any German-Americans...from Queens?

Thanks so much for the article!!! Wow! I know all those places!!

What German traditions do you participate in?

We hang a pickle ornament in the Christmas Tree, which is an old German tradition. We also cook several traditional holiday breads and things like that. We have Christmas decorations from Germany that are so old, we're afraid to touch them anymore, but they're adorable! And we are never without a cuckoo clock.

My mom used to play German music in the car when she was babysitting my nephew while my sister worked. One day, she heard him singing along with the music, in GERMAN! Too funny!

This whole thread has me missing my grandma... I miss hearing her German accent everyday, and her stories about growing up in Germany, taking walks up into the forests and mountains. She was born and grew up in Boll, which is in the Black Forest area, or Schwabia (however you spell it!).

My family traditions:
singing Ein Prosit when toasting (we did this at my wedding too)

BrunKohl (brown kale) feast in March...end of winter

polkas...everyone one in my family knows how to polka...I'm trying to get DH to learn, but at family events its easier to just polka with my sister or cousins...

St Nicholas Night...did anyone celebrate 12/5 and get a little treat in your shoe by the door?

the food...I joke with DH that I can't stand pork, b/c I ate it everyday growing up (exaggeration...but close)

my mom has a huge hummel collection...sammelntaschen (plates that don't match, but do), nutcrackers

We don't sing Ein Prosit, but we say 'Prosit' when we toast.

I learned to polka at the Octoberfests when I was a kid, but I don't remember it much anymore.

OMG! I can relate on the pork, too! What about Lentil soup? German pancakes? Red cabbage? Spatzle? And mmmmmmm Shockalade? (sp?)

My Mom has a hummel collection, too!

after much protest I finally made german pancakes for DH a few weeks ago...and he LOVES them...asks for them all the time...!!!


there is also the Plattdeutsche hall in Rockville Center

kmcwed-

I forgot about the German pancakes. My grandmother used to amke those for me all the time when I was little.

She also makes awesome stredule (sp?). My grandmother is 88 years old and still makes her own dough.

Great article Erica!
My mother was German..and I, like you, know how to polka and relate to the pork thing.
My mother used to make the best sauerbraten!!

I LOVE German pancakes. Mom used to make them every Sunday.

We had pork all the time with sauerkraut.

Cukoo clocks abound....