Buffalo Rising Online

May 7th 2007, 6:50am By Sandy Starks

While planning our Christmas dinner my daughter Devon asked if we could have a family dinner celebrating our family’s heritage. After a semester of school cafeteria food she had a yearning for some of Babci’s (Polish for Grandmother) home-cooked specialties such as pierogi, Golabki, creamy mashed potatoes and of course, Grandma Laurie’s famous cheesecake.

Gone were the chestnuts, roast turkey, green bean casserole and other traditional holiday fare. But, what transpired that Christmas Day was a trip down memory lane where we celebrated our family’s roots through food favorites and past celebrations and traditions.

Grandma Laurie made the cheesecakes for the Turgeon family restaurants using a recipe developed by the famous Turgeon brothers. The Turgeons are part of our extended family so I started making the cheesecakes whenever we all got together. Later, Devon and I continued the tradition of making cheesecake for all of our family celebrations.

We had so much fun cooking together that I thought that celebrating family recipes through cooking with children would be an interesting Mother’s Day theme for the May installment of the Savor the Flavor presentation I have been conducting at the Broadway Market.

I called my friend Julie Panepento, who spends a lot of time cooking with her daughter Noelle, and asked her to join me “center stage.” Together we have come up with a program that highlights the joy of cooking with family members. I see it as a way to slow down, connect, and spend quality time with family. As true today as it has been for centuries, the “ties-that-bind” are found in the kitchen, where best-loved family recipes and traditions are passed-down from one generation to the next.

On May 12th at the Savor the Flavor cooking demonstration Julie and Noelle will be making Maple Chicken, a recipe found during their yearly spring maple sugar excursions. They will also illustrate a recipe for banana bread that they have been making since Noelle was four years old.

Devon and I will share the famous Turgeon Restaurant’s cheesecake recipe with the group and as well as some ideas for homemade salad dressings that will be served on a salad composed of edible flowers.

Event attendance costs only $11 and all guests receive a tasting of the featured recipes, recipe cards, and coupons from select vendors at the market. And, in celebration of mom’s, every mother will get a flower to take home.

This is a unique and fun way to spend some time with your mom. Hope to see you there!

May 12th, 11 AM
Broadway Market, 999 Broadway, 14212, 839.5150, call for hours