Kaitlyn Smith

A piece of my history that I will share is the Czechoslovakia flag. My grandma came to the United States at the age of 6 on a boat from where she was born in Czechoslovakia. She came to the U.S. with her parents and 4 other older sisters. Her parents came to the United States to find work and to have a better life. Growing up, my grandmother was very successful; she attended the University of Wisconsin and had majored in Business. When she turned 20 years old she had met a guy named Erwin. They had dated for a year and then had decided to get married at the age of 21. They had a traditional American wedding. As the years went by, they had 6 children together. Theresa was the 2^nd oldest of the 6 children. Theresa is my mom. Theresa had 6 children also later in life. This had led to me, being the 2nd oldest daughter of hers. Having a Czechoslovakian grandmother, she has many traditional recipes. My favorite one is called Kālu ski. It’s a dessert with jelly filling in the middle with a golden crunchy crust wrapped around it. Jelly differs between cherry, strawberry, or blueberry. Another traditional dessert is called Ruskies. It’s a nut roll with nuts around the center of it. In the center is a brown maple syrup that’s thickened.

Cooking on my grandma’s side of the family is very important. At family gatherings, we all enjoy getting together and sharing different dishes of Czechoslovakian food. I’m not sure how much Czech is in my blood, but I know I have a little. I love hearing stories from my grandma when she was a child back in Czechoslovakia. I had someone at work ask me if I knew any Czech language. I had replied no, not at all. So, my goal is to sit down with my grandma and maybe learn some basic Czech words.