Christmas Aboard the C.G.C. Tamaroa - Military Monday

(Text Copyright (c) 2014 Cynthia Shenette) One of the things I love about blogging is when I take a single item or record and try to do a bit of research on the item before I write about it.  I am fortunate in that I have so many letters, photos, and pieces of memorabilia as part of my family history collection, but sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees.  Take this Christmas 1951 program from the United States Coast Guard Cutter Tamaroa which I recently looked at for the very first time.

My uncle Robert Szerejko (1929-2012), my mother's brother, spent time in the Coast Guard.  I don't know too much about his time in the Coast Guard, other than he spent some time in Greenland and stayed in touch with his Coast Guard skipper, "Skipper Gray" for decades.  My Uncle Bob was like that.  He was the kind of guy who made an impression on people, who people wanted to stay in touch with, whether it was an old friend from his Coast Guard days or someone he built a post and beam house for as part of his house building business. When I asked my cousin if her dad ever mentioned the Tamaroa, she didn't remember the Tamaroa specifically, but since he is listed in the program as one of the men who present for Christmas in 1951 we can probably assume he spent some time on the Tamaroa.

What did I learn about the C.G.C. Tamaroa?  The Tamaroa was launched on 9 October 1943 and saw action in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, including being involved in Marianas, the Philippines, and Iwo Jima operations. She was the first cutter on sight after the sinking of the Andrea Doria, and most surprisingly was the Coast Guard cutter made famous in Sebastian Junger's book, The Perfect Storm!  The crew of the Tamaroa saved the crew of the Satori, a sailing vessel in distress 75 miles off the island of Nantucket, during the 1991 No Name Storm.  You can read an excellent article, The Perfect Storm, 20 Years Later, on the Coast Guard Compass: The Official Blog of U.S. Coast Guard.  You can also read more about the Tamaroa here, here and here.

I love this program!  It's amazing how one little thing can say so much. Now I know where my uncle was, who he was with, and what he ate on Christmas day in 1951!  Even the menu takes us back in time.  How many people still put peanut butter on their holiday table! 

If you served on the Tamaroa in the 1950s, recognize any of the names listed in this program, or remember my uncle Bob Szerejko I would love to hear from you!

Menu

~~

TOMATO JUICE     SHRIMP COCKTAIL

TURKEY RICE SOUP

CRACKERS     BUTTER     ROLLS

ASSORTED PICKLES     STUFFED OLIVES

PEANUT BUTTER     CELERY HEARTS

CRANBERRY SAUCE

ROAST TOM TURKEY

OYSTER DRESSING     GIBLET GRAVY

MASHED TURNIPS

VIRGINIA BAKED HAM

PINEAPPLE GRAVY     MASHED POTATOES

COLE SLAW

CIDER     COFFEE     MILK

FRUIT CAKE     PLUM PUDDING

MINCE MEAT PIE     PUMPKIN PIE

ASSORTED CANDY     ASSORTED NUTS

CIGARS & CIGARETTES

Officers

Thompson, Warner K., Jr., CDR, USCG   Lutzi, Philip C., ENS, USCG
Hinkleman, George C., LT, USCGR    Bassett, Raymond C., Jr. ENS, USCG
Krause, Herbert, LT, USCG             Beach, John W., BOSN, USCG
Treib, Seymour L., LTJG, USCG         Mears, Grayson J., MACH, USCG
Gendler, Irvin, ENS, USCG

Enlisted Men

     Emery, Otis W., CSC                    Dunhour, Joseph W., ENC
     Frey, Leo (n), ENC                       Kirkman, George R., EMCA (P)
     Tarr, Howard R., Jr., BMC (P)        Lucey, Christopher J., QMC

