Cook Li ke a Gr andma

A CoIIeclion of DeIicious Recies

from Grandma's Kilchen




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Intrnductinn

I vas Iucky lo send a greal deaI of quaIily lime vilh my Grandma IauIa and Granda
Tony Kazmierski vhen I vas IillIe. Memories of lhis lime in lheir house carry slrong
associalions vilh lhe smeIIs and lasles of my Grandmolher's kilchen. Thal kilchen vas
lhe lrue cenler of her house and lhis ro|ecl, lhe Cook Like a Grandma cookbook, vas
insired by lhose memories.
Grandma IauIa's Iegacy lo our famiIy and her communily is varied and rich.
She dedicaled her Iife lo serving her friends, famiIy, neighbors or anybody vho mighl
be in need. Thal devolion lo olhers vas her haIImark and my famiIy conlinues lo be
guided by lhal Iegacy.
Her cuIinary infIuences aIso Iefl a bounlifuI Iegacy lhal Iives on lhrough my
famiIy. My molher is an amazing cook vhose reerloire runs lhe conlinuum from
comforl food lhrough fine cuisine. My brolhers ovn reslauranls in Asia and Lalin
America vhiIe I am nov ubIishing my second cookbook. My firsl cookbook, }ungIe-
Iusion, and my brolhers' reslauranls, aII have one lhing in common - lhey aII highIighl
my Grandma's anana read (lhe Cosla Rican version of her recie is resenled on lhe
receding age).
Given lhe rominence of food in my memories of lhis lime vilh Grandma IauIa,
and lhe insiralion lhal lhose memories had on lhis enlire ro|ecl, I vas surrised lo
find oul - |usl days before lhis book venl lo lhe rinler - lhal my Grandma didn'l reaIIy
Iearn lo cook unliI she vas an aduIl. My chiIdhood memories are crovded vilh images
of meaIs around her labIe, so I found lhal reveIalion lo be shocking. ul in relrosecl,
given lhe evenls of her chiIdhood, il makes sense.
IauIa's falher ovned a fIourmiII in Lvov, vhich vas lhen in IoIand and nov is
in lhe Ukraine. Groving u somevhal affIuenl, IauIa's earIy chiIdhood vas
comforlabIe. She vas enroIIed in rivale schooI, had a ony, venl skiing in lhe vinler,
and en|oyed reguIar exosure lo lhe arls. Thal aII changed vhen lhe Germans seized
Lvov. She has loId us of vaIking home from schooI, age 14, vhen lhe bombs slarled lo
dro and chaos riIed over lhe slreels.
The var immedialeIy look over everybody's Iives as faclories cIosed, schooIs
vere boarded u, and food suIies diminished. SoIdiers arorialed IauIa's famiIy
fIourmiII and lransformed il inlo an ammunilion faclory. Her falher, ernard Richler,
vas laken inlo lhe IoIish Army as an officer, bul vas never seen again. Then, in 1942,
IauIa herseIf vas arehended by lhe Nazi oIice and forced inlo a crovded boxcar.
LuckiIy, her molher had sevn a smaII air of scissors inlo lhe Iining of her
overcoal. Some men in lhe boxcar used lhose scissors lo unIalch a boIl from lhe door
and she Ieaed oul of lhe moving lrain and inlo five feel of snov. She sav a molher
|um oul of lhal same car, bul onIy afler lhroving her lvo babies oul firsl.
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The soIdiers shol al anylhing lhal moved bul Grandma IauIa conlinued her
escae, cIimbing lhrough snov lhal vas iIed u lo her face. She sav a Iighl in lhe
dislance and finaIIy made her vay lo a home vhere a Ukrainian famiIy vas ceIebraling
Russian Chrislmas. They look her inside and varmed her frozen hands and feel in
valer, bul varned lhal she couId nol slay vilh lhem. If she vere found, lhey feared
lhal lheir enlire famiIy vouId be kiIIed. Inslead, lhey Iel her sIee in lhe barn.
The nexl day, Grandma made her vay inlo lhe cIosesl lovn and asked for heI.
One man relended lhal he vanled lo heI her bul lhen lhrealened lo lurn her back
inlo lhe Nazis. She bribed him vilh lhe Iasl of her money and made her vay lo lhe
lrain slalion. There she mel a grou of schooIgirIs vho aid for her fare and aIIoved
her lo mix in vilh lhem. She arrived home safeIy.
Three monlhs afler her firsl abduclion, IauIa vas on her vay home from schooI
vhen she vas calured again and vas lhis lime ul onlo a assenger lrain and shied
lo Auslria lo be used as a vorker. She vouId never again see her molher.
The Auslrians quickIy recognized lhal IauIa vas highIy educaled and soke six
Ianguages fIuenlIy. They ul her lo vork as a leacher and inlerreler. She became
friends vilh lhe IocaI Counl vho managed lhe dislricl's farming oeralions and
munilions Ianl. He gave her a nev osilion vilh reaI aulhorily and a Iarge rivale
aarlmenl in a hisloric dovnlovn buiIding. In one of her assignmenls as an inlerreler
al a Iav firm, she accomanied a Iavyer lo courl and relurned lo find lhal lhe aIIies had
bombed lheir office buiIding and lhal lhe lvo of lhem vere lhe onIy surviving
emIoyees.
When she firsl arrived in Auslria, IauIa had lo vear an insignia vilh a visibIe
I lhal marked her as IoIish. This idenlifier reslricled her lraveI and olher righls, so
she ersuaded lhe Counl lo aIler her aervork. He aIso gave her a bike, a raincoal,
food couons and asses for lraveI. She rode avay vilh far more lhan she had asked
for, bul quickIy rode her nev bike inlo a dilch, vrecking lhe bike and deciding lhen and
lhere lo never lo ride a bike again.
In 1945, il quickIy became cIear lhal lhe Americans and olher AIIied Iorces vere
aroaching and vouId soon Iiberale lhe area. IauIa and a friend made lheir move and
Iefl for lhe vesl, lovards AIIied Iines. They hiked, hilched rides, and rode lhe lrain. On
one lrain, lhe cars hil a break in lhe lracks and aII of lhe assengers vere forced lo
lhrov lheir Iuggage overboard lo eIiminale veighl. On anolher, Iov fIying German
Ianes allacked lhem.
When she reached SvilzerIand, Grandma mel vilh American soIdiers and |oined
lhe Counler InleIIigence Cors (CIC), doing lransIalion vork and underground
invesligalion. She loId me slories aboul going inlo lhe foresl vilh American and olher
AIIied GeneraIs lo meel vilh German and Soviel GeneraIs. Her |ob vas lo lransIale as
lhey negolialed lhe end of lhe var.
$
She aIso vorked as an inlerreler during lhe oening and Iiberalion of lhe
concenlralion cams. Like everybody eIse, she vas laken by surrise lo see lhe
unfalhomabIe number of eoIe lhal vere inside lhe barbed vire fences. She vas aIso
shocked lo see hov veak and sickIy lhe risoners vere.
Given her Ianguage skiIIs, IauIa vas resonsibIe for recording vhere lhe nevIy
reIeased calives had Iived before inlernmenl. She had a lyevriler on a crale and
vouId sil across from each freed risoner, doing her besl lo idenlify and ask queslions
in lheir nalive Ianguage. If lhey vere slrong enough lo sil, lhen lhey soke from a
chair. More oflen, hovever, lhey had lo be Iovered inlo a garbage bin lhal suorled
lheir sine and Iegs enough lo aIIov lhem lo sil urighl.



