It’s 2025 already and I can hardly believe it. Time seems to be flying by!
Have you thought about what you can intentionally do this year to share your Hungarian heritage with the people within your circle of influence?
We’ll cover that and more in this episode of The Hungarian Living Podcast.
This is episode 102.
Hi there! It’s Liz and I am delighted to be back with you on the podcast. If you know about what we do at The Hungarian Store you can imagine things are really busy during the holidays as we are shipping Hungarian goodies all around the U.S. For those of you who have purchased from us this year, last year, or any previous year, thank you for supporting our small family business.
We have been serving US Hungarian-Americans since 1988, first as Magyar Marketing – back in the day it was a mail order business out of Youngstown, Ohio. My mom started the business because she could see that it was becoming increasingly difficult to pass on the heritage as communities were changing and families were not staying in the same place. She was hearing it from her friends and she was, undoubtedly, struggling with it herself. As a single parent with four kids. She knew about being busy and the limited access of resources. The pace and demands of regular life competed with and often crowded out the important job of transmitting cultural heritage to the next generation.
After my mom passed away we packed it all up and moved the business to Evansville, Indiana. Then we had a few years in Bronxville, NY which was very interesting. And then we moved back to Evansville, Indiana in 2017 and have been here ever since. I have to say we loved our time in NY though it was not a place we had ever planned to live long term. It was super fun to be able to explore that area of the country and learn all about the Hungarian happenings in the northeast United States!
Anyway, a quick shout out to all the lovely people who have followed us as we have traversed the country and have supported our family business in a variety of ways. We so appreciate you and your insight – we enjoyed the days when we were on the road, traveling to Hungarian events all around the U.S. and getting to meet customers face-to-face. We still receive emails and letters from customers thanking us for encouraging them to keep sharing their Hungarian heritage with their family and friends and for providing a variety of resources and ideas that help make the job easier.
And, honestly, we are happy to do it. It helps us keep it top of mind for our family, too. This year on the podcast I’ll will cover some intentional ways to dig deeper into and share your Hungarian heritage with those around you. Some are ideas you might choose to incorporate and others you may set aside for another day – or never. My goal is to share the ideas and suggest some ways to get the job done. And you can mull them over and pick and choose what works for you. We often know what we want to do but sometimes need help seeing the how to get it done. You’ll get that kind of encouragement here!
Trust me, you won’t be able to do it perfectly. But consistency is more important than perfection. There will be seasons in life where it is not practical or even possible to execute even the best of plans. And that is ok. It doesn’t mean you have failed your forefathers!!! The easiest things to do are the things that come naturally. So, for example for me, I am NOT going to pick embroidery as my main mode of transmitting my Hungarian heritage to my people. I love it. I think it is beautiful, and I wish I had a comfort level with doing it, but I don’t. At least, not yet. But, at this point, I don’t have enough skill to pass on anything other than an appreciation for it. And, sometimes, that is absolutely enough.
The torch is ours to pass on.
As far as for my upbringing, I will say that my mom took on some opportunities that made a difference. It was something that mattered in her family and in my father’s family. Taking my 3 brothers and I to Hungary as a single parent in 1973 for a semester while she studied the Kodaly method was a huge undertaking. Wow. What an undertaking!
And, considering my great grandparents came to the U.S. between 1902-1927, there has been 100 or so years of cumulative effort into this project of “passing it on.” I don’t know if those ancestors were thinking about their great, great, great grandchildren but, in fact, things they did have trickled down that many generations.
And it continues to trickle down in my little family.
I see it when my librarian daughter lets me know about new books with a Hungarian theme. Or when my husband scouts out that a local restaurant that has no Hungarian connection is offering a slice of Eszterhazy torta for dessert for a limited time and swings by to get it! I hear it when 5 year old grandson asks if he can have a szaloncukor from the Christmas tree and he pronounces it so nicely. Or when my granddaughter asks me to point out Hungary on the globe or when my son cooks Hungarian food for his friends or co-workers. Or when my daughter-in-love’s mom comes over to help me make stuffed cabbage. Or when one of my daughters sings Hungarian Christmas carols with me. Or when my other daughter takes time to create one-of-a-kind greeting cards with Hungarian folk art designs. Everyone in the family knows about their Hungarian connection and they each express it in a variety of ways.
In 2025, I have committed to being a bit more intentional about a few things relating to my Hungarian heritage and one of those is to cook and/or bake at least 24 Hungarian things.
I don’t cook Hungarian food full time. In fact, I don’t really have Hungarian food in my regular line up.
Who am I kidding? I don’t hardly have a regular meal line up except I try to have a fresh salad every day. We have our routines and they aren’t anything special. And they aren’t really Hungarian unless I intentionally decide to make something that is. In 2024, I made stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage, rakot krumpli, dobos torta, mezeskalacs and probably a few other things. Some will be my favorites and are easy for me and others are things I haven’t made in a while or haven’t ever tried but have always wanted to. And it is doable as it’s only two times a month — The more of these things I add into the rhythm of my life the more comfortable I will be with them. Why don’t you join me? I have a rough plan of what I want to make this year, but I am always open to suggestion. If you have a great Hungarian family recipe for me to try, send it to me and I will definitely consider it!
I already made one of my January recipes this week because we had our neighbors over for a card game over the weekend and I had been in the mood for sajtos rud or cheese sticks. I already know that I can eat a batch so it was important for me to have someone to share them with. And since we are hosting a gulyas class on January 17th, that will be my second Hungarian dish for the month.
if you are listening to this episode before January 17th, 2025 at 12 noon, eastern time then there is still time for you to sign up for the gulyas class! There is a link in the shownotes or visit TheHungarianStore.com and look for the online classes tab in the drop down menu.
In addition to cooking, I am also committed to reading or listening to at least 12 books that are connected to Hungarian things, aside from my Hungarian language textbook. Have you read an amazing book you think I should consider as an option for this year? I would love for you to send me the title and author. And, yes, audiobooks count.
If you are movie person, you might tweak this a bit and decide to have a movie night once a month with a film with Hungarian connections. Believe me, there are plenty. We even have started a list of movies at HungarianLiving.com — HERE IS THE LINK!
And, for my big project, I am working on my family story in a few different ways but the big project is that I will to select 12 of the Hungarian folk tales my mom translated from Hungarian to English and get them audio recorded. My main goal is to get them done for my grandchildren, her great grandchildren but also for my nieces and nephews. And, I will also add them to the podcast because, why not? We have four on recorded for the podcast already here – Episode 26, 32, and 42. And a special story my mom wrote about Hungarian Christmas which is episode 82. There are links to all these in the shownotes.
So, I have committed to quite a year of work. Be sure to follow or subscribe to the podcast and join me on the journey! I will share my progress and resources along the way. And I hope you share yours with me as well!
So, let’s circle back to my opening question:
Have you thought about what you can intentionally do this year to share your Hungarian heritage with the people within your circle of influence?
Let’s do it together.
Small steps can have a big impact. What are the things that interest you? Let’s dig in!
And remember, we offer a variety of online classes and resources that can help you dig deeper and pass on our cultural heritage.
You can check out all our online classes at TheHungarianStore.com. Look for the Online Classes tab. If you are hearing this episode too late for the gulyás class, check out the link anyway as there is always something new coming up. We have cooking, language, music, and travel classes and all sorts of ways to learn more about your Hungarian heritage!
Next week I’ll talk about my cooking experiences and I will share the recipes I used. I hope it inspires you to make something yummy!
I hope to see you soon!