From Pennsylvania Dutch Farm to Queen of the Funnel Cakes

As I speak with Alice Reinert, I cant help but recall Dr. Ruth Westheimer, you know, the German sex therapist whose rather controversial views have been popular now for decades. Alice even talks like Dr. Ruth, with what sounds like a heavy German accent. Not only that, but Alice looks a bit like Dr. Ruth, was born four years before the doctor, and in fact, wanted to be a doctor, not in human biology, but a veterinarian from the time she was a small child. Theres one big difference between the two, however. Alice Reinert is a born and bred, red, white, and blue American. She belongs to that rare class of people called Pennsylvania Dutch. Theyre not really Dutch, mind you. They are descended from Swiss and German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries. Apparently, because Deutsch (the adjective meaning German) was misunderstood in the early days of their immigration, they developed the rather interesting name of Pennsylvania Dutch, and the language they speak today is not exactly German, because of centuries of regionalization. Over the months that Alice and I sat and talked in the process of writing this book, and she related to me the stories of her childhood and teenage years and the details of her business making funnel cakes for 26 years, and we laughed, and yes, cried about some of the circumstances, I knew this book would be interesting and provocative, not just to people in Pennsylvania or her friends and customers in the funnel cake business, but to everyone who is passionate about learning how to make a success of life, especially after a rocky start. Believe it or not, when Alice started school at the age of 5, she did not speak a word of English. Her family spoke Pennsylvania Dutch at home, (very little English) and she could not speak any other language, including the native language of her home country. To this day, because of her very distinct German-sounding accent, people ask her what country she immigrated from, and she laughingly tells them the United States. I actually think she enjoys being asked! She reminds me that one thing living on a farm did teach her was always to keep her sense of humor. As a child, she didnt laugh as much as she does now, because she says she has learned to take things more lightly as shes grown older. But it strikes me as curious how people in America dont even know there are pockets of native-born people in this country who for generations and even to the present day, do not speak English, even though its been the native tongue of the United States for centuries. Thats one of the reasons why I took on the job of writing this book with Alice Reinert, not just because she single-handedly invented, and created the modern-day funnel cake and promoted it for more than a quarter century, and indeed earned the right to be called The Queen of the Funnel Cakes. It goes way beyond that. She is a woman, that despite all the odds, a harsh upbringing, the pain and heartache of raising, then losing a disabled son, and the unjust loss of her business at the hands of a Chauvinist society, has continued into her 80s to maintain an optimistic and faith-filled hope in the future. That inspired me to help her capture her story in this book. First and foremost, she is a woman devoted to her family, her two daughters and their extended families. And the book is primarily for them. But the advice offered here and the anecdotes from a Pennsylvania Dutch farm are fascinating and priceless. I hope that everyone will read her story. Not only does the book offer graphic and humorous insights into life on a farm (which, I might add, is still today a challenging lifestyle, even in this high-tech society) but also some good advice from a woman who has been there and done that, including being, for years (and still is), the pre-eminent authority on funnel cakes. Cathwren Hermon