Who left the dimensional door open? - Thread 019

News Center (Online) ^ | 1/29/02 | Ubknown

[acnielsen guy]

THREAD 019

Dregs and Flakes

Posts since 1/29/02 21,684

[andysandmikesmom]

Of course, I know all about kielbasa, or Polish sausage...having been raised in Chicago, which has the largest population of Polish folks outside of Warsaw Poland...thats true, not just me blowing hot air....

In Chicago, when I was growing up, many, many of my very best friends were Polish, and spoke Polish, for many of them, Polish was their native tongue, even tho they were born right here in USA....

When I was a young teenaged gal, we used to go shopping at this big shopping center a few miles from our house...Now, this was known as a wonderful shopping area, for anyone, but it was especially, in that time, well known for its stores personnel, and all, being able to speak Polish...so many Polish folk would shop there and nowhere else...

Now when I was getting growing up, my mom decided to buy me my own set of Samsonite Luggage, but she wanted the best deal...so one of my Polish friends, had a special entrance pass to this big discount place in the shopping center, and he went there with mom and me, to get us a great deal on luggage....and we got it, and did other shopping there as well...

Then the three of us decided to do some Christmas shopping, as the Christmas season was approaching...I was hungry, and wanted something to eat...there was no McDonalds or Burger King or fast food place around....so we settled for this little homey restaurant....

Once inside this little restaurant, we realized most folks in there were all Polish, and no one, no even the waiters spoke much English...I wanted a hamburger, and with great difficulty, we were able to obtain one, tho it was not all that great....

I guess all I did was moan and groan about how hungry I had been, and then to have to eat a Polish style hamburger was not making me happy...Finally my friend, who was a guy, in exasperation, threw up his hands, and looked at me, and said, "You are more trouble, than on old Busha,(Polish for grandmother)....in fact, that is what I am going to call you from now on, Busha"....and he kept calling me that, and related our shopping experience to everyone, and by gosh, that name stuck....and from then on I was known as Busha...no kidding....

To this day, all my friends from that time still call me Busha....or Bushie, when they are affectionate...it is pronounced thus...Boo-sha...or Boo-shee....

Thus you all now know my nickname, and how it came to be, all related to the great wonderful Polish population of Chicago....

I have more Polish stories to be continued in another post...as well as the description of BigDoms, BigLunch...

[habs4ever]

My best pal is a Pole, a real one, who escaped in 1974 with the rest of his family...and his dad built a smokehouse to make the sausage.Each yr, he would make about 300ft of homemade kielbassa.fantastic!! Smooth, no gristle, just the right seasonings....it was a treat to get some of that.

[andysandmikesmom]

More Polish stories...

The best wedding food is at Polish weddings....they put on a feed bag, like no other place...no rubbery chicken, no dried out beef, no simpy appetizers...no, no, a Polish wedding reception is a meal fit for a king, queen, and commoner alike...

Heaping bowls of Polish Sausages, Mashed Potatoes, Sauerkraut, sliced beef in gravy, pierogis stuffed with potatoes, cheeses, and meats, steamed veggies, and wonderful pies, and pastries...all served family style, and all eaters stuffed to the gills....

When I was a young lady, one of my coworkers had a son who was getting married, and she was throwing a big bash, and invited several of us...her brother owned a well known Polish restaurant on the outskirts of Chicago, and it was there that the reception was held...it was grand...

But this restaurant also is situated in close proximity to several large cemetaries...and besides being a regular restaurant, and a place for wedding and other receptions, ,they also catered to large funeral parties...after having buried the deceased, often the family likes to treat mourners to a nice lunch...this very same restaurant where I went for the wedding reception, was where the funeral luncheon was held for my husbands grandfather....even tho my hubbys family is Sicilian, they held the funeral luncheon at this Polish restaurant, and they said, a finer meal could be found nowhere....

So, there is another view of a Polish restaurant...

[andysandmikesmom]

Habs....Kielbasa is so wonderful, and sounds so yummy the way you describe it...

One last Polish story....

When my brother died, in 1981, me and BigDom and the boys, were by that time, living near Ft. Bragg N.C....actually BigDom was in Germany at the time, but me and boys were in NC...so me and the boys went back to Chicago for my brothers funeral, and since it was just three weeks before Christmas, we decided to stay in Chicago, help mom and dad through this time, and we could spend Christmas with them...

Now Michael was very much into collecting comic books and baseball and football cards....since we were in Chicago, he figured that we could find some big stores for him to shop in for his collections....we found a really big store listed in the phone book, somewhere on the south side of Chicago...I was not familiar at all with the south side, having been raised on the Northwest Side, and married life was with BigDom on the far North side...

But I figured it would be an adventure to scout out the South Side...so off we went...this sporting store was in a fairly busy, large shopping district, so there were many stores around....

Since I was so unfamiliar with the South side, I wrote down the street names where we were parked....that should have been the first clue that we were definately in a Polish area, because one of the streets was called 'Pope John Paul' street....

As we walked past all the stores, I noticed that all signs of advertisement were in two languages, English and Polish...and when we found the sports store, the salepersons spoke both English and Polish, as evidenced by they talking to many customers in Polish...

Both of my boys were quite amused at hearing fluent Polish being spoken...being around a military base, they were used to hearing German, and Vietnamese, and Japanese, and Spanish being spoken...but Polish speaking, was a new experience for them...

I have not been back to Chicago since 1981...more than 20yrs....so I dont know what the situation on these neighborhoods is at the present time, dont know if these areas have changed much, or if they still remain the same...

