Kuchnia: Zupy Szczawiowej

As promised in a previous post, G&C will be covering a wider variety of topics. Today's Cuisine features zupa made from szczaw, sorrel, Rumex acetosa.

The darn stuff is so easy to grow. Find a catalog that offers it, prepare the ground, bung the seeds in, and have patience. Growth is slow compared to that of some of the lettuces, for example, but then you see it is slow to bolt, as well.

A delightful sour taste is the outstanding characteristic of this pot-herb. I’d long used it as a minority leaf in a salad bowl, just for the lemony sour accent. This year, the crop was abundant and I had the time, so I whacked off half a row and brought it in.

                        

The chosen starting point was an online Martha Stewart recipe. At Launch, I hauled out a cauldron, melted butter in it, and added a nice little pile of minced white onion. Those pungent little bits softened up in 5 or 10 minutes while giving up their tear-inducing sulfur compounds.

While that was happening, I cut up sorrel leaves into thin strips. Addition of those strips to the onion was Stage 2. The ratio of leaves to broth was to be 1:2. I had quite a pile of leaves; adding 3 cups at a time, the result was 12 cups of raw, sliced leaf material requiring 24 cups of broth. That used up my leaves, which was a prime object.

It seemed like an outrageous volume of leaf material, but it cooked down to a smaller volume, like spinach and other greens.

At this point, leaf color changed from bright, clean green to dead-turtle-in-a-puddle tint. Can you guess why I was not distressed in the least by this?

  
                           

The reason was the fragrance. Simultaneous with the color change was the release of many volatile fragrance molecules. It was lemon perfume time, all through the kitchen.

All was ready for Stage 3, addition of the broth. This time I had some turkey broth and some beef broth, qs to 24 cups with an aqueous solution of vegetable bouillon paste from a jar.

                          

I added no salt or additional herbs, the object being to see what these things would do.

Generally, soup is very much better a day later, what with flavors melding and all that, but today immediate progress to Stage 4 was a gratifying move. Into each flat soup plate I ladled the sorrel soup and schlagober-ed a goodly blob of crème fraîche.

                           

The soup was a bit salty, probably from the jarred veg base, which I will mix up at 80% of label-directed concentration next time. Stirring the crème fraîche around in it mitigated that defect without masking the delightful lemony sour taste. In fact, the creaminess and the sourness complement each other nicely.

How the stars do align on occasion. Recently I studied a Polish language lesson on the theme of food and dining. The hilarious dialogue was between two people, out for dinner, ordering zupy szczawiowej. And now here it was, the sorrel soup.

When I was a little kid, simpering around with my hair in a pony tail, the relatives took me along on their summer trip to a vacation lodge in Middle-of-Nowhere, Outer Farmworld, run by recent Polish immigrants. Hot cream soup on a 95-degree day thrilled them all but revolted me! Now the stuff is delicious, and we enjoy it on our farm. Perhaps it is the operation of something atavistic.

So, dear friends and relations, what are some of your favorite Polish or Polish-inspired dishes? What brings back fond memories, or engenders the urge to travel to the Old Country? Let us know! You may find that you have fellow food fans among your relatives.

Smacznego!

Ski Down K2? “Nie Ma Problem!”

So this góral named Andrzej Bargiel decided to climb K2 carrying his favorite pair of skis, then ski down. He asked his brother Bartek to bring up the snacks and take the drone footage. His brother said sure.

This was on July 22, 2018; a report made it into the August issue of Polish-American Journal. I was so relaxed and comfortable in my reading chair, despite ink glomming on my fingers from the exercise of turning the pages of the print edition, when this shocking report destroyed the peace of that athletic endeavor.

From the PAJ item:

Andrzej Bargiel, 30, has become the first person to ski down the world’s second-highest  mountain.  With skis in hand, the highlander from Zakopane climbed the 28,251-foot peak and skied back down to base camp intact.

He didn’t  bother with oxygen tanks.

The downhill “run” took him a little over seven hours. When you look at the drone camera footage, you can see that it was seven hours at steepness rating “Ridiculous”.

 Last year, he had attempted the same daredevil feat but had to abandon the bid due to bad weather. . .

There are moments in the footage when cloud obscures everything. What can you do if the cloud settles in for a few days as you sit there on a 45- or 50-degree slope of snow with a crevasse on either side?

