Choosing a Blog Title

I wasn't prepared to begin this blog. I saw a link on a friend's wall and clicked it. So, it was difficult choosing a Display Name, Blog title, URL & Template. I am an American, but only the second generation here in America on my dad's side and third generation on my mom's side. In fact, my dad's first two siblings were born in Polish Austria.

I am very proud of my Polish roots. I've always told my husband that he got something very unique in me, a pure breed, as most people in America have a multi-ethnic background. For example, his mother was Scotch Irish and his dad Welsh.

I chose the title for my blog as a play on words (bred/bread). I am proud to be bred pure Polish, but I love all of the Polish traditions that my parents and grandparents taught by keeping them in our lives. Polish foods are a big part of our heritage and are found in all of our traditions, especially for the holidays. Also, I come from professional cooks and bakers on both sides. My mom's parents owned a restaurant called "Louis' Restaurant". I did not see it as they closed it right before World War I. My dad's family owned a cafe. Originally it was called "Hereda Cafe", but when they bought the property and buildings of a closed coal mine south of town in our Pennsylvania home, they made the largest building into a bar & hotel, later adding a separate six unit motel beside the hotel, they changed the name to "Hereda Hotel".

That hotel and the business it housed including a restaurant and catering lasted through three generations. I was there nearly every day of my life until I went to college. Twice I lived there; once with my paents and sister, after my father's vehicle accident, and I spent one summer living there, helping as a chamber maid and working and playing at a local swimming pool down the road.

Of all the Polish foods my family made and I make today, my favorite is baking a Polish Holiday bread called Paszka. It is a sweet bread filled with cherries and raisins. At Easter dough is rolled into coils and a cross is placed on the top before it rises and is baked. So that is why I named my blog, Polish Bread!