Oma's Influence: Fried Rosettes

Now that all of the holiday dust has settled, my mother has decreed that there should be an open house in honor of my graduation. This is exciting, or it would be if I had more friends in Kansas City. Sadly I have kept in sporadic touch with a select few in my native city. It's nothing personal, unfortunately I am prone to out of sight out of mind very often. So a lot of old friends, school teachers, and many of my mother's acquaintances who happen to be my biggest fans are randomly invited to my open house.
There will be food, of course; so I hope more than ten people not on a New Year's crash diet show up. Being a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, I cannot open a can of baked beans and roll some piggies in blankets and call it a day. I have to impress my fans.
I decided that I will make a few finger foods that represent my culinary influences, experiences and travels. This leads me to today's post, the first in a mini series of foods that are meaningful to me. So where does this series of meaningful food begin?
At the beginning. Many Chefs will tell you they started cooking at a young age helping their mother or grandmother in the kitchen. I am no different. I tried to help everyone in the kitchen, but the woman who inspired me in many ways was my Oma, or grandma. She lived an extraordinary life in extraordinary times. She was born at the end of the first world war on the Austrian- Italian border. She was raised in a tiny Alpine village and moved to Rome with her brother who was studying to become a priest. She stayed in Rome during the second war and didn't return home until after the war ended. While working at a ski resort for American soldiers, she met my grandfather. They married and she followed him around Europe, giving birth to three sons until my grandfather was finally stationed state side. She was fluent in six languages, including Latin. She was a college German professor until she retired at the age of 89. Every year she went on a trip with a group from her college and brought back amazing souvenirs. Now, at the ripe old age of 91, she proudly boasts that she has visited 13% of the world's countries on every continent.

This is Oma on our trip through Italy and her homeland two years ago. She is standing behind her house overlooking the 11th century castle ruins and a 17th century castle in Sudtirol.

In the kitchen, she inspired me on many levels. Every year Oma made our birthday cakes, she always had fresh baked cookies, and she made many traditional European tortes which I never appreciated until I was in classical cakes class. Probably the most amazed I have ever been by a culinary achievement was the first time I watched Oma cut up a real potato and make french fries! I had no idea that was possible. It became a special treat at Oma's house and after we fried the fries, we always had rosettes for dessert.
I'm using Oma's set of irons to make rosettes for the party, they look just like they did when I was six.