Placek. Polish coffee cake. It is all I have heard from my sweet husband since I began getting to know his family history. Grandma Schwind's Placek. His eyes mist over. He lets escape a forlorn sigh. A small trail of drool escapes out of the corner of his mouth. Needless to say, I am intrigued.
I didn't have the blessing of knowing his grandmother, Rose Krall Schwind. From all descriptions of her, she was amazing. She was one of the oldest of 13 kids in the family, and helped her mother raise the younger kids. This is a revered woman. All of her remaining younger siblings consistently use one word to describe her: "Angel". Since these are all loving, wonderful people, I have developed a high opinion of this woman whom I have never met.
Rose apparently could really put out a spread at holiday time. My husband has numerous times told me about the stomach splitting meals he and his family would enjoy year after year at Christmas or on Easter. Yet the one menu item that always has stood out in his mind is the Placek. Sweet, warm, soft, all the words you expect when thinking of your Grandmother. Yet all of these words also apply to this yummy coffee cake.
I recently had the joy of spending some time with Rose's younger sister, Bea. She shared the recipe for Placek with me, and I rushed right home and made it. Three delicious loaves of the best yeast coffee cake you have ever stuck a fork in. My husband used the term "succulent goodness"! I don't know about succulent, but it is darn good. My boys quickly devoured it, and asked me to make more.
In making the Placek, I have made friends with my husband's grandmother in an intimate, warm, sweet kind of way. All I can say is, if she made something this yummy, she really must have loved her family. I guess now she and Aunt Bea have given me a wonderful heritage of love to pass down to my four sons as they sit, with sticky faces and fingers, devouring their fresh Placek. My next post will be the recipe given to me by Aunt Bea, younger sister of our much beloved, sweet, warm and wonderful Rose Schwind.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Why am I doing this???
I have 4 kids, 3 of whom I homeschool! I have a part time job from home, and a full time job as a wife and mom. I am VERY involved in my church, and I have a home to keep up with, to boot! So why would I take on the task of recording my family's culinary history on top of all of this?
Simple. I have several things in my life that I would file under the heading of "passion". I have a passion for Jesus Christ. I have a passion for using music to proclaim Christ. I have a passion for my husband, children and home. I am passionate about educating my boys to rise up and be great men of the faith. And, no one could deny that I have a passion for cooking, as I do a lot of it, and I run my own personal chef service. But, these are not my only passions.
My close family and friends know of my other passion, the one that only gets my time once in a blue moon. The one that I have to put aside for things like laundry, math, history, literature, choir, errands, diapers, you get the idea. This is the proverbial "red-headed step child" of my passions. The one that gets left behind and put away until that mythical day that I actually have "time". This passion is genealogy. I am passionately addicted to the quest for family knowledge.
So it only seems natural that I would combine several of my passions into one pursuit. I love history, especially our own, and I LOVE to see how a family's history contributes to the foods served over the years in that family. In the case of my children, their family history encompasses both my family and their daddy's family, and there is a rich heritage of cuisine on both sides.
On my side there is the distinctly American cuisine. The cuisine that varies only in what region of the United States that family member lived in. On Jeff's side, we have the Polish cuisine, the German cuisine and the Irish cuisine. Combined, my kids have a great picture of the history of their whole family, what kind of people they were, where they lived, and what they ate!
As we gather recipes, we will get a great picture of what kind of people my kids come from. This history is to be embraced, cherished, and shared. I will, if possible, include pictures of the person from whom the recipe came, as well as some history of that person. I can't wait to have this tangible family history to share, and I can't wait to eat our way through some memories together. I hope that this will be a treasure for all of our family to enjoy and share. Because, this isn't just our history. If you are a part of our family, this is also your history. If you aren't, well, feel free to use these recipes to add to your own family's history. I think you will be pleased to find that our history is sweet, and it is darn tasty, too!
Simple. I have several things in my life that I would file under the heading of "passion". I have a passion for Jesus Christ. I have a passion for using music to proclaim Christ. I have a passion for my husband, children and home. I am passionate about educating my boys to rise up and be great men of the faith. And, no one could deny that I have a passion for cooking, as I do a lot of it, and I run my own personal chef service. But, these are not my only passions.
My close family and friends know of my other passion, the one that only gets my time once in a blue moon. The one that I have to put aside for things like laundry, math, history, literature, choir, errands, diapers, you get the idea. This is the proverbial "red-headed step child" of my passions. The one that gets left behind and put away until that mythical day that I actually have "time". This passion is genealogy. I am passionately addicted to the quest for family knowledge.
So it only seems natural that I would combine several of my passions into one pursuit. I love history, especially our own, and I LOVE to see how a family's history contributes to the foods served over the years in that family. In the case of my children, their family history encompasses both my family and their daddy's family, and there is a rich heritage of cuisine on both sides.
On my side there is the distinctly American cuisine. The cuisine that varies only in what region of the United States that family member lived in. On Jeff's side, we have the Polish cuisine, the German cuisine and the Irish cuisine. Combined, my kids have a great picture of the history of their whole family, what kind of people they were, where they lived, and what they ate!
As we gather recipes, we will get a great picture of what kind of people my kids come from. This history is to be embraced, cherished, and shared. I will, if possible, include pictures of the person from whom the recipe came, as well as some history of that person. I can't wait to have this tangible family history to share, and I can't wait to eat our way through some memories together. I hope that this will be a treasure for all of our family to enjoy and share. Because, this isn't just our history. If you are a part of our family, this is also your history. If you aren't, well, feel free to use these recipes to add to your own family's history. I think you will be pleased to find that our history is sweet, and it is darn tasty, too!
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