Some Domestic Details
After I got back home from Pruzhany [and Grandmother had departed for America], I noticed that father took over the culinary tasks in our household, Mother never liked cooking so he assumed that chore. But this activity was unusual among the male members of a family. In fact, it was considered a shande (shame) to engage in kitchen tasks of any kind, which were women's work. But father didn't seem to mind.
Though I insisted on sleeping with mother, somehow I would always find myself in my own crib, upon waking. Without permission I would crawl back in with mother. But soon after a delicious smell would penetrate the bedroom and father would appear holding two plates full of thick buckwheat pancakes with a thick slab of golden butter in the center of each of them. This was served on a little board which took the place of a tray. Father then propped up our pillows so that we could sit more comfortably and enjoy our delicious feast! This delight has not only remained in my memory but on my palate ever since!
Editor's Notes: Use the search facility, here, to locate other references to foods in the memoir.
