Today's episode is a Family Cookbook episode that I've wanted to make for quite a while. It features two of my favorite foods from the area where I went to college (and where MANY of my ancestors lived for over a century) - Deep Fried Biscuits and Homemade Apple Butter, from Indiana. See the shownotes for the recipes. The part of the apple butter recipe that fascinates me is that my mother's mother would have gone through all of the boiling and sealing of jars as a child and teenager, basically the whole canning process, and by the time she died she was using a microwave. We're never that far ..read more

Here's another biography I developed on my quest to achieve one biography per day on my platform of choice, FamilySearch. With each ancestor, I always start with the auto-generated Life Story on Ancestry, copy it and paste it in the LifeStory field on FamilySearch. Then, I augment it with facts from census, vital, and other records, along with a little logical deduction thrown in for good measure. As I did before, I will read you the original from Ancestry and the final product on FamilySearch, complete with a list of sources. I hope that this inspires you to write a few biographies every mont ..read more

This February is going to be on fire with four Saturday Zoom seminars, ABSOLUTELY FREE OF CHARGE: Dr Shelley Viola Murphy's "African American Genealogy Challenges," Angela Y Walton-Raji's "Researching African/Native American Genealogy," "African American Genealogy Research in the North Carolina Portion of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor" with Renate Yarborough-Sanders, and finally, a preview of the IAAM Center for Family History presented by Dr Shelley Viola Murphy and Toni Carrier. Register for each separately here or at tinyurl.com/MR4BBPNF. You can join my Facebook group ..read more

Have you ever set a goal or {shudder} made a New Year's Resolution, and then not kept it? Yeah, you're allowed to look at me and point on that one. I am a terrible offender. But this year, I don't have a goal, or a resolution, I just have a hashtag. A THING, if you will. And that thing is - #BioADay2022. I am working hard to write a bio, little or big, for an ancestor, every day, for the year. And if I don't make one per day, no big deal - I'll just keep on trying. The podcast helps hold me accountable (as does guilt, lots of guilt), and I'm sharing one of my bios with you today. It's for Cal ..read more

Happy New Year, and welcome back to the post-champagne life! I have three recipes for you today, and each will appease your cheesecake cravings in different ways. The first is a traditional recipe from my mother's mother. The second is a Ricotta Cheesecake (or Ricotta Pie) from a local real estate agent, AnnaLisa Bossio. The last is one of my own creation that is small yet flexible, and can be made to suit many different allergies or special diets. Listen, bake, and enjoy! You can join my Facebook group by visiting this page for the link. Please follow my YouTube channel here ..read more

2021 is definitely in the running for my least favorite year EVER! It has given me reason to reexamine what I'm doing, however, both with the podcast and with my own work. Join me for a list of thank-you's, and for an introduction of the quickest, easiest solution I've found so far to distractions, brick walls, and the genealogy blues - #BioADay2022. Let's join together to hold one another accountable as we actively learn more about our ancestors by generating and augmenting short (as in, 2-minute) biographies for ancestors using Ancestry with FamilySearch and WikiTree. 2022 is not going to st ..read more

It's that time of year again - Happy Halloween, and Happy All Saints' Day too! This episode is full of delicious stories and delicious recipes. Dai Davies of GenealCymru and Andrew Martin of Family Histories Podcast contributed their own stories to the episode, as have I. I'm also providing you family and historical recipes for chocolate orange bars, apple crisp, apple cake, burnt butter icing, and three different kinds of pumpkin pies or tarts. Join me, Andrew, Dai, and assorted ghosts and monsters as we celebrate our ancestors and brace for the Pumpkin Spice Season. You can join my Fac ..read more

I have three things on my mind today, and all opportunities for sharing and growth: Share an mp3 recording of an ancestor's story that you think is interesting, unique, creepy, or fun! I will edit it into the Halloween, Skelly Rellies episode of the podcast. Soft deadline is October 15, hard deadline is October 20. Don't be a Jeffrey, part #9,237 - there's been some jackery-peggery and we need to nip that stuff in the bud. Learn, teach, and serve the community by consecrating your talents and interest on Social Justice Sundays, during classes/work sessions I'm holding weekly on Sundays at 3pm ..read more

At long last, a proper Zoom class! I'm holding my first class on September 5, 2021 at 3pm ET - cleaning trees in Ancestry, and the basics of FamilySearch, in order to get moving on transferring reparational trees (for those who want this service). If you attend, you'll learn a lot of basics FOR FREE. If you're LDS, we need you all the more - only LDS Church members have the capacity to transfer trees, and there are people who really would like to utilize this service. Time to put your research where your heart is! The sound for this class will be simulcast on Clubhouse. See my blog at ancestor ..read more

It's July 4th, and I'm feeling reflective about what patriotism means to me. I'm discussing my Patriot ancestors, the 29 (or so) men who participated in, or supported, the American Revolution. What I've found is that patriotism isn't as simple as it seems. Please join me. NEW: I'm on Clubhouse @ancestorsalive. You can join my Facebook group by visiting this page for the link. Please follow my YouTube channel here - I will be doing more videos face to face, and perhaps even some live, with chat and everything! Please rate and review the podcast on your podcast provider, at&n ..read more