SLOVAKIA will be a new booth at the International Food Festival this year!
Talk to Mary Jo Buzard and she’ll rattle off all the names of Slovakian foods she grew up with! When her parents and all 7 children relocated from Illinois to the Scranton area of Pennsylvania, they settled in the home her mom was born in. Her parents ran Kester’s Café, which her mother, now 87, still operates today. She has fond memories of watching her grandmother in the kitchen cooking all those traditional dishes for her large extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins!
Mary Jo is proud of her ethnic family traditions. Her maternal grandparents were from Czechoslovakia, and her grandfathers raised their families while working in the coal mines in Northeastern Pennsylvania. She and her husband, Mike Buzard, have cooked for the festival German booth in the past, but this year Mary Jo decided to celebrate her Slovakian heritage! Her plans involve traveling back to Kowalonek’s Kielbasy Shop in Shenandoah, PA to purchase a special kielbasy just for the festival! In addition, she will offer a side of haluski (noodle dish), a scoop of horseradish with beets and rye bread. Thank you, Mary Jo, for bringing the tastes of Slovakia to our festival!
