In Memory and Celebration of John (Jack) Brodnyan

November 29, 1929- November 29, 2009

Jack was my step-dad by marriage. but my second father by heart. As the loving husband of my mom, he filled a void in her life that only he could fill. He filled a void in my own life as well. He was the only grandfather my children have ever really known and loved.

Before I met Jack, my mom told me stories of this wonderful man that she had met. I truly could not imagine who could have captured her heart and brought her such joy. From the moment he first stepped into our house, his huge smile and infectious laugh told the whole story. Seeing them together and how easy and comfortable they were with each other, I knew right away that he was indeed a special man.

Jack was a man of science and a man of faith. Through his profession he was able to find the evidence of God's design at the microscopic level. He was able to reconcile his knowledge and understanding of the scientific world with the wonder and majesty of God's creation which surrounds us. Unlike many scientists who cannot find room in their lives for God, Jack not only found room for God, he lived his understanding of God through his daily walk. His devotion to the Church and to his Saviour were visible in all that he did. The attributes of our Lord and Saviour were evidenced in the life of Jack Brodnyan.

Jack was a kind and generous man who gave freely of his time and of his life to serve others. As Christians, our purpose in this world is to glorify God. Jack did just that by giving selflessly to his family and those around him.

Jack's pride and joy was his family. A certain tone of love and fatherly pride would come into his voice when he spoke of his children and his grandchildren. From the more mundane things of daily life to the greater accomplishments each has achieved, Jack spoke with equal fervor and awe. I have no doubt that the Lord often smiled down upon Jack when he saw the wonderful people his children and grandchildren have become and are becoming.

No one will argue that Jack was taken from us too suddenly. We may question and wonder why. Perhaps we have still not fully grasped that he is no longer walking among us. However, although his physical presence may not be with us, we can take comfort in knowing that he is in the presence of Our Lord and is being held in His comforting arms. Although we struggle with the loss of the man who was father, grandfather, husband, uncle or friend, we can and must find peace within ourselves when we realize that he is experiencing no pain. He is joyfully awaiting our time to join him in Heaven.

It is our duty to honor this man who had such an impact upon our lives by keeping the light of his memory burning brightly. When we grieve, may we recall the happiness he brought to us. When we laugh, may we recall his laugh and perhaps, laugh just a little louder ourselves. When we pass a place that we enjoyed spending time with him, may we conjure up those happy memories. When a thought of him flashes through our minds may we imprint it upon our brain so that we will always have them to draw from when we are down. Those joyous memories from our past will be with us forever into our future. And through them Jack will live on in our hearts and minds.

The light of our Lord Jesus shone through Jack's life in his generosity, his service, his kindness, and most of all, his giving heart and spirit. I don't believe that Jack would want us to grieve too long for his passing. I believe he would want us to move forward with our lives living with the anticipation that, whenever that day may come for each of us, we will one day hear his voice and feel his touch again. With the memories of Jack sustaining us as we continue down the paths of our own lives we must live knowing that we will one day be in his presence again. What a joyous reunion that day will bring!

Click here for Jack's Obituary.

A Paean to Pop Pop and His Chili Sauce

In a recent posting explaining why I am the Scrapple King I made mention of a chili sauce made by my Uncle Joe which is an excellent topping to scrapple made according to my recipe. I indicated that if enough inquiries for the recipe were made I would ask my Uncle Joe to send me his recipe. Well, enough requests were made so, true to my word, I asked Uncle Joe for his recipe and he sent it to me. The recipe can be found at the end of this post.

But before I get to the recipe I must write about the man who created the chili sauce in the first place. That individual was my grandfather Joe Janson. My uncle (his son) was obviously named after him. In a unique twist of blessings, both my wife and I each had a grandfather named Joseph so our son is named Joseph in honor of both men.

Pop Pop, as I called him, was a blacksmith who had a shop along Front Street in Philadelphia back in the early years of the twentieth century.

Image via Wikipedia

For those familiar with the City of Brotherly Love, picture Interstate 95 running along Penn’s Landing, close your eyes and try to visualize what that area would have been like before the monster highway was built. His shop would be right there in the center of your thoughts. Pop, a college trained artist, left the ironwork field to run a successful food delivery business in the city. I have fond memories of helping him load up his truck with perishables from his refrigerated storehouse and delivering them door to door in the Manayunk neighborhood community of Philadelphia, the city of my birth.

When Pop retired and eventually moved to Doylestown to live with my aunt, he spent his golden years gardening, baking and watching the Phillies on television (as well as being a second father to myself and my eight cousins -they lived in the same house with him). A trip to Pop’s always began with a tour of his garden, which included the best tomatoes available in that beautiful land founded by William Penn. As Pop got older the size of his garden grew smaller as did his ability to maintain it. But he kept at, even when he was well into his nineties. His energy and enthusiasm was an inspiration for the entire family.

