Connections to the Past: Æbleskivers

When families keep traditions, they make holidays and other occasions more personal and special. One of my favorite family traditions is making æbleskivers on special mornings, like birthdays. Æbleskivers (aebleskiver or ebleskiver in the US) are a Danish breakfast that are like a cross between doughnut holes and pancakes. The recipe was handed down through my family, and it’s always such a treat to make (and eat) them! I’ve made a short video to help explain the unique process of making them. I’ve also included the recipe and a link to the special pan, just in case anyone wants to try their hand at making them.

Æbleskivers

makes about 3 dozen

Stir together in order:

3 egg yolks
2 heaping TB sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon soda in 1/4 cup hot water
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking power
1 teaspoon vanilla
Fold in 3 egg whites beaten until fluffy

Directions:

Warm the Æbleskiver pan to a medium low heat. Once batter is ready, generously grease the pan, and pour batter into each section, and slowly rotate each with a skinny knitting needle (say THAT 3 times fast!) until they are fully cooked. Repeat until all the batter has been used. Top with butter, powdered sugar, jam etc.

If you need a pan you can get here at amazon.com

Calendar Tour

We are very proud of our calendar, it is beautiful, easy to use, and above all else: simple. We continue to work and improve Spokt to make it a better place for families and other groups of people to keep in touch. Watch our blog for announcments and Like our Facebook page to show your support.

Watch the video below for a tour our newest feature:

A Fine Day for a Calendar

On the internet April 1st is a day full of fake announcements from companies but today we have a real one: Hub Calendars.

We have deployed a simple event calendar which will help families keep track of birthdays, anniversaries, and other events.

Watch for a video later this week demonstrating the features or dive right in!

Above is what you’ll see on your hub home.

Family-Friendly Comedy Skits

My kids, aged 7 and 5, love watching Studio-C. Studio-C is a sketch comedy show (not unlike SNL), but with clean humor, so the whole family can laugh together. After you’re done catching up on Spokt, I have a few of my favorite sketches for you to watch. Enjoy!

Screencast: Tour of Books

Thanks to Katie, our newest Spokt team member, for her voice on this screencast. Books are how our users organize their posts on Spokt.com.

Remember each hub can have any number of books: you can decide what is appropriate for you and your hub. Posts can be included in multiple books simulutaneously.

Spokt Enhancements

Below is a list of enhancements we’ve made to Spokt during the past few weeks.

Mobile
• The mobile website now uses the full size of larger phones (like the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus) as well as landscape support.
• Edit your posts and replies on your phone.
• Simplified login screen.

Books
• View books as a list.
• View books in alphabetical order.

Hub Admin
• Filter Member lists and view in order of first name, last name, or date joined.

Other
• Replace Photos:

#TheDress that broke the internet, and how Spokt helped solve it

If you’re on social media, you’ve no doubt heard of #thedress. The debate lit up our feeds like a sparkler in a fireworks factory. The hunger for an answer (and a fix) was monstrous. We, too, were a bit swept up by the craziness. As it turns out, the opportunity arose for us to contribute to a real solution, the bonafide answer to the question of “what”, the “why”, and the “where” behind the entire fiasco. And we couldn’t say “YES!” fast enough!

The “where” was Blackpool, UK. There was a lot of debate early on as to where the actual (original) photo happened, but thanks to the definitive video below, that is no longer in question. There we also get an answer as to what happened, and more importantly why. We’re glad this debate can finally have some real closure, and hope it helps you cope with the reality that sometimes cameras get it wrong, and when they do even our very best friends and most admired family members can be tricked into being wrong too. 😉

Leave your comment below and let us know what colors you see. And while you’re at it, let us know if anything has changed for you since seeing this video!

Copy and paste the link below if you’d like to share this video:

P.S. Keep an eye on the blog for our upcoming #thewatch giveaway announcement next week, where we’ll be doing just what the name implies: giving away a brand new Apple Watch!

The Most Photographed Generation Will Have No Pictures In 10 Years!

A grateful Spokt.com user sent us the link to this article. We felt it was definitely worth sharing. He and we believe that Spokt.com gives L I F E to old photographs!
In the words of our fellow Spokt.com member, Denis Martin: “Spokt certainly provides a solution to the highlighted problem – especially with respect to cataloging and sharing the most important pictures in our lives. Facebook allows sharing immediately but it is not a great retrospective tool nor is it easily searchable. Thanks for creating and maintaining Spokt – and providing us all with a solution for the future…”
Thank you Denis!

https://mikeyostphotography.wordpress.com/2015/01/31/the-most-photographed-generation-will-have-no-pictures-in-10-years/

15 Genealogy Quotes We Love

15 Genealogy Quotes We Love:

Here are 15 of our favorite quotes about family history. Enjoy!

Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you are lucky enough to be a genealogist, you are lucky enough. – Ruth Padilla

Friends come and go, but relatives tend to accumulate. – Unknown

The past is not dead. It isn’t even past. – William Faulkner

Genealogy: Where you confuse the dead and irritate the living. – Unknown

There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his. – Helen Keller

If you don’t know history, you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree. – Michael Crichton

We inherit from our ancestors gifts so often taken for granted. Each of us contains within this inheritance of soul. We are links between the ages, containing past and present expectations, sacred memories and future promise. – Edward Sellner

Research is what I’m doing when I don’t what I’m doing – Wernher von Braun

We need to haunt the house of history and listen anew to the ancestors wisdom. – Maya Angelou

To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root. – Chinese Porverb

Some family trees have beautiful leaves, and some have just a bunch of nuts. Remember, it is the nuts that make the tree worth shaking. – Unknown

If we tried to sink the past beneath our feet, be sure the future would not stand. – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Most of our ancestors were not perfect ladies and gentlemen. The majority of them weren’t even mammals. – Robert Anton Wilson

The thing that interests me most about family history is the gap between the things we think we know about our families and the realities. – Jeremy Hardy

Why waste your money looking up your family tree? Just go into politics and your opponents will do it for you. – Mark Twain

– See more at: http://familyhistorydaily.com/family-history/15-genealogy-quotes-love/#sthash.1Ol6ATej.0UMQjjsl.dpuf

Your Family Tree Explained

Here is a pretty fun and explanatory video made by CGP Grey to help you figure out who is who in your tangled family tree!  After watching it, tell us the name of your Second Cousin Once Removed in the comments below.  For extra credit, tell us your Great Great Grandmother In-Law’s Grand Aunt.