Hi folks:  I have been asked to send an example of a submission to the cookbook/history book to help give an idea.  Please find attached one I have done for my mother-in-law, Carrie Grierson.  Yours can be very different, funny or heartwarming —– just do it!  Hope this helps. Write me if you have any questions about your submissions.
Cari Grierson.

Carrie Irene (Adam) Grierson,  1907- 1987

Carrie was born in Birch Ridge, New Brunswick to Mary (Clark) Adam and Angus Adam. Angus was a sawyer, working at a mill there. She was a grandchild of store-keeper, James Booth Adam, called J.B., one of the original settlers of the Colony.  She spent her childhood in Kincardine on the farm her father bought. (The farm and the house he built now belong to the Smithkey family.)  Carrie had a brother, Booth, who died in infancy and an adopted brother, Gordon, who died suddenly in his early twenties.  She went to the one room school in Kincardine until grade 8, when she left for Woodstock to attend Business College. She worked for a time at Porter’s Potato Brokerage in Andover and then was hired at the Bank of Montreal in Perth as secretary to the manager.  It was there that she met a young Mountie from Ontario who had recently moved to J Division, NB. They were married and moved from town to town in New Brunswick wherever Constable James (Jim) Grierson was sent as a “one man” detachment. They raised three children, Roy, Gerald and Carolyn. When Jim retired from the RCMP he was first in command of the Moncton detachment. The family returned to Perth-Andover and soon Carrie became the Sheriff of Victoria County’s wife as that was Jim’s job.  She was happy to move back to Victoria County close to her beloved Scotch Colony.

Many’s the story Carrie could tell of the days she spent as a girl in the “Colony”. She had a great memory and could recite all the poems she had learned from the readers in the one room school.  She often said grace or said poems in the Aberdeen Scots dialect

As a girl in the Colony, she chorded on the piano for her father’s fiddle playing and was welcome behind the piano at dances. Carrie played the organ in the Melville Church, Kincardine, for 12 years as a girl.  We think she must have sung in the choir as well for in a recent refit of the choir loft, her son, Roy, discovered a board backing a choir seat etched carefully with her whole name.  She must have had time on her childish hands, and a pen knife in her pocket as she waited for the next hymn!

 

 

 

This is a recipe all the grandchildren loved. Grammie served it with Green Tomato Chow and Lady Ashburnham Pickles on the side. Depending on who was present at her table, Carrie could make it larger or smaller by changing the amounts of vegetables added  She often made “Dough Boys” or dumplings and for the last fifteen minutes of cooking we were admonished not to lift the lid of the pot for fear of ruining the steamed fluffy dumplings.

 

Grammie Grierson’s Recipe for Hamburger Stew  4-6 servings

1 lb. regular hamburger

Pepper to taste.

Celery Salt

2 bouillon cubes

1 tsp. Summer Savoury

Water to cover

2 large onions cut up  (The veggies usually came from Grampie Jim’s garden)

3-4 carrots peeled and cut into coins

4-6 potatoes cut into chunks

½ small turnip diced

1 large parsnip peeled and cut up into coins (optional) Parsnips were dug in the Spring.

Break up the hamburg and place it with the water and seasonings in a large covered saucepan. Simmer until meat is grey. Add all the other ingredients. Continue to boil gently until the turnip is tender. It takes about 1 hour. Serve with dumplings if you wish.

This recipe is fairly plain.  When our family makes it today they add dashes of Worcestershire Sauce or HP Sauce, garlic, and a bay leaf. Sometimes we add ¼ small cabbage diced.  Chopped chives or parsley can also be added to the dumplings.

 

Grammie Grierson’s Dumplings: Serves 4 to 6.

2 c flour, 1 tsp salt, 4 tsp baking powder

2 Tbs shortening or lard

2/3 c milk

Cut fat into dry ingredients until like coarse meal. Stir in milk to make a sticky,  lumpy dough.  Drop by tablespoonfuls on top of the simmering stew.  There should be enough space for the dumplings to rise.  Cover the pot and keep boiling gently without lifting the cover for 15 minutes.  Serve dumplings on top of a bowl of stew.

Please use the Reply form below to for your submission(s) or send by postal mail. Contact/address for Cari is at the bottom of this post.