Aery, Walter H., EN1 (P)                    Anderson, Gilbert C., SN
Avedisia, Harry (n), SN                       Berry, Leo D., SN
Berni, Albert J., FN (EM)                    Bledsoe, Marvin R., EN2 (P)
Casale, Robert (n), RM1 (HF)             Cleavenger, Jack R., EN3 (P)
Colegrove, Howard C., FN                  Colford, Sidney J., Jr., SN
Cooper, Grady (n), FN                        Cotton, Paul S., SD3 (P)
Czapski, Alexander (n), SN                  Fallo, Charles C., Jr. FN
Fasano, Lun A., RM2                          Feierabend, Richard F., SA
Gaines, Eugene C., SD3 (P)                 Fulton, William D. QM1 (P)
Grinage, James R., EM2                      Gilmore, Marshall C., QM2
Harris, James (n), TN                          Grogan, John J., EN3 (P)
Hildebrand, Richard E., SA                  Hendricks, Robert N., SN
Jones, Russell W., DC3 (P)                  Hymers, Douglas J., YN1
Kerbel, Stanley E., SN                         Keister, Gerald J., EN3 (P)
Lake, Henry E., RM3                          Lopez, Jose L., EN3 (P)
Lewis, Alfred F., FN (EN)                   McDermontt, William G., HM2
Masker, Raymond E., CS1                   Mendicino, Vincent T., SN
McDevitt, Joseph j., SN                       Moran, James F., DC1
Menge, Fred W. , EN1                         Noorman, Jack M., SA
Nicolaus, James E., SA                        Owen, Urel P., Jr., YN3
Oreck, Marshall B., SA                        Paul H., SK1 (P)
Palicia, Leo (n) EM3 (P)                      Pospisil, George H., RM3
Petkovich, Charles R., SA                    Rossi, Ralmonde (n), ET2
Rappaport, Isaac I., SA                        Sciarrino, John F., SA
Sanders, Luther (n), CS2                      Sensenig, John H., Jr., FN
Seibel, Herman (n), GM3 (P)               Smith, Clifford E., BM3 (P)
Shortt, Harry R., SN                            Spahr,     John E., BM3 (P)
Smith, Norman C., SN                         Steindler, "H" K., ET3
Standaert., Richard E., SN                   Sward, Gordan A., SA
Stroud, Myrel E., BM3                        Szerejko, Robert A., SN
Switzer, Dean W., SA                         Theriault, Joseph L. P., SN
Thomas, Sydney W., YN3 (P)             Travis, Charles W., SA
Walker, Clifton B., Jr., QM1                Watson, John T. EN2
Wilson, Sidney A., F N                        Wood, Alvin C. RD3 (P)
Yost, James C., FN (EN)



Other Posts You Might Like:

Analyzing A Photo: The Holiday Party
Christmas in Poland, 1929 - Wordless Wednesday
Fun on the Slopes - Wordless Wednesday
More Than Meets the Eye - Tuesday's Tip

A St. Joseph's Day Celebration - Wordless Wednesday

Unidentified Friend, St. Joseph's Day, 19 March 1917

(Digital Images. Photographs Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette; Photographs and Text, Copyright (c) 2013 Cynthia Shenette)  These photographs of my grandfather, Adolf Szerejko, and his friend crack me up.  Clearly they are celebrating St. Joseph's Day--they even took the time to make a sign.  Maybe his friend's name was Joseph, and they were celebrating the friend's name day big time. 

My grandmother told me my grandfather wasn't much of a drinker.  My guess is he and his friend were goofing around with the camera taking pictures to impress (or not impress, depending on your point of view) their respective girlfriends.  Given the number of bottles on the table and in the bags they'd either be in the hospital or dead if they drank all that.  

Adolf Szerejko, Ordering Another...

I've done a little reading on St. Joseph's Day celebrations, but this doesn't seem to quite fit in with what I've read.  If you are Polish or of Polish descent and can enlighten me as to some St. Joseph's Day tradition that involves a seriously party hardy attitude I'd love to hear from you! 

Unidentified Friend, Sleeping it Off

 Na zdrowie!



Other Posts You Might Like:

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: A Couple of Swells
Little Kid, Big Bunny - Wordless Wednesday
Niagara Honeymoon - Wordless Wednesday
Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women 

Analyzing A Photo: The Holiday Party

The USDA Worcester (MA) Office Christmas Party, Circa 1947

(Digital Images; Photograph and Card Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette; Text Copyright (c) 2013 Cynthia Shenette)  I hoped to write this post sometime in December, but time got away from me, so rather than wait until next December I decided to make this my first post for 2013 while my research is still fresh in my mind!  It's interesting what you can learn about a photo without knowing much about the context in which it was taken.  Sometimes I find that the story behind a photo is like a little mystery that reveals itself over time; you notice details one day that you didn't see the day before.

