Cook Book of German Heritage.

This holiday season, I've produced a PDF of my Aunt Esther Chalmers 1983 family cookbook.

It is filled with recipes my great-grandmother and my grandmother fixed for their families on the homestead North Dakota prairie.

This cooking is from the "old country"...Germans from Russia brought these dishes to their new lives in the new world.

Click Here...and enjoy.

Poem - A Christmas Prayer of a Modern Magi Wannabee

A Christmas Prayer of a Modern Magi Wannabe

O. Kris Widmer

Idea: December 16, 2017 – During the Pastoral Prayer at a Seventh-day Adventist Church

Released:  December 19, 2017 – Written Out During Devotional Time with God

Divine/Human Savior,

God with us,

Word made flesh,

Risen and Ascended Christ,

Bethlehem’s Baby;

I come to You not as a wise one,

but as one who has been foolish;

foolish for much too long.

I do not bring gold.

I bring You my gilded reputation,

                  Which is solid paper mache, covered in 14-caret gold leaf.

                  (I did it myself, it took me years of work in my community.)

                  Most people like it; they think it is shiny.  What do they know!

                  I know it is completely hollow.

I bring You the golden moments of my past,

                  Produced by my super ego. 

                  At least I thought they were golden.

                  There are large holes now.

                  And a strange, pale patina.

I am sorry for this pittance.

Forgive me.

I do not bring frankincense.

I bring You francs.

                  Many countries still mint them every day.

                  These are from Rwanda and France,

                  Both places I have been.

                  I regret the current currency fluctuation and devaluation.

I bring You my frankness.

                  I have deceived myself saying - “I’m just keepin’ it real.”

                  With candor, I have been outspokenly blunt.

                  I have not been part of the ministry of reconciliation,

                  Pretending to speak Your verdicts;

                  With spiritual and spirited words, I have rendered MY judgments,

                  And rended[1] other’s hearts in the process.

I am sorry for this pittance.

Forgive me.

I do not bring myrrh.

I bring You merchandise.

                  I have lots of it.

                  It was bought on Cyber Monday and shipped for free.

                  I bought one for Aunt Ellen and one for myself.

                  I thought the size of the pile would make us happy for a while.

                  It didn’t.

                  I bring You my murmuring.

                                    “Where is the promise of His coming!”

                                    “The church is not for everyone.”

                                    “

                                    “The preacher’s voice sounds like Donald Trump…long S sounds - Ssssss.”

                                    “Solicitude? Huh?

                                                      We need a modern language version of Ellen White!”

                                    I stand condemned for my condemnations.

I am sorry for this pittance.

Forgive me.

I am no wise man or wise woman.

I am a fool.

                  Forgive Me.

I am unworthy of your great gifts in return:

                  The grace grant of your golden streets,

                  The fellowship of being your family,

                  The mirth of receiving your mercy.

All I can do is,

                  with head bowed

                  and from my knees,

                  mumble my appreciations.

                 

                  Amen

---

[1] rend: verb.   tear, split, slash, shred, rip

Strudel or Strudla Recipe

During the year end holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas, our family makes the traditional German Strudels.  I've been searching the internet for versions of this treat.  Once I weed through all the "Apple Strudel" postings...I've found several variants on the dough for the "savory" strudel I remember from my grandmother.

My grandma was the oldest of 13 children that came to the USA from the German enclaves of South Russia.  This dish is eaten by the Germans from that region.

First...Here is her recipe...with our current modifications to how we prepare it.
At the bottom of this post, I'll post several different versions of the dough recipe.

Strudel or Strudla

From The Josephine Widmer / Esther Chalmers Book
Katharina Ammon as Told to Maggie Ammon
Modified by O. Kris and Debbie Widmer, as we prepare it today.

Our Family’s Vegetarian / No Potato Version

3 Eggs
2 Cups Cold Water
“Pinch of Salt”
Enough white flour to make a “quite soft” dough

(Double it for holiday meals: 1 cup of flour per person)
(I’ve seen so many variations on the dough via internet searches, I don’t think it really matters.  Any “egg noodle dough” will likely turn out fine.)

Roll out on a table, but not too thin.
Put oil all over on dough
Let dough rest – ½ hour at least
            While waiting…Boil some strongly salted water – 2 cups
Stretch Dough Very Thin
Stretch out – Cover the whole table… no holes.
            (2017: We now do this in 4 stretchings.)
Roll up onto table.
Cut into lengths – 4’’
Put some oil in a fry pan
            (2017: We like the electric skillets of today)
            (We like putting in ½ an onion or so, sliced fine. 
            They cook and disappear into flavor)
Lay strudels in pan
            Pour in boiling salted water
Boil strudels immediately and keep covered.
When all the water has boiled off, and strudels start to sizzle.
            Uncover, turn over and let them fry and dry out.

Our Serving Suggestions
     Sauerkraut,  Dill Coleslaw (See Next), Boiled Potatoes (prepared separately), Protein of Choice

Our “German” Dill Coleslaw – O. Kris and Debbie Widmer

Cabbage – One Head:  Chopped very fine.
Tomatoes – 2-4 Diced fine (We use Roma Tomatoes) – For Color
            Make ahead:  Put in cabbage in a bowl (with lid) and lay tomatoes on top.
            Make up dressing in a separate bowl, put on lid
            Mix dressing in to cabbage/tomatoes5-10 minutes before serving.

Dressing:  Make it up ahead…or add ingredients as you go.

