My Blog Has Moved to Substack!
Dear Readers, I've moved my blog to Substack. Please follow me there, check out my Substack home page and subscribe: I look forward to seeing you there, every Friday! Annette
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Mar, 2024
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Sep, 2023
How to Bake Fluffy, Delicious, Gluten-Free Challah with Blends by Orly Challah Mix
I've figured out how to bake gluten free challah using Blends by Orly Gluten Free Challah Mix. I never thought I'd be doing this as I was used to [...]
30
Jun, 2023
Book Design Tour of a Children’s Picture Book: A Peek Behind the Scenes
On her Instagram account, my wonderful book designer Melinda Martin put together this short tour of how we did the book design for Natalie and the Nazi Soldiers. This [...]
23
Jun, 2023
Easy Recipe for a Tasty Summer Treat: Chewy Tahini Blondies
I have a weakness for chewy treats, and I love the taste of tahini. It's no wonder this recipe has become a favorite treat of mine. The sesame seeds [...]
16
Jun, 2023
Who Moves from the Cultural Mecca of 1920s Berlin to Fledgling Jerusalem? A Fascinating Memoir Explains.
I first learned about Gershom Scholem when I read Thomas Sparr’s excellent portrait of German Jerusalem: The Remarkable Life of a German-Jewish Neighborhood in the Holy City. (If you’re [...]
18
Apr, 2023
Remembering a Chilling Naming Ceremony at a Children’s Mass Grave from the Holocaust
Today is Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), when in Israel sirens sound at 10 a.m. For two minutes, the entire country stands still to observe the memory of the [...]
31
Mar, 2023
New Children’s Book! How long did it take to create Natalie and the Nazi Soldiers?
My new (and first) children's book is out! May I present: Natalie and the Nazi Soldiers, the story of a hidden child in France during the Holocaust, based on [...]
15
Nov, 2022
Tykocin – Where the Simple Baroque Synagogue of 1642 is the Lone Survivor of Centuries of Jewish Life
Meet the town of Tykocin in northeast Poland, a shtetl if there ever was one. Tykocin is pretty much as it was in August 1941, when German Einsatzgruppen obliterated [...]
14
Nov, 2022
The Chilling Legacy of Jedwabne: When Neighbors Murder Neighbors
This low stone wall marks the circumference of the barn in Jedwabne, where more than 300 Jews were burned to death [...]
14
Nov, 2022
The Warsaw Jewish Cemetery Makes More Than a Century of Vibrant Jewish Life Tangible
Our November tour of the sites of Jewish history and the Holocaust in Poland and Lithuania began with a visit to the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery. With more than 250,000 [...]
8
Jul, 2022
Dad Was an Avid Letter Writer. How to Begin Making Something of his Letters.
Looping back to the beginning is a good way to end. Since I began this series of blog posts on turning letters into stories with How to Transform a [...]
8
Jul, 2022
What to Do When You Don’t Have Enough Information about a Fascinating Letter But Still Want to Use it in a Story
Civil War Letter (source: familytree.com) When researching family history, you might come across a letter that you find utterly fascinating. But you don't know much, if anything, [...]
1
Jul, 2022
Want to Use a Letter as the Basis for a Story? Here’s an Easy But Really Important Tip for Getting Started
A cache of family letters, or maybe even just one amazing letter written by an ancestor, is a great source for writing a story from family history. Martha McCallum's [...]
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Jun, 2022
How to Solve One of the Biggest Challenges When Writing Family History Based on Letters: Context
This is the carbon copy of my grandfather’s tightly typed letter, on which I based my story The Flying Dutchman, that also became a [...]
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Jun, 2022
How to Transform a Father’s WWII Letters into a Fascinating Story – Begin Writing Family History with these 5 Tips
The pile of letters the father of my reader Donna sent to his sister in Chicago while he was stationed in India during WWII, including the silk [...]
15
Jan, 2022
How to Capture Family History in a Book of My Things – Course Countdown Last Day – Nana’s Coat
Welcome to the last day of my countdown towards my online course Capturing Family History in a Book of My Things. I'm really excited that it begins tomorrow! Today is [...]
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Jan, 2022
How to Capture Family History in a Book of My Things – Course Countdown: Day 9 – Mom’s Costume Jewelry Box
https://youtu.be/vokcUrrds3k Welcome to Day 9 of my countdown towards my online course Capturing Family History in a Book of My Things! (begins on January 16, 2022). Each day I [...]
