This is episode 113
Hello, my friends! It has been a while since you’ve heard my voice on here, and I want you to know, it wasn’t for lack of missing you. First, it’s been a season of travel for us. We were at the Hungarian Festival in McLean, Virginia back in April. We were also honored to attend the America250 Gala at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. And we closed off that trip with a visit to the Consulate. Then we were with our amazing tour group in Hungary for about two weeks. We’ve been out there, in person, soaking up every bit of this heritage we love. It has been a lot to prep for, to do, and then to recover from — but we love it!
And now we are hot and heavy into the planning season. We are thinking about our trip to Nebraska where I will be working on our paper catalog and Don will be researching the German side of his family —
if you live in the US and are not on our mailing list, you are missing out! We have been sending out catalogs since 1988, and we are always surprised about the number of people who save their catalog from year to year!
There is a link in the show notes where you can request to get on the list. Newsletter sign up!
Creating the catalog is a labor of love, but it really is a fun project. We highlight our products and we always include some encouragement for you as you share your Hungarian heritage with the ones you love! It’s a nice item to physically pass along to someone else. Let’s be honest, the digital world has its pros, but I like to hold things in my hand when I am reading them.
As I mentioned we have quite a busy fall, so make sure you follow the podcast and spread the word, because we will be keeping you up to date on all the opportunities.
It’s so glad to be back here with you.
Here’s the truth about those live events — I treasure them, and I wish I didn’t live so far away from all of them. When I do get to attend one, I get to see so many people I know, people who are part of my bigger Hungarian family. It reminds me how much we need something that bridges those gaps — something that doesn’t wait for a festival tent in Virginia to bring us together. Most of us are scattered throughout the United States, not even close to a Hungarian group we can be a part of. And even if we are, sometimes there are language barriers. To be honest, not all clubs are very welcoming if you aren’t a Hungarian speaker. That’s part of the reason we do the things we do with the Hungarian Heritage Expo, and why our monthly Heritage Connections gathering matters so much — completely free, completely virtual, where this whole family comes together, wherever you’re sitting in the world, no travel required.
And of course, when you travel to Hungary, or to any Hungarian event, food always finds its way into the fun. That’s actually how we first met Ádám — a few years back on one of our own Magyar Living tours. He was part of the cooking experience we built into that trip, and honestly, I knew I was going to figure out a way to work with him. And when you meet him, you will understand why. While we were in Budapest this time, Don and I got to sit down with him in person again, and we did some planning together for what’s coming up in our next tour in June 2027 and for our upcoming cooking classes — so today feels like the perfect time to tell you all about them.
If you know me at all, you know that in my family, love has always smelled like paprika and onions frying in a pan. Food is not just food in a Hungarian household — it’s memory, it’s my mother’s hands, it’s my brothers and I crowded into the kitchen while she made palacsinta as fast as she could because we were hungry! And that is exactly why I am so excited to tell you about our cooking classes.
For the last several years, Ádám has led our cooking classes, and let me tell you, this man knows his way around a Hungarian kitchen. Whether you have never made a rántás in your life or you grew up standing on a stool next to your nagymama stirring the pot or grinding the walnuts for a walnut roll, Ádám meets you exactly where you are. No pressure, no fancy equipment — just real dishes, made the real way.
Each month we meet on Zoom and make a different dish together. Classes are not recorded. We work through the recipe together, and Ádám shares his tips and tricks. In the end, we have our dish to enjoy. You can invite others into the kitchen with you, which I always think is handy, especially when we’re cooking something I’m not familiar with. The more hands, the better! And then everyone in your kitchen gets to eat the food you made together.
Think about it — golden, crispy langós straight out of the pan, or a pörkölt that’s been simmering low and slow until the meat just falls apart. Sometimes we learn there are regional differences, and that’s part of the fun. Generally, our goal is to cook dishes that are familiar, and we always discuss the variations.
On Saturday, July 25th, at 12pm noon, Eastern time (this is the correct time), we’ll be making cold fruit soup. It might sound weird if you’ve never heard of it before, but it is quite refreshing. Don and I had some strawberry-rhubarb soup in May in Budapest, and it was delicious! If you’re hearing this before Saturday, there is still time to join in on the fun — even if you don’t choose to cook along with us, you’ll have fun learning about the recipe and get encouragement to try it.
But here’s what I really want you to hear — this isn’t just a recipe swap. When we cook together, we are keeping something alive. Every dish has a story behind it, a region, a family, a hard winter or a joyful wedding it was made for. When you make it in your own kitchen, you’re not just feeding your family dinner — you’re carrying something forward.
So if your kitchen has been missing that Hungarian warmth, go to the show notes and sign up for our next class with Ádám through TheHungarianStore.com. Bring an apron, bring your appetite, and let’s cook something together that means a little more than takeout ever could. All the details are in the show notes, or at TheHungarianStore.com under the online classes tab.
Thanks for listening!
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Cold Fruit Soup Class Class is Saturday, July 25th at 12 noon Eastern time!!!
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