• Diced bacon, 1 Jar of high quality sauerkraut, caramelized onion, 1T sugar, 4T butter, salt to taste, ground black pepper

1. Dice uncooked bacon and cook in pan. Do not drain fat.
2. Add rinsed sauerkraut and coat with bacon fat.
3. Stir in caramelized onions, sugar and butter.
4. Add about 1 to 2 cups of water.
5. Simmer on low for 3 hours adding water as needed.
6. Season with salt and pepper.

Transport yourself back in time to the 1940s in Chicago's Southside and you'd find divided communities based on their ethnic identities. My grandmother, Lorraine Kenston, was part of an immigrant Ukrainian family in the West Pullman neighborhood. Her street was filled with Ukrainian and Polish immigrants, who shared a very similar culinary and linguistic history. Due to the neighborhood's strong cultural ties, the influence of American foods was minimal, and the English language was seldom heard. At the time, each house was filled with a large family-grandparents, parents, children, and sometimes aunts and uncles.

Every house in the West Pullman neighborhood played an important role in preserving the community's distinct foodways. There was one small grocery store that Lorraine's mother would go to if the family needed meat, although, the surrounding homes provided an extensive "market" of its own. The close-knit community bartered meat, produce, and culinary creations. My grandmother explains how they "lived out of the garden and [through] food from the neighbors."

In Lorraine's family's back yard was a chicken coop that provided fresh eggs and chicken. As a child, Lorraine would help her grandmother clean the chicken coop and collect eggs, while trying to avoid attack by the vicious rooster. At unexpected moments, Lorraine would be taken by surprise when her grandmother chopped off the chickens' heads.

A large garden filled with cabbage, beets, sunflowers, and herbs, among other fruits and vegetables, took up the majority of the yard. The house was enclosed by a fence, which was lined with vines of strawberries, mulberries, gooseberries, and other fruits. A pear and cherry tree also added to the assortment of fresh fruits. From the cherries, Lorraine's grandmother would make her famous cherry wine, which was popular within the neighborhood and a common bartered item.

The "strange" neighbors down the street, nicknamed "the pigeon people," would trade their pigeons. Lorraine's parents would drain the pigeon blood to make blood soup; Lorraine refused to eat the blood soup her parents raved about. Other families provided geese, apples, and many other types of food. To prepare for Chicago's brutal winters, Lorraine's family canned all of the fruits and vegetables from their garden. And in the attic, they hung dried herbs and garlic from the ceiling's rafters.

Inside the home, "ladies wearing babushkas and dresses with aprons" cooked and baked an array of Ukrainian dishes. Common foods eaten by Lorraine and her family were sausage and sauerkraut, pierogis, borscht, cabbage soup with spareribs, potato dumpling soup, buns stuffed with cabbage, and lots of homemade bread, including rye bread and babka bread. For dessert Lorraine's grandmother would bake many tasty pies, or pierogis filled with fresh fruits.

Travel to West Pullman today and it is unlikely you will find a Ukrainian family. The cherry tree has been cut down and the gardens are obsolete. The lifestyle and Eastern European foodways may be hard to find, but they live on through the stories told and recipes passed down through generations.