From the category archives:

Heritage Stories

Bierocks: From Germany to Russia to Ellis County

May 4, 2011

By Brett Ziegler Both sides of the Ziegler family originated from Southwest Germany along the France border near the Shine River. Both immigrated to Russia to have better lives. My great grandpa, Theodore Ziegler, came to the states from Odessa, Russia, when he was 17 years old. They sailed on ships to New York and [...]

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How my family lost its Lithuanian food heritage

May 4, 2011

By Kelly Leonard Pregnant and desperate to provide a better life for her unborn child, my great-great grandmother, Monica Adomenas, boarded a ship in Lithuania in the early 1900s.  Like many immigrants at that time, she was headed for the shores of America that beckoned with the opportunity of a chance for a life that [...]

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Eggplant casserole: Grandmother,78, still rules the kitchen

May 4, 2011

By Jessica Mayfield At 78 years old my grandmother Betty Byers is still cooking up a storm in the kitchen.  Grandma learned most of what she knows from her Aunt Iva.  “She was the best cook in the world, and I wanted to be exactly like her,” Grandma says.  This is what first sparked her [...]

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Lessons from Grandma: Kneading, tradition and love

May 3, 2011

By Kelley Nelson My tiny fists beat furiously on the dough like a punching bag. In response, the dough gave a satisfying burp, signaling I had been successful in releasing a dreaded air bubble. My grandmother, Dorothy Ann Bowers, reached her knotted hands, folded the dough on itself and began the process again. I was [...]

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Recipe: Grandma served baked beans on Sundays

May 10, 2010

By Michele Espinosa According to my Aunt Lorrie Gauthier, my grandmother Flore Gauthier grew up on a farm near Durango, Colo. Her parents moved there in the 1880s from Boston. Gauthier and her mom used peeled chicken feet for soup. They made blood sausage and head cheese from pigs they raised. One of her indulgences [...]

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Recipe: Grandma’s Chicken and Dumplings

May 10, 2010

By Sharika Jones Grandma (Vira) and Grandpa (Irving) Paschal had their own mini farm in Wichita. When it was time to make chicken and dumplings, Grandma would send the children to catch a chicken. They would return into the house and pluck all of the feathers off, cut the head off, and clean it. After [...]

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Borscht: Omi took a taste of home to America

May 7, 2010

By Rachel Semjenow When Gary Semjenow opened a Christmas gift containing a shirt that read “Powered by Halupsie,” memories of his Omi cooking flooded his mind. Though at home during childhood his plate would be filled with meat and potatoes, going to Omi’s meant borscht or halupsie (cabbage rolls). Around 1946, “Papa George” Semjenow, Gary’s [...]

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