Who knew raspberry tart was Dad’s favorite dessert? I certainly didn’t until a few weeks ago, so guess what we had on Christmas eve? Yup.
Every year around the holidays, the ladies (and one uncle) of my family make kolach, a traditional Eastern European…cookie? Loaf? Roll? Whatever it is, it begins with sweet, yeasted dough that is spread with a yummy filling (sugared pecan is pictured here, apricot is another favorite) and then rolled up, baked, and sliced into appealing little…cookies, I guess. They are cookies. And it wouldn’t be Christmas without them.
“I like banana pudding,
can’t get enough banana pudding,
aint nothin’ better than banana pudding,
oh my, no.”
I had the perfect vessel, so why not make some?
Cheddar-chive scones for Grandma’s 80th birthday brunch! Keep up the good work, lady.
the perfect bite: tortellini in brown butter sage sauce with kale caesar salad
zuppa di cavolo nero, cannellini, e salsicce
Happy Thanksgiving!
Going visiting from farm to farm is so much better than going visiting from apartment to apartment. Wouldn’t you rather get that basket than a bottle of wine from the bodega? Me too.
Thanks (belatedly) for the hospitality, Jake.
So learning how to put up preserves was one farm goal. Another: learning to process animals. For food.
I love eating meat, but I’ve always had this little feeling that I shouldn’t be eating something I wouldn’t be able to kill. And so some friends brought over their tenderly raised rabbits and muscovy ducks, and I learned how to do some gory things that no one likes to think about when tucking into their plates of protein. Or ever, really. But it happens all the same (and in most cases it happens in far more horrific and filthy ways than the means we employed), and I’m glad I did it.
Surprisingly I did not feel as sad for the loss of life as I felt extremely extremely grossed out by the smell of boiling feathers and the sight of five bunny heads. The bunny livers, however, were sublime.
The “butcher” part of this blog has not gotten a lot of play lately…until now.