. . . Three years ago, Bargiel became the first skier in the world to descend from the nearby 26,295-foot Broad Peak. He has now skied from the summits of five of the 14 highest mountains.

Here is another good compilation of the day’s footage.

The górale of the Tatra Mountains are famed for mountaineering and for the white-wooled sheep they raise. The traditional images are like these:

Nowadays, it’s bye-bye Tatras and hello Karakorums.

It’s a different look.

And there are no sheep to rescue on K2!

Is this nuts?  Of course it is admirable and valuable to pursue excellence and expand its definition. And of course, if someone has skills, he feels compelled to exercise them and perfect them. But suppose you had his talents: would you look around for an application of them that produced immediate practical benefit?  Or would consider it simply a good, even a necessity, to keep up and advance the traditional skills just so one’s descendants can do daring rescue ops on Luna some day? 

What's Ahead for Gene & Clara's

Hi Everybody,

My stars are aligned now in such a way that gives reasonable hopes for taking up the blog again, and sticking with it.

Recently, I've reviewed the list of email addresses for notification of postings and comments. Some of you may receive invitations because I entered an updated email address in a certain little box in Blogger Admin; Blogger automatically extends an invitation to the person at that new address. Please respond if you wish to receive such notifications.

Would someone please send me Kate's email address? Kate should get her own invitation.

Please let me know of any changes desired in this email list.

As always, I have to say that the posts look way better on the webpage compared to an email message. So readers are encouraged to visit eugenezdrojewski@blogspot.com to get the full experience. The sidebar is of interest too, and it can help you use the archives and other features of the site.



Upcoming topics for posts include the following:

1. Further contents of the Photobook, illustrating the scenes related to OSS Team Jackal in China in the early summer of 1945;

2. Chapter-by-chapter summary and review of Mills, Mills, and Brunner, OSS Special Operations in China - the book about Jackal's mission and others in the fight against Imperial Japanese occupation of China;

3.  Marilla - The Experience, as revealed in photos, home movies, sound recordings, and scans;

4. The Baby Boomers of the family;

5. Descendants of the Boomers;

6.  Eclectic topics in other areas, such as cuisine, language study, Polish history, Polish-American history, current events in Poland and Eastern Europe;

7.  Polish movies, art, and literature;

8. Other topics related to family history, for which especially I shall depend on you.

It is easy to post:  I can show you how to do it and authorize you as a poster. It's okay; I still retain plenary powers and can save you from embarrassment, or send you a howler, as indicated. It's all good.

Next up are sound files kindly provided by Marty. Be ready!  I just have to re-learn how to put them up. Some of the things are in Polish, so Polish speakers, get psyched to assist with translation!

Do zobaczenia póżniej!

See you later!

Julianna

January 6, The Feast of the Epiphany, in Art and Song

φαίνω, I appear, I shine.

ἐπί,  upon.

Epiphany is appearance or revelation. The Christian Feastday commemorates the revealing of the Infant Christ to the newly-arrived Magi, and by extension the revelation to the world at large of the Incarnation.

The Magi were Kings in their own lands. They are described by the Gospel writers as traveling to find the King of the Jews and declare fealty to him. The notable thing is that this King of the Jews has no throne, no crown, no army. His is a rule of moral law. That kings kneel before him, as well as non-kings, demonstrates the equality of all men under God. The appeal of this idea is evident.

For many centuries after this event, kings would claim Divine Right: that they were chosen by God to rule men - to be above other men so as to rule them. Finally, in America, we tossed that. No kings. As all are equal in the eyes of God, so shall all be equal under the law. Our Declaration and our Constitution set that up; our battles in our Civil War realized its full meaning for the continental reach of the country.

"Mędrcy świata, Monarchowie" - Mages, (Wise Men) of the World, Monarchs) is a seventeenth-century kolęda for Epiphany. A Polish Army choir puts in a performance, simultaneously proud and reverent, of the first two verses, here.

1. Mędrcy świata, monarchowie,

Gdzie śpiesznie dążycie?

Powiedzcież nam, Trzej Królowie,

Chcecie widzieć Dziecię?

