Word(y) Wednesday: Piękny Jaś

I started a new garden at our Illinois house.  In the bean patch, Polish Piękny Jaś is starting to grow next to the native Purple Pole Beans a friend gave me (you can see the taller purple stem in the background of this photo).  It's a Polish American garden.

This is one of about 6 Piękny Jaś beans I planted with the children.  We just took some beans I bought and put them in dirt or water beads.  And waited.

What do you have growing in your garden?

Watch for the next few Wordless (Wordy) Wednesday posts to see what else we are growing and how you can grow it as well.

Spring is Here!

It's time to start our gardens! Dom itp has Buy $30 of seeds and get free shipping until May 2, 2012. Some seeds they offer are sunflowers, pickling cucumbers, Polish wild strawberries, several different flowers, parsley roots (I highly recommend trying this in some of your recipes), and many other varieties.  Their prices are comparable to going to your local chain or gardening store.  It's like having a piece of Poland in your backyard.

Na razie...



Disclaimer: The links and banner for Dom itp are part of an affiliate program. While the company does not pay for me to post their links and banner, I do receive a portion of all sales made using the links and banner in compensation. If you do purchase something from them this way, I sincerely thank you.

Dandelion Soup Disaster and Wafle

Yesterday, I had a culinary disaster and a culinary success.  The Dandelion Soup was terrible, the Wafle was perfect as usual.

Dandelion Soup

Spring is here and with Spring, come particular recipes.

Dandelion Soup is one of them.  In Polish, it would be Mlecz (pronounced Mleh-ch), or more technically, Zupa mniszek lekarski (pronounced Zoopah Mnih-shehk Leh-kar-skee).

But first, a Polish Mama History & Nutrition Lesson:

Dandelions are native to Poland, and the rest of Europe.  The seeds were accidentally brought over by European settlers when they first came to the Americas.  This is a part of what is known as the Columbian Exchange.

Dandelions are called "Mniszek Lekarski" because it is considered to have medicinal properties.  I'm not a linguist, but it translates to "Nun's (or Monk's) Medicine".  I believe this might be in part to do the fact that Dandelion was used for medicinal use in the Dark Ages, at a time when Doctors tended to also be Monks, etc.  Of course, women in the lower classes also used the same medicines but were persecuted as witches for possessing the same pharmaceutical knowledge but not being in the same upper social classes or treating those in upper social classes.

Here is a link showing how Dandelion is used for kidney and liver issues.

Dandelions are high in Vitamin A and C.  Dandelion in various forms is used to help women ease menstrual cramping, mastitis, help with breast milk production, along with helping lower blood sugar levels.

On the the Dandelion Soup Disaster...

Ingredients:

3 large bunches of Red Dandelion leaves, washed and chopped
1 Leek, thinly sliced
1 Carrot, top on, peeled and sliced
2 thermapaks of Chicken Broth
2 Ribs of Celery, diced
2 Bay leaves
3-4 Potatoes, peeled and diced
Sour Cream to garnish
Salt and Pepper, to taste


Cook.  It's soup, put it all in the pot together, and boil until the potatoes are done. 

Photo of the stock before adding in the Dandelion leaves...

Normally, I would end this with a Smacznego, but...

Somewhere, this went horribly wrong.  The soup is supposed to have a pleasant sour-bitter taste.  Instead, the dandelion taste was so overwhelming that the only way to describe it is if you were to try to swallow powdered aspirin and it coated your tongue.  It was so difficult to eat, none of the children could swallow one bite and I only got in about 5 spoonfuls while telling myself that it is good for women.

My Tato took one sip to try it after I told him it was terrible.  He loves dandelions on occasion and was looking forward to trying my soup.  His words were "No, something is really wrong with the zupa."

I'll be trying again today.  Wish me luck!

In the meantime...

Wafle

Wafle is a quick way to say Torcik Waflowy, or Waffle Torte.  Wafle is an easy cake to make.  When you need something fancy, delicious, inexpensive and not complex, Wafle is a great option because you can still make a great impression with minimal work.

Ingredients:

1 package of Wafer sheets

For Filling, use any combination of Preserves (rose hip, raspberry, apricot, other fruits that you like), hazelnut cream, chocolate cream or frosting, white frosting, melted chocolate

For Garnish, use shaved chocolate, berries, drizzled frosting, crushed walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts

It's not the prettiest I've ever made but the kids were helping me, so it was even more Pyszny...

Lay down a paper doily on the surface you plan to serve the cake, since it can sometimes be difficult to move the cake once it's done.

Lay down a wafer sheet.

Smear a layer of filling.

