Thank God it’s Monday, again. I look forward to every Monday. They’re my 52 Chances a year, in which I get to share Memories of My Mom with you. Therefore, have a happy Monday.
Saturday is National Write Down Your Story Day. This observance encourages self-expression through writing. It also inspires the preservation of personal history, as writing about your life creates a legacy – a written record (like a journal or diary) for future generations to know who you were, what you did, what you thought, and how you felt.
Writing is very therapeutic. There are so many mental and physical benefits that we gain from writing. For instance, it can help us to manage stress and pressure, to understand ourselves better, and to improve our dispositions.
“I make a living with my writing – but it’s my writing that makes living worthwhile!” – Gloria Pitzer
When she was a young girl, Mom was inspired to be a writer, after watching the movie, Devotion; a motion picture story about the lives of the Bronte sisters. Mom became impassioned with writing. She wrote in her own homemade journals every day about anything and everything, while she dreamed of someday writing “the great American novel”.
However, that dream never came to fruition, as “Life” took Mom’s passion for writing in a slightly different direction – a different kind of “great American novel”. Every successful accomplishment that she had with her writing efforts, during and after high school and college, in some manner involved food, homemaking, cooking, and/or recipes.
Mom entered and won several contests on radio shows, as well as in magazines and newspapers, during the 1950s and 1960s; all from her family and food related stories, articles, and essays that she entered. With the prize money from one contest in 1963, she bought her first typewriter…
“I kept up with my writing, always working for one of the suburban papers and constantly free-lancing to magazines. When Redbook sent me $500 for my ‘Young Mother’s Story’ submission in February 1963, called ‘We’ll Never Live with In-Laws Again’, I put part of the money into a typewriter, as I had always had to borrow one before that. I wanted a typewriter more than Reagan wanted to be president!” – Gloria Pitzer, Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 292). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition)].
Being a wife, homemaker, and mother of five, during the throws of the Women’s Liberation movement, Mom found her “family life”, with a little mockery blended in, to be the best subject on which to write (and draw). She was very artistic, creative, and an amusing storyteller, too.
She designed a few different columns on her new typewriter, mailing out samples to over 300 weekly newspapers, in hopes of getting picked up as a regular columnist. It worked. Within a year, she was writing two different columns (“No Laughing Matter” and “Minding the Hearth”) for 60 regular newspapers.
To go along with her stories, as a picture is worth a thousand words, Mom also created her own cartoon panels (similar to “The Family Circle” series by Bil and Jeff Keane). Each panel seemed to match an idea or the subject matter of one of her columns. She called her cartoon series “Full House – as Kept by Gloria Pitzer”.
She could always see the blessings and humor, even in the chaotic struggles she faced as a working wife and mother; and she could spin a yarn around it with little effort. That’s what made her columns and cartoons so appealing, as many people could relate to and laugh about the same things.
In 1973, Mom started writing and self-publishing her “copycat” cookbooks. They were different than anything else offered in those days – put together like a comfortable, old fashioned quilt; including recipes, household hints, cooking tips, and lots of stories! Words and the stories they tell have a way of stimulating recollections of our past.
FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…
As seen in…
Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 294). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition)].
DIVIDENDS
EVERY SUCCESSFUL ACCOMPLISHMENT with my writing, after high school and the one year in college, was involved with recipes and cookbooks and restaurants. But I couldn’t see that it was a kind of calling. I saw it only as an interest that temporarily kept me writing and making a worthwhile living at it.
WDEE-Radio, in Detroit, gave me a portable radio for a recipe that took 1st place in a contest they conducted – and in 1962, it was WBRB, in Mt. Clemens, that gave me a check for 1st place in their recipe contest. Soon after that, Better Homes & Gardens sent me a check for a recipe [I entered] in a contest they had conducted.
WJBK-Radio gave me a maple stereo and radio set for their [contest for the] most unusual experience while listening to the radio, in 1964, when I wrote them about our “Picnicking in the Snow”.