Pop Pop was a great baker as well. A visit to his home always ended with either a slice of homemade chocolate pie with whipped cream on top, or perhaps a slice of yellow cake with homemade frosting (and another large slice wrapped in plastic to take home with you). Never did a birthday pass without a handmade marble cake with deliciously thick icing on top to help celebrate the event.

I could write about Pop for pages on end but do realize that chili sauce was the main reason for this posting. When he shared the recipe with me, Uncle Joe told me that it was originally written by my maternal great- grandmother, but the copy he has was written in Pop Pop’s hand:

UNCLE JOE’S CHILI SAUCE

(IN MEMORY OF JOE “POP POP “JANSON)

4 qts. (8 lbs.) chopped, peeled tomatoes

2-1/2 cups chopped onions

2-1/2 cups chopped green peppers

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 tblsp. salt

1 qt. cider vinegar

about 4 tblsp. pickling spice in a cheesecloth bag. Add pepper if desired.

Simmer slowly uncovered for 10 to 12 hours or until mixture thickens. Follow usual canning procedure.

To make things easier Uncle Joe advises that he now uses canned diced tomatoes because it does not seem to make any difference in the taste of the final product. To echo my Uncle Joe’s wish of “bon appétit” to all who make his chili sauce, I bid you well as you serve it with anything you desire, but don’t forget the scrapple. Habbersett, of course, is “Philadelphia's Favorite” and will always get my endorsement.

Homeschooling and Sushi

My love for good cuisine has been the catalyst for many articles over the years. I am an unabashed lover of the food that I enjoyed in my childhood (think Spaghettios and Cap’n Crunch). Does anything made by Franco American count as “good cuisine”? I would argue in the affirmative. Anyway, since the start of this blog I’ve been trying to think how I can tie food and homeschooling together. I am sure that I am not the only home school dad that loves to share food with his kids so hopefully other guys can relate.

As I mentioned my Totally Outrageous Homeschool blog post No Such Thing as a “One-Size Fits All” Curriculum I believe that home education starts from the moment our children enter this world and should be a thing we just do as we go about our daily lives. While not every moment is a “teachable moment,” it is amazing how many moments in a day can be. From my kids’ earliest years we have had a Saturday morning pancake ritual which included the making of the breakfast dish and the eating of the same while watching Gerbert, Gospel Bill or Davey & Goliath. While the years have changed the routine in some ways, the memories of those mornings live on (as do variations on the theme).

Teaching kids how to measure out flour, milk and crack an egg without getting pieces of shell into the batter are all simple skills that they can master at an early age. Depending on maturity pouring pancake batter into a hot pan and flipping a pancake are all abilities our kids can master. We all know that chemistry is involved in the baking process but do we talk about it? Why do those bubbles form on the top of a pancake? Why does a pancake taste bad if it is cooked too long (i.e. burned)? All of these little things are practical, real-life questions and answers that will help our kids to no end. Who knows, with enough encouragement we may be laying the foundation for developing the next Bobby Flay or Rachael Ray.

By now you are probably wondering where sushi fits into all of this. As a kid I had no clue what sushi was. When I did learn what it was I wanted no part of it. It was not until I was an adult that I even ventured to try sushi; to my surprise, I was delighted by this delicacy.

As a parent I wanted to make sure my kids had exposure to sushi. Whether or not they enjoyed it did not matter, the key thing was that they would try it. All did. Poet at Heart likes so-called “veggie” sushi while Animal Lover has come to love all types of sushi whether it be nigiri or sashimi. My little boy, The Energizer, has tried it and does not like. I give him credit for giving it a shot.

Sushi is even more than just a food, however. It is an opportunity to learn. We watch Unwrapped and The Secret Life of… on the Food Network all the time. Both the Travel Channel and the Discovery Channel also have good shows regarding food, history and preparation. The kids have seen how the fish are caught and how sushi grade fish are inspected at a higher level than regular fish. I’ve taken them to a local sushi market so they can see sushi being prepared by a sushi chef. My wife even purchased a sushi kit and taught the kids how to make sushi at home.

We were all very impressed when Poet at Heart found a recipe for "candy sushi" in Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals for Kids and created the awesome plate shown below. Made of marshmallows, puffed rice, various sweets and fruit roll-ups (in lieu of the nori) she single-handedly made sushi that even The Energizer would eat.

