1 cup butter (2 sticks at room temperature)
1 cup sugar
2  egg yolks (large)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour
colored sugars, sprinkles, candied cherries etc.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixer bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, vanilla and salt. Beat until smooth. Gradually add flour, mixing until well blended. Fill cookie press according to directions. Form desired shapes on ungreased baking sheet. Decorate cookies. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until set but not brown.Watch cookies carefully as ovens vary. DO NOT OVERBAKE.  Remove cookies from pan and place on cooling
rack.

• 1 package cut up chicken (legs, thighs, wings, breasts) about 2.5 to 3 lbs.
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 large onion
• 3 cups chicken broth (use low sodium boxed broth)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of sweet Hungarian paprika (Sczed is the brand, red tin, be sure you don’t buy the HOT kind)
• 4 or 5 whole peppercorns
• 1 large bay leaf
• sour cream to taste
• cooked elbow macaroni

Rinse chicken off in cold water, then soak chicken in salted water for 1/2 hour. Rinse chicken again and then pat dry with paper towels.

In a large skillet or dutch oven that has a cover, brown chicken pieces on both sides in oil under medium heat. Remove chicken and keep warm. Pour off some of oil fat leaving about 1 to 2 tbs. in pan. Dice onion and saute in pan scraping up any brown bits for about 5minutes. Add paprika to onions and saute for another 3/4 minutes, stirring and scraping pan.

Turn heat to low and slowly add the broth, stirring to scrap bottom. Add the bay leaf, peppercorns and chicken. Cover pan and cook on low/medium simmer for about 45 minutes. Check for doneness by piercing thickest piece with fork (breast). If it easily comes out, chicken is done.

Turn off heat and remove chicken pieces. Cut all meat from bones and place back in pan with broth. Add sour cream to taste. Remember you can add more to your individual plate.

While chicken is cooking, cook up your noodles.

Place cooked noodles in dish, ladle paprikash on top. Enjoy!

For Christine :) 

• 2 Medium-Sized Eggplants (Larger eggplants tend to have more seeds). 
• 1 to 2 jars of Garlic-Flavored Sauce (making your own is fantastic, but I think the “Victoria” brand works just as well) 
• Italian Style Breadcrumbs 
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (my favorite brand is Bertolli) 
• 1 Egg
• 1.5 Cups Milk
• Mozzarella
• Parmesan Cheese 

Prep oven for bake at 350 degrees. Peel and cut eggplants into 3/4 inch “disks.” Beat egg and milk in a small bowl and prepare breadcrumbs in a platter with a lip to avoid too much of a mess. 

Dip eggplant pieces into milk mixture, then coat in bread crumbs. Prepare pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, or enough to coat the pan. Fry eggplant pieces so that a fork easily punctures each side on medium heat. Continue to add oil as needed so that eggplant pieces are fully saturated. Cool slices on a plate covered with a paper towel.

Prepare baking pan with a small layer (1-2 tablespoons) of sauce. Layer with slices of eggplant. Grate parmesan cheese in an even layer. Place additional sauce on bottom layer followed by layer of mozzarella cheese. Continue layering pattern to fill up the pan. 

Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. 

This recipe is adapted from Smitten Kitchen and with the help from my awesome mom I’ve finally mastered something. And they’re better than Veselka’s or any other version you’ve had. Promise!

Serves about 6-7… but you’ll soon find out that these taste even better as leftovers after the flavors sit. They’re also great to freeze.

2 heads of cabbage: makes sure they are nice and large, with intact leaves
2 pounds ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped small
Olive oil
4 carrots, shredded
2 large celery stalks, diced
1 cup (uncooked) rice
4 tablespoons tomato paste
Two large cans of simple pureed tomatoes
Sour cream (the favorite Ukrainian condiment!)
Rye or Plain Babka Bread (the favorite Ukrainian additions to a meal!)

1. Bring a large pot of salty water to boil. Cut the core out of the cabbage but keep it whole. Place one, with the empty core area facing down, boiling water for about 5-8 minutes or until outer leaves are soft and almost peeling away. Remove and place on a drying rack or another suitable area. Repeat with other cabbage. Keep water hot or slowly boiling when complete.

2. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a saute pan. Cook the onions until they are soft; then add the carrot and celery and saute them for a couple extra minutes until they are soft as well. Season the mixture with salt and pepper, then transfer it to a large bowl and let it cool a bit. Carefully mix in the meat, rice and tomato paste with your hands and season with salt and pepper again.

3. Drain the head of cabbage. Pull off large leaves carefully. Inner leaves may need to be placed back into boiling water to soften, but make sure they are not “mushy.” Cut off the vein that protrudes out of the leaf so that it is flush with the rest of the leaf. Lay the leaf down flat and place a few handfuls of filling at the base of the leaf in a roll-like form. Start rolling the base up and over the leaf, then fold in sides and continue rolling. Place the roll with the end of the leaf side down in a 9x12 inch or larger pan. It’s alright if the rolls vary in size based on leaf size, but do not over-pack. You may need to use another smaller pan for additional roles. This recipe can also be split in half to feed 3-4.

4. Chop up extra cabbage (as desired) into medium pieces to sprinkle over rolls for extra cabbage. Pour your tomato sauce liberally over the rolls, covering them. Fill can with a bit of water to bring level of “juice” inside the pan to nearly cover the rolls.

5. Cover pans with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Serve immediately with sour cream and rye bread.

Tip: Your extra cabbage can also be used in this perfect side dish!

• 2 long, very firm cucumbers (I never buy the really fat ones)
• about 2 tablespoons grated onion
• salt & pepper
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 HEAPING tablespoons sour cream
• Hungarian sweet paprika

Peel and slice cucumbers very thin. Place in collander and sprinkle to taste with salt. Using your hands mix the slices with the salt and spread around sides to drain. Leave for 15 minutes.

Squeeze water out of cucumbers (use your hands, do it in batches) and place in bowl. Sprinkle pepper over and grate onion on it. In separate bowl or measuring cup, put in vinegar and sour cream. Mix until smooth. Taste and add more sour cream if needed. Mix thoroughly with cucumbers etc. and then sprinkle with paprika. Chill for 15 minutes.

Dinner from last night (Alice Waters’ Chicken Soup). Turned out deliciously.

From Serious Eats

Alice Waters’ Chicken Noodle Soup

- serves 4 -

Adapted from The Art of Simple Cooking by Alice Waters.

Ingredients
1 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast
1 quart chicken stock
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 clove garlic
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small parsnip, diced
1 sprig parsley
1/4 pound egg noodles or fettuccine noodles broken up into pieces
Chopped fresh dill, for finishing

Procedure
1. In a large pot, combine the stock and the breast. Bring to a boil, skimming off any foam that rises to the top, then lower to a simmer. Skim any remaining foam, then add half of the onion, carrot, celery, and parsnip, plus the sprig of parsley. Cook at a gentle simmer for 30 minutes. *I will be adding one clove of garlic that will later be removed with the chicken per a suggestion by a commenter on Serious Eats.

2. After 30 minutes, remove the chicken carefully to a plate to cool and strain the broth to remove the cooked vegetables. Return the broth to the pot and taste for salt. Start a second pot of boiling water to cook the noodles. When the chicken is cool, separate the meat from the skin and bones and shred it. Place in a small bowl and ladle some hot broth over it to keep it moist.

3. Add the remaining onion, carrot, celery, and parsnip to the broth. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes, until soft. In the meantime, cook the noodles in boiling salted water until tender.

4. Add the cooked noodles, chicken and its broth, and taste for seasoning. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the fresh dill.

• 1 1/4 ( more or less the packages in the store always vary) pounds of chop meat (beef)
• 1/2 cup of Italian flavored bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ground pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1 large egg well beaten
• 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan

Place meat in bowl, add rest of ingredients, mix/blend thoroughly but don’t over-mix.

Form into balls, brown in oil on all sides, takes about 10/15 minutes.

Remove from pan and eat!

Village Vinaigrette

2/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 cup Red wine vinegar
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme… Less if dry
2 tsp. Grey Poupon mustard
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. Ground pepper