Images: SPRA 129.07.01
Todays “From the Vault Friday” features a recipe from the Betty Welter fonds (fonds 129).
Elizabeth Smart was born in Bassano, Alberta in 1921, the daughter of Archie Smart and his English War Bride, Mable. Mr. Smart had immigrated to Canada from Bristol, England in 1901 and, after working on projects throughout Canada, the States and Central America, settled in Southern Alberta. As well as farming and market gardening, he worked with the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Patricia-Brooks irrigation project. In 1928, the family moved north to the Flying Shot Lake District in the Peace River Country.
Betty started school in Patricia, Alberta, but grades 2 through 8 were spent at the one-roomed Flying Shot Lake School. Grades 9 and 10 were completed by correspondence through the Western Canada Institute, part of it under very difficult circumstances after her mother passed away in 1938. In 1939, after a year at home, keeping house for her father and two younger siblings, Betty went on to Vermilion Agricultural College for 2 years and obtained a Home Economics Degree. She became an expert cook, seamstress and craftsperson.
Do you have any recipes that have been passed down through the generations?
The recipe is transcribed below:
Holly Wreath Cookies
2/3 c shortening
2/3 c granulated sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 tsp vanilla
3 ½ c bread flour
3 c cake flour
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking powder
Method
Cream shortening, add sugar gradually. Cream together, add eggs + vanilla + mix. Mix + sift the dry ingredients + add. Chill the dough + roll out to 1/8” thick on lightly floured board. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter into Xmas wreaths. Decorate with some pieces of candied cherry or citron to represent a Holly wreath. Arrange on a greased baking sheet and bake in oven 400° for 10-12 minutes. This recipe makes about 45 wreaths.
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Read more about the Betty Welter fonds (fonds 129) here.
View a selection of photos from the Betty Welter fonds (fonds 129) on Alberta On Record.
From the Vault Friday is a social media campaign that highlights interesting materials from the collections of the South Peace Regional Archives. This project was made possible by an Access to Holdings Grant from the Archives Society of Alberta.