Again, the story was food related, including recipes for having a cook-out on the beach at Metropolitan Park in the middle of winter, with the radio going to keep us in the proper mood.
Everyone has a story to tell. No matter how insignificant you think your story may be, you’re not alone. More than likely, others can and will relate to it. With the right elements and key words, you can grab the attention of many readers.
How the story is purveyed to the audience is important. A good story should have a relevant point of view, along with relatable settings and characters. Combine these with immersive and picturesque wording. You could also add a pertinent and appealing conflict or struggle, followed by a generally pleasing resolution.
Who doesn’t love a happy ending that leaves you feeling good or a cliffhanger that leaves you breathless? Either way, it should have you craving the next story. Mom wrote all of her newsletters and cookbooks to be just as much at home on the living room coffee table as they were on the kitchen counter.
They were put together like comfortable patchwork quilts. In between all the recipes and household hints, Mom tucked her stories – of the companies whose products she was imitating, of our family, and of current events and conflicts – in which she thought her readers would be interested.
Incidentally, last week was Read an E-Book Week, among other things. However, when it comes to stories, many of us (especially those of us from the “Baby Boomers” generation) still prefer to hold the hard copy in our hands. Newer generations prefer stories in eBook form or “live”, as on social media platforms.
Blogs have been immensely popular, for writing stories to share online, for quite a while in “digital years” – which is kind of proportional to “dog years”. However, now, so many people are telling their stories through photos and videos posted on social media platforms.
MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…
As seen in…
My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, pp. 21-22)
EXPERIENCES ARE PREPARATION
THE EXACT CHRONOLOGICAL order, in which each of my writing experiences have occurred, are not clear in my memory now. However, each step [and] each experience was, on second thought, [neither] a delay nor a setback, as I used to believe. It was, instead, only preparation and the gathering of experience…
[Other than me and Paul,] there has been no ‘real’ publisher, no public relations agent nor the expensive efforts of professional promoters. [Their] ideas of how to publicize what I have to offer would only conflict with what I felt should be done.
My cup runneth over because I have been blessed with an enthusiasm for promoting my own work and have been twice blessed with the support and partnership of, probably, the most honest man in the world; who knows, from his own valuable working experiences, exactly how to manage and protect this enterprise.
All of the blessings I derived from having stumbled my way through the [not so] meaningless jobs of the many newspapers for which I once worked, eventually paid tremendous dividends, as I was able to put those learned skills into practice with this family enterprise of ours.
“Each bit of experience contributed to what I would, later, be able to do without the help of professionals.” – Gloria Pitzer
JOURNALISM
JOURNALISM IS A peculiar profession to follow. I’ve been a serious journalist [since 1954]. I’ve worked among writers who wrote to live, while the rest of us lived to write. We had to communicate to reach out to someone with ideas, with thoughts, with reasonings and [remembrances].
Somehow, we had to make a difference, touching others with some good – like the single stone tossed into the still waters of a shimmering pond, the ripples begin, as they always do, where the stone touched the water’s surface and responded around and around, until the widest circle touched the grassy edge, again and again.
While I live to write, I must consider that others do not. Writers never retire – not if they are truly writers. Editors retire. [Even] reporters retire from their work at some given point. But old writers never die, they just run out of words. [Unfortunately, Mom ran out of words on January 21, 2018 – RIP.]
[ONE UNLIMITED SOURCE]
THERE IS GREAT JOY in an exchange of ideas; specifically when you have something of value to share. When that exchange of ideas flows from a mutual appreciation of the good in human life, there is no doubt that the abundance of good continues to unfold around us from only one Unlimited Source.
We don’t think too much about that Source until we’re in real trouble. Then, we’re willing to reach out because, after all, what have we got to lose? Too bad we don’t tap that Source when everything is going well and exercise our ability to think [and be grateful], which is something very few people take the time to do.
