Tradition

My rings and my Babci's rings

My parents recently moved closer to us, so they are now two and a half hours away instead of six and a half! That definitely has its perks... especially since my grandparents are visiting. I haven't seen my Babci and Poppy since our last trip to New Jersey which was Memorial Day 2014 for my best friend's wedding. Too long. My Poppy is 93 and my Babci is now 90. I am so so blessed to have them around still and I hate that our visits are so infrequent. I call them every week at least. So my mom and dad recently decided to bring them down for an extended visit and I made sure the first weekend I did not have work we drove up there.

For years my Babci and I tried to plan a time for me to learn how to make pierogies from scratch, and this past weekend it finally happened! Ryan and I drove up Friday night. Saturday morning he and my dad went kayaking and fishing while three generations of women (and a Dup) took over the kitchen for pierogie making. My mom knows for the most part how to do it, so she was like our sous chef, while Babci taught me. There was no measuring cups or spoons... everything is done by eye and by feel. It may take me a few times on my own to get it right, but at least now I know. And I have this entry to coincide with this amazing memory.

First we started the mashed potatoes. I thought we'd have all these nice pictures, but my mom added her own touch. I know how to make mashed potatoes regularly, but instead of using milk for them we used sour cream. Next came the dough.

We started with about five cups or so of flour added an egg, then half a container of sour cream. It was worked by hand and feel. We also added milk and a bit more sour cream to make the feel just right. The dough then got worked and kneaded. My Babci showed me how with quick efficient movements that I then got to try. My forearms hurt after a few minutes but six or seven decades of doing this barely caused her to blink. I am a wimp!

After we worked the dough we let it rest for at least ten minutes under a glass bowl. This helps it rest and form and the bowl keeps the dough moist. It will stay under the dough the entire time, we cut pieces off to work it as we go.

While the dough rested we finished mashing the potatoes and added them to a separate bowl. This will be our filling. After the ten minutes or so were up we cut a small piece of the dough off the larger lump. A cutting board was floured to be our new work surface. At home my Babci has a giant wooden board that takes up basically the entire kitchen table that was once her mother's... you use what you have! Add some flour to the board to keep the dough from sticking and also on your hands. We then worked the dough in to a long snake and used a knife to cut smaller sections. Those small pieces were rolled into a ball in our hands then flattened onto the board. We then took a rolling pin and flattened the dough pieces. A few short rolls is all it takes, no vigorous quick back and forths, just make sure the dough is even all the way around. Then you pick it up in your hand and add a spoonful of mashed potatoes and make a sort of taco shape.

Using your fingers you mold and shape the dough around the potatoes so you can crimp the edges closed. This part was hard for me to get but by the end I was much better! Some of my pierogies were very stuffed, some not enough. Babci called one or two "hot dogs" and "pregnant". But she was a very good teacher! Much better than we she tried to show me how to knit/crochet and took one look at my work and said, "Oh honey, forget it. That is pretty awful. I'd just quit while you're ahead!"

But I got better! We made dozens and dozens of pierogies and by the end I was making them on my own. It is important to seal them well or when you boil the pierogies they can break open and give you potato soup. I used a fork to crimp the edges of my pierogies to ensure an extra seal. I am proud to say none of mine burst open! You put the pierogies in boiling water and once they float to the top they are ready. You can eat them then or do what we do... fry them in a pan with butter and onions! YUM. Dup Dup was on hand the entire time, keeping an eye on things. She may have been given a little bit of mashed potatoes for her effort. We placed our boiled pierogies in a long glass baking dish with saran wrap between the layers and fried them later in the evening. You can refrigerate them or even bag them up and freeze them for later (like we did to the three dozen or so I took home for a special occasion. So now I know. And I will make my own pierogies and hopefully pass that down to my own children someday.

I also learned how to make one of my favorite Babci recipes, string bean soup, which is pictured above... but I think I will keep that for a separate post. It is absolutely delicious!

I loved being able to see my Babci and my Poppy. Poppy is a lot weaker now. He needs a walker to go anywhere and spends most of his time on the couch. He watches a lot of tv, sneaks candy when no one is looking, and has his good days and his bad days. Most of our visit was great for him, I think having Ryan and I, then later on my brother Stefan and his friend Kenan, made a huge difference. When more people are around he does better. I was nervous about the Dup with Babci and Poppy, I didn't want her knocking them down! She hadn't seen them since she was six months old or so, Easter of 2012, which is the left picture above. The right picture is this weekend and you can see not much has changed. She was Poppy's buddy and loved to sit with him and get pet. Same with Babci. As excitable as she can be she did so well and it was never once an issue. I am proud of my little Duppy! We got Poppy to eat at the table with us all the meals and he even left the house to go to church with us.

