The story of my Mother, Helen M Radics

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                                              Her mouth-watering recipes spread like wildfire around the World

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Dreaming of creating a Hungarian heritage cookbook has never been  a problem   for my Mother, Helen M Radics, after all her imagination and creativity always amazed  everyone during family celebrations and get-togethers.  She has enriched not only my  life, but the lives of all her friends and family through her lovingly prepared Hungarian heritage recipes.  She has always attracted people with her caring personality and joy  of life.  Her Great-grandmother created the family's first little notebook of family recipes in 1891.  My Grandmother has given a copy of that notebook to my Mother as a wedding gift in 1966.

My Mother, Helen started to sort trough her tremendous amount of family recipes several decades ago, wanting to gather the best and most cherished dishes in a book to share  with the world.  My Father Joe was a valuable help to her, especially in coming up with the title Treasured Hungarian Family Recipes® and at that time only as a subtitle, My Mom's Hungarian Heritage Recipes™.  They created a keepsake little booklet full of Hungarian heritage recipes in 1990.  She was full of excitement, energy and I could see the sense of accomplishment giving her more and more confidence every day.   

It filled me with pride to know that my  Mother's Hungarian heritage recipes would not be lost for future generations.  She lovingly chose each recipe and shared with me memories of her childhood, that put a smile on her face, as  she pressed on with creating her first full cookbook Treasured Hungarian Family Recipes®.  My Father, Joe was also a great cook and baker, so he had a world of recipes to share.  He made the best goulash, paprikash and his speciality "Cold Paprikash"  (hideg paprikas) from his great-grandmother.  It was a joy to watch them work together.   Theirs was a marriage of not only two young people in love, but the fusion of Southern and Northern Hungarian dishes and recipes as well.

Then tragedy struck.  My Father Joe, the love of her life had an accident.  Her life, her dreams were put on hold, and almost forgotten for 3 years.  My Mother's daily life simply revolved around taking care of my Father and making him more comfortable.  Time for herself was non-existent.  I always knew that she was the best Mother in the world, but her selflessness while taking care of my Father brought tears to my eyes many times during those 3 hard years.  

Following the early death of my Father, Joe who was only 53, my Mother's days became filled with the need to take care of everyone around her.  She fulfilled that need by channeling all her energy into spoiling our friends with mouth-watering dishes, delectable cakes and pastries.  For holidays and birthdays she also made each gift complete with a little bit of herself by creating edible little treasures, such as her very popular chocolate truffles and earthy Pâtés.  Seeing the joy in the eyes of her friends after opening one of her truffle boxes, slowly brought her back to life.  Her lovely dark eyes shone like black diamonds once again, with each passing day making her stronger and more confident.  

Seeing that confidence, I asked her one day, why doesn't she start working on her cookbook again.   She looked puzzled, as if just remembering her long cherished dream of sharing her love of food, and the joy of cooking with the world.  The Secret of Hungarian Cooking® was in her heart, ready to be shared.   Later that night I saw my Mother gather her notes and her favourite pen and Treasured Hungarian Family Recipes® The Secret of Hungarian Cooking® was born.  

During Easter Monday 2010, my Mother, Helen held the very first copy of her long awaited cookbook in her hand, as a tiny teardrop rolled down her face as she whispered almost silently "I wish your Father could share this moment with us..."I told her that I was certain that he was with her every step of the way, how else would she be such a strong lady following all the hardship that she had to endure.  She kissed me, as she started to tell me about her plans for a second book already forming in her mind.   Today, my Mother has countless cookbooks, baking books and e-books through which she shares with you her beloved recipes.

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Story by Helen Radics