Of course one does not have to like sushi to get the kids involved with food. Homemade pizza, homemade pasta or just plain barbecuing on the grill all afford opportunities for us to share with our children our own experiences with food as well as teaching them basic cooking skills. Whether we are explaining why pizza dough rises or how fire can heat the inside of a chicken breast we are filling curious minds with useful information that they will one day apply. There will come a time when our children will flip pancakes in their own kitchens and we won’t be there to help them. Lets grab the chance to teach them now so they will be prepared for that day when they are on their own, perhaps teaching their own kids why bubbles form on the top of pancakes as they cook. (or why sushi grade fish is different than the fish you buy at Wal-mart).

NOTE: In case you have never heard of Gerbert, Gospel Bill or Davey & Goliath, feel free to whip up a batch of pancakes and watch the videos below. I guarantee the flapjacks will taste even better because of them.

Why I am the Scrapple King

I was watching "Guilty Witness" on “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” a week or two back and to my delight one of the characters was served a plate of scrapple, one of my all-time favorite foods (my mom’s homemade cheese blintzes and my wife’s home-made split pea soup are right up there at the top of the list too). It reminded me that I needed to fulfill a promise to foodie blogger extraordinaire Jessica Porter, of “Adventures in Food.” to explain my rather elegant title of “The Scrapple King” to her blog readers.

I know that the countless readers of her excellent blog wonder why I chose that moniker rather than, say the “Meister of Meatloaf” or the “Baron of Bacon” (both of which, by the way, I wouldn’t mind owning as well). I chose the “The Scrapple King” because it best describes my love for this wonderfully unique Pennsylvania Dutch meat product. It is a royal designation that admittedly I have bestowed upon myself, although my paternal grandmother was descended from the original Pennsylvania Dutch settlers who made a new life in Southeastern Pennsylvania over two hundred years ago. Perhaps my claim to a royal title is not that far-fetched, is it?

A couple of years back I had the joy of sharing my love for scrapple with the readers of Every Day With Rachael Ray. With such an iconic figure of modern cooking recognizing my love of scrapple it serves only as an endorsement, at least in my mind, that I do deserve the title of “The Scrapple King.” So I will wear the badge with honor as I go about the world extolling the virtues of this creative, affordable and ultimately delicious food.

If there is a true royal name in the world of scrapple it is Habbersett. This Pennsylvania-based company makes the best scrapple in the civilized world. I was born in Philadelphia but spent most of my childhood in nearby Bucks County, not too far from Chester County, the true seat of scrapple’s origins. While my grandmother’s ancestors no doubt made home-made scrapple as was the practice in the 1800’s, I truly believe I inherited the genetic predisposition to love and adore this food, but not the desire to make it myself. To me Habbersett, going strong since 1863, is the epitome of scrapple production so there is no need to compete with it. If one can’t locate Habbersett in your nearest grocery store, Jones Dairy Farm out of Wisconsin makes a passable substitute but it is well worth the effort to track down the red, white and blue packaging of Habbersett.

What is scrapple you may be asking? Well, don’t ask. Be content in knowing that scrapple is a pork-based product that efficiently leaves no parts of pork wasted. Just as the early colonial settlers were conscious of making every penny stretch, we should, in these challenging economic times, also be conscious of making our food budget stretch as well. Scrapple is an affordable and tasty way to feed family and friends without making much of a dent in your wallet. Be satisfied in knowing that scrapple is a wonderful mixture of meat and spices that make it an excellent breakfast meat, although I could eat it at any time of the day or night (and have been known to do so).

Scrapple is a very easy product to make. It comes in one pound bricks that take but a few minutes to prepare and eat. The brick should be sliced while it is cool but not too cold. With a sharp kitchen knife the brick should be sliced into thin pieces roughly ½ inches thick. Too thin and the slice will probably break apart. Too thick and you will find it difficult to adequately ensure that the center of the slice will be properly heated without burning the outside. Once cut, coat the slices with plain white flour and place on a preheated frying pan at medium temperatures. Non-stick pans do not need any prior treatment but skillets or other non-treated pans would benefit from a light coating of PAM cooking spray or shortening (this to keep the slices from sticking when flipped).

Scrapple should be fried for several minutes on each side. The best way to know when to flip the slice over is when the flour coating the top of the slice appears melted or translucent. A quick flip is required because scrapple has been known to break-up if the flip is done too slowly. An equal amount of heating on the second side and the scrapple is ready to be served. I prefer it dipped in ketchup, my mom and wife prefer it with a side home-made Pennsylvania Dutch chili sauce, once lovingly prepared by my late-grandfather, now fashioned by my Uncle Joe (perhaps if I get enough requests for his recipe, Uncle Joe will share it with me and I with you). Some prefer it plain. No matter how you eat it the key is to savor each delicious, spicy bite. Before you know it the one pound brick will be gone and you’ll be rushing back to the store for more. To avoid this scenario purchase several bricks at once. Trust me, all you scrapple-newbies, your life will be forever changed once you have savored your first bite of Habbersett’s well-earned slogan: “Philadelphia’s Favorite.”