My mom, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette is the young woman in the front row standing to the right of the Christmas tree.  Obviously the people in the photo are having a little holiday celebration of some sort, but I no idea who the people were or how they related to my mom's life.  Mom looks quite young in the photo, and the clothing styles in the image seem to date from sometime in the 1940s.  I figured the party might be connected to a church activity, college, or work.  I didn't recognize any of the people in the photo other than my mom so I knew it wasn't a family photo.  The people in the photo are not of college age so I took a guess that the group was probably work related.

In the 1940s Mom worked for two main employers--the ration board in Worcester, MA during World War II and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the Federal Building (also in Worcester) until she was married in June of 1953.  Last summer when I looked at this photo something jumped out at me.  Look through the window.  What do you see?  Notice the architectural elements on the building across the street? They are pretty distinctive.  I drive by the old Federal Building on my way to the Worcester Public Library all the time, but I don't usually look up. The next time I went to the library I did, and what did I see?  The top of the building on the other side of the street from the Federal Building has the same architectural elements as the building in my photo!  The holiday photo was taken while my mom worked for the USDA!

Once I knew where the photo was taken I took a closer look to see if I could recognize any of the people in the photo.  Sure enough I did!  The woman in the dark dress standing three people to the right of my mom was my mom's friend Shirley (Putnam) Johnson!  I knew Shirley as a much older woman.  I didn't see her all that often and didn't recognize her until I was able to put the photo in the correct context!

I checked the city directories at the library to narrow down the possible date range in which the photo could have been taken.  My mom is first listed as working at the USDA in the 1947 city directory.  She still worked for the ration board in early 1946 when when the 1946 directory was compiled, but most likely changed jobs later that year.  

The photo was taken in the late morning.  Look at the hands on the clock and the Danish on the table!  There is snow on the roof of the building across the street.  I might be able to narrow the date of the photo even further if I check the local weather to see if some of the Decembers between 1946 and 1952 did not have snow before Christmas.  Quite a few people worked for the USDA in the Federal Building, and there were several different regional offices.  See the evergreen corsage my mom has on?  Some of the other ladies in the photo have the same corsage, including Shirley.  I know Shirley worked in the same office as my mom.  I wonder if the ladies with the corsages worked in the same office as well.

My mom stayed in touch with her co-workers after she left the office in 1953.  During the late 1980s and 1990s the group met for lunch twice a year at Rom's restaurant in Sturbridge, MA. Mom said her co-workers were a nice group of people, and they still enjoyed one another's company some forty years later!  Given that she stayed connected all of those years I wondered who some of the other people in the group photo were. Well, didn't I stumble on something in my collection of stuff to help me to figure it out!

When my mom left the office to get married in June of 1953 her co-workers gave her a group wedding gift.  I don't know what the gift was, but I found the card that accompanied the gift in my collection.  All the people who worked with my mom signed the card!  My initial thought was that some of the people who were with the USDA in 1953 might have worked there in the 1940s as well.  Sure enough!  When I looked up the names of the people on the card in the city directories and checked their individual directory listings, I discovered that more than half of the people who signed the card in 1953 worked for the USDA in 1947!

The names on the card are: George W. Mingin, Walter B. Shaw, Shirley Johnson, Charles C. Starr, W. Earl Paddock, Lois Nelson, Irene Davis, Ralph C. Reynolds, Charles W. Turner, "Penny" [Eleanor] Reynis, Mary Lazaro, Val [Valerie] Pyzynski, Fran [Frances] Hesselton, Mary Cassidy, Bill Miller, Leon Marshall, Mildred Thomas, Jean Stewart, Evelyn Lyman, Ken [Kenneth] Boyden, Edna Sommerfeld, Arthur L. Verdi, Robert H. Beisha, Ruth Peterson, Richard H. Clark, Gayland E. Folley, Gardner Norcross, Ruth M. Darling.

I know my mother stayed quite friendly with Shirley and her husband Wallace Johnson for many years.  I also know that my mother was quite friendly with Jean Stewart and Ruth [Ruthie] Peterson and remember meeting them many years ago.  If you know or are related to any of the people listed on my card, recognize any of the people in the photograph or knew someone who worked for the USDA office in Worcester during the 1940s or 1950s I'd love to hear from you!

It really is pretty amazing how much you can find out about something without knowing much at all.  Six months ago the holiday party photo was just another photo lying at the bottom of a box in my collection.  Today it has a nice little holiday story to tell!


