Does Food Define Heritage?
On New Year’s Day, Linda and I were supposed to have friends of ours over for the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch meal of sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and pork. However, since it was just to be...
Category: Cooking
Doughnuts or Fastnachts?
In March of 2017, I wrote an article about Fastnachts, those holeless, wholesome doughnuts that appear every year in parts of Pennsylvania on Shrove Tuesday to usher in the Lenten season. So as not...
Family Recipes: Raisin Cake
In 2016 during a visit to my great aunt, Gloria (Felix) Faus (b. 1931), I collected some of her family recipes. These included a few handwritten by my great grandmother, Minnie (Hilner) Faus (b....
Mangoes and Molasses, Or Maybe Not!
Here is a riddle: When is a mango not a mango and a bottle of molasses something else entirely? Earlier this month, I was on a video call with my good friend, Clint Shearer,...
My Dinner With: Trooper James
When I started this series several weeks ago, my thought was to interest readers in questions that we have about our ancestors. Along with that would be a meal that I would share with...
My Dinner With: Aunt Katie and Uncle Perce
My previous dinners were with ancestors whom I had never met, ancestors who lived long before me. This dinner is with my great aunt, Kathryn (Hagenbuch) Roat, and my great uncle, Percy Hagenbuch. These...
2020 Hagenbuch Reunion Canceled, So Here’s Forty-Nine Beans
My father, Mark Hagenbuch, and I were looking forward to this year’s Hagenbuch Family Reunion, which was to be held on June 20, 2020. Unfortunately, with a global pandemic and social distancing limiting large...
Dutch Treats: Reviewing a Cookbook Full of Tasty Recipes
Food is an important part of our Hagenbuch family, and numerous recipes have been featured on this site over the years. One cookbook that we have mentioned a few times is Pennsylvania Dutch Country...
Family Foods
What foods conjure memories of your family past and present? A few weeks ago, while planning a trip to my parents’ house, I asked if they had any favorite dishes that their parents used...
Traditional Gingerbread Men: Mummeli
Each Christmas, my wife Sara and I prepare cards and treats for the various family members we will see during the holiday season. This tradition encourages us to spend time together and allows us...