Lay down the next wafer sheet, and continue until the last sheet has been placed on top.

Do not top the cake yet.  Use a heavy book or board to press down on the cake and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Remove the heavy object.  Top the cake with a final layer.  Garnish.

Serve to your guests.

I used apricot preserves for all but the middle layer, which was a hazelnut spread.  The top was a chocolate spread garnished with crushed hazelnuts.

Smacznego!

Related Posts:

Creamy Cauliflower Soup or Zupa Kalafiorowa

Mazurek Krulewski

Apricot Potato Dumplings

Beef Kidneys, A Culinary Disaster

Wordless Wednesday: Spring Has Sprung

A couple fell from a tree onto my hand... Spring fever.

This couple were begging for food at the pond, preparing for their eggs...

I took the vast majority of these pictures on my phone so they aren't perfect but I wasn't prepared with my camera for so many signs of Spring so early in the Midwest...

Na razie...

Wordless Wednesday, Mellow Yellow Monday and Macros: Signs of Spring on the Prairie

Thankfully, my optimism the past few weeks has given me strength to make it mentally to this week, when suddenly the world is bursting with signs of Spring. 

Since looking at other blogs showing signs of Spring have helped keep me focused, I thought I would share some I have taken and add to a few Photo Challenges:

Wordless Wednesday:

The parks doing "controlled burns" everywhere I look (not going to state my opinion on this as it is a new idea to me)...

Macro Photo Challenge:

Photo Challenge Mellow Yellow:



We managed to go out and enjoy several walks this week.  We have been listening to frogs croaking away in every single small pond possible, woodpeckers letting the sounds of their excavations in trees echo through the woods and across the prairies, deer nibbling at new shoots, birds singing in the morning starting at around 4:30 am, insects flying around our heads as we hike on the trails, and the whole world filled with new life while I think of my Babcia in Poland the past few weeks.  We have been wondering how best to care for her in her older age, so the rebirth has been very uplifting and sorely needed for me lately.

I hope you all manage to go outside this week and enjoy the Spring. 

Na razie...

Also, my photo of two daffodils backlit are for the Simplicity Photo Challenge...

I Sense Spring

Winter has always dragged me down. 

I change.

I change from an optimist who smiles at everyone constantly (it's rather contagious, I have to say) to becoming grumpy and suffering from cabin fever.  Even the kids notice it and I try to explain to them that Mama prays a lot during Winter and why.

This year was harder because last winter, I was living on the East Coast and suffering through a freak blizzard last winter.

We moved to the Midwest and are living on the flat Prairie with no respite from the wind and an unceasingly bitter cold which I had never really suffered through before. 

And it felt like it would never end.

I literally began to feel like I was living in some sort of frozen tundra Hell.

And I wasn't really alone in my suffering.  People I interacted with were also becoming more snappish and short tempered.  Of course, that in no way encouraged any sort of comraderie with others.

Until...

A couple of weeks ago, we had almost 60 degree weather and it was heaven sent.  Since then, it has been cold but I will take an average of 30's and 40's over just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit any day.

I have been desperately keeping my eye open for signs of Spring. 

Birds have been singing in the Dawn lately.

We have been going on walks more lately.  I am used to hikes.  There is a huge difference.  Hikes leave me feeling as though I exercised and conquered something, even if it is a small rocky hill.  There are no hills here. 

So, instead we go on a walk.  Still, I relish the walks because they are walks through Spring.

I saw a little fly come in through the front door and land on my hand...

At a local meadow which was originally a pond, mating pairs of ducks and geese were eating nonstop what I believe was algae...

At a local park, I found green moss growing...

I saw what looked like pussy willow leaf buds to me and tried to take a picture but the squealing wiggling excited toddler in the baby carrier wouldn't allow me to focus the camera properly.  I think she could sense the Spring and the moisture in the air as well...

We combed a local beach for interesting rocks and found fossils since the temperature was finally bearable...

We even found a "seeing stone".  Do you see any fairies in it?  My older daughter walks around with it looking for the fairy folk all the time now.  I think it's time to look for old Polish stories about ghosts and spirits...

When I step outside, I smell earth and grass outside, a sure sign of Life. 

I am only wearing my East Coast winter coat unzipped instead of my knee length down insulated coat with 5 layers underneath. 

When I step outside and feel all this, I look up to Heaven and just smile.  I'm sure He knows why I am smiling.  Finally...

Between all this and Paczki Day yesterday, I know it's Spring and that God was hearing my desperate prayers for an end to this long miserable lonely Winter.  I hope you can feel it as well!

Na razie...

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