Simmering Sunday stew

I love to cook. I enjoy the entire process. Cutting the vegetables, preparing the meat, contemplating flavors and side dishes. But when I do cook, I usually follow a recipe the first time I try cooking something new and then will modify it to my liking the next few times I prepare it. Eventually it gets to the point where I have a recipe memorized and it turns out a little bit different and always delicious. 

Tonight, however, I did something completely new. I just improvised a recipe on the spot. I was in the middle of trying The Pioneer Women's pot roast, when I discovered the meat had soured in the fridge. So I put my browned onions and carrots in the fridge and ran to the store with the hubby to pick up some new meat. 

What we ended up leaving with was 10 succulent looking bratwurst. I decided to try my hand at a spin off of Olive Gardens's zuppa tuscona. Having worked there for the better part of six years, I figured I could emulate the recipe fairly easily. 

So, when I got home I diced those carrots and onions, added a few sliced tomatoes and filled the Dutch oven with chicken broth. Next we sautéed the bratwurst in bacon fat, because why not? Once those had a nice sear on the them, the were sliced and added to the soup.

We flavored the soup with roasted garlic, onion powder, garlic powder, and a healthy handful of crushed red pepper. I also added a tablespoon of butter and some extra bacon fat. Hey, I didn't say I was going for healthy here. 

And the verdict is in, Frankenstein creation tastes amazing! 

"Another day gone and we are nearer to our home" - Amelia Buss, August30, 1866

In the summer of 1866, Amelia Buss left behind everything she knew. Accompanied by her husband and eight year old daughter the small family traveled westward for over two months. In her diary, Buss describes the journey as long, arduous,and often times lonely because she "is all the women there is in this big train." On her entry for September 8th, 1866 Amelia laments that she "almost feels forgotten by her friends." Buss' frankness towards her journey highlights the stark reality that many frontier women faced as the ventured miles from from friends, family, and the comforts of home. Separated from everything familiar early pioneering women had to contend with dangers of frontier life (Indian raids, thieves, disease, etc.), as well as the demands of running a household. Upon arriving at their home on September 21, 1866, Buss wrote "When I went in, such a sight it sicked me; but everything but the windows looked as I imagined it would before. And I was not in Mrs. Jones hoped happily disappointed, but here I am and now much clean and work and always be over run with bugs and dirt." Her comment on bugs and dirt expose how Buss felt the need to meet societal expectations of women, even while living in the periphery of society. As the diary progresses, it becomes more and more evident that these household chores occupied her time, as Buss' entries become more and more sporadic. Overall, Amelia Buss' diary reveals a primarily solitary life that centered around domestic duties and religion. On one particularly despondent night she wrote, "Oh if I had wings of a bird, I would this moonlight night fly away from this place and the red man." And while many entries in her diary are quite melancholy in tone, it is apparent that she took great solace in religion. Reading sermons and signing hymns at home seemed to comfort Buss, who often felt "shut away from all their religious privileges" of relatives back East.

While a photograph does not exist of Amelia, the Archive at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery does hold one picture of her husband, Captain George E. Buss, who served in the American Civil War before moving West.

A copy of Amelia Buss' diary is located the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery Archive.

New name, new post, and some old content

Hi everyone! 

Here we go into my fourth foray at blogging. I decided to migrate the content from my previous blogs over to this one that way it wouldn't feel so empty at HOUSE of CARDIGANS and my old content wouldn't feel abandoned. 

I have quite decided the direction I want to take the blog yet, but stay tuned for some post about knitting, baking, cooking, and maybe even some goodies from work. 

Till next time, y'all! 

Putting the Petroglyph Back Together

During the summer of 2013, I worked as a curatorial intern at the Sweetwater County Historical Museum. While at the museum, one of my projects was to create a mount for a broken petroglyph. The petroglyph came from a BLM site, where it had fallen off the rock-face after being accidentally bumped into by a visitor. The rock that composed the pieces of the petroglyph is fragile sandstone, which had been treated by the BLM. Below are some pictures from when I and the other intern, Tessa Moeing, pieced the petroglyph back together and mounted it into a case for display.

 

Accessioning Archival Collections

During 2009 I worked as a student and intern at Joyner Library, Department of Special Collections. Under the mentor library's ship of Dr. Jonathan permanent collections. Linked below are two finished finding aides that I helped create while at the library.

Click here to see the finding aid for the Ashby D. Elmore Papers

This finding aide was made as part of my spring course in "Archival Techniques and Management," while at East Carolina University. During the semester, my classmates and I, all learned about archival practices and procedures. Our final project at the end of the semester was to fully process a collection into the library's permanent collection.  We also, created an inventory and finding aide for the collection.

Click here to see the finding aid for the Cumberland Lodge No. 5, Knights of Pythia Papers 

While an intern at the library I spent the majority of my time accessioning incoming collections. This was the largest collection I worked over the summer. During the accession process, I created a preliminary inventory, noted documents that needed conservation, and calculated the size of the collection. 

North Carolina Museum of the Coastal Plain - Sample Portion of Timeline

The samples below are taken from a timeline that I researched, created, and fabricated while at East Carolina University. In the course titled "Field Lab: Museums and Historic Site Development," my classmates and I worked to create and install the first exhibits at the newly opened North Carolina Museum of the Coastal Plain. The museum opened in May of 2010. Our class worked to build the museum from the ground up and we did everything from painting the floors, to building walls, and creating and installing the exhibits.

My major assignment was to create and develop a timeline that spans the history of the North Carolina Coastal Plain from pre-history to the museum opening. The link provided will include some sample labels from the timeline. 

Click here for the PDF of the timeline

History Colorado - Educator's Trunks

This teacher's manual and the lesson plans included were developed and created by myself and two other classmates. Together we brainstormed and developed the three lesson plans as well as the grandmother's story in the trunk. After this we each wrote our own versions of the teacher's manual and lesson plans.

Click here for the PDF of the Educator's Manuel