Homemade Farmer’s Cheese (pot cheese, twaróg, ser biały, quark, творог, tvorog)

Farmer’s cheese, or “pot cheese,” is a staple in the Polish kitchen, not to mention the kitchen of other cultures, like German, Russian, and Ukrainian.  A common fresh cheese sold in American supermarkets that comes close to it in terms of being a staple in the dairy aisle is cottage cheese.  But it is definitely […]

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The Ultimate Plum Cake: Yeast Required

It might be my Slavic/Polish heritage, but I think anything made with plums or prunes is d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.  Poland is among the top 20 plum producing countries, with production levels at over 100,000 tons per year.  Nothing beats Polish plum conserves, chocolate covered prunes, prune-filled doughnuts, prune layered honey cake, or even spiced plum herbal tea.  […]

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German Honey Spice Cookies

Honey-based spice cookies dominate the German Christmas cookie landscape.  The most notable are Pfeffernüsse and Lebkuchen cookies.  Around this time of year, Trader Joe’s carry Lebkuchen cookies made in Nürnberg, Germany.  They are so, so delicious!!  They are chewy, spicy, and contain candied citrus peel and nuts.  No, this post isn’t about Lebkuchen or Pfeffernüsse cookies, […]

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German Plum Cake (Pflaumenkuchen)

It was a week after I baked my Polish Plum Cake, and the kids started asking for more.  I only had a handful of large plums remaining from our Costco stockpile–didn’t seem to be enough to bake another cake.  I was curious to see whether there is a German equivalent, given that Poland and Germany are […]

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German Potato Salad

Growing up, I had potatoes in some form or another about 4 to 5 times a week with dinner.  Dinner without potatoes wasn’t a real dinner.  As a kid, I actually wasn’t too fond of this starchy root vegetable.  If it weren’t mixed with something else, I had a hard time eating it.  In the […]

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