My parents' house is surrounded by cotton fields and they harvested while we were there. It was pretty neat to see the giant machines going by and making huge rectangular pallets on the sides of the road.

Ryan and I also took Dup Dup on long walks through the neighborhood and saw some gorgeous sunsets over the river. Nights were getting cooler and sweaters were worn under borrowed jackets, but it was worth it.

This... this though was the most important thing. Time with my family. Time with my Babci and my Poppy. This was the first time in years and years my husband, brother, parents and grandparents were all together. The last few visits were either just Ryan and I, or my mom and I... but we all got some time together this weekend.

I hate saying goodbye to them. I always cry when I do... I have every time since I went to college basically. I know I am getting older and by default, so are they. But these moments are ones I cherish so so much. I am so blessed my family is close enough for me to visit and that we can make things like this happen.

My dad hates pictures and is rarely ever in them, but he was there too. Over in the office reading a new history book of some sort as soon as the cameras and phones came out... but we were all there.

Pierogies and family. You cannot get much better than that.

Weekend with Stefan

This past weekend my little brother Stefan came for one more visit before he leaves for college next week. Now that my parents no longer live in Western North Carolina, they are actually much closer, about two and a half hours north of us on the coast. So Stef had a much easier drive than normal! He came down Thursday and although Ryan and I had to work Friday he was quite productive, mowing our lawn and weeding our front walkway. I was pretty thankful! Two less things I have to do! We had some Buffalo Wild Wings one night, the boys' favorite, and sushi the next night... so I got a break from cooking too. Bliss.

 

We spent Saturday at the beach even though we were a little aprehensive about the weather. It looked gray and stormy at home but on the beach it had clear and cloudy moments. It was warm and we never once got rained on, and we were there for many hours!

 

 

The boys swam and used the skim board while I relaxed with a good book or two. We all found shark teeth too. I did have an awful stomach attack while they went for a walk, but it was mostly over by the time they returned. Normally my stomach attacks only happen in the morningbut lately I've been lucky and had them in the afternoon and evening too. Joy. I have another doctor appoitnment in the works, two weeks away since that was the Naval Hospital's next available appointment. Sigh.

It was cloudy at points and looked gorgeous.

After the beach we just hung out at the house and enjoyed each other's company, playing poker and rummy until Ryan had to go to sleep since he is still in cycle.

Dup loves her uncle Stefan, as she gets to sleep in the guest bed with him whenever he comes over. He is obviously also one of her favorite people in the world because if you even mention his name she gets pretty darn excited. It is kind of adorable.

 

When Stefan left it broke my heart a little. How is my little buddy going to college?! His school is six and a half hours away, back out in Western NC where they used to live, so I won't be seeing him too often. I remember going off to college like it was yesterday, but I cannot believe that was ten years ago. Goodness. I was glad for the visit and I know he is going to knock em dead at Mars Hill.

 

Stefan's Visit

Last week my 'baby' brother Stefan was on Spring Break and he asked if he could come spend it with us. Of course we said yes and the day after Easter he arrived for the week. I was pretty excited! Even though we are about a decade apart Stefan is most definitely my buddy, especially as he has gotten older. Sadly, Ryan and I both had work, but our evenings and free time were well spent! As soon as Stefan arrived he and Ryan fired up the grill and got their man status established. We had a nice dinner and took Rylie for a walk (which made her absolutely ecstatic... I think Stefan is one of her favorite people in the world!)

 

Ryan was actually on the rifle range all week so he had some very early mornings, but on the plus side he was home early enough in the afternoon to take Stefan out some places and have me meet them later. One day we went to the beach on base and got to see a pretty neat training exercise. Stefan was pretty stoked about it! The beach was a bit windy and cool both times we went, but the guys still did some skim boarding and had a blast.