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Jan, 2022
How to Capture Family History in a Book of My Things – Course Countdown: Day 8 – Opa’s Desk
My main goal right now is to get out of the gate with these stories about my (and our) things. So, if I don't have all the material I'd like to have, I still put together the story. I can always update it later!
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Jan, 2022
How to Capture Family History in a Book of My Things – Course Countdown: Day 7 – My Great-Aunt Poldi’s Porcelain
Welcome to Day 7 of my countdown towards my online course Capturing Family History in a Book of My Things, which begins on January 16, 2022. Each day I am sharing [...]
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Jan, 2022
How to Capture Family History in a Book of My Things – Course Countdown: Day 6 – My Grandmother’s Oriental Rug
My grandmother's rug in my living room in Chicago Welcome to Day 6 of my countdown towards my online course Capturing Family History in a Book of My [...]
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Jan, 2022
How to Capture Family History in a Book of My Things – Course Countdown: Day 5 – My Great-Grandfather’s Sewing Machine
Welcome to Day 5 of my countdown towards my online course Capturing Family History in a Book of My Things, which begins on January 16, 2022. [Update: The course is currently [...]
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Jan, 2022
How to Capture Family History in a Book of My Things – Course Countdown: Day 4 – A Wad of Fabric from my Great-Uncle’s Store in Czechoslovakia
This wad of herringbone fabric dates back to the 1940s and is from my great-uncle's store in Liberec in the Czech Republic. It is mentioned in my memoir [...]
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Jan, 2022
How to Capture Family History in a Book of My Things – Course Countdown: Day 3 – My Parents’ Vintage Steamer Trunk
Welcome to Day 3 of my countdown towards my online course Capturing Family History in a Book of My Things, which begins on January 16, 2022. Each day I am [...]
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Jan, 2022
How to Capture Family History in a Book of My Things – Course Countdown: Day 2 – Nana’s Handmade Tapestries (Gobelins)
My mother-in-law, who always went by Nana, made this tapestry specifically for our children. It still hangs in what used to be the main children's room in our [...]
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Jan, 2022
How to Capture Family History in a Book of My Things – Course Countdown: Day 1 – My Dad’s Old Latin-German Stowasser Dictionary
I'm so excited that my online course Capturing Family History in a Book of My Things begins in ten days that I decided to run a countdown. I'll be [...]
30
Dec, 2021
Pumpkin Bread: One of my Favorite Quick Bread Recipes that Always Reminds Me of an Old Friend
Lately I have been sharing recipes from dear friends; recipes that have become family favorites (see White Chicken Chili recipe). Today's recipe for pumpkin bread comes from my friend [...]
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Dec, 2021
Offering a New Online Course: Capture your Family History in a Book of Your Things
Are you interested in finally “doing something” with your family history? Would you like to organize and present your family history in a way that will be useful and [...]
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Dec, 2021
The Best from Our North Dakota Road Trip: Wide Open Horizons, Fab Fargo, Muddy Hikes and Grand Badland Vistas
This is all I really wanted from our trip to North Dakota: The open road and wide, wide horizons. (That, and finally visiting Theodore Roosevelt National Park, see [...]
10
Dec, 2021
The Best Recipe for Leftover Chicken or Turkey: White Chili
This recipe is from my friend Nita Brooks, who's a) a quintessential Southern belle, and b) an amazing cook. She prepares the greatest dinners at my former online writing [...]
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Nov, 2021
The One Gift from Grandma: an Amber-Colored Glass Candy Dish
In 1978, when I was fifteen, my mother and I flew from Germany to Detroit for an extended trip around the U.S. First up was Michigan to visit her [...]
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Nov, 2021
Free 3-Week Mini Course on Writing Stories from Family History
I'm currently offering a free mini course on writing stories from family history. As I'm working on creating my own online course business, things are moving much faster than [...]
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Oct, 2021
A Favorite Family Recipe to Savor Fall: Chunky Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Butternut squash, its color, smell and taste, are quintessentially fall. I realized that years ago when I once made this soup in March, using a butternut squash that had [...]
10
Sep, 2021
9/11 – In Memoriam of Those Who Lost Their Lives 20 Years Ago
I can't quite believe 9/11 happened 20 years ago! Thankfully, my husband reminded me this morning that I usually do a memorial post for 9/11 every year by sharing [...]
2
Apr, 2021
How to Deal with the Challenge of Multiple Languages in your Family History Stories
My grandmother left fourteen pages of these handwritten memoirs. For us grandkids they are a real treasure but thankfully we can all read German. Welcome to [...]
