Impressions of a Poppy Seed Roll
Bubba's Poppy Seed Roll - Good any way you slice it!
I cannot remember a time when I did not like homemade poppy seed rolls. Yet I know others have stories about never liking them or never even trying them. Of course not all poppy seed rolls are the same and I am sure there are as many stories as there are recipes.
This story happened not long after WWII. A short time after my uncle Johnny married his new wife, my mother (who came to be called “Bubba” through her grandchildren) sent a gift home with her brother – one of his favorite things: a poppy seed roll. When Johnny’s wife and sister discovered the roll they had no idea what it was. Before long they decided it was a joke being played on them and disposed of the roll.
When Uncle Johnny got around to asking the sisters the whereabouts of the poppy seed roll they lied, telling him how much they had liked the gift and that they had eaten it all. Uncle Johnny was beside himself with disappointment and frustration. He demanded they bake him poppy seed rolls just like his sister’s. Rather than accommodate him they confessed that they thought someone used coffee grounds, or worse, and tried to poison them, so they had washed it down the sewer. After much ado about taste and poison, eventually there was a nervous confession to my mom about the incident. Everyone was quickly put at ease when she broke out in uproarious laughter!
In 1983, Mom passed away. For years after I started the “Bubba Roll” business, my aunt and her sister were my best customers… but I do not remember them ever buying poppy seed rolls – just nut, apricot, or prune rolls – mostly walnut.
How about you? Do you have any family episodes relating to new or first impressions of a poppy seed roll?
6 Comments to Impressions of a Poppy Seed Roll
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The only poppy seed roll I like are Bubba's.They are extraordinary!
Thanks, Cheryl!
My parents were German and Austrian and my Oma was Romanian. We ate poppy seed and nut rolls all the time. Now there is no one left to make them for me, so I am going to order some of yours and give them a try! looking forward to it, they look the same! 🙂
Thanks for selling these online!
Christina
My grandparents were Hungarian. My grandma always made the poppy seed,apricot and nut roll. I loved all three. She would always bring me a roll when she came to my house to visit. I have made the nut rolls before. They have both passed away. We called grandma " nudge mama" and grandpa "nudge papa" but am not sure of the spelling. Diane
I"m from Slovakia and there we call grandma Babi and grandpa Dedo,very similar to yours.Love this poopy rools, Makovy Kolac,love it love it.
I am 100% Carpahto-Rusyn, as were both my parents. We always called our grandmothers “baba” and “dedo.”