Lunch With Boguska and Leslaw my Polish Friends

Potato cakes.  

I had a delightful visit with my friend Boguska and her husband Leslaw for lunch today.  Boguska is one of my "surrogate daughters", and she is a wonderful cook.  She is always bringing me goodies to eat---Polish dishes from her home country.  But today I was treated to lunch at her house.

I knew the lunch would be special because not only do I love her cooking I enjoy her and Leslaw's company.  Her table was beautifully decorated with these lovely flowers that complemet her walls perfectly.  And look at that homemade bread on the table.

Pretty arrangement on table.  

Homemade bread.  Yum!

The first course consisted of homemade mushroom soup.  I particuarly enjoy Boguska's soups.

Mushroom soup.

And then I watched as she prepared potato cakes. She says they are only good if eaten when freshly made (but I'm not sure if that's true, because I brought home those that were left and I'm looking forward to those for lunch tomorrow.)  She used frozen hash brown which she turned into mashed potatoes in her blender, and then added an egg, onions, and a spoonful or two of flour to hold the cakes together as they were fried.

The potato cakes are garnished with sour cream.  

Of course, I should have known that she would have a wonderful dessert (she and I both like our sweets). Today it was a homemade cherry layered cake with whipped cream.

After lunch I enjoyed a long visit on her screened porch looking out over her beautiful backyard. What a relaxing day.  Thank you Boguska.

Enjoying the backyard from the screened porch.  

A Gift of Anadama Bread

Maggie's Anadama bread.

When we got home from our trip around the Cabot Trail I had a message from a neighbor that she had baked Anadama bread and would be bringing us a loaf.  I had never heard of Anadama bread, but one of the nice things about the internet is that one can find out about almost anything,  I googled and found  this recipe  for the bread.  I'm not sure if this is the one that Maggie, our neighbor, uses.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 3 Tbsp butter (at room temperature)
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 package dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour

Method

1 Place the cornmeal in a large bowl. Boil the two cups of water and pour the hot water into the cornmeal, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Let sit for 30 minutes.
2 Add the molasses, salt and butter and stir to combine. The cornmeal water should still be warm enough to melt the room temperature butter.
3 Put 1/2 cup of warm water (slightly warmer than body temperature) into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let sit for a few minutes. Then stir it to gently combine. Let sit for another 5 minutes.
4 Add the yeast and the water to the bowl with the cornmeal and everything else, and mix to combine. Add the bread flour, a cup at a time, stirring after each addition. You will end up with something of a gloopy mess.
5 Butter a couple of 5x9 loaf pans. Spoon the dough mixture into the pans as best you can; it’ll be sticky. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for several hours, until it doubles in size.
6 Heat the oven to 350°F and bake the breads for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer or knife blade comes out clean. Let the loaves cool for a few minutes, then turn them out onto racks to continue cooling.
Yield: Makes 2 loaves

The bread is very tasty and we enjoyed it with butter and black currant preserves..  

A slice of Anadama bread with butter and black currant preserves.

Thanks very much Maggie. It's great having a neighbor who bakes.