sugar was scarce.
  • Traditional sweets (like cinnamon rolls or pies) often featured minimal sugar, relying on flavor and texture over sweetness. (Facts generated by ChatGPT)

Food is the great connector, linking us to our ancestors through recipes, memories, traditions, and love. It evokes the warmth of a grandmother’s kitchen and the comforting aromas of something simmering on the stove, speaking a language older than words. With every bite, we remember who we are and carry those stories forward, nourishing the future with the essence of the past.

What is your favorite family food memory? Share here using #4chionstyle #4chionfoodie

Resources

*FamilySearch. (n.d.). [Lucy Jones 90th Birthday Dinner – 1977]. FamilySearch. Retrieved May 24, 2025, from https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/memories/KWZ4-Q5L

**United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Oakland, Alameda, Ca

*** FamilySearch. (n.d.). [BIOGRAPHY OF SUSANNA VIOLA PETTINGILL BRONSON]. FamilySearch. Retrieved May 24, 2025, from https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/memories/K2WS-XB7

Ellie Rose Relationship
Troy Winger Relationship Cinnamon Rolls
Troy Dennis Relationship
Relationship to Lucy Jane Tammy Forchion
Relationship to Lucy Jane
Relationship to Susannah Viola Pettingill
Relationship to Susannah Viola Pettingill

Eileen’s Peach Pie – A Taste of Family History

Eileen’s Peach Pie – A Taste of Family History

Eileen’s peach pie is a favorite to all, including her. Her pie-making is generational from women who struggle to put food on the table. The tradition of cinnamon sugar sticks from leftover dough represents that nothing goes to waste. She spent years making pies to sell, celebrate the holidays, and show her daughters this great tradition. She made these pies with love.

Eileen’s Story

Eileen Joan (mother) was born a twin on March 6, 1947, in Hailey, Idaho. She was born at the Haley Hospital on the 2nd floor of the J.C. Fox Building. The building’s first floor housed a saloon (a location often visited by Lawrence (grandfather) and the First National Bank. The delivery was difficult; the twins were fighting to be firstborn.

My mother was born with battle wounds. She enjoyed early childhood with her mother and 3 brothers. The evening was them gathering on the front lawn, they would wave to her dad as he headed to the local bar from the mine after work.

Moving to Orem

They moved from Hailey in 1953 to Orem, Utah. Eileen attended a Lutheran Elementary School. The home was not much relief from the nights of fighting and worry. Grandpa would go to the bar right after work. At night, she would put her hands together in a special way, walk down the hallway tapping the wall and praying that her dad would come home safe.

The nights were filled with worries that her dad would drive through her bedroom wall. The anticipation grew as it was close to when her dad was coming home. The interrupted sleep continued was a living hell, with fighting and commotion. This caused her confusion, especially promises not kept and hurtful words shared. She grew up in a tough world. She has stories that would haunt you.*

She is always, to this day, worried about what everyone thinks. Growing up in a Mormon community, not being a part of the faith, living a life that was wrong and evil, it was always a concern what the neighbors thought, with an alcoholic father.

The first time I sensed something was amiss at Grandma Ruth’s home. Staying the night when I was 7 or 8, I awoke to see him acting mean, yelling, and using bad words. Uncle Jerry(mother’s brother) was sitting in the chair with his legs swinging over the arms. I wandered to the scene to be rushed back to bed by my grandmother. She lay with me, rubbing my arm until I went back to sleep. The memory of that night was of her love and attention, not the commotion from my grandfather’s drunken behavior.

Eileen Joan 4chion Lifestyle Mother baker writer
Eileen Joan Wedding Day

Getting Married

My mother met her husband at Orem High School. They married on September 9, 1965, in the Salt Lake City Temple. Her faith endures and provides strength in her life. She has 7 children, 20 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. They have been married for 60-years.

She was the primary president in the ward for years. She created many great lessons and activities for the children in the Provo ward. She has taught the Relief Society and Sunday school. She has a deep love of the gospel and faith in her Savior.

