Weekends in the Kitchen and Beyond
Special breakfasts–especially when children are among the guests–usually include pancakes somewhere on the menu. Pancakes with apples mixed into the batter is something I remember with fondness from my Polish upbringing. My memories came flooding back to me when my family was treated to apple pancakes during a recent trip to Poland. And that was […]
I’ve gotten comments (complaints) from certain Polish family members saying that my layer cakes are too sweet, too heavy, and just too much, especially with the addition of American buttercream frosting! Polish frosted layer cakes, they say, are just not that way. They are light, less sweet, and don’t leave you feeling like you need […]
New Year’s Dinner at my house this year was delightful, with a cocktail party music mix of Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé, etc. playing in the background while we feasted on roast duck, mushrooms, cauliflower, and red potatoes. Admittedly, the food on the dinner plate was missing some colors, like […]
The closest equivalent to an American pie in Polish cuisine is a double-crust, sweet pastry filled with summer fruit, usually apples or plums, and baked in a large, rectangular baking pan. The apple version is called szarlotka. It’s like Polish apple pie. The pastry that forms the base of the pie is “półkruche” or “half […]
If you buy a bunch of peaches, and they all happen to ripen at the same time, what can you do? No need to panic. The tried and true solution to such a dilemma (aside from making jam) is to bake something special with the extra peaches. You can bake a fruit pie, tart, crostada, […]