Dzien Dobry

 
      

Dzien Dobry is a Polish phrase and is used as a greeting wishing the recipient to a good day.  For some unknown reason little things seem to trigger my brain into thinking about and using the very limited phrases I know in Polish.  Like all good Polish Catholics my mom made sure I had my share of classes in Polish school at Holy Cross church when I was very young. I didn’t learn much of the language, but did learn how to sing a few songs especially the Christmas carols.  Yes, I still can sing them.

 My grandmother also got into the act of my learning some Polish. When I was real young I spent quite a bit of time with her while my mother was working a war time job. For me to communicate with her and function in any way I had to learn a few things in Polish.  P.S.  She was the one to hook me on coffee when I was only four, and that’s without sugar, WW2 you know.  Everything was in short supply. .As the years passed by I remembered less and less of the language.

Ok, why did my mind jump to Dzien Dobry?  I love soup and got excited over a delicious looking sauerkraut soup recipe on the Taste of Home. Well, the soup looked Polish got me excited. Years ago when I had my business I drove from Berlin to spend nearly every lunch at Staropolska on Broad Street in New Britain.  Just loved enjoying one of their many daily soups on the menu.  Here’s what kept me coming back.  The large variety of Polish beer didn’t hurt either.

     

 Cabbage Soup    Mushroom Soup    Beef Tripe Soup 

 Red Borscht       Barley Soup             Pickle Soup

      Sorrel Soup    Ukranian Borscht     Chicken Noodle  

     Tomato Soup     White Borscht

                                                                                                                                                                Also loved the rye bread served with two buttered slices slapped together.  More importantly, Bogdan, the restaurant owner, had a real knack in hiring wonderful waitresses from Poland. I became good friends with many of them and marveled over their energy, attending college, waiting tables and learning our American ways in only a few short years. I had a lot of fun testing my memory with them using some of the Polish buried somewhere in my brain.