Career in Sales

She was a true salesperson. She sold Avon and was awarded several Mrs. Albee Awards for her success. She created great flyers and obtained contracts with local schools for bathroom supplies. She was always about the glamour before it was a social media trend. I remember teased wigs on Styrofoam heads in the nap room at Grandma Ruth’s, they were frightening.

She taught cooking classes for sisters in her ward. They enjoyed sharing their knowledge and experience. She provided not just recipes and tips. 

Writing

Eileen loves writing, she writes personal books and journals regarding her faith and testimony in Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith. She has published poetry.

A Poem

For Her

Her walk isn’t as

Steady as it use to be,

But it really doesn’t

Even matter to me.

For when I look and

See her special smile.

It makes me know that

Everything is worthwhile.

She’s had many

Challenges and trials,

But came through them all with grace and style.

She’s always been there

By my side to counsel,

Love and Guide

For this I feel great

Love and Pride

By: Eileen Winger

Eileen Joan Quote Eileen's Peach Pie
Eileen Joan’s Quote

Miscellaneous

Her quote: “Know who you are, Know what you do, and then Do it with Excellence”

Tammy all dolled up for school photos
Tammy all Dolled up for School Photos

She was all glam every day. Every Saturday was dedicated to nails, pedicures, and curling my long hair with the plastic pink rollers. This was done while watching boxing or Miss America. I always thought I was getting ready for the competition.

Her love of baseball led to many trips to SLC for minor league games, Little League games, and time with the Mariners in Seattle. Fall was filled with playoff and World Series games. 1981, we were set to watch the Dodgers take the series while sitting with Grandpa Lawrence in the hospital. We were a little loud for this setting and had to leave to watch at home. She loved throwing a pitch with pie dough as a baseball.

Eileen Joan Birthday Fun
Eileen Joan Birthday

Birthdays we large events. She made all our cakes, they were elaborate and delish. The whole neighborhood showed up. Using the guests to create our number age. She would climb the old wooden ladder to capture the image.

Peach Tree Armando Ranch Laveen AZ Eileen Peach Pie
Peach Tree Armando Ranch Laveen AZ

The Woman I Am

2 tsp. salt

Placing the salt into the missing bowl, my mind wanders to the scripture, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” Thought so my maternal heritage carry me to women of faith, courage, endurance, and tradition.

My great-grandmother Jones’ great-grandmother Pettingill’s faith led her on a search for “Zion.” This search brought her to Hanns Mill, Missouri. Extermination of Mormons as the order of the state government. Mobs came into town killing men and raping women. Afterwards, she roamed from state to state to find a place that was welcoming to her faith.

Finally, she found a home in Illinois on the swamp of the Mississippi River. She built a home and had a garden. She enjoyed five years of freedom to practice her religion, before the mobs forced her into the wilderness. Walking across the frozen Mississippi River into land that was not a part of the United States, she wondered, “Where will my home be?”

For two years, she and her small children lived in a makeshift log cabin. Here she watched many die from cold, exposure, hunger, and childbirth. She carried for her turn to walk to the “New Zion,” Salt Lake City.

Finally, her day to walk to the west came. It was a long, hot dusty trail and she did not have enough food to feed her family. She carried on, knowing that God would provide.

Arriving in “Zion,” her family moved one hundred miles north. This place did not represent what one might consider “Zion.” It was colorless and lifeless with six months of winter and six months of summer. It seemed like very little would grow in these conditions, but the promise was that the desert would bloom.

2 ½ cups flour, lightly toss with salt until well mixed.

Slowly pouring the flour through my hands, I think how lucky I am to live in a time when I go to the store to pick from a variety of flour brands. I do not have to wait for harvest time.

With winter approaching, grandmother Pettingill did not have food for the winter. Others in the area had been collecting sago lily bulbs and grinding them into flour. Soon she sent her girls out looking for them to make flour for her cooking needs. The following year they had voluntary wheat growing in their field.

Great-grandmother Jones grew wheat on her farm. The tall stalks would sway in the Big River Country winds during the summer months. After harvest, she would store the wheat until it was time to grind for flour for her baking adventures. She made the best crust from the flour she grew.