Other Posts You Might Like:

Happy New Year!
An Interview With My Grandmother
Christmas In Poland, 1929 - Wordless Wednesday
More Than Meets the Eye - Tuesday's Tip

Reflecting on My American Experience This Thanksgiving

(This is a re post of a piece written for Thanksgiving 2010.  Warm wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers, family, and friends.)

(Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette) I've been thinking about how my son's collective ancestry typifies a large part of what I think of as the American experience as defined by many of the major events in history since the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts in 1620. As a genealogist and family historian sometimes I think it's easy to look at individuals rather than our ancestry as a sum of many parts.

While my son's ancestors didn't come to America on the Mayflower, they did arrive in Rhode Island in 1633. They survived cold New England winters, disease, and deprivation. They later fought in the American Revolution and as the old saying goes saw the whites of the Red Coat's eyes at Bunker Hill, and after the colonies won their independence, settled along the Mohawk River Valley in New York where they farmed the land for the next two hundred years. As time progressed they watched Scots Irish immigrants come into the area to help construct the the Erie Canal with mule teams and watched factories spring up in the towns and cities that dotted the length of the Mohawk River.

Other ancestors populated Acadia, or Nova Scotia, during the seventeenth century until they were forcibly removed by the British during the Seven Years War or what Americans call the French and Indian War. Some of the ancestors expelled from Acadia eventually ended up in Louisiana, others managed to find their way back to French speaking Canada to resettle in Quebec. During the mid-nineteenth century some made their way to California to seek their fortune during the Gold Rush. Ancestors fought, were wounded, or died of disease during the Civil War. They participated in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. After the Civil War ancestors joined the great migration of immigrants from Canada to New England to work in the lumber camps of the Green Mountains and the mills of Massachusetts.

At the end of the nineteenth century another set of ancestors left their homeland in Europe. They left their families--mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters--behind and set off in search of a better life in America. They endured difficult conditions on ship and arrived at Ellis Island with the rest of the "yearning masses" also hoping for a better life in their new land. Immigrant ancestors found their way to the Midwest, to Chicago to work in low wage jobs in the steel industry. When they lost their home due to fire they made their way to Massachusetts to join other family members, also immigrants, in the steel mills. They worked long hours in difficult conditions to pursue the American dream.

During the twentieth century ancestors fought in World War I, World War II, and Korea. When both parents in one family died within two days of one another during the great flu pandemic of 1918, their children were adopted by family to become part of an extended family. Ancestors were affected by the crash of the stock market in 1929 and struggled with varying levels of success through the Great Depression. They participated in the Civilian Conservation Corps and joined the military.

One ancestor served his time in the military in the late 1930s and early 1940s, only to be discharged in November of 1941, eighteen days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He reenlisted in February of 1942, served in the Pacific theatre, and participated in the battles of Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, the Marshall Islands, and Okinawa. He survived. Another family member fought with Patton's army in the European theatre. He witnessed the liberation of Buchenwald. After World War II family displaced by the chaos of the war in Europe, lingered in a DP camp for years until they were finally able to make their way to a new life in the United States.

Our ancestors survived war, deprivation, and hardship. They survived childbirth when health care was rudimentary or nonexistent, and during times when mothers knew death from childbirth was an ever-present possibility. They suffered from small pox, rheumatic fever, whooping cough, flu, measles, mumps, and a host of diseases our children, thankfully, will never know. There were bad times, but there were of good times as well. They lived life the best they could given their circumstances. That's four hundred years of history in my son's ancestry. He IS my American experience. That's a lot of weight to carry on those little shoulders.

When you sit down to dinner with your family this Thanksgiving, think about the people that came before you. It doesn't matter if they were French, Irish, Polish, Italian, or African American. It's doesn't matter if they came on the Mayflower or not. They were the ultimate survivors. We are here because of them, and our lives are better because of them. I know I have a lot to be thankful for.

What's your American experience? Take some time to write about it, and then share it with your family over Thanksgiving dinner. Almost four hundred years of history should give you something to talk about. Now, please pass the gravy...


Other Posts You Might Like:

Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women
The Stories My Grandmother Told Me
Not So Wordless Wednesday: The View from Grandmother's House
Heritage Zen Dives In: NaBloPoMo

Holidays Are Like People...

