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Rooted in Foods Logo
  • Home
  • Cooking
    • Recipes
      • Appetizers
      • Breads
      • Breakfast
      • Soup and Salad
      • Side Dishes
      • Main Dishes
      • Sweet Treats
    • German Food
    • Heritage Cookbooks
    • Tips & Tools
  • Genealogy
    • My Ancestor’s Kitchen
    • Family History
    • German Heritage
    • Scottish Heritage
    • Surnames
    • Tips & Ideas
  • Etiquette
  • About
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Stories and Memories

Holiday Cookie Swap
Home & Life | Recipes | Stories and Memories | Sweet Treats

Holiday Cookie Swap

ByNiki Davis December 21, 2018October 18, 2024

I survived hosting my first holiday cookie swap! Whew … it was a whirlwind of getting the house cleaned up, decorations put up, and cookies baked. Oh, who am I kidding … I barely got the Christmas tree decorated in time! Such is the life of busy women eherywhere, which is why coming together for…

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Genealogy, Raines, family history
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks | Family History | Genealogy | Stories and Memories

To Be or Not to Be … Married!

ByNiki Davis February 1, 2018July 7, 2024

This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The week 5 challenge is “In the Census”. When I was a kid, it was hard for me to think of my grandparents as anything other than grandparents. My grandpa was 55 years old when I was born, my grandma was…

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The first Christmas day
Stories and Memories

The First Christmas Day

ByNiki Davis December 24, 2015

On December 20, 1815, the Kings Mountain Herald newspaper in Kings Mountain, North Carolina published the following story from the New York Press about the first Christmas day. It is a reminder that Christmas isn’t about getting … or even giving … gifts, but celebrating the life of a man many consider their Savior.  It…

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Cinnamon Roll Christmas Tree
Breakfast | Family Traditions | Stories and Memories

Cinnamon Roll Christmas Tree

ByNiki Davis December 22, 2015

Christmas morning is a madhouse … it certainly was when I was a kid and it still is now that I have a kid … and dogs! The last thing a mom wants to deal with is breakfast. Okay, at least this mom. Try this easy Christmas tree made from cinnamon rolls to make the…

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The Story of Family
Lost Things | Stories and Memories

The Story of Family

ByNiki Davis November 26, 2015July 7, 2024

Between 2006 and 2011, we lost my mom’s parents and my dad. It seemed just as we were moving forward from the loss of one, we would lose another. I was 36 when Daddy died. Noodle was 4. I have vivid memories of the last conversation I had with each of them. Grandma, who had…

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astronauts-wives-club
Stories and Memories

Rene Carpenter, Mercury Seven Astronaut Wife

ByNiki Davis July 25, 2015

One of my character flaws as a hobby genealogists is my desire to learn everything I can about certain eras in history and the people who lived during them. I’m fascinated by the Jacobite uprising in Scotland, 16th century English royalty, Colonial America, flappers of the 1920s, and anything from the 1950s and early 60s….

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family tree projects
Crafts & Projects | Genealogy | Stories and Memories | Tips & Ideas

Why all kids should create a family tree

ByNiki Davis June 16, 2015July 15, 2024

When I was a junior in high school, my French teacher had us create a family tree. It was a fun assignment for someone like me … I was already a history nerd, but had never really thought about tracing my own family history to any great extent.  My dad was ecstatic because he was…

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The Old Black Goat
Family History | Stories and Memories

The Old Black Goat

ByNiki Davis May 14, 2015

Week 20 of the 52 ancestors challenge is themed “black sheep”. I come from a family of doctors, politicians, preachers, and a lot of farmers. I’ve not found a black sheep among them. Okay, the politicians might be questionable. So, instead of writing about skeletons in closets or general bad behavior of black sheep ancestors,…

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks | Family Traditions | Genealogy | Stories and Memories

Walker Dog and Stormy Judy

ByNiki Davis March 14, 2015

Stormy Weather is an apropos theme for the Week 10 52 Ancestors Challenge. It’s March and, in southern Illinois, we would normally be headed into spring and well on our way to “tornado season”. Not this year … our only two snow storms of the winter have happened in the last two weeks. They’ve been…

