Rosalie Wintergarst Zschunke
1870-1957
A few years ago I was gifted with a brief dream in which I was cooking in the kitchen with my great great grandmother Rosalie Zschunke and her daughter Helen. We were having a great time in this tiny space and there was lots of laughter and smiles. I felt like I was really there over the hot steamy stove with these two women who I never met.
One facination I have always had with geneology is that you learn many sterile facts about your ancestors, birth dates, locations, occupations, but you never really know these people. Some families are blessed with stories that travel down through the geneations, the rest of us have to make it up as we go along.
So we spend our time piecing together a tale that may or may not be true as a way to remember these people who are a part of us. And I think in doing so we not only honor their memory, ther struggles and their achievements, but we also grownin compassion for the choices they had to make.
Our fore mothers had the worst of everything. Legally and culturally oppressed, they often had to rely on the compassion of the men in their lives. Marrying off was sometimes a gamble, once in the "possession" of their husband, they had nothing but hope that he was a good man.
You may think I am writing this with some crazy "victim" mentality feminist slant, but I'm not. Rosalie's daughter Helen, my great-grandmother, married a monster, moved hundreds of miles away from her family, and somehow had to survive. I imagine poor Rosalie, happily married, but unable to help her daughter.
Free will grants us choices. Choices the individual can only make given the information they have at the time. Sure Helen could have done a half dozen different things to imporve on her situation, some of them dire, others simple, but we never really know what someone is experiencing until we live in their circumstances.
So I want Helen remembered in my mind back in Michigan, in her mother's kitchen, free, single, happy. There's laughter and they are baking a feast. And I am watching them like it's some little movie.
My aunt Daisy passed away recently, she was Helen's last living child. She could have told me more about Helen, and I'm sure over the years she did. I know she was loving, indulgent when able, not bitter. I know that after her kids were all adults she did leave her husband, and spent many years single. I bet she liked those years, but I wonder if she ever thought of moving back to Michigan? I'll never know in this lifetime.
So yesterday I was cooking in the kitchen with Rosalie. We made latkes. (It is after all the Hanukkah season). Oh, my those latkes were good! Now honestly, I don't know if Rosalie liked cooking! Or if she would make latkes! But it was fun to think of her and honor her that day.
This whole experience is making me want to research that branch of the family more!
This was the recipe:
Parsnip, Potato and Scallion Latkes
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled
1 pound medium parsnips, peeled and cored
3/4 cup sliced scallions (white and green parts)
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons flour
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil for the griddle
Using a food processor fitted with the medium grating disc, grate the potatoes and parsnips separately. Put the potatoes in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, parsnips, scallions, eggs, flour, 2 teaspoons salt and a few grinds of pepper and mix well.
Generously oil a griddle and heat over medium heat. Working in batches, spoon about 1/3 cup of the mixture onto the griddle at a time to form pancakes. Flatten the pancakes with a spatula (they should be about 1/2 inch thick) and cook until the bottom is browned and crisped, about 5 minutes.
Flip and cook until the other side is well browned, about 5 minutes more. Sprinkle with salt.
Serve immediately or keep warm until ready to serve.
Makes 8 to 10 pancakes.
Source: Fine Cooking magazine
