Polish Potato Dumplings "Kopytka"

 403.  Every autumn, when the leaves start to change and the air turns cool and everything is frosty in the morning, I start to crave dumplings.  The dumplings are ones my sweet mother would make.  They are Polish Kopytka or Potato Dumplings.  The method was a slight variation from a plain spoon dumpling but has the same fulfilling effect.

I had made a large pot of Squash soup and thought these beauties would be perfect as an accompaniment.

This was a delightful meal and so satisfying!  I lightly chopped fresh sage as a compliment and garnish.

Here is my recipe easy to save by selecting and dropping to desktop and printing as picture.

The best part of these dumplings are to heat them in a pan the next day to toast them.  They will brown on the edges and are so tasty!

"Nie istnieje droga na skróty do miejsca, do którego dojść warto."  "There are no short cuts to any place worth going."   ~  Polish Proverb

Apricots

377.  An adventure took me to a small fruit farm in Red Bluff, CA.  It was once a well-loved property with walnut trees, apricot trees and on the property were beautiful rose bushes in multiple colors whose scents were intoxicating! and an enormous palm tree.   The homestead sat in the middle of orchards but had since been rented out and the owners no longer living there.  The sweet renter's home was surrounded by 12 apricot trees that were bursting with fruit.

The trees were large and very old.  Because the now-renters live on this borrowed property, the trees are not sprayed or cared for causing the fruit to have blemishes. These blemishes are called blight or corundum blight or shot-hole.  The fruit had small brown specks over most of the surfaces and they looked daunting, but could still be eaten, they just weren't as aesthetically pleasing.  So we picked quite a few.  We gave them a water bath with Thieves cleaner 

and then separated them into over-ripe, ripe and under-ripe piles.

The process was labor intensive but rewarding.  I then made a batch of "Apricot Fool" or Kisiel Morelowy which is a Polish dessert or used in baking as a filling for donuts and sweet bread.

Then halved about 2 dozen apricots and placed them in my dehydrator and the rest, filled 4 quart and 2 gallon zip-locks for the freezer and later recipes.  There was still a good sized bowl remaining that we will eat for snacks as they ripen.  

Although the skins were unsightly, the flesh inside was divine!  And the sweetness was unmatched.  You barely need sugar due to the natural sweetness.

And the view on our way home was stunning with Mount Shasta in the distance.  This was a productive day and I am saving a few apricot pits to hopefully start my own trees some day.

"All things are God's already; we can give Him no right, by consecrating any, that He had not before, only we set it apart to His service.  Just as a gardener brings his master a basket of apricots, and presents them; his lord thanks him, and perhaps gives him something for his pains, and yet the apricots were as much his lord's before as now."

~  John Selden

Polish Filled Cookies

247. A favorite cookie at Christmas is the Polish Filled Cookies. Light cream cheese and butter pastry with a sweet bite of jam. This recipe has been a very reliable one for me for many years. You can fill these pastries with any type of fruit preserve or jam.

The apricot preserves worked beautifully and tasted delicious. The fruit in preserves is thicker and has more fruit pieces.

Whereas the raspberry jam has more of a tendency to liquify and has less fruit bits.

This recipe calls for an egg wash to wipe on the tips of the joining edges. This is very smart to do. When I wouldn't use the egg wash the cookies would burst open during the baking process. The egg wash seals the edges together.

Makes 64 small cookies 2 1/2" size.

Polish Filled Cookies (recipe here)

2 stick(s) (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 brick (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour

Filling: about 1 cup canned ready-to-use fruit and/or nut pastry, cake or dessert filling

Egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 2 tsp cold water

Decoration: confectioners’ sugar

1. Beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy.
2. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add flour, beating just until dough comes together.
3. Divide in quarters; shape each portion into a 1-in.-thick square with even edges.
4. Wrap each airtight; refrigerate at least 1-1/2 hours or until firm.
5. Heat oven to 350°F. Have baking sheet(s) ready.
6. Tear off a 12-in. sheet of wax paper.
7. Working quickly, generously sprinkle wax paper with flour and top with 1 square of dough (keep rest refrigerated); dust dough with flour. With a rolling pin, roll dough to a 10-in. square (see Tip). Cut in sixteen 2-1/2-in. squares, making 3 evenly spaced cuts horizontally and vertically. Place 1 slightly heaping teaspoon filling in middle of each square. Lightly dab egg wash onto 2 opposite corners, bring corners together over center of filling and pinch to adhere.
8. Bake 15 minutes or until edges are golden. Immediately remove to a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Store airtight with wax paper between layers at cool room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month.

This is a beautiful recipe. It may be tedious but the time and effort spent are worth it.

"On an exhausted field, only weeds grow."

Polish quote ~ Henryk Sienkiewicz

A Day in Brooklyn, NY

230. Our "Stay"cation was enjoyable this year. We have had a list of places to visit and things to do locally, but never seem to have time. The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens has been on this list for some time now.

So, we headed to Brooklyn, New York.

The day was bright and sunny and the perfectly manicured garden beds and lawns were so welcoming.

This 39 acre garden has many diverse pathways, varieties of trees, flowers, artistic statues and fountains. It is a mix of modern and vintage.

This plaza called the Magnolia Plaza was first constructed in 1933 and is an enormous sun dial.

The rose garden, constructed in 1927, was in full bloom and so beautiful.

Around every corner there were architectural pieces or whimsical paths that added to the adventure.

There were water lilies and other water flora as well as a Bonsai collection and an awesome arboretum and green house filled with a variety of plants from around the world.




After our lovely trip, we drove to Greenpoint, that is the "Polish Town" of New York and treated ourselves to a delicious Polish inspired dinner at Christina's Restaurant. It is located on Manhattan Avenue in Brooklyn

We started with cabbage salad,

beet salad,

and enjoyed periogi, keilbassa, stuffed cabbage,

and a delicious pork cutlet with mushrooms and roasted potatoes.

We also stopped into one of the Polish Deli's to pick up meat, cheese and other items we enjoy.

Brooklyn is a world to itself. With so much to do, and so many places to visit.

"Night was a wonderful time in Brooklyn in the 1930's. Air conditioning was unknown except in movie houses, and so was television. There was nothing to keep one in the house. Furthermore, few people owned automobiles, so there was nothing to carry (you) away. That left the streets and the stoops. The very fullness served as an inhibition to crime."

~Isaac Asimov

Polish Cabbage Salad

208. I made a lovely cabbage salad the other day and just had to share it with you. Not only is it easy but the flavor is so unique. It has no mayo but a light oil and vinegar dressing. It's a Polish recipe and I recall having this salad during my visit to Poland a year ago. You could also use red or purple cabbage or savoy cabbage. What a nice accompaniment this would be to your meal on Easter.

Polish Cabbage Salad

1 medium head of cabbage, shredded

1 medium onion, sliced or chopped

1 small green pepper, shredded

1 carrot, shredded

1/2 cup sugar

Dressing:

1 cup vinegar, white balsamic, white or apple cider

3/4 cup salad oil

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

Arrange vegetables in layers in a bowl, sprinkling the 1/2 cup sugar over each layer.

Combine all dressing ingredients in a saucepan.

Bring to a boil.

Remove from heat and pour hot, over the vegetable cabbage mixture in the bowl.

Cover and let stand for one hour at room temperature. The hot dressing will blanch the vegetables and help them to absorb the dressing.

After one hour, the cabbage will decrees in volume. Mix and refrigerate. For the very best flavor, make the day before serving.

"To make a good salad is to be a brilliant diplomatist -- the problem is entirely the same in both cases. To know exactly how much oil one must put with one's vinegar."

~Oscar Wilde