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Mar, 2021
How to Jazz Up Store-Bought Gefilte Fish the Aunt Rachel Way
First of all, I'm back! I'm sorry I've been MIA for three months but I guess, after ten years of regular blogging, I needed a break. And truth be [...]
18
Dec, 2020
This Site Is Currently Under Construction
Dear Readers and Visitors, You might have noticed that all kinds of gibberish code is appearing on my home page and other pages. Some images are not loading properly. This [...]
4
Dec, 2020
Finding Bliss on the Balcony and Sharing that Experience in the New Bella Grace Issue
My best writing happens when I manage to package my own experience, habits or insights into an article that might bring inspiration to others. Sometimes, my own life is too [...]
20
Nov, 2020
Podcast Interview – The Difference between Autobiography and Memoir, and all Kinds of Other Points Pertinent to Writing Family Stories
My dad's first outing in the pram, pushed by his Aunt Resi (a major character in Jumping Over Shadows). Walking along are the proud parents, i.e. my grandparents, Karl [...]
13
Nov, 2020
How Do you Deal with the Plethora of Names When Writing Stories from Family History?
At my Great Aunt Resi's for New Year's Eve, early 1940s, Czechoslovakia (This picture is from my memoir Jumping Over Shadows.) When you write a story from family [...]
2
Oct, 2020
The Magic of Needlepoint Projects – Easy-to-do, Therapeutic and Beautiful, They Might Also Connect You to Your Past
A month ago I was suffering from a broken heart (being a mother is hard...), and I found myself opening this cross stitch kit I'd ordered back in May [...]
11
Sep, 2020
Remembering 9/11 by Remembering Some of Those Who Lost Their Lives
Today is 9/11. Somehow it strikes me as odd to remember that day in the middle of a new calamity. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly is a different calamity altogether. I'm [...]
14
Aug, 2020
During the Pandemic, Traveling by Book is the Best Kind of Travel, Provided You Read a Magnificent One like The Lost Pianos of Siberia
It is precious and rare to fall in love with a book. It is even more precious to get lost in a book and be swept away to another world. [...]
7
Aug, 2020
Soothing for the Soul – A Day of Wide Open Horizons and Thundering Waves at the Indiana Dunes
For weeks my daughter had been nudging that she wanted to go hike trail 10 in the Indiana Dunes. She wanted to relive a childhood experience. We had taken the [...]
28
Jul, 2020
Podcast Interview: How to Get Started Writing Family History Stories and How to Make Them Interesting for the Next Generation
That's me in front of my grandparents' former house in Liberec, Czech Republic, August 2002 I'm happy to share that I'm featured on this week's edition of the Genealogy [...]
24
Jul, 2020
Sharing Impressions from an Epic Trip to Peru Last Year: A Sand Storm Threatens a Flight over the Mysterious Nazca Lines
On our trip to Peru last year, we first traveled south, past all the depressing shanty towns of Lima, mainly to see the pre-Columbian Nazca Lines. This post continues my [...]
17
Jul, 2020
Sharing Impressions from an Epic Trip to Peru Last Summer: Beginning with the Shocking Poverty of the Shanty Towns of Lima
Seeing the shanty towns south of Lima on the very first day we were traveling in Peru last summer left an indelible impression on me. Never in my life had [...]
10
Jul, 2020
Hip Labral Tear Surgery (Hip Arthroscopy): My Experience and My Take On It Two Years Later
That's me one month after the surgery in the body brace I had to constantly wear for six weeks post op. This was on my first trip to the [...]
12
Jun, 2020
During these Uncertain Times, Trips Down Memory Lane Warm the Heart and Provide an Anchor
In these days of the Coronavirus Pandemic, urban unrest and ensuing heightened uncertainty, I have found trips down memory lane especially meaningful and calming. They connect me to my former [...]
5
Jun, 2020
How to Bake the Perfect Treat for Strawberry Season: German-Style Strawberry Shortcake (Erdbeerkuchen)
When I was a kid, my mom always made Erdbeerkuchen, i.e. German-style strawberry shortcake for my birthday because it falls at the beginning of strawberry season. Erdbeerkuchen was pretty much [...]
29
May, 2020
What to Do When You Want to Write a Story from Family History But Don’t Have Enough Material
Welcome to another installment of my advice column where I answer readers’ questions about writing compelling stories from family history: Hope asks: I would like to write about a great-aunt [...]