Late aunt loved to cook, share recipes
Auntie Wanda often cooked and baked for all of her family, always willing to share with columnist Philip Potempa her signature recipes to be highlighted in his columns and cookbooks.
My dad Chester lost his last sister, my Auntie Wanda, on Jan. 10, when she passed away at age 95. Now, of the nine Potempa children, my dad, at age 91 and the youngest, is the last sibling left of his large Polish farm family.
Auntie Wanda was able to be home, rather than in a hospital, and she was surrounded by family when she passed. My parents joined me from the farm earlier that afternoon to talk to her and see her, using a video call. My second cousin Amanda, with her tech-savvy kindergarten-teacher know-how, was a blessing to keep us connected, as she helped the rest of her Chicago family care for her grandma in these recent weeks. Auntie Wanda was married with a “big city wedding” in August 1948 in Chicago. Uncle Bob, who died in 2016 at age 93, loved to drive out for weekends to the family farm with Auntie Wanda and my older cousins Pat, Mike and Frank.
Whenever in Chicago, my parents loved to visit Auntie Wanda and Uncle Bob at their cozy, neat home just across the park from Uncle Joe and Aunt Rose’s house. Mom always liked to describe Auntie Wanda’s neat-as-pin home as akin to “a cute dollhouse.” And there would always be a delicious spread of sandwiches, fresh coffee brewing and coffeecake waiting in their eat-in kitchen when they knew “company from Indiana” was coming for a visit. A gallery of framed photos of their beloved children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren filled the walls of the living room.
Auntie Wanda and Uncle Bob joined myself and my parents for occasional fun outings to theaters like Drury Lane and Paramount Arts Centre, as well visits to the horse track, casinos and restaurants. In the vacation summers of the 1960s before my 1970 birth, Uncle Bob and Auntie Wanda would join the rest of our family to trek up to tiny Orr, Minnesota, for week-long fishing trip vacations in the cabins along Pelican Lake at Shangri-La Resort.
My published cookbooks include photos of Auntie Wanda meeting entertainers like Tony Orlando and “Polish Prince” Bobby Vinton when she would come backstage with my parents and me following a concert. A few of my favorite memories are joining Auntie Wanda and my cousin Patty, Amanda’s mom, to see their favorite, Reba McEntire, for an outdoor concert that even the rain couldn’t stop in September 2008; all of us together again to snap photos with actor Jim Belushi on the red carpet at the opening-night party of the new Rivers Casino near O’Hare International Airport in July 2011; and when we enjoyed dinner and a show in November 2010 at Drury Lane Oak Brook for the stage musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”
In more recent years, I’d have a quiet visit with Auntie Wanda on Sunday afternoons at her home to keep her up on the latest family news “from the farm,” something my cousin Amanda, this week, reminded me brought much joy to her grandma.
“Accept my condolences on the loss of your Auntie Wanda,” Amanda wrote in a note to me.
“I will always remember how many times she told me that you would bring her your newspaper columns and vegetables from the farm gardens. Grandma would show me something you had written in the newspaper. She was indeed proud of her ‘nephew Phil, the writer.’ I know she always enjoyed your visits so much over the years. She would always tell me when ‘Philip had come over’ with a smile on her face. She was so sweet. Always quick to offer a cup of coffee to anyone who visited. My grandma was a tough woman, mind, body and spirit, never ever complained about any ache or pain she had. She was a strong farm girl with a wonderful, tender heart.”
Auntie Wanda loved her compact city kitchen and often cooked and baked for all of her family, always willing to share with me her signature recipes to highlight with my readers in my columns and cookbooks. Her baked sauerkraut and pork spare ribs, old-fashioned baked beans, a delicious beyond-compare creamy potato salad, a fresh cabbage coleslaw, rich and savory chop suey and a scrumptious poppyseed cake are just a few of her recipe specialties preserved in my cookbooks.
It’s a farm tradition to bring food to neighbors when there’s a death in the family. Our farm wife friend recently shared with us her colorful and inviting “ribbon layered” gelatin, which is a special favorite carry-in item for an occasion, from funeral luncheons and potlucks to holidaytime menus, since the recipe also lends itself to red and green gelatin.