The Lague Gazette

Looking for Louise

by Vicki Lague

Louise Lague, who at least through 1993 was working for People Magazine is the daughter of Dr. Maurice E. Lague who researched and wrote the narrative "history" that I sent everyone some time ago. Louise's mother was Elizabeth (Laurence), and the family lived in Rhode Island. Her name came up recently between Jim Lague and Alberta Shook.

In 1993, Jim received a letter from Louise. Alberta forwarded part of that letter (from Jim's email to her) recently. One of the paragraphs of the letter was as follows:

"I thought you'd be interested in knowing that my husband and I visited Orleans, France, in 1976 and sought out the church of St. Paul, where CLAUDE LAGUE hailed from. The Parish historian, who lives above the church, showed us the dimensions of the parish in the 1680's, and also the baptismal font where Claude was baptized. The church itself had been bombed in World War II and replaced with a newer structure. Still the visit was very thrilling, and the church only 300 yards from the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Such a visit might be
an idea for someone from your branch to pursue."

Dr. Lague (I could never call him anything other than this even though we were cousins!) was my optometrist for many years. He was a real "talker," so my appointments tended to last for a long time. While I never met his daughter, Louise, I felt I new her through her father.

In response to Alberta, I got the bright idea to search the Internet for Louise. I used <www.google.com> and clicked on "I Feel Lucky"! It brought me to the AARP web site, and there, as bright as day, was a article by Louise in the Nov-Dec '99 issue. I emailed feedback on the web site telling them about us and asking them to forward my email address to Louise. Now we'll just have to sit back and see what happens. If you would like to read Louise's article, you will find it at <http://www.aarp.org/mmaturity/nov_dec99/longevity.html>. Hmm! I wonder if Louise has pictures she'd be willing to share.

New Lague Cousins!

Robbie-Lynn Blair ~ Robbie-Lynn is Annette Blair's daughter. She writes: "I am working as a full-time live-in Nanny. I take care of little boy whose Mom died of cancer when he was 9. I have been taking care of him ever since. I love my job. I have the lifestyle of a stay-at-home mom and the financial benefits of an executive. I am an active member of my church. I paint, sew and craft in my spare time. I also volunteer at the local nursing home. Finally, I have just agreed to become a local chapter coordinator for a support group for women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. My life is pretty great!"

Family Photos

Tourtière

Here's another recipe for Tourtière, the one that came down through my mother's family. My cousin Jeanne and I have discussed this recipe and decided that the poorer families just couldn't afford the meat! So, they used something as a filler, saltine crackers or mashed potatoes. Saltines date from 1905-1910, so this version of the recipe is less than 100 years old.

Here's my version of my great-grandmother's recipe!

Ingredients: Crumble the ground beef and ground pork in a
large soup pot (at least 5 qts.). Add diced onion
1 1/2 lbs. of extra lean ground beef and cloves. Cover with cold water. (I use a potato
1 1/2 lb. of ground pork, lean if possible masher to make sure the meat is finely crumbled.

1 large onion, finely diced The meat breaks apart easily in the water.) Bring to

1 tsp. cloves a boil and cook meat thoroughly. (I let this boil at

Cold water least 1/2 hour to be sure all the fat is rendered.)

Finely crushed Saltines (1 to 2 "sticks")

salt and pepper to taste While the meat is cooking, prepare the saltines.

There are 4 "sticks" (envelopes) of saltines per

box. I use whole wheat saltines and require 1 1/2 "sticks" of crackers. ("Stick" is my mother's term, by the way! One "stick" is one quarter of the box.) Crush 1 1/2 "sticks" of saltines into fine crumbs. (A food processor is wonderful for this, but you can use a large Ziploc bag and a rolling pin. I remember crushing saltines with a rolling pin and the crackers put between two sheets of waxed paper - the old fashioned way, and messy!)

When the meat if fully cooked, pour the contents of the pot into a colander. Be sure to wait long enough to strain out as much liquid (and fat) as possible. Return the meat mixture to the pot. Add the finely crushed saltines and mix thoroughly. The mixture will look dry. Add just enough cold water, a little at a time and mixing between additions, to make the dry mixture wet. (If you put too much water, you can add the last 1/2 "stick" of saltines, also crushed into fine crumbs.) The cracker crumbs will seem to disappear, and the mixture will have a kind of gelatinous quality to it. (Sorry, that's the best way I can think of to describe it.) Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place the mixture in two pastry lined pie pans. Cover with pastry top and slash. Bake in a 350o oven for about 1 hour until the pastry is golden brown. Pies are ready to serve with (Dare I say it, Andrée?) a large dollop of ketchup for garnish! (This mixture can also serve as stuffing for your turkey. It tastes quite different after roasting inside a turkey for hours with all those wonderful turkey juices cooking into it.)

Vicki

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