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Fresh Start for a New Year
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks | Genealogy | Stories and Memories

Fresh Start for a New Year

ByNiki Davis January 13, 2015January 13, 2015

Yikes! I just noticed the new 52 Ancestors challenge that Amy Johnson Crow gave us on her blog No Story Too Small … and I’m behind already! I love how she has added weekly themes. Week 1 was a fresh start … and that’s where I’m starting even though I’m a teeny bit late.  I have…

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Santa Claus
Stories and Memories

I Believe, Virginia

ByNiki Davis December 17, 2014

From the moment I first read the New York Sun editorial written in 1897 by Francis Church in response to an 8 year-old’s question about Santa Claus, I was in love. I was in love with the idea of Santa Claus and the idea of writing … and sharing that writing. I don’t even remember how…

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The Christmas Heart
Family Traditions | Stories and Memories

The Christmas Heart

ByNiki Davis December 9, 2014

Over the weekend, a friend from college posted a Christmas memory on Facebook about being “dirt poor” … his words … as a child and how that impacted Christmas for him and his seven siblings. Christmas stockings were filled not with trinkets and “stuffers”, but with fresh fruit and hard candy, both being treats for his…

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I wish I could have met her
Family History | Genealogy | Scottish Heritage | Stories and Memories

I wish I could have met her

ByNiki Davis December 3, 2014

In honor of Wishful Wednesday …  Have you ever been asked, “If you could sit down with anyone in history and have a conversation, who would it be?”. I have … several times. I always have a different answer, too. Sometimes it’s Eleanor Roosevelt, sometimes it is Mary Queen of Scots or Robert the Bruce….

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Happy Birthday, Daddy
Stories and Memories

Happy Birthday, Daddy

ByNiki Davis November 25, 2014

Why is it that people remain a specific age in our minds no matter how old they really are when we lose them? My grandpa was 89 when he died in 2008, but he will always be in his mid-60s in my mind. That was the age when he raced me across the yard and let me…

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Handmade clock
Family History | Lost Things | Stories and Memories

A ghost in the clock?

ByNiki Davis August 30, 2014

It stormed really bad this morning and well into the afternoon. The kind of storm that makes you wonder what’s coming next. When it quieted down a bit, Mom, Noodle and I made a break for our favorite museum and resale shop. Upon our return, I noticed the power had gone out at some point…

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Veterans Remembrance Walk
Family Traditions | Stories and Memories

52 Ancestors #29: My Heroes

ByNiki Davis August 19, 2014August 19, 2014

I’m writing about something a little different for my 52 Ancestors post this week. Earlier this summer, a brick honoring three men in my family was placed at the veteran’s memorial at Riverside Park in Murphysboro, Illinois. I stopped by a few nights ago to take some photos. It was bright; the sun was setting…

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James Raines, WWII SeaBees
Family History | Stories and Memories

Reflections on a WWII SeaBee

ByNiki Davis June 7, 2014

We’ve just passed the 70th anniversary of D-Day. My family has been watching WWII documentaries on the History channel, including The World Wars series which is one of the best I’ve ever seen. We’re coming up on the 100th anniversary of the beginning of WWI. It doesn’t seem like these events should be so far…

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table etiquette
Etiquette | Stories and Memories

Table Etiquette for Kids

ByNiki Davis June 4, 2014July 7, 2024

Table etiquette is just as important for kids as it is for adults … we have to learn somewhere, and at home is a safe place!  I have been teaching Noodle how to set a proper, albeit informal, table for dinner. This is something that my mom taught me when I was little and, as…

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A Reason, Season or Lifetime
Stories and Memories

A Reason, Season or Lifetime

ByNiki Davis May 7, 2014

My grandpa was a firm believer that people come in and out of your life when you need … or no longer need … them the most. Sometimes they’re around for a little while and quietly slink away when you no longer rely upon them. Others become more of a mainstay … they’re the ones…

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