Ono w żłobie, nie ma tronu,

I berła nie dzierży,

A proroctwo Jego zgonu,

Już się w świecie szerzy.

Magi of the world, Monarchs,

Where do you go at such speed?

Tell us, Three Kings,

You wish to see the Child?

It is in a manger, not on a throne,

And bears no scepter,

And prophecy of His death,

Just as death is rife in the world.

Objawienie Pańskie ("Revelation of the Kings") is the Feast of the Epiphany of Christ to the Magi.
On January 6, the tradition is to write in chalk on the doors of the house
the initials of those three Magi,
to commemorate them and ask their blessing in the coming year.

Melchior, the Persian, is the grandfatherly one.
Balthazaar, the Arabian, is of middle age.
Kaspar, a Prince of India, is the youth.

Mosaic, c565, the Basilica at Ravenna.
The kings are always shown to be of three generations.
See their star?

Murillo, C17.
Melchior is kneeling;
Balthazaar stands to the left;
Kaspar stands to the right.
At top left, Murillo shows us
armed soldiers and crossed timbers,
seemingly to foreshadow the death of Christ.
Frankincense and myrrh were substances used
in the treatment for burial of the bodies of kings.

Szymon Czechowicz, of Warsaw, C18,
"Pokłon Trzech Króli."
The arrangement is similar to that of Murillo,
but the prefigurations of death are left out
and the star, the "gwiazda," shines forth instead.

Czechowicz, detail

The crown and scepter of King Melchior he has laid upon the ground.  The image and idea of worldly kings giving homage to a universal God has been the basis, and historically is the means of conveying in art, the concept of equality of man in the eyes of universal moral authority.  From that Judeo-Christian religious concept developed over time and with much sacrifice the religiously-neutral ethical-legal principle of equality before the law.

From a third-century sarcophagus.
Those Phrygian caps they are wearing show up often in
subsequent depictions.

Tissot, C19, "Journey of the Magi."
Or you could say "Podróż Magów."

My new favorite Epiphany art this year (besides this most excellent contemporary tribute) is pre-Raphaelite. Here is a detail of a tapestry by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, commissioned in 1886 for an Oxford college chapel.

Again, three generations, evoking historical time in addition to geographic space: Melchior of Persia; Balthazaar of Arabia; Kaspar of India.

The Wiki entry describes the steps in the creation of this work. Additional tapestries and paintings of this design were produced over a couple of decades, throughout the most active time of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

In the New Year, may the Wise Men visit your house in their humility and benevolence. May no tyrant cross your threshold.

Marilla Christmas

Dad (EJZ), Mom (CAMZ) and Rita Sonnelitter,
c1970.

John (JFZ) and Tye, age 3.

Archanioł Boży Gabryjel

Gabriel, Archangel of God is the first carol in the śpiewnik. Its place in the hymnal is a sign of its importance and popularity for the Season of Advent.

Verse 1 of 5 begins the narrative with an exciting opening.

Archanioł Boży Gabryjel,

Posłan do Panny Maryi.

          

               Archangel of God Gabriel,

               Envoy to Lady Mary.

Z majestatu Trójcy Świętej,

tak sprawował poselstwo k'niej:

               From the majesty of the Holy Trinity,

               Thus delivered the messenger, to her:

Zdrowaś Panno, łaskiś pełna,

Pan jest z Tobą, to rzecz pewna.

          

               Hail Lady, of Grace full,   (i.e., Hail Mary, full of Grace. . .)

               The Lord is with Thee, that thing is true (i.e., for sure!)

These Archangels are a big deal! They are the warriors who fought and defeated Lucifer himself, way back at the beginning. Yet we need not fear them; they're on our side. And so the hymn can be performed in a way that sounds like a comforting folksong:

Verse 2 describes her perfectly understandable reaction:

Panna się wielce zdumiała,
z poselstwa, które słyszała.

          The Lady was very surprised (astounded),

               By the message that she heard.

Pokorniuchno się skłoniła,
jako Panna świątobliwa;

       

               Meekly she bowed,

               Like a sainted Lady;

zasmuciła się z tej mowy,
nic nie rzekła Aniołowi.

        

               She was overcome by this message,

               She said nothing to the Angel.

Here it is again in another key, with a fire in the fireplace and snow falling outside.