 

I am so glad Ryan and Stefan get along. These two are like frick and frack... Stefan has even sort of adopted Ryan's sense of style. My brother has had the high and tight hair cut since we got married and he wanted to blend in with the other groomsmen, and the sperries and cargoes are definitely a staple of my husband's that Stefan borrowed! I think it is adorable. My amazing little brother also took it upon himself to weed and edge our yard and clean out our garage to say thanks for feeding him for a week!

I was actually off work on Friday so Stefan and I went on base to see the Budweiser Clydesdales. It was hot and sunny and we both got a little sunburned, but we both had a good time. Those horses are huge! Plus they had the dalmation (and a dalmation puppy in training!) along for the ride. It was a lot of standing around and waiting for them to arrive and get harnessed up and then they did a lap around the exchange parking lot. After the passed us we dashed out of there to avoid traffic and we stopped by the library so he could see where I worked.

 

Saturday I had to work but the guys had a good day together. After I got off of work we went bowling on base and ended up playing about five games in a row! We had a lot of fun together.

 

Proof I actually WON a game!!! I am the 94 (: and yes we know we are awful

I also used the opportunity to take some rare pictures of me and some of my favorite guys...

 

This is my new screensaver on my phone... I adore it!

Then somehow Stefan stole my phone and was messing with it. He told me to smile for a picture but then I quickly realized he was just holding down the button and taking picture after picture after picture! I think he took about eighty in a row! Below you can see the exact moment I realized it too...

Stefan left Sunday morning after I left for work and drove the long six and half hours back to Westen North Carolina. I am going to miss my buddy when he goes off to college this fall all the way in Vermont! He finally decided on Norwich University (or as Ryan likes to call it, "The North's version of the Citadel") and will be attending as a cadet this fall. I am ridiculously proud of my kid brother, if you can't tell! Thanks for the visit Stef, I will see you at your HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION in two months!!!

Easter

Like most of our holidays lately, Ryan and I had a quiet Easter at home. Even though Ryan was not in cycle, he was naturally on the range, so travelling with our work schedules wasn't really an option. I am still trying to earn back leave time from my surgery in January! Bein sick has not been my friend. As you may remember, recently I wrote I mentioned I was getting an endoscopy done. Fortunately my biopsies were all negative, no bacteria or cancer or anything like that. I did have some gastritis and duodenitis as well as some severe bile reflux. Not acid, bile. Ugh. So I am on a new medication that I have to take three times a day to see if it helps prevent my attacks and general nausea. Naturally a side effect of the medicine is nausea, so I have had some yucky moments again, but I am trying to go a few weeks to see if it truly helps. No idea what my options are beyond this though!

 

Anyway, Easter. I went to Holy Thursday mass at the church on base by myself (as Ryan is Baptist this is a normal thing for us! The Triduum is pretty uber Catholic). Good Friday I sadly had to work and could not attend mass. Ryan and I went out for seafood that evening and ended up having some really good conversations. Saturday we scrambled like crazy to get things done so Easter Sunday we wouldn't have to do chores. We cleaned the house top to bottom, discovered a leak under our kitchen sink and repaired it, did laundry and grocery shopping all in time for the Easter Vigil mass that evening. The vigil is hands down my favorite mass of the year. Yes, it is long mass and my husband is a saint for putting up with me to go! We had seven people baptised, four convert from other branches of Christianity and a total of thirteen people confirmed. I am always teary during that part! It is a beautiful thing.

 

We got home that evening and made our pisanki. Ryan is getting to be quite good aafter being with me all these years! His are on the left and mine are on the right.

 

Our pisanki/pisanky (depending on your spelling!)

We were up pretty late but still didn't sleep in too much Easter Sunday. We had a nice lazy day of watching movies and opening the Easter basket my mom sent us. After awhile it got too lazy for Ryan and we decided to go out and play tennis. It was my first time doing anything particularly strenuous (aside from hiking or walking the dog) since I got sick back in October. I did alright but man am I out of shape! After a few hours we came home and I made the pierogies I had been saving for a special occassion. They have sat in the freezer from our last trip to New Jersey and are the made from scratch pierogies my Babci made.... so they are uber special! We had that with her babka bread that I also unfroze as well as a ring of kielbasa Ryan grilled for us.

 

Our neighbors also shared a special Easter treat with us. He found some baby bunnies abandoned on his job site and did not want to leave them. They all waited for the mother to come back but there was no sign of her. He brought them home for the evening and they decided to feed them and care for them for the evening until they could bring them to a wildlife shelter the next day. What that meant for us was that we were able to cuddle some furry little baby bunnies who had barely opened their eyes!

