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Ruth’s Banana Bread: A Taste of Family History

By 4chionlifestyle | May 11, 2025

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.

Olivia and I Pink Concert Driverless cars 4chion lifestyle Ruth's Banana Bread: A Taste of Family History — Olivia and I at the Pink Concert

Pink Concert 4chion lifestyle foodie connectivity Ruth's Banana Bread: A Taste of Family History — Olivia and I at the Pink Concert

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

Ruth Banana Bread A Taste of Family History food 4chion lifestyle 4chionstyle — 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

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.
I did add 1/2 tsp. salt
Muffins bake time 25 min, prep time 20 min.
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.

Ruth's Banana Bread Connectivity 4Chion Lifestyle Ruth's Banana Bread: A Taste of Family History — Ruth’s Banana Bread

Grandma Ruth and Tammy 4chion lifestyle foodie ancestor history recipe Ruth's Banana Bread: A Taste of Family History — Ruth’s Banana Bread

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.

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

Horse drawn plow farming foodie 4chion lifestyle — Horse drawn plow

Horse Drawn sulky plow 1850s. 4chion lifestyle foodie farming wheat — Horse drawn plow

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

History genealogy mother family food ancestor — Mother

History genealogy grandmother family food ancestor — Mother

* FamilySearch. (n.d.). Memories of Tamma Durfee Miner (KWJX-NPN). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved May 8, 2025, from https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/memories/KWJX-NPN
** FamilySearch. (n.d.). Memories of Dorothea (Durfee) Garner (KWJG-JHP). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved May 10, 2025, from https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/memories/KWJG-JHP
*** FamilySearch. (n.d.). Memories of Dorothea (Durfee) Garner (KWJG-JHP). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved May 10, 2025, from https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/memories/KWJG-JHP
**** FamilySearch. (n.d.). Memories of Paulina Clarissa Spink. Retrieved [May 11, 2025], from https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/memories/KWJY-VKK

®2025 4Chion Lifestyle

Making Cinnamon Rolls 4chion Lifestyle Foodie Ellie

Making Cinnamon Rolls ~ Foodie Ellie

By 4chionlifestyle | July 12, 2020

Making cinnamon rolls Food Ellie is excited to create grammy’s cinnamon rolls. Ellie’s favorite treat from grammy is cinnamon rolls.

Ellie comes for a summer visit to celebrate the Juneteenth and swim for the weekend with grammy. She made her first pie crust for a sweet potato pie for the family Juneteenth dinner.

Food Ellie Cinnamon Roll Recipe 4Chion Lifestyle — Measuring out the Flour

Foodie Ellie Cinnamon Roll Brunch 4Chion LIfestyle — Measuring out the Flour

Ellie’s advice is to always check the bowl for eggshells and wash up the dishes when done. She was determined to do this herself. She measured each cup of flour to be one cup ( I usually use my senses to measure for bread). It was a wonderful day baking with her. Sharing the tradition I learned from my own grandmother.

Cinnamon Roll Tradition

My grandmothers on my mother’s side were known for their outstanding baking skills. They always used all-purpose flour, white sugar, and no eggs to make cinnamon rolls. Family recipes are fun to create.

I prefer Bob’s Red Mill Unbleached White All-Purpose Baking Flour (12-15% protein). This pastry flour is perfect for creating great yeast-raised products. Today we only had Bob’s Red Mill Unbleached White Fine Pastry Flour (8-9% protein). Getting the right flour has been a difficult product to find during the COVID-19 pandemic. This flour worked out well.

I remember reading my great-great grandmother’s story gathering sego lilies and grinding them into flour to bake bread, cinnamon rolls, and creating pies. They did this after settling in Idaho from the Mid-West and food was scare. It is a make it work moment.

Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Bread Dough

6 – 8 cups of Flour

2 pkg. active dry yeast

2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

Filling

3/4 cup butter

Cinnamon and sugar

You can raisins or chopped nuts if you like.

Icing Recipe

2 cups powder sugar

4 tbsp softened butter

2 tsp vanilla

Milk, enough to get icing spreading consistancy

In a large bowl or Kitchen Aid, mixing bowl with the bread hook attachment. Add 2 cups of the flour and both yeast pkg. on top of the flour.

In a large pot on the stove on low add whole milk, butter, salt, and sugar heat warm to the touch.

Pour the warm to touch mixture over the flour and yeast. Mix well on low if using Kitchen Aid. When mixed well add

2 eggs blending after adding each egg.

Slowly add the remaining flour (this will vary each time how much) 1 cup at a time. Mix well after each addition. Increase speed on the Kitchen Aid as needed. The dough should be firm and start to pull away from the sides of the bowl when enough flour is added. Knead by hand for 12-14 minutes (stretch and pull using palms of your hands). In the Kitchen Aid mix for two minutes on setting 8. This is equivalent to 12-14 minutes needing by hand.

Raising Cinnamon Rolls

Butter the sides of a large bowl. Place dough in a buttered bowl and cover with plastic wrap. My grandmothers used a clean dish towel. This does create a slight crust on the dough as it rises. Let dough rise until double size about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, let rest 10 min.

Next, roll the cinnamon roll dough into a circle, dust with flour if sticking, roll about 1/4″ thick. Brush the melted butter on the rolled out dough. Then sprinkle the cinnamon and then sugar till well covered. You are welcome to mix the butter, cinnamon, and sugar together then spread on the dough with a butter knife. Roll the dough each roll please pull towards you. Then cut in 2-inch rolls with a sharp knife (children can use a butter knife it will be a change the shape of the cinnamon roll some but good experience for them).

