ALL SOULS DAY - Dzien Zaduszny

 

 

Zaduszki or Dzień Zaduszny is a Polish name of All Souls' Day, a Catholic holiday celebrated on 2 November, a day after All Saint's Day. The word Zaduszki originating from Dzień Zaduszny, can be roughly translated into English as "the day of prayers for the souls". On this day people visit cemeteries to light candles and pray for the souls of the dead, especially those believed to be in purgatory. In the city of my birth, New Britain, Connecticut, this day will be celebrated on Sunday, November 1st. 

Days before this day family members will spruce up the grave site of departed family members and place various types of candles on the grave site.  These will be lighted on Sunday and to create a fabulous, unforgettable sight as the colorful candles illuminate the dark November sky.

Over many past years members of my family visited and prayed at the graves of deceased family members.  It was a very moving moment for most of us.  Standing there you could not avoid bringing back so many memories of times spent with the deceased. 

After absorbing the sights of the cemetery and reliving times past, as a group we would go to one of the local Polish restaurants and enjoy a few of the wonderful foods of our heritage. 

Recipe:  I just had to put something Polish in considering the subject of the Blog.  This one's a lot of work, but well worth the effort.  I used this soup for several years as a Christmas Eve menu item'

Polish Mushroom and Potato Soup

1 cup dried porcini mushrooms

4 cups water

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

3 leeks (white and light green parts only) rinsed well, trimmed, and minced

1 medium onion, finely minced

3 ribs celery, finely minced

1 large carrot, finely minced

1 pound domestic white mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 tablespoons caraway seeds (optional)

4 cups beef broth

5 large potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

4 cups milk

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

2 teaspoons sweet Hungarian paprika

 Place the dried mushrooms and water in a saucepan. Bring to boil, then simmer uncovered 30 minutes.  Strain mushrooms, reserving the liquid.  Coarsely chop the mushrooms and set aside.

 Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat.  Add the leeks, onion, celery, and carrot. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add fresh mushrooms, dried mushrooms, and caraway seeds; continue cooking until vegetables are tender. 15 to 20 minutes.

 Meanwhile combine the reserved mushroom liquid, the beef broth and potatoes in a pot.  Simmer until potatoes are tender.  Add potatoes and liquid to the sautéed vegetables and mash about half the potatoes against the side of the pot with the back of a large spoon to help thicken the soup. (1/2 the potatoes can also be mashed before adding to the vegetables)

 Add the milk to the soup and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk the sour cream, flour, and paprika together in a small bowl until smooth.  Stir into hot soup to blend. (It is important not to let the soup boil at this point to avoid curdling) Serve the soup hot ladled into wide bowls.

                                                                          Serves 10 to 12

 

 

 

 

HALLOWEEN IN THE 40'S

 

I was in the market today getting a few items needed to restore proper inventory levels in the Wisk larder.  As I began my trip down the isles I came upon an isle entirely dedicated to “candy”. I could not believe the quantity and variety displayed. I said to myself, who the hell is going to eat all this stuff?  Then it dawned on me, Halloween was only a few days away, but the current pandemic will no doubt greatly diminish the “Trick or Treat” visits by the kids.  I think a great deal of all this candy will be on special sales for the rest of the year.  I started to think about how different this day has become when compared to my memories of Halloween in the 1940’s.  Today costumed kids ring doorbells and stick a huge shopping bag in front of the person who opens the door and maybe whispers those magic Trick or Treat words.  I don’t think any of today’s doorbell ringers actually know the meaning of “Trick or Treat”. I wonder what these little candy collectors would do if I said: no treat for you, just do your trick.

How different this was from Halloween when I was their age. For my friends and I there was very little reason to go Trick or Treating.  Very few houses were prepared to handout any goodies when we pressed that button.  There were some exceptions.  A few nice ladies had goodies ready for the few of us who knew where the exceptions lived. Mrs. Reese always welcomed us in and had some wholesome stuff like apples or popcorn balls, all set up on her dining room table. Most homes were dark indicating to us that it was senseless to expect a treat.  Most were merely annoyed that we bothered them by ringing their bell and quickly running away.  Or tricks for not treating were usually very mild.  One favorite was sticking a pin in the bell to jam the button and keep their bell ringing while we happily watched the results.

Older guys in the “hood” were far nastier than us young kids.  Before going into their antics please note that I don’t condone this old day’s humor, but you need to remember we didn’t have much to amuse ourselves.  For days before Halloween night they older kids gathered, begged or pilfered used tires from local garages and set off the biggest, smelliest, bonfire you ever saw.   This was burned right on the street itself. Talk about stinking up the neighborhood.  Another favorite nasty was the destruction of street lights on the poles.  In those days street poles were lighted by a single large bulb set in a metal shade. A decent shot with a slingshot kept all the streets around are homes in pitch darkness.  Dangerous, yes, but auto traffic was almost nonexistent. 

Another street related prank involved the creation of what you could call our Halloween Scarecrow.  As kids we had a hell of a time laughing at cars slamming on their brakes when their headlights saw a body laying across their lane the road.  Of course it wasn’t really a body.  Only clothes stuffed with those pretty fall leaves to make them look like a body.  Again no one was hurt since cars went a lot slower and there wasn’t the traffic we have today.

Innocent fun?  Not really, but another example of how different things have become through the last century.

Costumes?  Who could afford them?  Those were the days of faces made up with charcoal and mother or sisters make up.  Did we have fun?  You bet, it was a night we could stay out late and do stuff we could never do on any other night of the year.

 

Recipe Time:  When the frost is on the pumpkin it’s time for this type of soup which is actually one of my creations.  Everyone seems to like it unless they are only trying to make me feel good.

Roasted Butternut Squash & Red Pepper Soup

 

2-1/2 lb. Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-1/2” pieces

2 jars of roasted red peppers (16 – 18 oz. total), drained

1 medium onion, chopped

1 garlic clove minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup or more half and half as needed

6 cups chicken stock or (enough to cover vegetables)

Flavoring additions:  Salt, Pepper, Brown sugar, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, maple syrup, Allspice.  All to your taste.

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat squash pieces with olive oil, spread on tray and roast till soft.  Meanwhile sauté onions and garlic in butter and oil until tender.  Add roasted red peppers, mix and sauté briefly to warm.  Add roasted squash and chicken stock and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about fifteen minutes.  Puree all in blender and return to pot on very low heat.  Now is the time to add spices.  Do this in small quantities, mix and then taste until you have the flavor you like.  Add half and half to thin the soup slightly.

Soup can be made a couple of days ahead and refrigerated to allow all the flavors to meld.  Also freezes quite well.                                                                                                                                  Serves 6 to 8