A Tribute to Donna J. Roe

Well-respected, admired, and filled with stories, the Historical League lost a valued member and a wonderful historian on March 14 when Donna Jensen Roe passed away at age 83 from respiratory complications. She joined the Historical League when she retired from Camelback Inn after encouragement from Renee Donnelly.  A very active member,  she helped with the Children's Holiday Party, Wallace and Ladmo event, Two Girls from Globe dinner, and the Historymakers Gala and Recognition Program. She co-authored Tastes & Treasures cookbook with Gaye Ingram.  Her spirit and sense of fun, along with her anecdotes about travel and entertainment live on in the memories of Historical League members. We miss Donna! She is survived by her daughter, Pam Roe Ehlers, son-in-law Howard Ehlers, and son Christopher Hixson.
Condolences and remembrances can be shared at
www.memorialwebsites.legacy.com/djroe/homepage.aspx

Karen Swanson's Pear Salad

The Historical League March meeting began with a delicious luncheon. Thanks to so many League members who prepared mouth-watering salads. I especially enjoyed this Pear Salad from Karen Swanson's creative genius. "I made up the recipe since I had some PearApples at Costco.  Pears and Blue Cheese are a great combination."


1  Bag of Mixed Salad Greens
½ Cup Red Onion, sliced in rings
1 – 2 PearApples, cored and sliced to desired size
½ Cup Blue Cheese crumbles
½ Cup Chopped Almonds
Good Seasons – Italian Dressing

Wash and spin greens and add red onion.  When ready to serve, add the PearApples, blue cheese and almonds.  Toss with Italian Dressing.

Mary Parker's Taco Shells

Mary Parker is very resourceful. She served this lovely Taco Shell salad at the Historymaker Gala Wrap-Up meeting and impressed all of us. I like the fact that they are not deep fried but taste and look wonderful. It was nice to use the Navajo Taco recipe for the filling from Cameron Trading Post found in Tastes & Treasures cookbook.

Homemade Taco Shells
 Ingredients:

• flour tortillas (6-10 inches in diameter; 8" recommended for meal-size taco bowls, 10" recommended for salad, 6" recommended for appetizers)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If tortillas are not soft and pliable, wrap them in a slightly dampened dish towel and microwave 20-30 seconds, just until soft. Mold tortillas into bowl shapes using one of these methods:
1. tortilla shell maker molds (available at Amazon.com) -- press tortillas inside forms, bake for 14-16 minutes or until evenly browned.
2. oven proof bowl -- coat inside with cooking spray; press tortilla inside bowl; bake for 14-16 minutes or until evenly browned
3. inverted oven proof bowl -- coat outside of bowl with cooking spray; press tortilla around outside of bowl; bake for 14-16 minutes or until evenly browned

John Lacey: 500 years of Arizona Mining History

A fascinating and colorful history of mining in Arizona was presented at the March Historical League meeting by John Lacey. Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead and Uranium were discovered all over the state from Peeples Valley to Wickenburg, Morenci, Globe, Miami, Jerome and Bisbee. Thanks to the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1872, ores from mines in Arizona were now ready to reach markets all over the country.

Mary Pat Honey presents John Lacy with a thank you gift of Tastes & Treasures cookbook

National History Day Regional Competition at AHS Museum

A wonderful competition for ages 6th grade - high school, this program encourages students to create a research paper, exhibit, program, video or play based on the 2014 theme "Rights and Responsibilities".  What imagination and hard work went into their projects! Nancy York and Madison Barkley of the AHS Museum co-ordinate NHD across the state for the students and teachers. Pat Faur, Carolee Hess, Karen Swanson and Ruth McLeod, Historical League members, were happy to volunteer as judges March 8 for this Regional event.

We were grouped with other judges to critique the projects and nominate some to advance from the Regional level to State competition, which will be held Saturday, April 5, 2014. Best of luck to these ambitious students who could go on the National Competition in Washington D.C.

Students lined up at AHS Museum for check in.

Fellow judges discussing the event.

Students looking at Historymakers Wall prior to their judging.

Queen Creek Olive Mill sells Tastes & Treasures cookbook

After the Historical League toured the Queen Creek Olive Mill, we showed them our award winning Tastes & Treasures cookbook. That was 4 years ago and they continue to re-order the cookbook. Pick up your copy the next time you visit this unique establishment. It's a lovely spot to take out of town visitors!

Ultimate Fruitfilled Butterfly Display

Who says fruit plates cannot be creative? This is my goal next time I make one. What a presentation!

Hot Dog in Bun

Unique and fun presentation of the old Hot Dog. Kids love it and can be very creative.

Ingredients:
Hot dogs
Pillsbury Crescent rolls
Chocolate sprinkles for eyes, nose
Imagination

Directions:
Follow the photos and bake according to directions on Pillsbury rolls container.

Lemony Lemon Brownies

It's that time of year - Lemons are ripe and plentiful in Phoenix now. Nothing like the sweet-tart taste of lemons in a dessert. We also like other lemon recipes in Tastes & Treasures cookbook, especially Very Lemon Loaf.

Lemony Lemon Brownies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs, large
2 Tbsp lemon zest
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt

Tart Lemon Glaze:
4 Tbsp lemon juice
8 tsp lemon zest
1 cup icing sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish with butter and set aside.
Zest and juice two lemons and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar, salt, and softened butter until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice until combined.
Pour it into the flour mixture and beat for 2 mins at medium speed until smooth and creamy.
Pour into baking dish and bake for 23-25 mins, should turn golden around the edges.
Allow to cool completely before glazing. Do not overbake, or the bars will dry.
Filter the powdered sugar and whisk with lemon zest and juice.
Spread the glaze over the brownies with a rubber spatula and let glaze set.
Cut into bars and serve.

Mining in Arizona

Guest Speaker for March meeting
John Lacy, a Tucson mineral lawyer and legal historian, will talk about the History of Mining in Arizona and how the changing mining and public land laws (or lack thereof) shaped the efforts of early prospectors and also led to some of the state’s more famous courtroom disputes.
John is a practicing lawyer with the firm of DeConcini McDonald Yetwin & Lacy and is also an ad-junct professor of law and mining and geological engineering at the University of Arizona. He is a former president of the Arizona Historical Society and currently serves as the president of the Arizona History Convention.

Broccoli Salad

Broccoli Salad
Lots of variations for this yummy salad. I prefer to use low-fat yogurt and low-fat sour cream instead of all that mayonnaise. It does tastes deliciious!
A similar recipe is Cashew Pea Salad on page 150 of Tastes & Treasures cookbook. 

Ingredients:
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound bacon, fried and crumbled
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions: Mix all together and enjoy.