By David Kirschenman, Omaha, Nebraska

My German-Russian family tradition that I remember, and we still practice today, is the meal we ate on Good Friday. The meals on Good Friday were suppose to be meatless. My mother, who grew up around Gackle, North Dakota and being a German-Russian, was no stranger to dough dishes. The meal was very simple which consisted of homemade egg noodles (they were rolled out in the morning, dried, and cut) and stewed prunes. There was no sauce or anything put on the noodles except for butter and fried bread crumbs for croutons. Of course, there was the usual prune humor at the end of the meal, and since the prunes had pits, the number someone ate could easily be calculated, and that person reminded of possible consequences.