I was born in Chicago in 1934. My Mother, Theresa Rose Sehne b.1905, my Father, Frank John Wischler b.1905 and my Grandmother, Elizabeth Rose Heinz b.1881, cooked Hungarian and Transylvania dishes. The recipes are descended from a long line of my ancestors, passed down one generation to the next. They were never written down. I learned them by example and by making them.
All girls learn to cook at their Mothers elbow.
I watched and helped and learned. When I married, I continued to cook the only cuisine I knew. I do not carry Hungarian blood, but I like to think I do, because of the strong bond formed by a lifetime of cooking and eating Hungarian foods. The first lullaby I heard as a baby was a Hungarian one. The dance I loved was the Chardarsh.