Cinnamon Rolls Baking 4chion foodie lifestyle — Rolling out Dough

Finishing Cinnamon Rolls

Place cinnamon rolls in grease baking pan 9×13″. Let rise he cinnamon rolls rise until the are touching each other for about 20 minutes. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350° f until golden brown. Mix up the icing using a hand mixer. Cool cinnamon rolls until warm to the touch. Frost the cinnamon rolls. This is great to make ahead for a family Sunday brunch or holiday breakfast. Store in an airtight container.

Cinnamon Roll 4 Genteration Family Baking Tradition — Me, Great Grandma Lucy, Grandma Ruth, and Mother Eileen
1970 something

Teaching family recipes are so important in keeping the traditions and flavors alive. Taking time to recreate and creating new alterations make a life long memory that can last for generations. We enjoyed homemade pizza with the extra dough.

Summertime is Here ~ Happy Memorial Day

By 4chionlifestyle | June 26, 2017

Memorial Day is the first celebration of the summer holiday. Many spend their time at the poolside, beach, or picnicking. Food, family, and fun are key to this holiday.

This holiday celebration to honor those who have served and lost their lives protecting America. This holiday started shortly after the Civil War. We deeply appreciate the sacrifice of many and their families. This traditionally was known as decoration day. As a child I remember going to Almo, Idaho (a small town near the City of Rocks & Burly Idaho) to clean up the family cemetery and decorating the graves for Memorial Day.

Enjoying family traditions and recipes during Memorial Day weekend creates a connection between ourselves and those who went on before us. We all have those tried and true recipes that come with no recipe card. It is fun to create your own traditions and recipes for the holidays.

This Memorial Day our menu will include Ciabatta and Cherry Almond Bundt Cake. It is one last time before the summer heat to get a few great bakes created. Ciabatta is a great, simple bread to start learning to create your own loaves of bread. The bread created by Arnaldo Cavallari, a miller, in Verona, Veneto, Italy in 1982 as a response to the popular French baguettes. This is a perfect bread for transportation.

Cibatta Bread 4Chion LIfestyle — Cibatta Bread

Ciabatta

3 3/4 cups of White whole wheat flour

2 1/4 Tsp. Dry Active Yeast (1 package)

2 1/4 Tsp. Salt

1 1/2 cups cold water

1/2 cups cold water

Olive oil for pans and the rising bowl

Bosch Mixer (I used the hand mixer) with dough hook(s)

Place flour, yeast (on the right side of the flour), and salt (on the left side of flour) 1 1/2 cup water in mixer bowl. Begin mixing on low. When the dough begins to form drizzle remaining 1/2 cup into the bowl and raise mixer to the next level up. Mix the dough for 5-8 minutes. You will know it is ready when it is stretchy and smooth.

Place dough in a square plastic container (enough room for bread to rise) with side oiled with olive oil. The square container assists with keeping the bread the proper shape for baking. Place lid on top. The lid keeps the dry skin from forming while bread rises. Raise dough until double in size about 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 hours at room temperature.

Dust a workspace well with flour (the dough will be sticky). Allow for it to naturally fall out of the container onto a floured surface. Coat the top of the dough with more flour. Handle the dough very carefully, don’t pat back down. You want to keep as much air as possible in the dough. Cut the dough lengthways into 4 equal sized loaves. Slightly stretch each piece lengthways and place on oiled baking trays. Let rest 30-45 min on a baking sheet.

Pre-heat oven 425 degrees. Baked bread 25 min. until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Cool completely on wire racks.

Cherry Bundt Cake 4Chion Lifestyle — Cherry Bundt Cake

Cherry Almond Bundt Cake

3/4 cup quartered Natural Bordeaux Maraschino Cherries

rinse cherries
dry well with paper towels
toss with 2 tablespoons flour
set aside

You can make your own maraschino cherries (make two days in advance)

1 pint of sour cherries
1 cup maraschino liqueur (possible substitutes are Amaretto, Grand Marnier, or contact your local store for assistance)
Bring liqueur to a simmer. Turn off the heat, and add the cherries, stir, let cool, and pour into jars. Refrigerate. Make these a day or two before using. Cherries last for months.

1 Cup all-purpose white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup unsalted softened butter (do not microwave)

3/4 white sugar (pulse slightly in the food processor before measuring)

Zest of 1 lemon

1/8 cup plus 2 tsp. finely ground almonds

3 large eggs

Pre-heat oven 350 degrees. Fluff flour and baking powder until well mixed in a bowl. Add all ingredients except the cherries to the mixer bowl, mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Lightly fold cherries into batter. Place in a well butter bundt pan. Bake 25-45 min. When cooled and cake starts to pull from sides of pan remove from pan to cooling rack. Finish with Ganache and toasted almonds (place sliced almonds in a warmed pan and toss lightly until golden brown) on top.

Ganache

1 1/2 cups of heavy cream

1 lb. semi-chocolate or bittersweet chocolate chopped (we recommend 61% cacao)

In a heavy saucepan, bring heavy cream to boil. Turn off the heat. Add chopped chocolate pieces and let it rest until melted (this is key). Use a rubber spatula to stir the mixture until all the pieces are melted. Pour it into a room-temperature bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate ganache until it is firm.

The weekend meal included trout almondine, roasted garlic green beans, ciabatta bread, and cherry almond cake. A nice pinot noir is served with the meal.

May your holiday be filled with great memories and remember your lifestyle is worth the best.

@4ChionLifestyle

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Shopping List

1 lb. Land O’ Lakes butter

Natural Bordeaux Maraschino Cherries