Dinner at My House, Thanksgiving 2002

(This was originally written for the 112th Carnival of Genealogy in December of 2011. Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)  When I started thinking about our Carnival of Genealogy topic for December, Thanksgiving traditions, it occurred to me that my Thanksgiving holiday celebrations have changed over the years.

When I was little my family and I always had dinner at my aunt Helen Bulak's house.  Auntie Helen and my grandmother shared a duplex house in their later years.  Thanksgiving was always on Auntie's side of the house, and Easter was always on my grandmother's side of the house. Thanksgiving dinner included extended family and involved a fancy dinner table set with Auntie's Lenox china.  There was turkey, of course, a special Polish poultry dressing made with turkey or chicken livers (which for the longest time I did not like), mashed potatoes, glazed sweet potatoes, broccoli with Polish crumbs, gravy, cranberry sauce from a can, and apple pie with ice cream for dessert.  Auntie Helen always made the turkey while my mom and my grandmother supplied everything else.

One of my favorite things was and still is broccoli with Polish crumbs or "garnish Polonaise," as I heard Julia Child call it once.  Things always sound better in French, don't they?  Polish crum...oops...I mean "garnish Polonaise" is a garnish made from dried bread crumbs which are browned in butter in a pan on the stove top until they take on a toasted flavor and a crunchy texture.  Sprinkled over broccoli or most other vegetables they are delicious.  It's amazing how something so simple can liven up a dish!

As long as my dad and my grandmother were still with us we continued to celebrate Thanksgiving at home.  By 1990 Dad and Gram were both gone, and I was busy with work and graduate school.  Rather than cook dinner at home Mom and I decided to start having Thanksgiving dinner out, a tradition which we carried on for a number of years.  

After I had a family of my own I cooked dinner at our house.  I made the traditional favorites--turkey, gravy, mashed sweet potatoes, homemade cranberry-orange relish, and my personal favorite, stuffing.  Mom joined us for Thanksgiving for as long as she was physically able.  Mom died three years ago, so now we join my husband's family in upstate New York for the holiday.

Grandmother's House (My Mother-in-Law's Family Homestead, Photo Circa 1900)

I love Thanksgiving with my in-laws.  We usually have dinner at my sister-in-law's house.  She and her family still live on the old family homestead. My mother-in-law's Ladd ancestors built the house around 1800, and the Ladd family has lived there ever since.  Again, we have all the traditional dishes--turkey, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry-orange relish.  My mother-in-law is a pie baker of awesome talent.  She makes apple pie and butternut squash pie for dessert.  This year my son had fun helping Grandma make cranberry-orange relish!

I often think back to the wonderful Thanksgiving celebrations of my childhood.  I miss my parents and grandmother profoundly during the holidays.  My life has changed, but I enjoy Thanksgiving with my son and my husband and his family.  My in-laws are incredibly kind and welcoming. I feel like I'm part of their family now. 

Holidays are like people.  Time passes, and people change.  I've changed.  My Thanksgivings now aren't any better or any worse.  They are just different.

Submitted for the 112th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.


Other Posts You Might Like:

Reflecting On My American Experience this Thanksgiving
What the Dickens, Or How to Blow Up a Duck
Not So Wordless Wednesday: View From Grandmother's House
A Little Slice of Heaven

The Life of a Doughboy, 1918 - Veterans Day

(This is one of my favorite posts and was originally written for Veteran's Day 2010.  Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette. Keep the Home Fires Burning, by Lena Gilbert Ford, Available Under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.)

These photos were sent from my grandfather Adolf Szerejko to his then girlfriend, my grandmother Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko. My grandfather served in France during World War I.

On the back of the photo: "Augusta, GA 7-2-18"


Written on the train: "Going to GET the Kaiser, Scranton, Pa, US Aviation Section Regulars, Going to Germany to Berlin via France"

On the back of the photo: "Taken at Rocky Mountain South Carolina Adolf"

"Camp Greene Charlotte, NC."

On the back of the photo: "Those are my friends, front row from left to right J. Coyle (best) J. Erns. Percons. Szerejko At the back Anctile. Moore. Sanders. Four Irish, one French and the last man I don't know his nationality Adolf" The spelling may be off as the handwriting is very difficult to read.

" I'm next."

