A classic Polish gingerbread cake recipe, Piernik Staropolski. My daughter’s 5th grade class was tasked with a “Christmas Around the World” project in Social Studies and of the three countries she chose to research, she was granted Poland. Seeing as though my children share in their father’s half-Polish ancestry, we took to researching traditional Polish Christmas desserts to add to our repertoire of holiday goodies, and decided upon an heirloom gingerbread cake recipe with Christmas jam, a version of the classic Polish Piernik Staropolski recipe.
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“Here we come a-wassailing Among the leaves so green; Here we come a-wand’ring So fair to be seen.” For most of us ‘wassail’ is a word we know from a popular Christmas carol though there’s a good chance that most of us cannot explain what it is – and with good reason, as wassail has been mostly lost to history and time. Come with me as we step back into a Dickens novel. Let’s walk the cobblestone streets to a boisterous tavern somewhere in 19th century England, and partake in the merrymaking with a mug full of hot and aromatic wassail.
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Butter Roasted Turkey with Herbes de Provence + Citrus has been my traditional Thanksgiving Day turkey recipe since I first began hosting the holiday many years ago. Aromatics are loosely stuffed into the turkey and seasonal vegetables and fresh herbs line the roasting pan – resulting in a tender and succulent turkey with a white wine pan gravy that compares to no other.
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It’s apple picking season! With so many of us heading to the orchards, I wanted to share a quintessential autumn treat, baked apples. Brown sugar, cinnamon & a pinch of nutmeg fill the hollows of cored apples while a homemade buttery crumble tops the apples, seeping into the hollows to thicken up the filling, making the inside almost molten-like. The aroma alone embodies the warm comfort of fall and the soft fragrant flesh tastes just like apple pie. Baked apples is a feast for the senses when the temperatures drop.
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“The great white Pear tree Dropped with dew From leaves and blossom Under the heavens Of happy blue.” -Jean Ingelow The voluptuous and succulent pear. It’s that time of year when these curvy fruits begin to fill up baskets and bins at the local farm markets. Although their juicy sweetness is perfect as-is, something truly delicious happens when these plump beauties are simmered in Bordeaux, scented with autumnal spices and warm vanilla, then left to chill overnight.
