From L to R: My Great Grandmother Helen Christoph, My Great Aunt Helen Fletcher, My Great Great Grandmother Elizabeth Christoph, and in the background: my Great Great Grandmother Pauline McGill
For my recent project, Hot Mix, I intended to explore food traditions of the Southside of Chicago, a region in which all sides of my family have resided- on my mother’s maternal side as far back as five generations. One thread of the project was to trace back family cooking traditions, particularly on that side of my family, which for one reason or another did not quite pass down through the generations. My mother’s mother, fondly known as Grandma Kay- as delightful as she was, was never celebrated for her skills in the kitchen and growing up I knew little of her family’s cooking traditions.
So I looked to her sister, my 96 year old Aunt Helen, one of my very favorite people, to find a narrative of food traditions from this branch of my family tree. Helen grew up in the South Shore in the 1920’s in a German American household. On September 10th, 2012 my mom and I took Aunt Helen out to lunch and we had a delightful chat about the food traditions of the Christoph and McGill families and I recorded her stories. To celebrate our family’s food traditions and the conclusion of the project, I will prepare a meal that reflects the types of foods that my family would have enjoyed, in particular during the holidays, ninety years ago on the Southside. And appropriately we’ll actually enjoy this feast around the old neighborhood- The Southside Hub of Production has graciously opened their doors to host this meal, which is located just two and a half miles north of the Christoph family home at 7017 S Constance.
The menu:
Roast Goose
Liver Dumplings
Braised Red Cabbage
Wilted Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing
Plum Cake
$40 with wine
SOLD OUT
Limit 18 seats.
My apologies to vegetarians, these meaty old German recipes do not lend themselves to substitutions.
Announcing Piranha Club #6: A Southside Holiday Feast
Saturday, December 1st. 5pm
At the Southside Hub of Production
5638 S Woodlawn Ave. Chicago, IL 60637
From L to R: My Great Grandmother Helen Christoph, My Great Aunt Helen Fletcher, My Great Great Grandmother Elizabeth Christoph, and in the background: my Great Great Grandmother Pauline McGill
For my recent project, Hot Mix, I intended to explore food traditions of the Southside of Chicago, a region in which all sides of my family have resided- on my mother’s maternal side as far back as five generations. One thread of the project was to trace back family cooking traditions, particularly on that side of my family, which for one reason or another did not quite pass down through the generations. My mother’s mother, fondly known as Grandma Kay- as delightful as she was, was never celebrated for her skills in the kitchen and growing up I knew little of her family’s cooking traditions.
So I looked to her sister, my 96 year old Aunt Helen, one of my very favorite people, to find a narrative of food traditions from this branch of my family tree. Helen grew up in the South Shore in the 1920’s in a German American household. On September 10th, 2012 my mom and I took Aunt Helen out to lunch and we had a delightful chat about the food traditions of the Christoph and McGill families and I recorded her stories. To celebrate our family’s food traditions and the conclusion of the project, I will prepare a meal that reflects the types of foods that my family would have enjoyed, in particular during the holidays, ninety years ago on the Southside. And appropriately we’ll actually enjoy this feast around the old neighborhood- The Southside Hub of Production has graciously opened their doors to host this meal, which is located just two and a half miles north of the Christoph family home at 7017 S Constance.
The menu:
Roast Goose
Liver Dumplings
Braised Red Cabbage
Wilted Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing
Plum Cake
$40 with wine
SOLD OUT
Limit 18 seats.
My apologies to vegetarians, these meaty old German recipes do not lend themselves to substitutions.