Sorta OT: Nostalgia (long)
Jill McQuown
I got three copies of old photos in the mail yesterday from my Aunt Win
(Winifred). She's 80 years old now. I adore old photos. It doesn't even
matter if they are family. But these are :-)
One is the same photo I had a pastel drawing done of when I was 19; the
framed pastel is hanging in my bedroom. The original photo shows my Aunt
Win, Uncle Jim and Dad, from around 1926. The original was sepia-toned and
so is the copy.
It's a charming photo. In it, Dad was about 2 and wearing what looks like a
'dress' with leggings and high-top button shoes; the kind you needed a
button-hook for. Uncle Jim, about 2 years older than my dad, was a darling!
and should have been, I dunno, maybe the "Gerber 4 year old" ;-) He's
wearing a one piece shortpants outfit with a big wide collar and a string
tie, leggins and sturdier shoes that required lacing through those stand-up
metal hooks (not holes). Aunt Win looked very stern faced in her simple
dress with a string tie. (Can't see her feet but I'll bet she had button
shoes on!)
Another photo was Uncle Bob, who was the baby of the family and not yet born
when the first photo was taken. Poor guy was born with only one ear; I was
very afraid of him when I was a kid. I was told he was teased unmercifully
(I can believe that). But he was a handsome lad.
And she sent one of my dad's grandparents. I'd never seen a photo of them
before. Dad (now 77) remembers going to his grandmother's 100th birthday
party. Very cool.
OB Food: Both my father and Aunt Win fondly remember my grandmother's
Potato Soup. So do I. It was the last thing she ever served me in her home
in western Ohio in 1980. I set out to duplicate it for him after his mother
died and he proclaimed it excellent!
I've posted it before, but I did promise to stay sort of on topic ;-) Dad
says this was her version of a German potato soup. Her mother was German,
and she was born there but raised in Pennsylvania. Depression Era, cooked
with water (not stock) and wild onions. She did use a little bacon or salt
pork, although it was hard to come by. And they raised chicken for eggs for
the rivels (also called 'rivlettes', although not by my dad).
Granda Mac's Potato Soup
4-5 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp. pepper
salt as needed
4 c. chicken stock or broth
water to cover
2 slices bacon, fried (not too crisp)
Bring stock and water to a boil and add onions, potatoes and other
seasonings. Boil about 20 minutes until potatoes are tender. Stir in
cooked bacon. Stir in rivlets until they are done. Serves 6.
Rivlets (egg dumplings):
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg
Combine flour and salt. Mix in egg until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add to soup.
Jill
--
I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even add it to the food.
Janine
> Hold on or scroll down, the OB: food is coming!
>
> <snip wonderful description of old photos>
>
> OB Food: Both my father and Aunt Win fondly remember my grandmother's
> Potato Soup. So do I. It was the last thing she ever served me in her home
> in western Ohio in 1980. I set out to duplicate it for him after his mother
> died and he proclaimed it excellent!
>
> I've posted it before, but I did promise to stay sort of on topic ;-) Dad
> says this was her version of a German potato soup. Her mother was German,
> and she was born there but raised in Pennsylvania. Depression Era, cooked
> with water (not stock) and wild onions. She did use a little bacon or salt
> pork, although it was hard to come by. And they raised chicken for eggs for
> the rivels (also called 'rivlettes', although not by my dad).
>
> <snip recipes>
Oooo. What a nice surprise in the mail! I loved hearing about your photos.
Sounds like you come from good stock <grin>. Thanks for the recipes, too. I
love potato soup, and the rivlets sound interesting. Do you have a favorite
potato you use?
~Janine
The Hackett Family
that! Thanks for posting
--
Cyndi
"Jill McQuown" <jmcq...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:UsQl8.116624$Yd.60...@e3500-atl1.usenetserver.com...
Hold on or scroll down, the OB: food is coming!
I got three copies of old photos in the mail yesterday from my Aunt Win
(Winifred). She's 80 years old now. I adore old photos. It doesn't even
matter if they are family. But these are :-)
<snipping neat story and great recipe>
Margaret Suran
It is cold and raining in New York today, all in all a miserable day.
Your post is brightening my day as would a ray of sunshine. I devoured
your vivid account of the pictures, then went back to the top and read
it again, more slowly this time. I can close my eyes and see your
family, as you describe them for us. Thank you.
It is cold and raining in New York today, the perfect day to make and
serve......German Potato Soup. The bacon is frying as I write this. If
the soup will be half as wonderful as your story, Marcel will be a very
fortunate and happy person tonight.
Thank you, Margaret
Ladyvmh2000
McQuown" <jmcq...@bellsouth.net> writes:
>I got three copies of old photos in the mail yesterday from my Aunt Win
>(Winifred). She's 80 years old now. I adore old photos. It doesn't even
>matter if they are family. But these are :-)
Thanks for the story. I love old photos too. My Grandmother gave me her photo
albums before she died in 1970 because I was the one who was always looking at
them. I still love looking at them. Some go back to horse and buggy days.
Also, thanks for the recipe for the Potato Soup. I put it in my recipes to try
file.
Vickie
Gina *
What a wonderful story. I had a photo of my dad when he as 4 or 5 (
1915 or 1916), in this lucious velvet suit and long, long sausage
curls. [He had them 'til he entered first grade. He had the razzing of
his life, and paid a neghborhood kid a candy bar to cut 'em off.]
Anyhow, that photo was destoyed in a fire a while ago. I loved that
photo.
Ob Food: Dinner tonight is stew made wit turkey and whatever vegs are
in the freezer. Mastered the art of puff pastry, so I just might do a
pastry crust for it. Tapioca pudding is fo dessert.
Gina
Robert and Elizabeth
> Granda Mac's Potato Soup
Which I made, and which is now in our "keep this recipe" file.
I did make a few changes, to wit, I fried the onions in the bacon
drippings before adding them to the soup, and when I reheated it to eat
the next day I topped it with a generous handful of mozzarella cheese
and nuked it long enough to make the cheese melty and stringy. Yum!
Elizabeth
Jill McQuown
news:1f9e3z0.1kn...@p9.a8.du.radix.net...
Grandma would have approved :-)
Jill
Jill McQuown
news:3C97FE52...@comcast.netINVALID...
Jill
Alan Zelt
Oh, so you are from THAT part of Idaho!! :)
--
Alan
"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and
avoid the people, you might better stay home."
--James Michener
Jill McQuown
news:3C9D5388...@worldnet.att.netFINNFAN...
Didn't I say she was German by way of Pennsylvania? She must have felt
strange marrying into a family of Scots :-)
Jill
Alan Zelt
>
> Didn't I say she was German by way of Pennsylvania? She must have felt
> strange marrying into a family of Scots :-)
>
> Jill
Jill said:
> Plain old Idaho whites.
> >
> > Jill
and I responded
> Oh, so you are from THAT part of Idaho!! :)
Guess you have to know the folk in ID to understand that one.