Life is a Balancing Act

 

I was raised on "homemade". My mother made most all our food from scratch. Except for an occasional loaf of Sunbeam bread, she baked all our breads, cakes, pies and cookies. Mostly her recipes were German-Russian, however, she did like to try new ones from neighbor ladies, friends, magazines, and newspapers. I am my mother's daughter because I love to put on my apron and go to the kitchen. Soon, there is flour everywhere and I get lost in the process of turning out wholesome food just like she used to do.

My husband thinks I try to do too much. When I get out my noodle machine, he says, "You can buy those at the store you know."

I answer back, "But they are not like homemade with real eggs and Kingsford flour. Who knows how long they have been sitting on a shelf in plastic bags."

So, I get out my flour, eggs, and water and I make the dough. I use my stainless steel pasta making machine and put up my drying stand made out of a stick of wood on a stand with holes drilled strategically and dowel rods run through. After I roll strips of dough, I dry them on the rods. Much has to do with "balancing" so the whole thing doesn't end up on the floor. After the strips are dry enough to run through the cutter, I make the desired size I want and then again the trick is "balancing" the cut noodles on the rods.

My time spent making fresh noodles is greatly appreciated by family and friends and my husband relents, "These are much better than store bought."

Keeping life in "balance" is a constant struggle for me. In the busy world I have created for myself, I love to: cook, bake, sew, garden, read, write, and travel. I work at balancing my life so I have time for family and friends and, of course, my Blog.

If you find yourself with extra time on your hands and get an urge for fresh noodles, here are some recipes I like. Until the next post, live life to its fullest and keep it balanced.

EGG NOODLES

(Makes about 12 ounces dried weight)

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons water (may need more depending on flour)

2 cups flour

l. Beat together the eggs, salt and water and then add flour. You may need to add extra drops of water.

2. Knead, roll out, and cut.

 

SPINACH NOODLES

(Makes about 20 ounces dried weight)

1 package (10 ounces) frozen spinach, thawed, blanched, cooled, and drained.

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

Dash of nutmeg (to spice it up)

3 cups flour

WHOLE-WHEAT NOODLES

(Makes about 15 ounces dried weight)

4 eggs

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups whole-wheat flour

½ cup gluten flour

½ cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons water

 

ENJOY!!!

 

Happy New Year!!

Last year was a whirlwind year consisting of: family activities and interactions (very important to me so I made time for them), traveling, special trips and events promoting and selling my book (which took a big bite out of the year), quilting (I made a quilt for my editor that started out twin size and ended up king size), and, I worked on my next novel, a sequel to "A Stranger to Myself".

I apologize to you who have sent emails and phoned with the question, "Where have you been? I miss your posts." I have made a strong resolution to post at least once a month for the year 2011.

I will post recipes and entertaining information about why German Russians cook the way they do. I will share quilting ideas and techniques. Many members of my family are interested in the family history and photographs I have collected over the years. I have a library of books telling the history of "Unser Leit", which means "our people". I am often asked why we are called "Germans from Russia".

This blog will reflect many of my interests: folklore, traditions and holidays, language, and medical cures.

The 21^st Century is a time when the whole world is connected. We have cell phones, and ipads. We can easily connect with family, friends, and associates. The Internet, Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs are tools for sharing information. Who knows what the future will bring.

I want my blog to be a way for those interested to connect not only with me, but with others. Hopefully, it will be meaningful interactions and not just "passing along" information. I encourage any comments on my blog.

In anticipation of a great year,

Judy








 

May Day Baskets and May Pole

May Day is Saturday.  It brings back many wonderful memories of my childhood, growing up in South Dakota.  I will talk about that later.  First, I want to share some information I found out about May Day.


I did not realize that May Day is a traditional holiday in many cultures:  Europe, England, Finland, Ireland, France, Scotland, Germany, Russia, and in this country.  I talked with someone who was raised in Hawaii and she told me, "Oh, yes, we celebrated there too."


May Day falls exactly half of a year from November 1.  It marks the end of winter.  In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary's month.


The tradition of  "the giving of May Baskets" is fading in popularity.  However, when I was a child, my mother and I made little baskets out of wallpaper scraps, cupcake papers, or cardboard.  We would fill them with candy or homemade cookies.  In late afternoon, she let me go to our neighbors' houses and I would put the basket by the door, knock, and run away.  I used to make little baskets with my children and they would do the same thing.  This tradition ended with their children.  There are just too many other things going on in our grandchildrens' lives. 


May Day is best known for its tradition of dancing the Maypole and crowning a Queen of May.
The only time I witnessed a "dancing around the Maypole" was when I attended a German Russian Heritage Fest in Redwood City, CA in 2002. I am guessing the pole was 12 feet high and it was decorated with flowers at the top.  The dancers each held a streamer and did a circle dance around the pole weaving in and out with the other dancers so that the different colors formed a pretty effect on the pole. 


A old tradition of the dancers was that the woman used the May Pole dance as an opportunity to show off their handmade wardrobe.     


May Day has been a traditional day of festivities throughout the centuries.  It is associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility and revelry with village fetes and community gatherings.  Since May lst is the Feast of St. Philip & St. James, they became the patron saints of workers.


In rural areas of Germany, bonfires and wrapping of maypoles were held the night before May day when young people used this opportunity to party.  May 1, is also celebrated by the delivery of a tree covered in streamers to the house of a girl the night before.  The tree is typically from a love interest, though a tree wrapped only in white streamers is a sign of dislike.  In America, the may basket is left at someone's door, the giver rings the bell and runs away.  The person receiving the basket trys to catch the fleeing giver.  If caught the person gives them a kiss.  Sounds like a lot of fun.  Kids don't know what they are missing.


So, happy May Day to you and yours.  Think about keeping the tradition alive.  Make some May Baskets with your kids.


God Bless

Writing Our Family Stories

A week from today, we are driving to Fresno, CA.  On May 1, there is a German Russian Heritage Fest and I will be one of the presenters.  I am doing a session on "Writing Your Family Stories".


Many of us are working on our family trees (pedigree charts).  We are into Genealogy, which is going back in time as far as possible finding our family of origin.  We have a deep appreciation for our past.  I take it even further than names, dates, and places, because I have a passion for writing stories.  I feel strongly that writing family stories is a part of our quest to learn more about who we are.


In my family, we had our storytellers, those who knew "how it used to be".  They could remember many details about family members and happenings.  One in particular was my Aunt Liz, my mother's sister.  I refer to her as the "Mother Goose" in my life.  What a treasure she was.  She never learned to read or write, but she had every recipe and story imprinted in her mind.

I encourage all of you to write down your family stories.  On holidays we search our minds and shopping malls for that perfect gift; something to express our love.  I believe the perfect gift is the gift of story.  It is a gift that has meaning and lasts forever, and is cherished.  Writing down my family stories has transformed my life.  I'm still learning about my ancestry.

One of my favorite quotes is by Eileen Silva Kindig.  She says, "Storytelling is a psalm of praise and thanksgiving for the love and connection of family.  Stories are the heart and soul of our culture.  They give us hope and help us set goals for ourselves."


I hope you will set this goal for yourself and write a story.  If we keep the stories going, we will not lose our heritage.