American Heirlooms - August 2021

American Heirlooms - August 2021

302-653-2411

AUGUST 2021

Bethany and I like to celebrate with our children on the last day of school, and this year, we decided to surprise them with a camping trip. We had never been able to go camping with the children. So, we knew this would be the perfect surprise. On the last day of school, the children came home around lunchtime, and when Bethany told them what we were going to do, there was such whooping and hollering that we needed ear plugs! Shortly after, we loaded the van with all our stuff — it takes a lot of paraphernalia to go camping — and we headed to Trapp Pond State Park in southern Delaware. We used the wheelbarrows in the campground parking lot to haul our tools and camping equipment to the site. We also purchased two bundles of firewood at the park — I suspected it was pine — since we couldn’t bring our own due to an invasive bug. The smoke from the wood ultimately turned our pot of water for cowboy coffee brown, before we even added the grounds! The campsite was in the thick of holly trees already dropping their leaves which meant a very prickly carpet around our tents. But overall, we were very happy with our campsite. We were the only people in tents, and the restrooms and showers weren’t far away. Our sons, Malcolm and Kendrick, decided to race the girls in a tent-setting-up competition. If I remember correctly, the boys won! We had borrowed a small and a large tent from a friend, and they both proved to be useful for our night at the campsite. For supper that night, we grilled burgers and asparagus. It seemed to take a long time to cook, but the asparagus tasted wonderful. You could pick it up by the stalk and eat it from one end to the other. All Bethany did was add salt, pepper, and some butter. Once we were all set up for the night, we strolled down to the dock not far from our site. The boys fished off the shore and didn’t need a fishing license since they were all young enough.

All told, we caught a sunfish and a small catfish, but we nearly lost a catch! That night, our daughter, Megan, wanted to snap a photo of the whole family. We were about situated … just as the fishing pole started sliding! That was the end of the family pose because Megan had caught a fish! Our son, Adrian, was so excited that Bethany was sure he was going to fall off the dock. Afterward, we went back to the campsite and covered our things in case of rain. Sure enough, it did rain a little, but we had pleasant temperatures all night. Malcolm was the only one fussing about sleeping in the tent; he kept saying he was bored, of all things! He had been begging for this trip for years! We eventually all settled into sleep. The sun awoke everyone early the next morning. Heather went to an empty campsite near the water to soak up the beautiful morning. Shortly after, a pair of geese and their goslings wandered close to her. We later saw more geese and goslings when we went to the other side of the pond. They would follow us so closely; it was very interesting to watch. That morning we ate eggs and bacon cooked over the fire. As we were getting ready for the day, I discovered that Bethany had forgotten to pack a clean shirt for me! She tried her hardest to remedy the situation by scrubbing the shirt in the big sink we used to wash dishes and drying it under the hand dryer in the bathroom. When that didn’t work, she hung it over the fire where it did dry eventually. Ironically, I caked the shirt in grease when carrying the grilling utensils back to the car later that day. We did some more fishing that afternoon across the pond, and we tried to fly a kite that Kendrick had. We just couldn’t get it to work, though. It seems the design was flawed. Before heading home, we roasted hot dogs over the fire for lunch, finally completing our camping adventure. It was nice family time, but we all enjoyed the comforts of home when we got back to our house that night. –Ethan Zimmerman

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Throughout many of the northern states, August is a big month because it’s the start of apple season! Orchards begin to harvest their early season crop, and many varieties of apples are starting to ripen and will continue to do so throughout the fall. As these apples ripen, many orchards invite guests to their grounds to pick fruit and enjoy a day outdoors. Here are three orchards that are well worth the trip! Stribling Orchard, Markham, Virginia Situated near the Shenandoah River in the hills of Virginia, this orchard has a rich history that goes back to the founding of the United States. As you pick apples, you can enjoy learning about the orchard’s past. Guests are also invited to bring a picnic as they harvest their bounty. Learn more at StriblingOrchard.com . Kiyokawa Family Orchards, Parkdale, Oregon Tucked away in the Hood Valley just north of Mount Hood in Oregon, Kiyokawa boasts the largest U-pick orchard in the valley and offers exceptional scenery for apple (and pear) pickers! There are many apples to choose from, but there are

also fruit stands that sell cider, honey, and jam. Find out more at KiyokawaFamilyOrchards.com .

Brighton Woods Orchard, Burlington, Wisconsin This orchard features several varieties of apples, so it’s open well throughout the season. Their website even breaks down their apple varieties and lets visitors know the best times to stop by in order to pick the apples they want most! Check out all the selections at BrightonWoodsOrchard.com . A Little Closer to Home If you can’t make it to one of these three locations, why not see if there’s a local orchard that lets you pick your own apples or buy a fresh bundle? Before you go on your apple- picking adventure, here are a few quick tips to keep in mind. • It’s great for the whole family! • Pick the apples, but don’t shake the branch. • Set the apples gently in your carrier of choice so you don’t bruise the fruit! • Apples on the outer branches ripen first.

Baking soda has long been lauded as a useful tool for cleaning, but it wasn’t until the mid-1840s that baking soda first became popular in our favorite baked goods. First used by the ancient Egyptians in its chemical form, sodium carbonate, to clean and prepare bodies for mummification, baking soda has slowly traveled through time — and straight into our refrigerators.

