“…Ha! Then throw it all out the window and broil a steak!”
People don’t write letters very often anymore, and what a loss. Don’t get me wrong, I love text messages. Our family shares texts back and forth on an almost daily basis. It is such a great way to touch base – quick and easy. Our family also values sitting at table, enjoying a meal, and having long leisurely conversations. But how will this translate for future generations? Texts are fleeting, and while the tradition of sitting at table can be passed down, the conversations, just like the texts are long gone.
I have written about this topic before in my post titled: “Letter Writers in the Family,” so why am I writing about this topic again? This past week I opened a brown envelope that on the front my mother had written “Family Recipes.” Inside I found a part of a letter written to my her from my paternal grandmother, Anola Cook Sternitzky. On this 8 1/2 x 11 sheet she had written out two of her recipes.
My parents were married in January 1962, and immediately moved to New York City where my dad had been located by his company. As a new bride, my mom had written to her mother-in-law asking for the recipe for some of my dad’s favorite meals.1 In a return letter, my grandmother had shared her recipes for Pork Hocks and Sauerkraut, and Chicken and Dumplings.
PLACEHOLDER FOR A PHOTO OF MY FATHER IN THEIR NEW YORK APARTMENT – which I cannot find at the moment.
As Anola sat down to write out these two recipes from memory, she appears to have gotten caught up in the details of the dumpling portion of Chicken and Dumplings, as it is here, that I am gifted the memory of her sense of humor. Something lost to time and faded memories.
The following is a transcription of the portion for the two recipes. I do not have the first page with its greeting, nor the last page with her signature.
“I’ll try to give you the pork shank recipe — Do you have a pressure cooker? That is in the book — we do it now because its faster — I won’t say better but good. If not you will have to boil the shanks about 3 hours or until tender. Try them at 2 hrs then 2 1/2 hrs. It all depends on the age of the animal — which of course you have no way of discerning. Choose the ones with the thinnest skin — less fat — wash and put in a large kettle with water to cover them. After they are tender — drain to leave about an inch or so of juice and add a can of Franks Sour kraut. I prefer baked potatoes with this but I have done dumplings — Put the sour Kraut & juice over the dumplings — I have no idea how much of anything I put in the dumplings. Do you have a recipe for them in one of your cook-books? The ingredients in mine are — one egg beaten – about a cup of milk — maybe a cup or so of flour with 2 or 3 teaspoons baking powder — a little salt and mix all together lightly. The less stirring to mix, the fluffier they should be.
You can condense all this into your own language.
The chicken & dumplings are easy — Select a sort of fat stewing chicken — cut into pieces & wash — cover with water and boil 3 or 4 hrs. until tender — remove the chicken and save the juice for soup — leave about
Page 2
An inch of juice (broth) in the bottom of kettle put a wing and neck and breast-bone — after removing the white meat — in the bottom and get the broth boiling – The piece are to keep most of dumplings out of juice — drop them on top —add the dumplings in large tablesp’ful — cover tightly and steam (without peeking) for about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from kettle and pour remaining broth in fry pan that you have just finished frying the chicken (didn’t you?)
As soon as the chicken is out of broth salt & pepper the pieces and roll in flour — fry in electric fry pan in half chicken fat (scooped off the soup broth) and butter — until golden brown — when you have added the broth left on dumplings, — Thicken it all and pour on Dumplings — ha! Then throw it all out the window and broil a steak!
Maybe it would be easier to come and spend a week with me and we could have our failures together — It happens in the best of regulated families.
I will work on the others later —“
I have a vivid memory taste of the dish that we called Pork Hocks and Sauerkraut. A taste memory in a good way, as I really enjoyed this meal, and Frank’s Kraut is still a favorite. I do not remember mom making Grandma’s chicken and dumplings, and I know that we did not own a pressure cooker. While my mother was an amazing gourmet cook, dumplings were something she made with Bisquick, not homemade, but I would bet that she attempted the recipe at least once. Like many newly married couples she made recipes that were family favorites on both sides, slowly creating a collection of recipes that became weekly favorites that are now part of my family collection. And recipes that I have passed on to my children, some of them have become their family favorites.
SOURCES:
- Sternitzky, Emmie Lou Tapper, Family Recipe Collections (Appleton, Wisconsin, 2004), Meats, Pork Hocks and Sauerkraut. “Source: Recipe sent to Emmie Lou Tapper Sternitzky when she and Bob were living in New York City.” ↩︎