Now that we are all steady, we can go on the the big news in Verse 3. This warrior angel has the wisdom to speak with kindness to a mortal woman.

Ale poseł z wysokości,
napełnion Boskiej mądrości,

      

               But the messenger from Above (from on high)

               Full of Divine wisdom,

 rzekł Jej: "Nie bój się, Maryja,
Najszczęśliwszaś Panno miła; -

  

               Said to her: "Do not fear, Mary,

               You are the happiest blessed Lady;

   nalazłaś łaskę u Pana,
oto poczniesz Jego Syna."

     

               You have found grace with the Lord,

               Here you will conceive His Son."

In Verse 4, Gabriel gives particulars.

Jezus nazwiesz imię Jego,
będzie Synem Najwyższego -

               "Jesus you will call the name of Him (i.e., You will call his name Jesus)

               He will be the Son of the Supreme Being - 

wielki z strony człowieczeństwa,
a niezmierny z strony Bóstwa.

               great on the part of humanity (i.e., great among men)

               and immense on the part of the Deity.

Wieczny Syn Ojca wiecznego,
Zbawiciel świata całego."

               Eternal Son of the Eternal Father,

               Savior of the whole world."

               

In Verse 5, we leave the narrative and sing as the Chorus, directly to God. Thus the volume is cranked up for the finale in which the faithful respond to the retelling of the story.

Bogu Ojcu Wszechmocnemu,
Synowi Jego miłemu

               To God the Father Almighty,

               To His Beloved Son

i Duchowi Najświętszemu,
Bogu w Trójcy jedynemu,

               And to the Most Holy Spirit,

               To the Triune God,  (three in one, literally)

dziękujemy w uniżności,
za ten cud Jego miłości.

               We give thanks in humility,

               For this miracle of His love.

Here is La Schola Cantorum performing Archanioł Boży Gabryjel in formal, majestic manner. Notice that the singers sing a verse, then repeat the last four lines of that verse. Up in the choir loft, serene above the rustling, coughing, and tintinabulation, they set the example of professional concentration.

May you all have a hopeful and meaningful Advent season. Pay your debts, forgive people, plan your better future behavior. I know I should. Obyś miał Błogosławiony Adwent!

Dzień Swiętego Mikołaja

The feast day of Saint Nicholas is  December 6, because Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, died on this day in AD 343.  During his lifetime he was beloved for his acts of charity  - in particular, for anonymous charity -  and to this day he is beloved  and imitated in it by Christians all over the world.

See Nicholas sneaking up to the window of the house to toss in pouches of coin, one for each of three distressed young women.  This 1425 painting by Gentile de Fabriano is in the Vatican.  The legend about this event is apparently typical of the kind of thing this man enjoyed doing.

The four weeks of Advent are sombre ones for children:  they mentally review their bad deeds of the past year, make resolutions, and review their catechism, all prior to Christmas Day. Saint Nicolas's feast day is a bit of a breather.  There are the coins in the shoes, and piernicki - gingerbread cookies.

Besides being the favorite of children, this Greek Bishop of ancient times, "Ἅγιος Νικόλαος," is patron saint of sailors.  That is why a ship is often depicted in the crook of his staff.

We've encountered the saint, in one of his many, many later manifestations, previously on Gene and Clara's.

Szczęśliwego Dzień Swiętego Mikołaja!

The War Was in Color

Zdrojewski Geneologic Detail - A Little Guide to Recent Comments by Elzbieta Nowak

The Eugeniusz photo post  has a comment of 02/28/17 by Elzbieta Nowak, correcting the spelling of "Eugeniusz."

The post "Poznań Zdrojewskis: From the Old Country, Part 3" features nieces and nephews Teresa, Zdziszek, Renia; Stawek; Pawełek; Marija; Alinka.  Pani Nowak has supplied in the comment translations of the inscriptions on the photos, as well as biographical details of individuals.

"European 'Official Papers'" includes the Abzugsattest of Ludwik and Wiktoria Zdrojewski as they left Lęg (Leng, Ling) in late C19.  Again Pani Nowak supplies biographical detail for them, for brother Franciszek, and their descendants.