If you want to do the same, our friends at Thomas Insights have some tips in order to optimize baking soda’s power. For starters, don’t rely on the small opening from the box to be as effective as you would like it to be. Instead, leave baking soda in an open bowl or peel the top completely off a baking soda box for the full effect. This allows more sodium bicarbonate to mingle with the acidity given off by decaying foods. Furthermore, store the baking soda in your fridge near food items that are more likely to go bad, like produce or dairy products, to quickly capture bad odors just as they happen. And finally, don’t forget to replace your baking soda. Like a good rag or a bucket, once baking soda is full (saturated), it no longer absorbs smells. Replacing your fridge’s baking soda every three months is a good timeline to follow.

The reasoning all boils down to simple chemistry.

Baking soda’s base, sodium bicarbonate, is powerful at neutralizing acids, like the smells bacteria emits from rotting food and the gunk that’s caked in your dishwasher or in the bathtub. Specifically in your refrigerator, when your food begins to decompose — or go bad — the bacteria that’s feeding on it releases acid. Baking soda gobbles up that acid and captures it, effectively killing the smell before it can even cause a stink. That’s why so many families have a box of baking soda in their fridge and why you don’t notice any bad smells wafting from that region of the kitchen.

After thousands of years, there’s no denying that baking soda is the easiest and quickest way to a smell-free kitchen.

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Today, the Crock-Pot is a cornerstone of American meal preparation. In addition to being tucked away in cabinets of nearly every kitchen, the meals heated within it have become some of our most cherished memories. The slow cooker story begins all the way back in 19th century Lithuania. This is where many Jewish families perfected the technique of slow cooking. They would place their uncooked Sabbath dinners into the ovens in village bakeries on Friday nights, and as the oven cooled, its heat would cook the meal. By dinner time on the Sabbath — a day when many Jewish families and business owners believed they should rest rather than work — the meal would be ready to eat, with the oven having done most of the work on the Sabbath. Inspired by his mother’s story of doing just that, Irving Naxon filed a 1936 patent for the Naxon Beanery. The device mimics the oven trick, holding food in an insert wrapped in a heating device to slowly cook the food. And, perhaps best of all, it was portable.

American homes. Many families soon found themselves outfitting their kitchens with devices that could make homemaking easier. This included the Naxon Beanery, but it didn’t gain much traction until Naxon sold his design and idea to Rival Manufacturing in the 1970s. The company is responsible for creating and marketing the device we all know and love today — the Crock-Pot. (Note: Crock-Pots are a type of slow cooker, which was Naxon’s original invention. Crock-Pot is the most well-known brand of slow cookers and, therefore, often synonymous with the device.) The Crock-Pot’s popularity picked up speed that decade — only to stall in the 1980s thanks to the invention and prevalence of microwaves — because it could cook dinner while other chores or errands were completed. Fortunately for us (and our taste buds), the Crock-Pot survived its 1980s slump and has become a staple of kitchens everywhere. In fact, it was reported that 11.6 million people in the U.S. owned slow cookers in 2019.

However, Naxon’s invention didn’t come to market until the 1950s, during which ease became the central focus of many

Now that’s a lot of pot roast (or soup, or meatballs, or stew, or dips …).

INGREDIENTS • 1 qt water • 8 tea bags, Lipton or other black tea • 1 cup sugar • 2 tbsp lemon juice, optional DIRECTIONS 1. Boil water. Remove from heat and add tea bags. 2. Steep for 9 minutes. 3. Remove tea bags and add sugar. 4. Fill a gallon jug halfway to three-quarters full of ice cubes, then pour the tea in. Add water to fill to a gallon. 5. Add lemon juice, if desired.

Photo credit: Heather Brooke Zimmerman

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Inside this Issue The Zimmerman Children Finally Go Camping! Page 1

Are You Ready for Apple Season?

Why Baking Soda Is the Star of the Kitchen Page 2

How the Crock Pot Became an American Classic

Iced Tea Page 3

Meet Odin, the Fireproof Dog Page 4

THIS GREAT PYRENEES GUIDED HIS GOATS THROUGH A WILDFIRE

In October 2017, California was in flames. One of those blazes was the Tubbs Fire, which charred its way through 36,800 miles of forests and vineyards in both Napa and Sonoma County. More than 5,600 buildings were destroyed, and 22 people were killed. But when the flames finally died, a four-legged hero emerged from the ashes: Odin, the Great Pyrenees dog. Odin belonged to Ariel and Roland Hendel, two farmers in Sonoma County. When the Tubbs Fire threatened to char their home, they packed up as many of their animals and precious items as they could. Unfortunately, their flock of goats wouldn’t fit in the getaway vehicle — and their goat-herding dog, Odin, refused to abandon them. Great Pyrenees are prized livestock guardian dogs that will do anything to protect their charges, and Odin lived up to his breed.

home had burned down completely. But on a trip back to examine the ashes, something amazing happened.

“In the distance, I saw Odin's tail," Roland told ABC. "Sure enough, there was Odin coming at the head of all his goats."

Not only did Odin survive the fire and run right up to the Hendels for belly rubs, but he also kept every single one of his goats safe! A few wild deer even joined the goats, and he shepherded them through unscathed. The incredible story made the news, and Odin became a local legend. Unfortunately, even legends don’t live forever. This April, Odin passed away after a long life of tail-wagging, treat-eating, and goat-saving. In his honor, Great Pyrenees Rescue of Missouri gifted the Hendels two new Great Pyrenees pups: Buddy and Snowflake. They’re following in Odin’s pawsteps, protecting the goats he loved so much.

"I said, ‘Okay, Odin, take care of the goats. You'll be fine,’" Roland Hendel told ABC News.

Both Hendels were sure they were seeing their dog for the last time. Their hearts sank even further when they heard their

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