¾ cup Crisco cut into the flour with hands until it forms small little beads

Cutting the Crisco into the flour is the most important step; this part gives the crust its flakiness “Feel is the key to making pie,” my mother taught me, ‘it cannot be explained.” I had to practice this until I knew how the mixture should look and feel.

As the dough squeezes through my fingers, I recall my failures. There was the one we could not even cut, or the one where we could see the unmixed Crisco, which caused the crust to have a horrible taste. These experiences left me feeling that I could not live up to our family tradition of pie making.

Great-great-grandmother Wake would make pies in the winter to sell; with nine children, money was in demand. Soon these pies were the in the Burly area. She and her daughters would sell 10-12 pies a week at the general store, unless it was a holiday, then the orders would come in as fast as a winter storm.

One Thanksgiving, when money was tight, my mother and grandmother spent hours making on hundred pies for my dad’s office. I did not help. Instead I spent three days making their life miserable. It was not long before I came to learn the value of motherhood and tradition.

My sisters came to visit my children and me for Thanksgiving one year. We decided to make pies for a local shelter. We spent three days throwing flour, burning pies, and getting on each other’s nerves. When we finished, we learned more than pie making. We learned that there are many who have far less, as we carried on the family tradition of sharing pies.

About ¼ cup of cold water slowly mixed into the bowl until dough feels sticky

I please my water in the freezer before I begin so that it is cold. Flowing water leaves its mark where it travels. It may not make a difference for generations of time, but it has a connecting force from the past to the present.

Water changes the small beads to a soft wet goo that sticks to my hands as I gently finish the mixture.

Great-great-grandma Wake would send her girls for water at the nearby Grape Creek that runs near the City of Rocks. The girls would always look at the rock formations, trying to figure what they best represented; sometimes they could be animals, other times they would be body parts. The girls would quickly make their journey in winter because the creak flowed with ice.

Great-Grandma Jones did not have to carry water from the local stream. She had the newest convenience of the day, a water pump outside the kitchen door. She could gather all the water sh needed without much effort.

Set dough aside. Prepare fruit of your choice

For this particular pie, our family and the dog make a trip to the local farmer’s market. The relaxed pace is more enjoyable than the local grocery store. Strangers share pleasantries as if they are life-long friends. Our senses are overtaken by the fried foods, bright colors of wildflowers, and different fruits and vegetables.

Meandering from booth to booth, we take time looking at different varieties of peaches from freestone, Elberta, and red globe. We spin the fruit around looking for the best color, and no imperfections in the skin. We hold the peaches up to our noses to smell. The scent indicates ripeness. We decide to try each of the three varieties to add a little bit of everything that peaches have to offer. We place the fruit in our canvas bags, but each keep a peach to savor on the way home.

Great-great-grandmother Wake’s orchard had the best fruit on Grape Creek. Her husband planted apple, plum, pear, and peach, along with a gooseberry bust, to ensure he could have pie every day.

My mother and grandmother always use Wilderness Pie filling from the can. Mom always said, “” These pies did not tastiest the same as Great-grandma Jones’ fresh fruit, but they are still good, and with ice cream on the side, they are a little sweeter.

Peel, Slice fruit. Make sauce. Roll out dough. Bake 50-60 min at 350

I place the pie dough on a floured surface and begin to roll the dough into a circular shape. Mine never rolls out to a perfect circle. It has a funny looking shape, but it will fit fine in the tin. I put the first layer in the bottom of a tin, toss fruit next, and place the top layer over it. Good, there is enough dough left over to make cinnamon-n-sugar sticks, a tradition I am sure that has been around for generations. Yu cut the remaining dough into stripes, sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar, bake, and eat.

Carefully I add the beauty to the pie. I scallop the edges and cut the moon in the center. The pie is sealed together with the love of generations of women. I put the pie in the oven to bake.

I am lik the pie, all the ingredients sealed inside. Changing the recipe changes what it will become. I do not want to the traditions I have learned from these women.