"Uncle Joe, Aunt Julia, Joseph Jr." discusses them in America and includes a photo of Ludvik and Wiktoria.  Elzbieta Nowak's comment on this post concerns not them, but further data about Franciszek in Poland, his wife Helena, and their children Sabina and Edmund. And here is an interesting puzzle solved:

That comment begins with Poznań Zdrojewskis: Od Starego Kraju, część 8.

I had wondered if that was a book title, but now I believe it to be a reference to my own post!  Assuming typing error consisting of 8 for the correct 3,  that is simply a Polish translation of "Poznań Zdrojewskis: From the Old Country, Part 3".  This took me long enough to figure out, but heyhey, I think we have arrived safely in port at last.

We therefore have, thanks to Elzbieta Nowak, data on family from Ludwik and Wiktoria, on through Sabina and Edmund (of whom we heard the grownups speaking when we were children in the 1960s) and their children. Many thanks to Pani Nowak.

Richard Mazurowski

Richard Mazurowski (1925-2017) was son of Pearl Haremska Mazurowska, nephew of Clara Haremska Matynka, brother of Genevieve Mazurowska Stroinska, cousin of Clara Matynka Zdrojewska. He was Dad to Debbie, and he was Uncle Dick to Sharon and to Marty and me.

Below, we see him acting as groomsman in a wedding party sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Richard (Ryszard) is third from the right. Sorry, I have no idea who the couple are. But first from the left is Clara Adamina Matynka, aka Mom.  Clara and Richard and Genevieve are first cousins; their mothers were sisters.

We can zoom in a little here, to the curly locks, 3-piece morning dress, and proper cravat.

Below we see another wedding party. The print is on deckle-edge paper. I like the ordinary houses with the Italian Renaissance-style campanile in the background. It houses the belfry of the parish church.

Genevieve and Edward Stroinski are the couple this time. Richard appears as Best Man. Isn't that Florence with him? I think it is. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Cabinetry and the making of fine furniture was Uncle Dick's profession. Below is a bookcase he designed, built, and installed for Gene and Clara. This is in the G&C house in Bowmansville, the year being between 1950 and 1956. Here in the Trove are at least three prints just of this bookcase. They were happy to have it; mayhap it was their Christmas gift to themselves.  See the bits of Christmas tree at the right of the photo?

1957 was the year of G&C moving into the Marilla house. Below is a scene at one of the early parties there. Proper parties always included 40 people or thereabouts, and went on in several rooms, including the finished part of the basement. Below we see, left to right, Casimir Zdrojewski, Adam Matynka, and Richard. The item of furniture in the background is a cobbler's bench done up by him.

The house on Poplar Street was similarly a noted party venue. Below we have New Year celebrations featuring dancing, lots of dancing, here with Florence and Richard.

Fourth of July featured culinary special ops, such as BBQ at the tent site in Marilla. Dick and Gene do not mess around.  I'm guessing 1960s here.

Below we see a very patient, as well as very stylish, Uncle Dick, in the dining room at another Marilla party, c1969.

(No snake is climbing up that wall. That is the stem of a split-leaved Philodendron, the leaves of which had, um, split the scene, for some reason.)

Left to right, below,  we have Clara Matynka, Uncle Dick, some idiot blowing out candles and looking like Oscar Wilde, Aunt Florence aka Auntie 'Lossie, Clara Zdrojewska aka Mom, and Uncle Eddie Stroinski. We also appear to have a fruit-Jello mold. 

But look at the wall behind Mom and Uncle Eddie. See those red-and-black encyclopedias? They are the same Compton's Encyclopedia, shelved on the same Uncle Dick bookcase, as in the Bowmansville photo above. When G&C worked on the design of the Marilla house, they stipulated a recessed niche in that wall, to accomodate that bookcase.

Below are Mom and Uncle Dick at a family event in 1971.

Uncle Dick set up his own furniture refinishing business, using his business name of Richard Mast, and went in with Uncle Eddie Jr. and Uncle Eddie Sr. Below we see him showing the latest progress on the revitalizing of the Zdrojewski grandfather clock, in the 1980s.

Uncle Dick was always at the wheel of  the station wagon when it was loaded up with "The Poplar Street Gang" and driven to Marilla for partying. He also had a motorboat for some time. I remember seeing it in the garage. If you send me any boating photos, or any photos at all of Dick and Florence, I will be delighted to put them up.