In the collection of images derived from Joseph DeKorn’s glass negatives, there are photos of children. Unfortunately, children are hard to identify, and I don’t know who most of them are. In this beautiful photograph, Grandpa’s first cousin, Alice Leeuwenhoek, is shown with three friends, neighbors, or relatives. The girls and their clothing remind me of the book and movie Pollyanna. The novel was written in 1913, and Alice was born in 1897, so this is close! Alice is the tall girl in the double-breasted coat.
Alice was married at age 26 to Clarence Moerdyk. They never had any children. Alice was a successful seamstress. Sadly, she passed away at age 66, leaving behind her husband and her mother, Jennie Leeuwenhoek. She was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Kalamazoo.
As usual, if anybody has any ideas about the identities of the other girls, please let me know!
I hope you have someone or someones to spend a happy Thanksgiving with! This year it’s just my husband and me, and I accidentally bought a 24-pound turkey (don’t ask). Any ideas on dishes I can make with the turkey and then freeze? Besides soup, of course.
The Family Kalamazoo 
Wow, that’s a lot of turkey! By accident? How do you lift a 24 pound turkey and not realize it’s not a 12 pound turkey? Never mind…. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Grind up leftovers and freeze it for turkey burgers?
As for the photo—it’s lovely. Of course, I can’t help identify anyone, but I hope someone can.
Haha, I said don’t ask. Actually you asked exactly what my son asked. He couldn’t believe I would lift it and not recognize how big it was. I told him that’s how strong I am! 😉 I get tired and flustered during grocery shopping. Here comes the excuses. I’m going to blame part of it on the fluorescent lights that give me something called “complicated migraines.” When I wear a hat with a brim I just get fuzzy brain and can usually keep from getting a full CM if I don’t stay too long. Also, it was senior discount day, and it was the end of the shopping and I spotted the turkeys, realizing it was November and Thanksgiving would be coming up. So I grabbed one and made my way to the checkout lane. Silly.
I think the photo is really lovely, too. Maybe one day . . . .
Thanks, Amy!
Just too funny—it sounds like a scene out of Seinfeld—only the “senior” version. The NYTimes today had a few recipes for leftover turkey. Maybe you can find it online if you don’t get the paper itself.
The problem got worse. No turkey dinner yet. It wasn’t completely thawed.
OMG. I hope the sides were good…..
Pollyanna – one of my favorite movies – still. What a FANTASTIC photo.
When we’re lucky enough to have left overs after Thanksgiving dinner, we have “Turkey Surprise” casserole the next day: I throw in some gravy at the bottom, then layer with leftovers, like turkey, mashed potatoes/turnips/green beans/stuffing/whateverelse and top with some more gravy. Bake for half hour at 350 degrees. My favorite dish of the year! Happy Thanksgiving.
Pam, ME TOO! I love that movie. I’ve read the book several times, and I even have (it must have been my mom’s or my aunt’s) one of the sequel books, Pollyanna’s Jewels, which takes place when she’s an adult and has children of her own. Those books were written by other people, I think. Needless to say, I love this photo.
Thanks so much for the idea! I’ve never made turnips for Thanksgiving, but I would think that they give a lot of flavor to the casserole! Printing this recipe out!
I don’t think you can go wrong with this Turkey Surprise. And it’s a different surprise every year!
I ‘made’ my granddaughter (8) watch the movie with me, even though to her it’s quite ‘old.’ Good news – she loved it.
Oh, how fun!!! My daughter always like the movie and was absolutely sure I looked like Hayley Mills when I was little ;). Someday . . . when I am a Grandma . . . .
Great post as usual. As for leftovers – curry is usually good when you run out of other ideas. Enjoy!
Thanks, Barb. Ooh, curry is a great idea. It’s not one we typically think of in the U.S., but I love curry and haven’t made it in a long time.
Oh, I love that hair bow!
Pretty much any chicken recipe can be used for leftover turkey. They all say something along the lines of “sauté/simmer chicken until no longer pink”, so you can just consider that part done and carry on from there. Couscous or rice, diced turkey, raisins, maybe an apple, a few herbs and spices and away you go!
The hair bow is perfect! Thanks so much for your idea of using chicken recipes. That really does open it up, doesn’t it? But no raisins. I can only eat them uncooked and by themselves. 🙂
Love the girls and the gingham dresses…Happy Thanksgiving with you 24 pound bird…lol…
I love those dresses, too!!! And you can tell what was in style! Thank you. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have not made our turkey yet! It wasn’t completely thawed!!! My kids think this is the best “mom” story yet.
Luanne, I love it….still waiting for the turkey to thaw…I had one of those misadventures myself one year! I had a relaxing and quiet Thanksgiving. I was unable to travel this year, but I enjoyed the day with my pups. And for fun I read, researched, and wrote. For this self proclaimed nerd, it is always heaven to find time for these activities.
Whew, 24 pounds!! I don’t think that I even own a pan large enough to roast a bird that big.
It’s finishing up right now. I have a big pan, and I also bought a foil pan to line it with, and I have 2 racks, so I was all set for that. Just shows that I was too engrossed in blogging to do the turkey right haha.
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Sounds like ours! I didn’t realize that the turkey we had in the freezer was about 20 pounds! HA! Lots of turkey for two. We’ve frozen a bunch of it. But we’re still having a lot of turkey sandwiches! LOL!
Haha, I am so glad I’m not the only one. I guess we are stronger than we knew! We ended up with dinner with 2nds for hubby, then a big casserole dish filled with turkey, 4 gallon size freezer bags of turkey for future cooking, and 3 containers of turkey stock. 🙂 Tonight is last night of turkey dinner and then tomorrow casserole, then maybe a little turkey salad. Of course we only started eating Sunday.
LOL! 😆
YES! They do look like they belong on Pollyanna. I love that movie. I have the whole thing memorized. That and Annie, the Sound of Music, and something else… can’t remember what. 😉