 

They were so cute and tiny and they made the tiniest little jumps. They had four of them total and I loved being able to snuggle them, even though it was pretty brief. A friend of mine recommended a good place to take them and the next day our neighbors dropped them off.

 

Monday we went back to work but that evening my brother came to visit us for our Spring Break! The Dup is in heaven, Uncle Stefan is her best buddy, and I am pretty psyched my baby brother is here for the week. Even though I work during the day we have been having some pretty awesome adventures at night and I hope we can get a beach day in before he goes. I hope you all had a Happy Easter and warmer weather is officially headed your way.

Memorial Day 2013

This year my Poppy was honored to be named the Grand Marshall in our hometown parade. At 90 years old I could not think of a more deserving man for the job and he was so wonderfully humble the entire time. Ryan and I drove up the Friday before the parade to surprise my grandparents and the next day my mom, dad and brother arrived also a surprise. I had not been home since last July so this was so desperately needed for me. I loved spending the time with my family and of course seeing my Poppy get a well deserved honor.

Saturday one of my cousin's had a high school graduation party so we got to see our entire New Jersey family and we had a great time.

Sunday was parade day. We got up and went to Church, Poppy in uniform in the choir, where he was acknowledged by the priest and congregation... so touching. Then we all ran around while they got ready for the parade itself. It was COLD in New Jersey, especially compared to my wimpy used to eastern North Carolina self, but Sunday was at least sunny. It was windy and it warmed up to the 60s (unlike the 40s and 50s the days prior) so I got to wear my red white and blue dress. Most of us went early to stake out good seats on the parade route... but we didn't realize there was a ceremony berfore the parade for Poppy. None of us knew! My Dad and Aunt happened to be there because they were dropping stuff off for Poppy and just stuck around.

My brother is in JROTC and wore his uniform for the event (so cute) and Poppy insisted he ride in the car with him!




Poppy, Babci and Stefan at the ceremony in the park.



I love this so so much.

I had a video of the parade with Poppy riding by but it won't load. I'll try later!

This is my cousin, aunt, great aunt and mom waiting for the parade to start. We decked out in leis and fun necklaces especially for it too!

Ryan was even willing to post for a picture with me! Shocking when that happens ;) My husband is so anti picture sometimes I want to kick him in the shins :P Luckily I love him so much. I just annoy the hell out of him until he cooperates most times!

My cousin then stole my camera and ran across the street to take some pictures of all of us before the parade arrived. My dad and other aunt made it back by this time so we had quite the nice cheering section. By the way, the chairs we are sitting on (we being my dad, Ryan, me, and my aunt) I think are older than me and nearly fell apart as we sat on them!

Then the parade started. Another vet offered to drive Poppy in his snazzy open top convertible. Poor Poppy is getting small in his old age so you couldn't see him too well!

My mom, cousin Jill, Ryan and I post parade. For me holding the camera out at arm's length it came out really nice!
 

We followed the convertible to grab Poppy to take him to the post parade free hot dogs. Ryan assisted.

He is so snazzy in uniform. I have seen this my entire life and I still am overwhelmed with pride when I see my grandfather in his dress blues. (Of course when I see Ryan in his too!)

After the hot dogs we ran back to the house to give Poppy a quick nap before running back out to the dinner. The dinner was nice and we showed up late... oops. Poppy needed a quick nap! But we were spread around at a few different tables (guest of honor or not!) and Ryan and I were asked to sit with Poppy and Babci at their table.

Multiple people came up to Poppy to congratulate him and even more gave speeches, including the mayor (who apparently is friends with my Mom from waaaay back in the day)!

My grandfather is quite humble and you can see in the picture below he actually teared up during one of the speeches when he received a standing ovation. Be as humble as you want Pop, no one deserves it more than you.

He then gave a quick speech of his own where he was sure to talk about the true importance of Memorial Day. How he was lucky to make it home and how so many didn't, how he remembers the faces of all the men he served with who did not make it back, even now almost seventy years later.

I was bursting with pride all day. I am so honored to be his granddaughter. I am fortunate to have a World War II veteran in my family, that he is still going strong at 90, that he helped raise me, and that I could be there for this amazing occassion.

Thank you for sharing this incredible day with us Poppy. Hopefully we can get back to New Jersey to see him again soon. Love you!