A Daredevil No More

No doubt, many of us watched in disbelief the news coverage of a teen who survived a five-story tumble after attempting to jump into a swimming pool from the balcony of a building. From the vantage point of some maturity and, hopefully, greater wisdom I find myself shaking my head in at some of the stupid things kids do these days. Whether intentional or not this fellow’s ill-advised leap is just one of many well-publicized attempts by teenagers to imitate the exploits of idiots who risk life and limb to appear on a national cable television show (I won’t give it any free publicity by mentioning the title but I think most of us know it is aptly named). Even in the most daredevil days of my youth, I would not have even considered such a stupid endeavor, growing up watching Evel Kenevel’s jump across the Snake River and his other stunts not withstanding.

I don’t think I was a nut, but like many kids, I did take some unnecessary chances. I loved to climb trees and was not afraid to do so. The higher the better. Back in those days, one of my hobbies was watching silent movies, especially the daredevils of comedy, which served as a source of inspiration. My friends and I loved to make our own films, on my Super 8 camera, envisioning ourselves as modern versions of Mack Sennett carrying on the tradition of the “flickers.”. We fancied ourselves latter-day Buster Keatons and often tried to come up with our own stunts, which we performed sans doubles. Although our antics never matched the grandeur of the stone-faced comic genius’ groundbreaking spills and chills, we attempted to create our own celluloid feats (i.e. scaling the sides of buildings, running across roofs, etc.) that thrilled at least ourselves if no one else.

While I never did anything as foolish as some of the kids imitating the above referenced MTV monstrosity have done, I did take some unnecessary risks that as a parent I would certainly disapprove of. Now that I am a father, I hope and pray that my own kids use more wisdom than I did. I suppose most youngsters have a feeling of invincibility, but that does not have to translate into stupidity. I am trying to encourage a balance to my kids’ lives so that they can be healthy and safe and yet confident with their abilities. I want them to grow up with a respect for heights, but not a fear. I want them to develop their physical prowess to the best of their individual abilities, but to also understand that no matter how resilient their bodies may seem they are still capable of breaking. So far, they have not been impacted by the news media’s coverage of the fools who try to jump over moving cars and other such nonsense. I only hope and pray that as they grow older they will continue to use good judgment and remember their limitations (and not watch any of my old movies!)

Copyright © 2003 Gregory Giordano

Don't "X" Me Off the Water Pipe!

Long before there was “you are the weakest link, good bye”, “is that your final answer?” and being voted off the island, there was “X You off the Water Pipe.” In case you missed this original addition to the modern vocabulary, let me announce that it was my oldest daughter Rebekah’s proclamation one day that will forever, at least in our family, cement this phrase in our collective memories. To this day my wife and I have not figured out just where she came up with that particular turn of words, but we do know she meant it as a way to say “see ya!” Remember when those two words were bandied about so much? It was before Rebekah’s time but she has created her own way of giving us the boot!

Speaking of phrases, I’ve come to expect that my youngest daughter Elizabeth is going to be an English professor. At three and a half she has become a real grammarian. I often will pronounce words in a silly way to entertain the kids. Until recently Elizabeth enjoyed that but lately she has taken to correcting my silly pronunciations with the most strident of voices. To hear the correct usage of the English language pour forth from the mouth of a toddler with the vehemence of a high school English teacher is an amazing thing to behold!

My seven month old son Joseph, by the way, is enjoying his new found ability to make sounds. Where he was once content to sit quietly playing with his toes or contemplating the colorful toy in his hand, he has begun to give us a running commentary on his every action. We’ve been able to make out the “Dada” and “Mama” in his sounds but the other utterances remain a mystery as of yet. With one sister who can turn neat phrases and another who has the makings of a book editor, I have little doubt Joseph will one day write a best-selling novel.

Which brings us back to Rebekah’s cute, if somewhat saucy, phrase. She has not used it for quite some time but she did make reference to it recently in a mischievous way. I suppose being X-ed off the water pipe is a more appealing alternative than to be told you are the weakest link, to hear that sickening sound of the wrong answer being given on Millionaire or not having what it takes to remain on the island (or Outback). Right now, as I struggle with the fact that my kids are growing up quickly I just pray that I don’t do something deserving of being X-ed off the water pipe by my own offspring!

Copyright © 2001 Gregory Giordano