Il vas aIso during lhis lime lhal she mel and feII in Iove vilh Sergeanl Tony
Kazmierski. Tony and IauIa married in Iuroe bul moved lo Rochesler, Nev York, and
renled an aarlmenl from lhe Vivianis famiIy. Gemma, lhe malriarch, look lhis young
immigranl under her ving and began lo leach her lhe vonders of IlaIian cooking.
Gemma's daughler, }enny (Aunl }enny lo my Mom) conlinued lhis lraining. In
relurn, Grandma laughl lhem hov lo sev. In facl, as girIs }enny and her sislers vere
nol aIIoved lo go oulside and Iay unliI lhey had racliced lheir seving. Il vas
lhrough lhis kind famiIy lhal our famiIy inheriled my Grandma's IoIish-IlaIian
Saghelli Sauce.




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Pau!a's Pn!ish-Ita!ian 5paghctti 5aucc

Mcatba!!s
Iul in bovI:
1 ounds of hamburger
1 smaII fineIy choed onion
1 egg
HandfuI of breadcrumbs
Choed arsIey (never can have loo much)
SaIl and eer lo lasle
Dash of Kelchu
Mix everylhing veII and make smaII baIIs, aboul 1-1 inches in diameler. rovn each
mealbaII on aII sides and ul aside.