"Camp Greene, Charlotte N.C."

"Kolacja na "hike" (Dinner on the "hike")"

Written on the back: "What we got ourselves into"

"Camp Greene, Charlotte, NC."

Keep the Home Fires Burning ('Til the Boys Come Home)

Keep the home fires burning,
While your hearts are yearning.
Though your lads are far away,
They dream of home.
There’s a silver lining,
Through the dark cloud shining,
Turn the dark clouds inside out
Till the boys come home.

Thank you veterans for your service. Happy Veterans Day!


Special Thanks To: Marek for his translation of the Polish into English.


Other Posts You Might Like:

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: WWI Red Cross Volunteers
Tombstone Tuesday: Francois Chenette, Civil War Soldier
Wordless Wednesday: Dad, Somewhere Cold
Tuesday's Tip: "Ask a Librarian" Service at Your Public Library

Happy Halloween! - Wordless Wednesday

My in-laws' kitty, L.T., trying on his Halloween costume!

(Digital Image. Photograph and Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette)  I've decided to wish you all a Happy Halloween before we lose power from the "Frankenstorm."  Given that we've lost power from lesser storms than this one I suspect it's just a matter of time before we go down. 

Stay safe everyone!


Other Posts You Might Like:

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Polka Time!
The Psychic Next Door (Part 1 of 2)
Madness Monday: The Stuff We Throw Away, And...
Not So Wordless Wednesday: It's Costume Month at Heritage Zen!

Cobh (Queensland), Ireland - Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Cobh, County Cork, Ireland

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette) This post is for my Irish friends who may have immigrant ancestors who departed from the Irish seaport town of Cove (1750 to 1850), Queensland (1850 to 1922), or Cobh (1922 to date), County Cork, Ireland.  According to Wikipedia 2.5 million of the six million Irish people who departed Ireland passed through the town on their way to North America.  Cobh or Queensland as it was then called, was also the last port of call for the RMS Titanic on April 11, 1912.

In the summer of 1999 two friends and I spent three weeks traveling around Ireland.  The photo above was taken looking out the window of our bed and breakfast.  The QE2 (Queen Elizabeth 2) was in the harbor during our visit which I will admit was kind of cool.  The photograph below is of the statue of Irish immigrant Annie Moore and her brothers.  Annie was the first person to be admitted to Ellis Island when it's doors opened on January 1, 1892.

Annie Moore Statue, Cobh, County Cork, Ireland

Today is the day to lift a pint of Harp to toast the brave immigrant souls who departed Ireland in the hopes of finding a better life in America.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!


Other Posts You Might Like:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Times - Wordless Wednesday
Presenter Interview: Colleen Fitzpatrick, Forensic Genealogist
Fascinating Ladies

An Interview With My Grandmother

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette) In December of 1953 my grandmother, Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko, gave an interview to the local paper in which she talked about her family traditions at Christmas.  I remembered seeing the newspaper clipping with the interview years ago, but I didn't know what happened to it.  I was sad to think that perhaps it had been lost, but didn't serendipity strike!  I found it a couple of weeks ago as I was sorting through the last two boxes of items from my mother's house, and just in time for me to write about the interview for the 113th edition of Carnival of Genealogy!  While I can't reprint the exact text of the article for copyright reasons, I can present quotes, information, and one of my grandmother's recipes which was included in the article.

A Gathering of Family

"He's the one that eats me out of house and home."

My mother, Christine (Szerejko) Shenette, as well as her sister and her family, and my mom's brother who was in college in Indiana returned home for Christmas.  I had to laugh at the quote from my grandmother about her son.  My nine-year-old son eats constantly.  My husband and I joke that we are both going to have to get part-time jobs when he hits his teen years to make extra money to keep him sufficiently fed.  Apparently a hollow leg runs in the family!

Wigilia Supper

"We finally gave it up, because it was too much to do with a big Christmas dinner to fix the next day--too many dishes to wash and the children got restless sitting through all the different courses."

As long as my great-grandfather, Antoni Bulak, was alive my grandmother continued the tradition of Wigilia on Christmas Eve.  Wigilia is a feast of seven, nine, or 11 courses.  Many Poles celebrate Wigilia today.  Dinner involves an uneven number of courses, and there must be an even number of people at the table.  An extra chair is set in case a stranger, symbolic of the God Child, appears at the door to join the family for dinner.  Christmas Eve day was a fast day.  Courses included pike with horseradish sauce, baked sauerkraut with yellow peas, and other fish and vegetable dishes.

