Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Bound for Mom ~ The Roadside Cafe ~Mom's Cooking

The Bound for Mom blogging mini-series Carnival, hosted by geneabloggers.

The theme? The Roadside CafĂ©: “Was your Mom a great or inventive cook? Or perhaps cooking wasn’t her forte. No matter, gather up tales of food in your family and how Mom turned out great meals . . . or how she was an expert at dinner reservations!”

My Mom is an amazing cook…I have wonderful memories of many traditional German meals.

I grew up eating Mom’s German Pancakes, they are to die for, my daughter and grandchildren are hooked too! . Rarely do I eat them now as an adult, even though my Mom only lives about and hour and a half away from me. We get together mostly on holidays and birthday’s but whenever we do, she is expected to make her German Pancakes and there we are all sitting there with fork in hand starring at her!

They are extremely fattening, but you don’t care, you just keep eating them. They are as thin as a crepe, just add your favorite topping (sugar, jam or whipped topping) as you like. I always sprinkled sugar on them, rolled them like a burrito and they would disappear in seconds! Frequently we would devour no less the 3 in one sitting.

My husband likes to place a thin layer of jam with whipped topping in the center, roll them up and then destroy them and the kids all drown them with just lots of sugar. It’s a tradition whenever we spend the night at her home and especially on Christmas morning! She just knows how to make them perfectly.

Holiday dinner is always a roast, most of the time a pork roast with homemade potato balls. She uses a ricer and forms the balls and then boils them. Her gravy is second to none and over the potato balls is so incredible. She also makes a mean Sauerkraut with the traditional applesauce on the side.

Next to the German Pancakes, my all time childhood favorite is her Marble pound cake made from scratch! I only wish she could make you all one, so that you could taste what I mean! I have tried making it myself, but… it’s just not the same. She has no written recipe, she just knows, she estimates the ingredients and it comes out perfect. Getting it into a recipe form would be difficult because she measures by weighing the ingredients in German and I don’t read German. I have told her repeatedly that we need to get the recipe on paper so that we are able to pass it on to our descendants (of course my reasons are a little selfish, I want to be able to make it and enjoy it when I want too!).


My Oma, (that’s “grandmother” in German) is my mom’s mother, she is also an awesome cook and obviously my mom learned from her. She would always make me chocolate bread with Peppermint Tea on the side, occasionally sneaking me some Peppermint Schnapps and told me, “It’s a good way to settle your tummy”.

My Mom worked full time and then some, but loved to put dinners together in our home for our friends and family. I don’t have a clue how she did it so cool and calmly! The meals were delicious and the presentation was incredible. To this day she puts on Teas, dinners, luncheons and brunches enjoying each and every minute of it. It’s what she loves to do…she was Martha Stewart before Martha Stewart.

There are a ton of verbal recipes and meals I could write about, but the bottom line is that my mom is a wonderful cook and my memories of her in the kitchen baking and teaching me are extraordinary. Cooking was a big family tradition, a part of her and her love for us. I feel very fortunate that I was a part of her and for those memories she provided me and hopefully I can carry on with some of those traditions. The German Pancakes and sauerkraut I now have down to a science!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Bound for Mom Carnival ~ My Mom’s Firsts’~

the Bound for Mom blogging mini-series Carnival, hosted by geneabloggers.


The Vehicle: a blog carnival consisting of a mini-series of posts over a four-week period based on stories about your mother (or your grandmother or another female ancestor) gathered from family members.

March 25th – A Journey of Firsts: Moms go far and along the way there are so many “firsts” such as first date, first love, first home, first child, and more.


This is my first Carnival...

My Mom’s Firsts’~

My Mom is a woman of many firsts, some easy some very difficult. I will start from the beginning:

My Mom was born and raised in Augsburg, Germany. When my Mom was 18 years old, she met my natural father John Adam Eimes, who was in the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany. After 3 years of their relationship, when I was six months old, my Mom and my natural father parted ways; this would be her first devastating heartbreak.

Several years passed when my Mom met John, who later became my Stepfather. He too was in the U.S. Army and soon after they had wed he had received new orders. He was to be stationed with the 5thInfantry Division to Monterey, California USA, I was then about 2 ½ years old. This would be an enormous first for my Mom, leaving her family and home in Germany for the first time ever and beginning a journey to the United States, with many firsts to follow.

My Mom and stepfather with me in tow boarded a train and left Augsburg, Germany bound for Bremerhaven, Germany. Bremerhaven is a port in Germany where many left their homes from and sailed to many other parts of the country to start a new life.

Bremerhaven is on the opposite end of Germany from Augsburg and requires an 18 hour train ride to get there. When we arrived there we first had to go thru a medical check to be sure that we were healthy and well enough to board the ship for travel. I was sick with a common cold and a high fever. Due to my illness we were forced to stay in a hotel near by for a few days. According to my Mom we almost missed our ship!

