Wigilia (Polish Christmas Eve Celebrations)

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For days in advance, Poles prepare the traditional foods that will be enjoyed during Wigilia, or Christmas Eve supper. Hours are spent rolling, chopping, and baking until homes are filled with aromas that evoke long cherished memories. With traditions that survived centuries of war, partitions and decades of communism, Wigilia is truly special. My mother swears that no matter she does in the kitchen now, the food just doesn’t quite taste the same as she remembers in Poland…I’m sure that’s nostalgia at work. Continue reading →

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Potato Dumplings (Kluski)

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The humble potato shines in this basic recipe and makes approximately 65 heavenly potato pillows. Kluski are delicious when fried with some butter and breadcrumbs on a pan, with a mushroom sauce, or in soups. I’m pretty sure that this is the second most popular form of potato in Poland, right after potato and cheese pierogi 🙂 Continue reading →

Onion and Plum Relish

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My grandmother has the most amazing raspberries and plums growing in her backyard in Poland. These same plums are behind the amazing homemade śliwowica (plum brandy/life elixir) that my cousins make, but that’s for another time here! Though I haven’t found the same flavors in American stores/markets, reminiscing about them made me want to post a recipe with the best plums I could find.

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Breakfast Buckwheat

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I’ve already raved about buckwheat in a savory recipe post, so I don’t need to do it again here! Roasted buckwheat for breakfast might sound strange to some, but it’s a great way to start the day. You can add whatever you might add to oatmeal to this, but I had strawberries, raisins, and almonds on hand for this recipe. Continue reading →

Sweet Cheese Crepes (Naleśniki z Serem)

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Naleśniki are a basically the Polish version of French crepes. I guess these are also like blintzes (?) but I won’t try to wrap my head around the differences, if there are any (I actually think they are the same). I simply know them as naleśniki and they are fantastic! Continue reading →

Zapiekanka (Toasted open-face sandwich)

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Oh man, I remember running home after school as a little girl to get my hands on some hot zapiekanki…ahhh memories. Zapiekanki are toasted open-face baguettes that are typically topped with mushrooms, onions, cheese, and ketchup. But really, they are communist food shortage pizzas from Poland. This poor man’s pizza is the product of hard times in 1970s Poland that saw an astronomical rise in basic Continue reading →

Buckwheat Blinis with Smoked Salmon and Lemon Cream

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Alright, so I wanted some blinis and smoked salmon the other day (how Russian — привет!). I went to the store to get some smoked salmon, which is already a bit indulgent, and saw there were some blinis as well. I was feeling lazy and I thought, what the heck, I’ll get store bought. Welllll, that’s before I looked at the price. Let’s just say they were a bit expensive for glorified mini pancakes, and, they weren’t even made of buckwheat flour! Homemade it is then.

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Orange Lemon Olive Oil Cake

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This cake is so full of citrus flavor and is not too sweet! It is also extremely moist because of all the kefir and olive oil in it. In my opinion, this is a nice break from all the desserts out there that don’t seem to have any flavor other than that of…sugar. Anyway, this cake goes pretty quickly around here, so I better go get some!
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