Gitle was her name. She helped take care of me, fed me and taught me many culinary lessons like how to make pickled Kirby cucumbers. Soups and meats she boiled way too long were an important part of her world and soon to become ours. Whenever I see crocks, that is ceramic jars at flea markets, I am reminded of her pickles with dill and vinegar, peppers, herbs and spices. The pickles were delicious and memorable. Her soup recipes were wonderful — especially her cold beet soup which I later discovered was a classic called Borscht throughout the Bylo-Russian region in which our family lived. When I added a tablespoon of sour cream I thought I had gone to heaven. Potato and Lentil soups were also enjoyed by everyone. Grandma liked to serve her borscht and potato soup cold.
Growing up in Des Moines Iowa has left indelible memories such as summer baseball, swimming in sand pits with cold springs which made warm summer days bearable, drive-in movies and eating Eastern European specialties. It wasn’t Brooklyn but it wasn’t merely cornbread and BBQ either — dishes I also came to adore. Friends are often surprised about this biographical fact of my background suggesting I have changed since moving away from the cornfields of Iowa. Perhaps, but these memories are warm and comforting for every child. Of course many of my memories center around my grandmother’s culinary specialties. She didn’t speak English very well; in fact, she barely spoke at all. She was a very quiet woman from Lithuania. But we communicated well in the kitchen.