May 19, 2013

17 pounds of old potatoes...


The week that was...



"Family Recipe"
May 13 - 20, 2013
Project 52 (20/52)



Twas a week of family happenings and gatherings.  Twas a week of fun.  Twas a week of surprises.  Like the unearthing of Great Grandmom Hagenmeyer's Potato Salad recipe in her daughter's (my Granny's) handwriting.  Truly a treasure.  Growing up, a McIntyre family gathering was not complete unless Grandmom Hagenmeyer's potato salad was on the dining room table.  All  twenty pounds of it, according to the size of the recipe.  And this is apparently why Germans are often referred to as "big-boned" I assume.

A few things happen the older one gets.  The older generation of family members begin to dwindle, and  family traditions, history and stories are left to the younger generations to carry forth.  Such is my family.  Such was Saturday night's gathering of my McIntyre cousins...which never left my kitchen table until 2 a.m. when we finally hit the sack.  We sprang forth from the five children of Eleanor and Joseph McIntyre.  We grew up getting together a few times a year.  But as often happens, life gets in the way and we all went our separate paths.  As we've gotten older (and yes, thru our conversation the other night we indeed realized that we ARE getting older) we've realized it's up to us to keep our families connected.  And we also realized a couple of other things thru our evening of gabbing:

1.  We each knew things about our family that the others didn't.  And WOW...did we learn alot when we started to share the stories.

and..

2.  We are all pretty darn hilarious...especially the blonde one from Jersey.  There most definitely must be a German "funny" gene.

I want to thank my cousin Carol for unearthing the potato salad recipe in my Granny's handwriting and sharing it with us.  It might look only like ink on an old and yellowing piece of paper but...it's priceless to us McIntyre's.  Don't let the name McIntyre fool ya.  Despite the Irish origin, we are mostly German...as is the recipe.  Which made me wonder where I was going to find 17 pounds of OLD potatoes?  Ironically, the defining characteristics of OLD potatoes are those that are:  larger, starchier and thicker skinned.  Eerily similar to all those old German women in our old family photos, including Grandmom Hagenmeyer.  Coincidence?  Doubt it.






29 comments:

  1. wow. a treasure indeed. I try very hard to get the women who scrapbook with me to WRITE in their books....in their handwriting. There's something so deeply personal about handwriting - it connects us, I think. Love this!

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  2. how cool is that!!! truly a precious discovery... oh my and I love your description of "old" potatoes and photos of relatives, too funny!

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  3. Oh wow, what a treasure find indeed! I love things from before my time. You frame definitely frame this. Cracking up about the Old potatoes and the Old German women in your family.

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  4. What a grand time you had! We have two family reunions this summer!! They are fun!!! Wishing you well! Cathy

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  5. well the funny German girl from Jersey had a wondrous time! I feel totally blessed to have such wonderful cousins! it just felt so right sharing my funny family stories with you gals! I for one cannot wait to have some German potato salad at a summer gathering this year! love you gals! ♡♥

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    1. Well my funny blonde cousin from Jersey...I'm thinking there might be a few more funny stories in our reservoirs :). Love you too.

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  6. How wonderful to have that recipe!
    And wonderful to get together with family!
    A week from today, Good Lord willing, I'll be at our family reunion in Arkansas.
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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  7. A nice discovery and interesting to hear of the gathering with your cousins. I'm visiting from Macro Monday.

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  8. Oh, I love this! I would love to have some of my family's old handwritten recipes.

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  9. They re the ones with the eyes growing. Like a new plant all over again. Loved it!

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  10. Larger, starchier, and thicker skinned... ha, love it!

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  11. What a sweet story! You're right--getting together with cousins and other family members is a fine time to share family stories and traditions. That recipe in your Granny's handwriting is a treasure.

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  12. Great story Kathy. And what a treasure. I'd have found 17 pounds of old potatoes to be a fly on a wall!

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  13. I know how that feels. My family and I have these moments when we realize we're all graying, thinning and thickening around the middle. It's up to us to teach the younger generations their roots. And man I bet that 20 pounds of potato salad was feeding a lot of people!

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  14. My dad is the youngest of 12 children and there are 32 of us first-generation grand kids. Whenever a group gets together there's guaranteed hilarity and amazing stories. I'm not aware of any old family recipes involving 17 pounds of anything, though! That's incredible and what a gift to have the hand-written recipe!

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  15. That page of recipe could have been taken from my Nanna's cooking book- isn't that handwriting so beautiful in pencraft. Sound like your day was so interesting.

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  16. That must have been a fun gathering! True we Germans like our potatoe salad and it seems that every family has its own ( secret!) recipe which is handed down from one generation to the next.Our recipe inclufes ( apart from starchier potatoes ) apples ....

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    1. Apples? How interesting. Is it an oil/vinegar or mayonnaise based salad?

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  17. That is ALOT of potatoes!! What a fun memory and treasure to have!

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  18. What to do when life gives you potatoes... If I stayed up that late I would still have a hangover.

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  19. This is just precious! I love seeing handwriting from yore! Seems the older generations had a similar handwriting style, and I love it! I bet this recipe is delish! First time encountering a recipe calling for old potatoes!

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    1. Yeah, kinda making me wonder how old a potato has to be to be an "od" potato? Perhaps I don't want to know :)

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  20. I have some similar bit of paper that my Grandmother wrote out for me. One for tea bread that I have never used but have fond memories of.

    Mollyxxx

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  21. This sounds like such a wonderful time. I have a lot of cousins...and we spent much time together in youth and despite most of us living fairly close, don't get together often. I keep thinking before the generation ahead of us starts to pass, we should try to get the family together. I'll have to push on that. As for the recipe-how cool is that? What a treasure to have. My mother was smart when her mother passed one of the things she kept was her mom's reciepe box-for the recipes and the handwriting....and food stains.
    Have a great day Kathy. Whip up some of that potato salad.

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  22. Being of that German lineage myself this all made me laugh!

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  23. what a treasure to find. i have a cookie recipe that my grandmother wrote out for my mother in her spidery handwriting, and then my mother added some notes to the index card in her handwriting, so whenever i look at it, it's like three generations are all together baking cookies. : )

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  24. I have to laugh when you start talking about big boned german women... and remember a similar recipe from my mom that she got from her mom that included bacon and the drippings. All those calories. ;)

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  25. Lovely picture!
    Btw, I'm one of those big-boned Germans!

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  26. That recipe needs to be framed. It is a treasure.

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