[palo verde]

hi habs
reading your post made me remember joey said all he'd have to do to make kelbasa is put in a smokehouse out back

I was mixed up thinking he needed a special machine

loddy , joey's italian sausages (sweet or hot) had to be cooked
but kelbasa I bought in polish stores did not have to be cooked to eat it
the reason it was was sliced lengthwise and fried lightly was to make it more delicious
(to have with eggs) or to put on sandwich

habs, how come it doesnt have to be cooked, is it like balogna and salami and hot dogs and ham
because it is smoked in smokehouse
heating it up is for flavor?

[palo verde]

hi cookie
I got such a kick out of all your polish posts

I am back from swimming and the mall
I dont dare count how many pocketbooks I bought
(a red one and buncha others)
they had irresistable sale
also I bought a red wallet
the lady in pocketbook counter was appalled
she said ''why are you buying a red pocketbook
you bought a red one last time''
I said ''I considered a red pocketbook last time, but I wound up with the blue one''
she said ''is your husband gonna come in and scold me when he sees what you did''
I said ''he wont know about it, I'll put the bag in the back seat
and scurry into the house with it''
Love, Palo

[grannie9]

I would love you for a neighbor...smoooch

[habs4ever]

Yeah, well...I'm not sure i want to be your neighbour ;-)I'll look elsewhere!! LOL

[habs4ever]

I think the kielbassa is cured, so it doesn't need cooking.Either that or the smokehouse acts as a curing agent.Its yummy!!The heat releases the flavours for sure.

[palo verde]

hi bushie
I agree, the poles are wonderful people
when I was kid my dad used to say
nyc has more italians than rome, more jews than in jerusalem, more irish than in dublin
I believe you bout the polish population in chicago
Love, Palo

hooray
Billy who is head of all the pools, told me and Bill today at pool
tucson city council just reconsidered
instead of raising price at pool 4 times what it was
they are only gonna double it

[palo verde]

thank you habs

[habs4ever]

Did you get some new shades too? i thought you were to have a pocketbook moratorium in favour of some glamourous shades ;-)

[andysandmikesmom]

Yes, I am the Busha, or Bushie...

Your sneaking in the house with your pocketbook collection, sounds like me sneaking my deliveries from the UPS driver or the mailman into the house...

Sometimes, the hubby makes queries....sometimes I respond, by, just nevermind, or sometimes I actually have him help me open the package, or sometimes, I say its a Christmas secret...I have my ways to get away with my prolific shopping...

Truth be told tho, BigDom, does his fair share of shopping, for CDs, Video tapes, wolf memorabilia, model cars, and beer...

So, to be honest, he no doubt knows what I buy, because he knows what I spend, but as long as we keep even-steven with each other, and we can save some of each paycheck, he really does not care...

After all he loves his Big Dinners, and his BigSalads, and BigLunches, so I guess he figures I am worth keeping...Andy is raised, we put him through college, there are no other kids at home, our house is paid for, so he figures we are ok...

After all, we are just having a good time...

[palo verde]

pocketbooks is not my favorite thing
my favorite thing is pretty dresses
(and indian jewelry)
but since Bill waits in parking lot
and pocketbook counter is right when I walk into the store
I wind up with pocketbooks
Love, Palo

[andysandmikesmom]

Good news on the pool fees...hopefully they will not go up that much, and Palo can swim and twirl to her hearts content...

[palo verde]

thank you bushie

[palo verde]

rofl bill does not like shoppin'
so he practically bought nothin'
while I was buying out the store
but he developed an expensive habit
taking Happy to vet each time Happy had booboo
when the last booboo wound up costing $269
he decided to curtail his habit

[andysandmikesmom]

When I was growing up in Chicago, the little store, in our neighborhood was just one block away....it was run by 'Mike', an Italian butcher, who ran his own little cornerstore, and always had a wondeful meat selection, him being a butcher by trade...

Mike, was a full blooded Italian, married to a little Italian lady, ,and they had two boys, Michael, their firstborn, and then little Anthony....Mikes special Italian sausage was to die for...

If you wanted Italian Sausage from Mike, you had to get your order in a few days ahead of time...he made up the sausages fresh for you, just before you got to the store...he had mild sausage and hot sausage...

In our house, hot sausage was always ordered, and it was out of this world...but one time, we all sat down to our Italian Sausage dinner, and everyone dug in, and the conversation at the table, was nothing but slurps and ooohs and aaahs over the sausage....

But as the eating progressed, everyone began to sweat profusely, and our tongues were on fire...that sausage, that one time, was almost toooo hot....we could barely finish it, it was so 'onfire' for all of us...and thats saying something, as even my dad, who loved all his foods fiery, was having a hard time of it...

After that meal, everyone had to have a cool wash cloth applied to their foreheads, for we all felt as if we were burning up...and we all drank tons of water, so the one bathroom was in constant use...

Later on, we laughed about it, my dad saying, he thought Mike was sampling too much Italian wine, and got tipsy, and probably seasoned the meat two or three times, instead of his just one initial time...

We never fogot Mike, and his really hot Italian sausage...

Eventually Mike and his family moved to the suburbs of Chicago, and we sure did miss his specially prepared Italian Sausage....

[palo verde]

lol I need sunglasses
I walk Lulu with one eye squinted whole time
I think I'll see what walgreens has for 4.95 first
maybe they'll have cute ones
aren't designer sunglasses pricey?

altho lifeguard has gorgeous pair
she said she got them at T Max
which means they were designer sunglasses from mall which were remaindered
so it might be worth it to get really pretty pair
going to T Max never works for me
I'd have to pay full price at mall

does foster grant make any pretty sunglasses
that is brand walgreens carries

[habs4ever]

That would make a good comedic skit, seeing you begin to sweat as the meal progressed along....