Removing the pie from the oven it looks perfect. The crust is a golden brown with the steam escaping the top and the smell of peaches is overwhelming. My family waits with plates, forks, and ice cream. I cut into the pie. The crust flakes and the filling oozes. It not long before the tradition of devouring the creation begins. What a tradition. These women are a part of my family. Their heritage give me tradition, faith, strength, love, endurance, and courage to be the Woman I am. Soon the pie is gone.

Published 2005 Salmon Creek Journal. @2005 This is based on true events.

Eileen's Peach Pie Making Eileen 4chion Lifestyle
Eileen’s Peach Pie Creation

Eileen’s Peach Pie

Serving Size:
1 Slice
Time:
2 hours
Difficulty:
Difficult

Ingredients

  • 2½ cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup Crisco
  • 1/4 cold water

Directions

  1. In a bowl, mix flour and salt.
  2. Cut in Crisco until crumbly little beads
  3. Add a tablespoon of cold water, mixing gently until the dough holds together.
  4. Divide into two balls. Roll out the bottom crust and place it into a 9-inch pie dish.
  5. Tip: I chill all my ingredients and the bowl before starting
  6. Line a 9-inch pie pan with bottom crust.

Filling:

Ingredients

  • 4 cups sliced fresh or home-canned peaches (drained)
  • ¾ cup sugar (adjust depending on peach sweetness)
  • 2 tablespoons flour (or 1 tablespoon cornstarch, for a clearer filling)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar (adds tartness and balances sweetness)
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional, but often used in Southern Idaho kitchens)
  • 1 tablespoon butter, dotted on top before baking
  1. Prepare the filling:
    • Mix peaches with sugar, flour (or cornstarch), lemon juice, and cinnamon.
    • Let sit 5–10 minutes to release juice.
  2. Assemble the pie:
    • Pour peach filling into crust-lined pie dish.
    • Dot with butter.
    • Roll out the top crust and place it over the filling. Trim, crimp edges, flute edges, and cut vents (or make a lattice if you prefer).
  3. Bake:
    • Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F and bake for 35–40 minutes longer, until crust is golden and filling bubbles.
  4. Cool and serve:
    • Let pie cool on a rack to set filling. Best served slightly warm with cream or vanilla ice cream.

Peach Pie History Cassia County Idaho

My family history is about pie for dessert or to stretch the budget in hard times. Selling pies at local general stores. They relied heavily on seasonal fruit and home preservation. Peaches were often home-canned or root-cellared. Eileen’s peach pie was baked by feel and familiarity.

📝 Notes from Cassia Tradition:

  • Home-canned peaches were common—many women canned bushels of fruit each summer.
  • Cinnamon or nutmeg was sometimes omitted to let the flavor of the fruit shine.
  • Lard was the most typical fat until the 1940s when butter and shortening became more available.
  • Pies were a staple dessert for both everyday meals and Sunday suppers. (Facts generated by ChatGPT)

Food is the great connector, linking us to our ancestors through recipes, memories, traditions, and love. It evokes the warmth of a grandmother’s kitchen and the comforting aromas of something simmering on the stove, speaking a language older than words. With every bite, we remember who we are and carry those stories forward, nourishing the future with the essence of the past.

What is your favorite family food memory? Share here using #4chionstyle #4chionfoodie

A Taste of Family History on Our Lifestyle Blog

*Ray, D. (2025, February 25). Oral statement [Dennis Ray.MP4].

** Palomin, T. (2005). This is based on true events. Salmon Creek Journal.

Ruth’s Banana Bread: A Taste of Family History

Ruth’s Banana Bread: A Taste of Family History

Ruth’s Banana Bread fills my home with memories of my maternal grandmother as it bakes. As a child, this was a childhood summer treat with Lipton iced tea, sitting by the lilac bush in the squeaky metal chair. I was not allowed to drink tea, per the Mormon faith (sorry grandma, the secret is out). Sipping the tea felt sophisticated with the earthy woody flavors. This leads me to believe it is why my tea choices are green or Earl Grey. I love steeping my tea in my Rae Dunn mug from my daughter. Ruth’s Banana Bread wasn’t just a recipe but a quiet act of rebellion, a bond, and a moment out of time, being an adult with my grandmother.