On the day our ship was leaving fortunately I was well enough to travel and we were able to board our ship, ‘The General Maurice Rose’. After traveling on the ship for 9 days we arrived in Brooklyn, New York and stayed with my Mom’s cousin for 3 days. We then boarded yet another train and headed to Monterey, California where we located housing and lived for several years. Eventually we moved to San Jose, California where I grew up. Then when I was about 13, my Mom and my Stepfather divorced.

My Mom became a naturalized United States Citizen. Her belief is that if you live in the United States that you walk and talk as an American. We both became Americanized very quickly; she still has some of her German accent though.

My Mom went to work for ‘Montgomery-Wards’, which was her first job in the United States. She started out as a sales girl in the Woman’s Fashion Dept. Later she went on to be the first woman to become a District Merchandise Manager in the history of ‘Montgomery-Ward’s’. She continued to climb the ladder to a Corporate Regional Executive Manager’s position and was very successful up to her retirement 35 years later.

Mom was single, confident and self sufficient for 30 years and then 9 years ago met the love of her life and married him…she is living happily ever after and enjoying life to the fullest. Mom is an incredible woman with a wonderful and a wise soul…she has had a lot of firsts and is an inspiration to me, our family and many others.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Happy Birthday to my Mom, March 21st

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM, THIS IS FOR YOU...
Your birthday is really my celebration...because your life has made such a difference...
Originial Photo owned by E. Haf, held by Gini (address for private use,) San Diego, CA
This photo is of my beautiful Mom and was taken in 1968 in Monterey, California.
This was a photo shot for the Canary Row Historical Magazine which was featuring 'The Bear Flag Inn' where she was employed at the time.
This has always been my very favorite photo of my Mom and I have treasured it for years. I am very blessed that my Mom and I are very close and she has truly made a difference in my life. She has taught me love, kindness, patience, forgiveness and is my best friend...I love you Mom and a Happy Day to you.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Tombstone Tuesday ~ James P. Ewing

Digital Photo Owned and held by Bob Ewing (address for privte use,) posting and use with full permission.

My daughter's paternal Irish Grandfather...
IN MEMORY OF
JAMES P
EWING
STSC
US NAVY
WORLD WAR II
KOREA
VIETNAM
MARCH 14, 1917
JULY 9, 1982
Buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery
San Diego, CA



Thank you Bob and to you Dad Ewing Happy St. Patricks Day!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Wordless Wednesday ~ The Tabeling Sisters

Original Photo held by Virginia (Eimes) Behr and I received a copy from Dawn Inman
Photo dated: May 1955

My Aunt Virginia, Inez's daughter, stated that the names are printed incorrectly at the bottom of the photo, this is the correct names starting from the left.

My Great Aunts: Gladys, Oletha, Viola, Inez (my Grandmother) and Great Aunt Josephine.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Adalbert Haf


Adalbert Haf

b: 27 Feb 1907 Augsburg, Germany

d: 09 Feb 1968 Augsburg, Germany

Adalbert Haf ~ My maternal Grandfather. He is buried in Augsburg, Germany. The sad part is that in Germany, grave site space is limited. My Mom explained to me that you basically "rent" grave sites. My Oma, (grandmother in German) paid for his grave site in 20 year increments. She is 95 years old and cannot keep up the grave so she had to let it go! She is in a home there. I was born in Augsburg, Germany and came here when I was 2 1/2. My Opa and I were pretty close and he had a hard time when my Mom and I left. Below is his Obituary...I do not read German (yes sad I know) so I am unable to translate!




My son-in-law Jonathan matted and framed this photo of my "Opa" Adalbert Haf with his Memorial Card, I love the way it turned out. I have it hanging in my hallway "gallery of family photos". My "Opa" was a Webermeister which is a Fabric Weaver or also known as a Jauuard Designer in Augsburg, Germany, a historic city for weavers. The Company he worked for was 'Buntweberei Reidinger'.

I love his smile! Here's to you Opa!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Tombstone Tuesday~ Old "Old St. Mary of the Woods" Cemetery



This is the Old "Old St. Mary of the Woods" Cemetery in McQuady, Kentucky, my Great Great Grandparents John Henry and Augusta (Oelze) Tabeling are buried. It took a little bit to get there. The cemetery sits back behind the trees you see in the back ground, you cannot see it from the very narrow one lane road. You park at the bottom of the hill and walk up. The church I guess use to sit on this site. The new "old" church is about 3 miles away, and was built in the 1800's. The new "Old St. Mary of the Woods"
Cemetery is right across the street with several
more of my ancestors buried there.

We drove about an hour and a half from my Aunt's home in Louisville to McQuady. I had been communicating with Sister Mary Agnes via email. She said that when we arrived at the church she would jump in our rental van and take us over to the cemetery, she did just that and off we went, she was so helpful and sweet. She also gave us a tour of the church and I felt that I was standing in the same place as my ancestors. It is a beautiful little church.

I will post more about the church and it's history in another post, many of my Tabeling Ancestors were regular parishioners and from what I understand help build the church along with the McQuady Community. I have not verified that but that was what I was told.
Digital Photos owned and held by Gini (address for private use)