I grew up in a very non-traditional family by todays standards. My mother worked during the day and my dad stayed home to raise me and my older sister. He did all of the typical "woman's" work like cooking, gardening, cleaning, laundry. It was a very grass-roots upbringing - we raised chickens and rabbits for meat, and grew everything a Wisconsin climate allows. Just about anything we ate was made from sratch. We made bread every week, and jelly jars came from the cellar with the previous year on the lid in permanent marker. Who needs video games when there are things to cook? Green beans - one of those foods my dad grew in the garden. We always grew too much and ate them 3-4 times a week, but somehow I never got sick of them. My family is nearly all German, so Christmas just isn't right without Pfeffernuse. I promise to upload the recipe one of these days!