&
5aucc
2 medium onions choed
5-6 cIoves of garIic choed
3-4 sveel IlaIian sausage cul inlo 1 ieces
2 Iarge cans (28 oz) of lomalo sauce
1 smaII can of lomalo asle
Sices lo lasle: saIl, eer, garIic ovder, oregano
Lols of choed arsIey
1 cu red vine
Choed basiI
Graled Iarmesan


Cnnk it !ikc Pau!a
Heal a couIe labIesoons of oIive oiI in a Iarge ol and saule lhe onions unliI lhey are
sofl and Iighl brovn. Add lhe garIic. Add lhe sausage and saule unliI Iighl brovn and
lhen remove. Add lhe lomalo sauce. Add lhe lomalo asle, sices, arsIey, vine, basiI
and Iarmesan. Cook on medium heal for 30 minules vilh lhe cover on bul sIighlIy
askev, mixing reguIarIy so il does nol burn.

Afler 30 minules, add mealbaIIs and sausage and cook for 1 hours. You can add
mushrooms in lhe Iasl 15 minules if you Iike.


















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Pau!a's Chickcn 5nup
Whi!c shc had a numbcr nI amazing rccipcs, chickcn snup bccamc my Grandma's
tradcmark.

Ingrcdicnts
1 sleving chicken
2-3 onions
6 ieces of ceIery, incIuding Ieaves
4 carrols
2 bay Ieaves
15-20 Iarge arsIey srigs
SaIl and eer lo lasle
Igg noodIes (KIuski brand are lhe besl)





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Cnnk it Likc Pau!a
Cul lhe chicken inlo ieces and ul il inlo a big ol of coId valer, so lhal il is enlireIy
covered. Cul lhe onions and 3 ieces of ceIery inlo Iarge chunks and ul in lhem inlo
lhe ol, aIong vilh lhe bay Ieaves, haIf lhe arsIey saIl and eer.

ring everylhing lo a boiI for a couIe of minules and lhen simmer vilh lhe Iid askev
for 1.5 hours, unliI lhe chicken is lender. Skim off lhe fal lhal fIoals lo lhe lo vhiIe
cooking.

Take oul lhe chicken, bul kee lhe brolh simmering vhiIe lhe chicken cooIs. Il is a good
idea lo remove lhe veggies from lhe firsl boiIing, bul you can Ieave lhem if you refer.

Shred lhe chicken and ul il back inlo lhe ol vilh lhe choed carrols, remaining
ceIery and lhe resl of lhe choed arsIey. Add saIl and eer lo lasle. You can add
chicken bouiIIon for addilionaI fIavor.

Simmer lhe sou unliI lhe nev veggies are lender (30-45 minules).

IiII each bovI haIfvay vilh egg noodIes before serving lhe sou.





















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Pau!a's Bnrscht

Ingrcdicnts
unch of beels vilh Ieaves and slems
OiI
1 choed onion
SmaII lhin ieces of lender beef (olionaI)
eef bouiIIon
SaIl and eer lo lasle
1/8 cu vinegar
1 inch sugar
cu sour cream







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Cnnk it Likc Pau!a
Scrub lhe beels (incIuding Ieaves and slems) and vash lhoroughIy. Cul lhe bollom
ends of lhe beels off and lhrov lhem avay. Cul lhe Ieaves and slems cIose lo lhe buIb
and ul aside.

IIace lhe vhoIe cIeaned beels in lhe Iarge ol vilh valer covering lhe beels. oiI unliI
lhey are lender bul nol mushy. Take inlo accounl lhal beels of differenl sizes cook al
differenl rales. Take lhe beels oul of lhe valer and Iel lhem cooI. Save lhe brolh.

Cover your hands vilh oiI lo kee lhem from being slained by lhe beels. GenlIy eeI.
The skin shouId come off easiIy, so you don'l need a eeIer. Cul lhe eeIed beels inlo
lo 1 sIivers.

Take lhe valer lhal lhe beels vere boiIed in and carefuIIy drain inlo a cIear gIass bovI.
CIean lhe ol and ul lhal valer back inlo lhe ol. ring lo a boiI and add beef and
onions. Lover lemeralure and cook for 45 minules, unliI beef is lender. Add beels,
beef bouiIIon, saIl and eer.

Cul u cIeaned Ieaves and slems and add lhem lo lhe ol. Add vinegar and sugar.
Simmer vilh Iid on ol for 30 minules.

Add sour cream and arsIey lo each bovI and serve.