Passing the Oblatek

"It means that no matter what corner of the world you are in, the family ties are still strong.  On Christmas Eve we pass it around and wish each other a good year to come.  If there are any disputes or hard feelings in the family, that's the time they are made up."

The oblatek is similar to a communion wafer and is stamped with holy pictures.  My grandfather's family in Warsaw sent the oblatek every year.  I will admit to getting a bit teary when I opened a card earlier this year from my grandfather's family in Warsaw who I reconnected with in 2010.  Inside the card was an oblatek!   Despite all that time and distance, family ties and traditions remain the same.

Polish Mushrooms

My mom use to talk about the delicious mushrooms from Poland that they ate during the holidays.  She said they were very expensive so my grandmother would only use a few and then only on special occasions like Christmas and Easter.  According to the interview the mushrooms were purchased at a kosher delicatessen, and she said they had a unique flavor "something like steak."  She also said that my grandfather Adolf Szerejko, who was originally from Warsaw, used to spend summers with relatives in the country during his childhood in Poland.  This information was new to me.  Apparently he had fond memories of mushroom hunting in the woods during his summer visits with the family.

Christmas Marzipan

"In Europe they don't have candy on the counters the way we do here, so we made marzipan at home to hang on the Christmas tree.  My mother was afraid of using coloring, I remember, except for the juice of carrots or boiled onions--she thought it might be poisonous."

One of the best things about the interview is that it includes a number of my grandmother's recipes.  I don't have any of her written recipes so this was a particularly exciting find.

Marzipan (Marcypany)

1 pound almonds, blanched
1 pound powdered sugar, 
2 tablespoons rosewater
vegetable coloring

Grind blanched almonds very fine.   Combine with sugar and flavoring. Cook until mixture leaves sides of saucepan.  Add coloring, if desired. Roll out like piecrust until one-fourth inch thick.  Cut in small hearts or other fancy shapes.  Decorate with cherries or other glazed fruits.  Place in warm place to dry.

These are used instead of candy and hung on the Christmas tree for the children.

I was thrilled to find this clipping.  It's almost like my grandmother knew I was looking for it and led me to the right spot to find it just in time for this COG!

While my grandmother was never much of a drinker she loved creme de menthe and did treat herself a couple times a year to a grasshopper.  It's my tradition to have one during the holidays, partly because I love grasshoppers and partly because they remind me of her. So here I am with my grasshopper as I finish up my COG post on New Year's Day 2012.

Cheers!  Here's to you Gram, and thanks.

Submitted for the 113th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.


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Happy New Year!

 I'm Counting Down to 2012! Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven...

(Original Image, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)


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Christmas in Poland, 1929 - Wordless Wednesday

(Photograph Privately Held by Cynthia Shenette; Text Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) This is a photo of Tomasz Walkowski and family of Kepno, Poland.  The photo was taken in Kepno.  I do not believe the Walkowskis are related to my family but are friends of my grandmother's family who did live in Kepno.  According to family letters the Walkowskis had a son and a daughter.  The children in the photo are dressed very similarly.  Can you tell who is the boy and who is the girl?  I'm not sure, but I'll hazard a guess. My answer is at the end of this post.  I love the detail in the photo--the children's toys, the clothing styles, the decorations on the tree, the rug, the wallpaper.  The back of the photo is stamped with a photographer's stamp: Zaklad Fotograficzny / Jan Nawrocki / Kepno, Wlkp. Warszawska 23.

My Answer: The boy is the child on the left on the rocking horse, and the girl is the child on the right holding a doll.  What do you think?

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What the Dickens 2, Or More Tales from Hell's Kitchen - Advent Calendar, Grab Bag

(Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

"Do you know the Poulterer's, in the next street but one, at the corner?" Scrooge inquired.

"I should hope I did," replied the lad.

"An intelligent boy!'' said Scrooge. "A remarkable boy! Do you know whether they've sold the prize Turkey that was hanging up there? Not the little prize Turkey; the big one?"

"What, the one as big as me?" returned the boy.

Bigger isn't always better, especially when it involves a turkey.  I learned this the hard way.

