Finding your Past: Genealogical Gleanings with the Albany Grave Digger

28 September 2018

Foodie Friday : Corned Beef Dinner

For those who crave a corned beef and cabbage dinner. This simple one pot recipe lets the food do the talking. Best of all; you can have plenty of left-overs and clean-up is easy.

Corned Beef Dinner

Ingredients:
- Corned Beef, flat cut brisket, rinsed
- Red Potatoes, skin on or off if desired
- Cabbage Heads, cored & quartered
- Carrots, pealed & cut

Method:
1) Place brisket with fat side up in large stock pot with water, add spice packet to water if supplied with meat.
2) Bring water to a boil, immediately turn down to a slow boil/simmer. When water is simmering, corned beef will cook for 3 hours.
3) With 45 minutes cooking time remaining, add cabbage & carrots to stock pot.
4) With 30 minutes cooking time remaining, add potatoes, larger potatoes must be cut and quartered for quicker cooking time.
5) Remove food items from the brine, place in separate bowls.
6) Corned beef should be allowed to cool a bit and always carve meat against the grain.

25 September 2018

Autumn Garden Party and Capital Campaign at Albany Rural Cemetery

On October 14th an Autumn Garden Party will be held which will begin the campaign to restore the former residence of the Superintendent of Albany Rural Cemetery. The house was built in 1899 by noted architect Marcus T. Reynolds.

Marcus T. Reynolds House
Photo courtesy Friends of Albany Rural Cemetery

For more information on this event please contact the cemetery office at 518.463.7017 or visit their web site at AlbanyRuralCemetery.org.

22 September 2018

Upcoming Oktoberfest

Here is a local Oktoberfest that escaped my list from earlier in the week. This information comes to us from yesterday's Rensselaer County Advertiser newspaper. I have been to this Oktoberfest in the past and their home-made potato pancakes were awesome!

Oktoberfest Brings Bavaria to Nassau

Nassau's Village Beautification Committee presents a traditional Oktoberfest celebration on Sunday, September 30th, at the Village Commons Park on John Street, just off US Route 20. The event runs from 12 noon until 4 p.m. and features traditional German foods, beverages, and entertainment.

Inspired by European harvest festivals, the Oktoberfest menu will include a variety of tasty treats including an array of locally-made German sausages, vegan bratwurst, sauerkraut, potato salad, and made to order potato pancakes. All foods are available for take-out.

Musical entertainment will feature Nassau's own Bavarian Barons, a traditional German brass band founded in the village over 50 years ago. With a lively program of polkas, waltzes, and marches, the group has a long history of entertaining the public throughout New York and New England.

Admission is free and will take place under tents rains or shine. Guests may bring their own lawn chairs if they wish. For additional information, go to www.Nassau12123.com or call 518.766.2291.

21 September 2018

Dutch Heritage Festival

Coming up in early October attendees of the Dutch Heritage Festival on October 5-7, 2018 in Rhinebeck, NY will able to enjoy Dutch culture. On Friday, October 5th a three-course dinner at the Beekman Arms Tavern will be available. The Bard College musicians will play classical Dutch music. Also, former New York high court judge, Al Rosenblatt, will present a talk about Dutch heritage in the Hudson Valley. Dinner cost is $50.

Contact the church office at 845.876.3727 or email at rhinebeckreformed@frontiernet.net to make dinner reservations.

Festivities continue of Saturday with the Apple Fest at the Old Dutch Reformed Church of Rhinebeck located across from the Beekman Arms Tavern. A Dutch inspired lunch, storytelling, classical Dutch music, and a tour of the Old Dutch Reformed Church and cemetery of Rhinebeck will be available.

On Sunday, enjoy a Dutch and English service at the Old Dutch Reformed church. Coffee, snacks, and a tour of the church and its grounds will be available.

Foodie Friday : German Potato Salad

Below is the recipe for my locally famous German Potato Salad. OK, perhaps it is only famous in my mind but everyone who has tasted it over the last twenty years, loves it. Give it a try.

German Potato Salad

Ingredients:

▪ 10 lbs red potatoes

▪ 6 large onions chopped

▪ 2 lbs bacon cut into small pieces

▪ sugar to taste

▪ vinegar to taste

Method:

1) Boil potatoes till cooked

2) Let potatoes cool, then peel, & cut into bite sized pieces

3) Cut cold bacon into small pieces then cook bacon

4) Drain & keep bacon grease

5) Cook onions in a little bacon grease

6) Add potatoes, onions, & bacon in crock pot

7) Add sugar & vinegar to taste to bacon grease

8) Pour grease mixture in with potatoes, onions, & bacon

9) Mix well

10) Crock pot set to low temp

19 September 2018

2020 NYS Family History Conference

Although this conference is a long way off, not until September 10-12, 2020, I thought I would mention that the 2020 NYS Family History Conference will be held in Albany. The venue will be the Hilton Hotel located in downtown Albany at 40 Lodge Street.

This year the conference was recently held in Tarrytown and earlier conferences were held in Syracuse. This event is held every two years and is hosted by the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society. Speakers and the program itself are a long way off. But stay tuned and check back for updates. This event will be fun and best of all it will be in our hometown.

18 September 2018

Oktoberfest in New York

Ah, Fall is here now! My favorite time of the year. One of my daughter's birthdays is in October. A change in the weather; cooler days and nights. And during the Fall comes Oktoberfest. One of my favorite festivals which includes Bier, Dirndls, Lederhosen, Ompah music, German music, and did I mention Bier?

Surprisingly Oktoberfest in Munich begins in September and not in October. The fest begins this Saturday actually and ends on 07 October. Approximately six million attendees will pass through the gates.

King Ludwig I married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on 12 October 1810. Citizens of Munich were invited to attend the celebration which was held in a field which became known as Theresienwiese or "Theresa's Meadow" in honor of the Princess. The following year it was decided to resume the festivities which have become an annual event.

For those who enjoy the above mentioned features of Oktoberfest; below is a short list of Oktoberfest celebrations in New York. Check at least one of them out!