Children's Holiday Party

Another fabulous and fun event for adults and children alike. The Entertainment was outstanding, Silent Auction items amazing, Children's raffle wonderful and lots of great shopping from the vendors. So much to see and do at the Arizona Biltmore Resort Saturday, December 17. Kudos to co-chairs Kassie Walters, Terrie Mainwaring and Ruth Ann Hogan for another successful fundraising event.

Co-editors of Arizona Recollection and Reflections were on hand to sell the Historical League's Centennial book. Joan Robinson, Zona Lorig and Ruth McLeod continue to get orders and ship the book, most recently to Yuma County library and Glendale public library.

Tastes & Treasures cookbook was also for sale and continues to be a great gift item.

Guidon Books Presentation

Scottsdale Westerners Corral meets at Guidon Bookstore, thanks to owners Shelley and Gordon Dudley. History buffs enjoy getting together for fun, food, friendship and history at the Holidays.

The Butternut Squash Soup served was a hit. Try a similar recipe on page 106 in Tastes & Treasures cookbook. This version adds pumpkin for delicious flavor.

They were a great audience on Wed, Dec 14 and very interested in our Centennial book, Arizona Recollections and Reflections An Arizona Historymakers Centennial Commemoration.

Joan Robinson prepared the power point presentation while Zona Lorig and Ruth McLeod discussed the Historymakers, the book's background and many photos. We all enjoyed the baby pictures of Historymakers Eddie Basha, Erma Bombeck, John Driggs and so many more. No one guessed who those babies were. But Gordon Dudley knew some of the other photos. Of course, many of the audience recognized pictures of Old Main from University of AZ and ASU. . . Interesting to see how things have changed in 100 years.

It was a fun-filled evening with Historymakers Bill Shover and John Driggs at Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe on November 30. Bill, Valley Visionary and Civic Leader, had a 30 year career with The Arizona Republic and John was Mayor of Phoenix and is a Historic Preservationist. They have known each other for years and the stories they shared at Changing Hands were priceless. Both are featured in the Historical League's Tastes & Treasures cookbook and AZ Recollections and Reflections. The audience enjoyed the power point presentation from co-editors Zona Lorig, Ruth McLeod and Joan Robinson but they especially enjoyed the bantering between these two who are giants in Arizona Civic Arenas.

Changing Hands Bookstore presentation

We are very excited to present Tastes & Treasures Cookbook and AZ Recollections and Reflections to Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe. Historymakers John Driggs and Bill Shover, who are featured in our books, will also talk about their roles in the city of Phoenix history.

Mr. Driggs recipe for Green Corn Tamales is on page 128 of our cookbook. Interesting story on how he obtained this recipe from Mrs. Van Zandt's restaurant on Central Ave. Mr Shover will share some stories from his 40 year career with the AZ Republic and Nina Pulliam.

These two Historymakers continue to give their time and talent for the Valley and support the Centennial celebration.

As co-editors of the Centennial book, Zona Lorig, Ruth McLeod and Joan Robinson will do the presentation.

Creme Brulee

Crème Brulee was the other dessert served February 11 at the Historymakers Gala. A stunning desert for a black tie event. The evening was filled with excitement as the Historymakers from 1992-2008 were honored for Arizona's Centennial kickoff event. Peter Faur, husband of Historical League president Pat Faur shows off his Creme Brulee while Joan Robinson-Blumit is ready for her treat. She had Tres Leche cake. They were both delicious with great presentation. How did they make that candy serape on top?

Also featured was ARIZONA Recollections and Reflections, a Centennial Legacy Project with rare photos, timelines and biographies of the Historymakers.

This Creme Brulee recipe is from allrecipes.com. You could also try Caramel Custard Flan on page 85 of Tastes & Treasures Cookbook.
Ingredients

* 6 egg yolks
* 6 tablespoons white sugar, divided
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. Beat egg yolks, 4 tablespoons sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy.
3. Pour cream into a saucepan and stir over low heat until it almost comes to boil. Remove the cream from heat immediately. Stir cream into the egg yolk mixture; beat until combined.
4. Pour cream mixture into the top of a double boiler. Stir over simmering water until mixture lightly coats the back of a spoon; approximately 3 minutes. Remove mixture from heat immediately and pour into a shallow heat-proof dish.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or overnight.
6. Preheat oven to broil.
7. In a small bowl combine remaining 2 tablespoons white sugar and brown sugar. Sift this mixture evenly over custard. Place dish under broiler until sugar melts, about 2 minutes. Watch carefully so as not to burn.
8. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate until custard is set again.

Nutritional Information open nutritional information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 562 | Total Fat: 50.2g | Cholesterol

Historymakers Gala Work

Thanks to a wonderful staff at the AHS Museum (photos of Megan Gately and Jeff Hotchkiss) for their help with the preparations for Historymakers Gala and Recognition Program. Jeff has spent hours researching, documenting and editing photos of our honored Arizonans. Zona and I were thrilled to get the CD for volunteer Joan Robinson-Blumit to upload to the website and to use in the upcoming Gala Centennial book. This enables teachers, students, researchers, family historians and more to access the information about some of Arizonans most celebrated people.

Centennial Legacy Project Official

Celebrations are in order as the Historical League now has two officially sanctioned Centennial Projects. The Historymakers Gala will be the official kick off of the Centennial on February 11, 2011. Plans are underway for a truly wonderful event you won't want to miss.

The second project is my favorite - The Legacy Project. Oral histories from all 56 Historymakers will soon be available at www.HistoricalLeague.org containing many wonderful stories and memories from some amazing Arizonans. Thanks to so many volunteers from the Historical League for working so hard on this project.

Zona Lorig and myself continue to work on transferring these stories from paper to digital format. We also share a laugh over "dueling laptops" as we chat about the progress. Joan Robinson-Blumit is the key to this fabulous project with her knowledge of computers and the internet.