Andy wrote:
> jmcquown said...
>
>> It's starting to get a little chilly, although at this time of year
>> in W. TN the temps bounce up and down. It's still in the low 70's
>> most days. But it won't be long before I'm craving a nice beef stew.
>>
>> My (Scottish) grandmother, whose recipe I don't have, used chuck
>> roast (as do I) but she never added any vegetable other than
>> potatoes. My (German) grandmother's stew was really more like a
>> vegetable beef soup, not at all thick, very brothy.
>> Jill
>
>
> Scottish AND German. You certainly come from good "stock". 
>
> Andy
LOL Mostly Scottish, all the way back to 1679 (that's as far back as we can
trace the McQuown side but according to the history they kept it pretty much
Scottish). Mom's parents were straight off the boat from Scotland around
1921 or so. Dad's father married the German gal which threw everything off
kilter as far as the family tree goes

Just kidding!
Really, she made wonderful potato soup with rivels (she called them
rivlettes) and I managed to re-create what Dad remembered from his childhood
many years after she died. She was raised in Pennsylvania (essentially a
Penna-Dutch area). I've no idea how she met my grandfather. That part of
the history is much more sketchy than in the previous century, isn't that
odd?
There are two types of potato pancakes in our family. The grated potato
ones which are essentially German (like latkes, and yes, I believe her
parents the Reithmillers - were Jewish) and the potato-pancake type, made
from cold leftover mashed potatoes. German and Scottish. I like them both
Jill