My Grandparents’ Table

During most of my life, my paternal grandparents, Mae Lydick (1910-2003) and Otto Norenberg (1911-1997), lived in the same house on the west shore of Cass Lake. Because of the attractiveness of their property, my family did not take sightseeing vacations; we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

Outside, Grandpa loved to take us for boat rides and fishing trips. Inside, Grandma loved to feed us.

My First Book

Almost 40 years ago, I published my first family history book: a compilation of my grandmother’s recipes.¹Karrie Blees. “Recipe for Anything.” self published, 1986. This little 80-page booklet had a limited run of about 16 copies (printed at a local copy shop).

The cover design was produced by rubbing letters onto acetate. If you look closely in the bottom right corner, you can see my husband’s initials inside one of the scrolls. Yes, he laid out the cover and literally drew the cover art with a pen.

Inside the book, the artwork is either halftone photos or clip art. The little, black and white drawings were actual “clip” art. I purchased a page of cooking images, used a scissor to cut them out and affixed them to the individual pages.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Galishkys. Grandma’s recipe was on page 17 of the book. The introduction to the cookbook contains essays about eating at my Grandparents’ table.

The Table

Immediately inside the front door stood the round, oak, claw-legged table. Around the table sat four oak captain’s chairs. Under the large west window was the Singer sewing machine. Sometimes we needed the sewing machine’s stool for an extra seat.

Grandma Mae has always said, “save something every day.” Her table setting had many saved memories. At a young age, we helped Grandma set the table using her collection of serving dishes and established traditions.

Her spoon holder sat in the middle of the table; teaspoons were not part of each place setting. The spoon holder was a tradition from the days when fresh fruit was not available all year and many fruits were preserved as sauces. This particular spoon holder came from the Star Island Girls’ Camp (her father bought all the inventory and camp buildings in the spring of 1942).²Karrie Blees. Photo of Glass Spoon Holder with Oneidaware “Twin Star” Spoons. Owned by Kenneth Norenberg, St. Paul MN, 2022.

The green salt and pepper shakers were part of a set. Originally the set included a sugar container, a flour tin and a 6-inch drippings bowl. Mae purchased the set from Sears, Roebucks & Co. to match her first wood stove, which had green enamel panels.

The silverplate/chrome butter dish was part of a set of serving pieces – a gift from Benny and Betty Norenberg, Otto’s brother and sister-in-law. Grandma’s Oneidaware Twin-star butter knife sat in the horizontal holder.³Karrie Blees. Photo of Oneidaware “Twin Star” butter knife. Not from Mae’s collection of flatware.

Paper napkins were not set at each place setting. Instead, the square napkins were folded in half and folded in half again to create long rectangles. Once folded, the napkins sat in the center of the table in a clear-glass root beer mug.

Adjacent the napkins, a small, glass, barrel held wooden toothpicks. This was a birthday gift from Mae’s daughter, Mary.

Table Grace

Grandpa Otto usually led us in this prayer before eating:

God is great,
God is good,
And we thank Him
For this food.
Amen.

On the 4th of July 1986, Grandpa offered this prayer:

Gracious Father in Heaven,
We ask you to bless this food before us
to strengthen us to serve you better each day of our lives.
In your holy name we ask it.
Amen.

German Blessing

After Grandpa Otto prayed, we joined hands around the table. For this part, we did not need to close our eyes or bow our heads. Cheerfully, with clasped hands we rhythmically chanted all together:

Ga Zag Nut
Ga Malt Sight!

OOF! That was horrible Deutsch! We had no idea what we were saying.
Many, many years later, my brother and I determined the proper German:

Gesegnete Mahlzeit!

Blessed Mealtime!

Mealtime Memories

What are your favorite memories of family meals?
What do you remember about your Grandmother’s table?

SOURCES

• 1
  Karrie Blees. “Recipe for Anything.” self published, 1986.
• 2
  Karrie Blees. Photo of Glass Spoon Holder with Oneidaware “Twin Star” Spoons. Owned by Kenneth Norenberg, St. Paul MN, 2022.
• 3
  Karrie Blees. Photo of Oneidaware “Twin Star” butter knife. Not from Mae’s collection of flatware.