Dill Weed – Fresh or Dry – Add as much as you want!
½ tsp salt.  (This is NOT a sweet coleslaw)
1 tsp salt
Lemon Juice – Add as much as you want
Mayonnaise – Start with a glob…and add more as needed.
Mix until you feel it is a proper salad.

Enjoy.

Strudel Dough Variations 

(Sorry...I'm only able to give credit to the last one...that is reposted in it's entirety...ingredients and process.  You can double or triple the quantities as needed.)

One

1 package yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar1 1/2 teaspoon salt1 1/2 c. water3 eggs (beaten)5 1/4 cups flour
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar 
2 eggs
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast 
1 package yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 c. water
3 eggs (beaten)
5 1/4 cups flour

Two

1 1/2 cups warm milk (around 100-110 degrees)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons yeast
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
5-6 cups flour (I used 5 1/2 cups)
3-4 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large onion, diced
Water and Crisco for frying

Three

2 cups lukewarm water

Four

4 cups flour, 
1 egg, 
1 teaspoon salt, 
1 teaspoon baking powder, 
1 1/4 cups warm water 

Five

1 cup water,   1 egg,  1 tsp salt,  3 cups flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder 

(Strudel for one?)

Six

2 c   flour

2   eggs

1/2 tsp   salt

1 tsp   baking powder

1/4 c   water, or more to make a soft dough

Seven

 6 cups flour

 6 eggs

 1/8 cup salt

 1 1/2 cups warm water

 1/4 cup flour 

Eight  and Last One

Strudels for Dummies – Carolyn Schott

(Start process about 4 hours before serving time.)

With strudels as your main course for heavy-duty strudel-eaters, I usually estimate about 1 cup of flour per person. So this recipe serves about 3. If you’re having other dishes, or you’re more “average” strudel consumers, you would adjust accordingly.

Ingredients:

·       3 cups flour

·       2 eggs

·       2/3 cups warm water (I usually end up adding a little more water to make the dough the right consistency)

·       1/8 teaspoon salt

·       1 teaspoon baking powder

·       Oil

·       Potatoes, cut into large chunks.

·       Chopped onions (to cook with the potatoes)

·       Gravy (however you choose to make it – package or from scratch)

1) Mix eggs, water, salt. Add flour & baking powder to make soft dough. (Be careful that it really is a soft dough, too much flour makes the strudels tough. If it’s annoyingly sticky, it’s about right.)

2) Let the dough rest 1 ½ – 2 hours (longer is better).

3) Divide the dough into 3 parts.

4) Let dough rest about 30 minutes.

5) Roll out each ball of dough. Pour small amount of oil (don’t use melted butter) in the center of piece of dough. Fold edges into middle to cover the entire top of the dough with oil, but let it lie flat. (Basically, you just want to let the oil help soften up the dough for stretching.)

6) Let dough rest about 15-20 minutes. At this point, start cooking the potatoes and onions slowly so the water will be simmering by the time you’re ready to put the strudels in the pot. (Some people also cook their meat in this pot and if so, you’ll want to start it sooner. I usually do my meat separately to simplify the timing of it all.)

7) Stretch dough until paper thin, either on the backs of your hands flipping it like pizza dough, or just by holding the edge and letting gravity stretch it. The oil makes it stretch pretty easily, sometimes too easily! When it gets hard to handle, I lay it down on a large cotton dish towel and stretch the edges out a bit more. It’s not the end of the world if it tears some…main thing is to get it stretched thin everywhere, even the edges.

8) Start rolling one edge of the dough, then pull the dish cloth up to let the dough “automatically” roll up.

9) Cut into approximately 2” lengths. Lay strudels on the top of the potatoes; the water should already be boiling. Try not to let strudels lie on top of each other and keep them from being completely submerged in the water. The potatoes should act as a “platform” for the strudels to lie on and steam. Cover and cook ½ hour without taking the cover off.

10) Serve with gravy and any meat dish you might choose to add.

Voila! A scrumptious Black Sea German treat!

I join Carolyn in encouraging you to give this dish a try. 

email me if you need help.  okwidmer@gmail.com

Poem - Pole Dance

Pole Dance

Chaplain O. Kris Widmer

Idea:   November 22, 2017                  First Distribution: November 23, 2017

For a couple, still loving each other, even after her stroke.

Not all exotic dancers

are found on mirrored stages,

clutching chrome poles

in dark clubs

with thumping music,

clad in fringes and tassels and G-strings.

where lust-filled males applaud,

their only touch of the smooth sweaty flesh

is when they tuck the current currency

that festoons their gyrating hips.

No they aren’t.

You see…

In a lived-in living room

with dark paneling

and furniture from the fifties,

Mabel (not her real name)

a woman in her late eighties

also grabs a pole,

(white with a black rubber grip

installed by her grandson)

with her still strong Right hand.

Her left hangs

limp and lovely, useless at her side.

She lifts her wasting frame

off the wheel chair,

transferring her to the loveseat

where her aged husband-lover,

Jim (not his real name)

awaits her womanly warmth

to rest once again beside him.

She settles down and in.

He reaches to hold her hand,

like he has so many times before.

He feels again the current current of her blood.

Then, his hand moves, to pat her upper thigh.

Besides their daily kisses with dry, pasty lips

This is the only action remaining for them

qualifies as sexual behavior.

Except for her doctors in the past

and her mortician in the future;

he is the only man

who will have ever touched her…there.

With motionless hands,

He applauds her for,

the private pole dance,

performed once again

just for him.