On Sunny Lane: Eat Your Food in Peace
When Sweetheart and I drive south in the winter, I like to stop at local restaurants to eat food that the natives eat.
We eat soul food and chicken and “dumplins” in South Carolina and Georgia. We like the key lime pie and Cuban foods in the Keys. The Greek food is good in the restaurants that pop up here and there.
When we were in the midwest, we ate buffalo and elk. In the West it was tacos and burritos. And the seafood is great, anywhere there is a coastline.
I have seen very few German restaurants in my travels; however my brother, Sweetheart and I came upon one in Maryland one time. We weren’t allowed in, because we were wearing shorts. Even though they were respectable shorts, they did not fit into the dress code, so we went to the local diner.
I have my own little ethnicity at home. Sweetheart and I make our own sauerkraut in the fall. When New Year’s Day comes, I make German dumplings, also referred to as potato dumplings, to cook with the hot dogs and sauerkraut.
The recipe for the dumplings was handed down to me from my mother, who, most likely, got it from her mother and family all the way back to the 1800s, when my family came here from Germany. I passed the recipe on to my daughter, but it seems to be languishing there, as her husband doesn’t like them.
As I was making the dumplings this year, I was wondering if the wives in Germany were making potato dumplings. Maybe their husbands didn’t like them either and were sending out for pizza.
Isn’t it wonderful that we, as Americans, have so many food choices? It can only happen because so many people come from so many different countries and bring their recipes with them.
How boring it would be to live in a country that has no pizza, or tacos. And Chinese food, as delicious as it can be, could soon wear out its welcome.
Behind all of these recipes and food choices are people of different colors and ethnicities. We all have something good to bring to the table. (Unless it’s chocolate covered ants.)
Maybe, we should leave all of the bad stuff behind when we sit down to eat. And, maybe, instead of fighting or engaging in war, we should bring all of our food and share it at the table in peace.
Dorothy is the author of two books—“Miles and Miracles” and “Getting It All Together “. You can purchase a book or make a comment by emailing her at dorothybutzknight@gmail.com