Yes, Gentle Reader, It's Holiday Time Again!

Due to the popularity of last year's holiday post, What the Dickens, Or How to Blow Up a Duck, I have decided to return to Christmas Past to share more holiday tales of food preparation gone wrong.

I realize that whenever you do Part 2 of something it never seems to live up to the audience's expectations  of Part 1.  Even when Part 2 is good it never quite achieves the same level of greatness as Part 1.  So, Gentle Reader, with that said it's time to lower your expectations and once again journey with me back in time as I try to shamelessly capitalize on the popularity of the initial post to Christmas Past...

Christmas 1985, Or How to Lose Your Cookies

Several friends and I had a brilliant idea!  Let's have a Christmas cookie baking party!  I was dating this guy at the time who offered to host the party at his apartment.  Each of us brought a cookie ingredient (flour, sugar, eggs) and a recipe for batch of cookies.  The plan was to make a huge batch of cookies which we would all share.  One friend who was a bartender thought it would be fun to mix up a couple of pitchers of Blue Hawaiians to liven things up a little.

Well it didn't take long for my friends and I to realize that we really hadn't thought through the logistics of our cookie baking activity.  A small apartment, multiple batches of cookies, one oven, limited counter space, and a large batch of Blue Hawaiians were not exactly the ingredients for success.  We were quickly overwhelmed by dirty dishes, empty cookie sheets, full cookie sheets, cookie dough, and all of the already baked cookies.  There were cookies everywhere--cookies on the counters, cookies on the table, cookies on top of the refrigerator!  To put it in perspective think Lucy and Ethel in the candy factory with peanut butter blossoms instead of bonbons.

As the evening wore on my friends and I were getting desperate (plus I suspect the Blue Hawaiians were starting to kick in).  What to do, what to do?  An idea!  Why couldn't we rest some of the hot cookies still on cookie sheets on a window sill to cool?  They would be out of the way and cool off at the same time.  Did I mention my boyfriend's apartment was in a three-decker?  Yep, you guessed it.  The cookies fell out the window.  I don't remember how many flights.  Let's just say the cookie incident kind of foreshadowed my relationship with the boyfriend (which was also out the window) a few weeks later.

Christmas 2010, Or You'll Shoot Your Eye Out Kid

My husband and son LOVE cranberry sauce.  So do I, so every year I make home-made cranberry-orange relish.  My son is somewhat spoiled and won't eat the stuff from the can which is fine with me.  I'm always looking for ways to remove high fructose corn syrup from our diets.  I'm happy to make my own which only contains three simple ingredients--cranberries, oranges, and sugar.  How can you go wrong with only three ingredients?

I've come to think of kitchen appliances as power tools for the kitchen.  A food processor is not for the faint of heart.  I hadn't really thought too much about it until last year's mishap.  I pulled out my food processor (which I rarely use I might add) put the cranberries in, put the cover on, and turned the power on.  Unfortunately I forgot one thing.  You know that cap that goes over the little tube you feed stuff into?  I forgot to put that on.  Oops. The result--a rapid-fire cranberry machine gun shooting cranberries all over the kitchen!  My cranberries could have given Ralphie's Red Ryder BB Gun a run for it's money any day.

Thanksgiving 1989, Or More Problems With Poultry

Now, Gentle Reader, I know you are asking, "So what happened with the turkey?"  I kind of alluded to what I have come to think of as "the unfortunate flaming turkey incident" at the end of my duck story.  To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what happened other than the turkey was really big and Mom was using one of those cooking bags again.  Clearly we learned nothing from the exploding duck episode.  All I know is Mom opened the oven door, and flames shot out!  Still being the nervous type, I went for the kitchen fire extinguisher, again.  Mom, still not being the nervous type, told me to put away the fire extinguisher, again. She closed the oven door, and the flames went out.  After the fire was out Mom said in a calm voice, "Once you cut off the oxygen the fire will go out."  Good to know.  The turkey was fine, but I wasn't doing so well, again.  And yes, we did have that turkey for dinner.

Do you have a Christmas tale of culinary chaos? A souffle that flopped? A fondue that didn't?  Do you fear Christmas Dinner Yet to Come?  Feel free to leave a comment. After all, misery loves company.  Now I'm off to Home Depot to buy safety goggles.  I need to make cranberry sauce...

God Bless Us, Everyone


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