After surviving a Grand Mal seizure and double stroke in June 2015, Mom got dementia. She had to practically relearn so many things. Crocheting, one of her all-time favorite hobbies that she could do blindfolded, was not something she could do anymore.
Nevertheless, out of all of her different therapies, her love for writing endured and is what helped her the most in her recovery process. Writing is healing – and it doesn’t have to be read by anyone but you.
Still, when the story is seen by others and it impacts at least some of them as much as the process impacted you, it’s even more healing. I love the emails I get from people, who’ve read my stories about Mom, telling me of the pleasant memories they’ve trigger.
From the very beginning, Mom touched a lot of lives with her stories and recipes; but all of her readers, likewise, touched her life by their favorable responses. Mom thought of all of her readers as her friends and wrote to them as such at the beginning of her newsletters.
To celebrate Saturday’s observance, start today! Reflect on the path your personal life has taken – focus on the journey. Write about your childhood memories, first friend, first love, first job, major accomplishments, your influencers, family traditions, trips you’ve taken, and the like.
Go through your family photo albums or scroll through your digital photos. Pick one picture each day, about which to write. A picture is worth a thousand words so write a thousand-word essay, each day, on any photos that trigger your memories. Document your recollections and experiences. You can also write about your dreams and aspirations.
There are so many ways to start your story. For example, you can describe the setting or begin with background information. You can also initiate the story by asking or answering a question, utilizing “the 5 W’s” of basic storytelling – who, what, where, when, and why. The important thing is to start!
I write down random thoughts, inspirations, and ideas all the time and then I pull from those – embellishing and assembling them into a, hopefully, well-flowing story. By the way, last week was also Words Matter Week but you can observe it and celebrate it all year long, as words never cease to matter.
LAST THOUGHTS…
Thanks for visiting! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my memories of my mom, her memories, and other related things. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at therecipedetective@outlook.com. You can also find me on Facebook: @TheRecipeDetective.
IN CLOSING…
In honor of TODAY, being National Meatball Day, here’s Mom’s secret recipe for “Freezer Meatballs”; as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Secret Recipes Newsletter (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Sep.-Oct. 1987, p. 5). As always, I’m asking only for proper credit if you care to re-share it.
P.S. Food-for-thought until next Monday…
The month of March celebrates… Irish-American Heritage Month, National Caffeine Awareness Month, National Celery Month, National Craft Month, National Flour Month, National Sauce Month, and more.
Unofficially, it’s also Maple Sugaring Month. It’s not a national or federal holiday but making maple syrup is a big event in Michigan, as well as in the rest of the northeastern U.S. and its Canadian neighbors. See Michigan State University’s Extension’s website, for March is Maple Syrup Season in Michigan.
This week celebrates… Girl Scout Week, which is always the week of March 12th (National Girl Scout Day).
Today is also… National Barbie Day, National Crabmeat Day, and National Get Over it Day. Plus, as the day after Daylight Savings Time Day (for 2026), it’s also… National Napping Day.
Tomorrow is… National Blueberry Popover Day and National Pack Your Lunch Day.
Wednesday, March 11th, is… National Johnny Appleseed Day, National Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day, and National Worship of Tools Day.
Thursday, March 12th, is… National Baked Scallops Day, National Girl Scout Day, and National Plant a Flower Day.
[NOTE: This is also the anniversary of a wonderful story, written by Una McManus, about Mom being the Recipe DetectiveTM, which appeared in Woman’s World (Mar. 12, 1991).]
Friday, March 13th, is… National Good Samaritan Day, National Coconut Torte Day, and National Open an Umbrella Indoors Day.
Saturday, March 14th, is… National Children’s Craft Day, National Learn About Butterflies Day, National Pi Day, and National Potato Chip Day.
Sunday, March 15th, is… American Legion Birthday, National Everything You Think is Wrong Day, National Kansas Day, National Pears Helene Day, and National Shoe the World Day.
Have a great week!
…10 down, 42 to go!
