Family is so important. Something I’m realizing more as I get older. I have wonderful friends, many of whom are like family (especially since we live so far away from any relative), but they could never replace our parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and memories of our grandparents.

Some of my fondest memories have to do with food and family. I’ve been blessed with a family that loves to eat well. From my Oma on my Dad’s side, to my Mom, there was no shortage of good cooking growing up. I didn’t really discover my passion for food until I got married and had someone to cook for. But now that I’ve discovered it, I cherish it, and use it as a way to connect to my family. I’ve learned how to make my Oma’s Zwieback in person, talked with Mom on the phone while trying to make her Cinnamon Buns, and have taken photos of the process as I’ve made Oma’s Paska, so I could show her, and have her tell me what I did wrong (and she amazed me – she told me, from a photograph, that the dough was too sticky). I love that cooking connects me to my family.

This heritage, this legacy is so precious to me. So I want to begin to share some of those recipes on here in my new Legacy Recipes section.

This first one is Oma’s Lemon Buns. Oma was an exceptional cook. I can’t tell you if she was a better baker or a better cook. She was simply wonderful at both. I don’t remember a visit where there weren’t at least cookies and Zwieback (and by cookies, I mean at least 5 different kinds), and maybe even Lemon Buns. Oma said that when she turned 90 last October, she would be done baking. That didn’t happen. At the family gatherings before and after her funeral two weeks ago, there were Lemon Buns, cookies, Platz, Fleisch Perishky… her baking outlived her. I think the Lemon Buns were my favorite dessert (other than the Paska, which we only ate at Easter). So I’ll share that recipe with you today. It’s in Oma’s handwriting, but I’ll also type it out, so you can print it if you’d like. If you have any questions, I can’t help you, I’ve never made them. But I intend to, soon. 🙂