Ruth Ilene Wake

Reading her journal from 1996, not long after my grandfather Lawrence’s passing, she writes, “I have saved these articles and I will put them in this book and hope someone will read them one day.” As I read this journal, she discusses driverless cars, writing, “Cars will drive themselves, you’ll simply select your destination (edited later as pen color is different, always the perfectionist) and relax until you get there. This must have interested my grandmother, as she never had a driver’s license or drove a car. What freedom that would have offered her.

My daughter and I rode in a driverless car after the P!nk concert. We had no luck with Uber or Lyft. Hours after the concert, men were walking around with “Uber” signs and cars, which looked like a kidnapping waiting to happen. It was a pleasant ride with Waymo, and the best option to get home at 2 AM. We enjoyed a cup of nighttime tea and went to bed.

Ruth’s Story

Grandma Ruth was born August 17, 1916, in Almo, Idaho, to Ernest Dennis Jones and her mother, Lucy Jane Bronson. She married George Lawrence Wake on April 7, 1934, in Burley, Idaho. They moved to Portland, Oregon, during World War II. Lawrence was a welder in the shipyards.

As a child traveling through the Pacific Northwest, I looked out the window and told my dad, “I’m going to move to the town with the green bridge.” At 23, I made that move to Portland, Oregon, unknowingly following a promise my younger self had made, or knowing my grandmother once lived here.

They moved to Hailey, where Grandma Eileen was born, and her twin brother. She moved from Hailey in 1953 to Orem, where she lived out her life. She was a devoted mother and wife.

Ruth Ilene Jones Grandmother Maternal Side 4chion lifestyle food  ancestor Ruth's Banana Bread: A Taste of Family History
Ruth Ilene Jones

She passed from Lung cancer after living with my grandfather’s smoking for 60 years, on June 28, 2004, in Taylorsville, Utah, at 87. She is buried in Sunny Cedar Rest Cemetery, Almo, Idaho.

Miscellaneous

Her quote, ” Be organized, setting up daily routines lightens the load on your memory and frees it up for more important tasks.”

Food memories were vivid with Grandma Ruth; her precision in cooking made her an excellent cook, especially in baking. Saturday nights were dinner at her home. We would have hamburgers or KFC. We would watch Hee Haw and Lawrence Welk with my grandparents. My grandfather always wore a white tank top. He would try to get a rise out of my grandmother. As a result of no response from grandma, he would leave (we did not know where he was going, learned later it was the local bar). While pulling out of the driveway, she would wave not goodbye, but she was shooing the flies away.

Ruth’s Banana Bread

Serving Size:
1 Slice
Time:
1 hour 30 min.
Difficulty:
Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 Cube of margarine
  • 1 Cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 or 4 crushed bananas
  • 2 Cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon soda
  • 1/4 cup nut meat (an old-fashioned term for chopped nuts)

Directions

  1. Crush bananas and whip very light, cream margarine and sugar, add eggs, then flour soda, and nuts. Add bananas turn into well well-greased pan. Bake 350 one hour.
  2. I did add 1/2 tsp. salt
  3. Muffins bake time 25 min, prep time 20 min.
  4. This was served with a glazed icing recipe not included: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 TBSP butter, 2-4 TBSP milk, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, mix well, glaze banana bread while slightly warm.

Food History

Food scarcity, starvation, and the struggle to meet basic needs are not distant tragedies—they are my family history. These are the stories carried in quiet glances, in empty plates, in the ingenuity of making something out of almost nothing. They are the legacy I come from, not just of hunger, but of survival.

Many pioneer ancestors left Nauvoo with very little in the dead of winter in 1846. They traveled 1,246 miles with very few provisions. The Ute people shared vital knowledge with the pioneers. They taught them how to gather, process, grind, and store the bulbs of the native sego lily.

