• Allentown,  family,  heritage,  Pennsylvania

    Very thankful

    It’s Thanksgiving day and Joe and I arrived safely back home among snow flurries and unexpectedly icy roads, after enjoying a delicious dinner made by my sister-in-law, Amy, in Indianapolis. We had all the familiar foods that warm our tummies and remind us of gatherings past: home-made dressing, melt-in-your mouth turkey, sweet corn casserole, green bean casserole, two sweet potato casseroles, cranberry sauce, other delicious carbs and of course yummy pumpkin, peanut butter and apple caramel pies. My nephews were present with their sweet wives and children. My two great nephews seem so grown up (the oldest is three and a half) and a great niece is expected mid-December. And,…

  • heritage,  Pennsylvania Dutch,  Quilts

    “Q”uilts in the country

    Photo © Diane Weidenbenner My dad and his family were from Allentown, Pa., and they were of Pennsylvania Dutch heritage. The few times my dad’s Aunt Nora and Uncle Malcolm came to visit, Nora would make us a Shoo-Fly pie and other treats that my dad remembered as a kid. She’d also bring him Tastykakes. I first noticed barn quilts, another Pennsylvania Dutch tradition which began in the 1830s, when my ex-business partner and I traveled around Lancaster County during a business trip. Since moving to rural Indiana, large, colorfully patterned quilt blocks painted on the sides of barns, houses, sheds and businesses are a welcome surprise. It’s not uncommon…