When getting to Utah, Grandma Dorathea “Dolly’ Durfee (3rd great-grandmother) and Grandma Paulina Clarissa Spink (4th maternal great-grandmother) relied on the sego lily bulbs for flour during hard winters. Spink’s grandchildren, “Would go to the Cold Springs south of Willard where sego grew as large as onions and they would dig as many of them as would keep fresh for any length of time. They made bread of them, dried and boiled them and used the sego in many numerous ways for food.”****

Dorathea 'Dolly' Durfee 4 Family history ancestor pioneer 4chion lifestyle
Dorathea ‘Dolly’ Durfee

Grandma Dorathea

Grandma Dorathea, in November 1845, “Edmund (her father) and others returned to harvest crops. One midnight they rushed to put out a straw stack fire. Suddenly two whistles were heard and six shots were fired from the darkness. Edmund died from a rifle ball just above the heart.”*

They departed Council Bluffs on June 5, 1850, when traveling west to Zion. The children walked the trail barefoot, and as a result, they bound their bleeding feet with rags to avoid leaving bloodstained tracks for the Indians to follow.***

Grandma Dorathea’s children took the straw from their beds to feed their livestock. Many of the livestock still died from the cold and starvation. When settling in Utah, they built a brick and rock home in North Ogden. They raised livestock, sheep, and had a large orchard. Her husband built a reservoir to irrigate the crops. She was a tireless worker and an immaculate housekeeper.** Her biscuits were made throughout her life, reflecting her experiences with starvation. They were light, dainty, each biscuit was not much more than a mouthful.

Sego Lilly foodie flour ancestors 4chion lifestyle utah food foodie heritage  Ruth's Banana Bread: A Taste of Family History

Banana Bread

Banana bread and muffins are readily available in any store. They are popular choices for snacks and breakfast. Food preservation was key for many of our ancestors during various times. Banana bread grew in popularity during the Great Depression, when Grandma Ruth lived in a chicken coop. This bread was a way to preserve the fruit in another form. First appeared in the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook (a family favorite cookbook). Bananas were cheap, and nothing went to waste. (Facts generated by ChatGPT)

Wheat Fun Food Facts

Wheat Flour Nutritional Facts

Grandma Eileen (mother) is renowned for her culinary expertise. She had monthly cooking classes with a few sisters in the ward. She shared her in-depth cooking techniques and fascinating food facts. She distributed a flyer detailing information about wheat.

  • Wheat stored on the counter nutrition lasts 5-7 days
  • Wheat sitting in the fridge last 2-3 months
  • Wheat in the Freezer 1 year (always wondered why Grandma Ruth’s flour was in the freezer)
  • Wheat is enriched to restore nutrients that are lost during the refining process
Wheat flour storing facts 4chion lifestyle food

Wheat Flour Fun Facts

  • Watering in the late 1800s in Cassia County was primitive canal systems or small diversion ditches from the Snake River or nearby creeks.
  • Most work was done manually or horse-drawn, using plows, harrows, and seed drills.
  • Harvesting wheat would involve binders and threshing machines, often shared communally or rented.
  • The wheat they grew was Turkey Red Wheat
  • To get ½ cup of flour, it takes
    • 1/3 cup of wheat berries
    • 5,300 individual wheat berries
    • 30 wheat plants
    • 1′ x 1′ area to grow wheat for 1/2 cup of flour
    • 22 gallons of water to grow 1/2 cup of flour
    • Harvest time
      • Spring Wheat 90 to 120 days
      • Winter Wheat 7–8 months
  • 1/2 cup of wheat flour makes 1 hamburger bun (facts generated by ChatGPT)

Food is the great connector, linking us to our ancestors not only through recipes but also through memories, traditions, and love. It evokes the warmth of a grandmother’s kitchen and the comforting aromas of something simmering on the stove, speaking a language older than words. With every bite, we remember who we are and carry those stories forward, nourishing the future with the essence of the past.

What is your favorite family food memory? Share here using #4chionstyle #4chionfoodie

A Taste of Family History on Our Lifestyle Blog

®2025 4Chion Lifestyle

Privacy Preference Center

Necessary

Advertising

Analytics

Other