Saturday, December 25, 2010

'Twas the night before Christmas...

...and all through the house not a creature was stirring, because they were all passed out in food comas after dinner.

Happy Holidays everyone!!  From the carols we all know and love, to the great holiday sales, to the stockings being hung and the tree lit, it is safe to say that this time of year gets us pretty excited.  Growing up, holiday tradition in my house translated to celebrating Christmas Eve Lithuanian-Polish style.  Although I knew consuming the deliciousness called "kucios" in Lithuanian and "wigilia" in Polish also meant that I would be swept away to a never-ending Christmas mass, it was *always* well worth it.  For the handful of you who are not half-Lithuanian, half-Polish like me and may not be familiar with these traditions (LoL), here's the scoop: on Christmas Eve, we have a gargantuan feast consisting of twelve meatless dishes (for you excited vegetarians, fish is *not* considered to be meat by these cultures, so fish >}}}}}}'> typically makes multiple appearances).  Alongside the fish, fruit, breads, potato-based dishes, soup, and vegetables decorate the table.

Although it has been a handful of years since my family last followed these traditions (and essentially never since I last participated in the preparation), I was inspired this Christmas to take a stab at it myself.  Recipe-less and in the company of two very non-half-Lithuanian-half-Polish (but--to their gastronomical credit--very receptive and adventurous) guests, I created my version of kucios and wigilia.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

A Taste of the Good Bite

The Setting: lunchtime on a typical weekday afternoon, Spring 2009.  I’m a busy public health grad student, taking a break to have lunch with one of my peers and friends to discuss our upcoming internships in Thailand and India, respectively.  Taking out my reheated meal from the night before, I ask her, “What’s for lunch today?”  “A sandwich”, she says.  “Oh good”, I think, musing over delicious possibilities like turkey, caramelized onion, and blue cheese with arugula mayo; tomato, mozzarella, basil; roasted eggplant and red pepper with goat cheese and pesto.  And then it appears; a mouth-watering, scrumptious—wait a minute—is that sliced cheese on plain bread???

I couldn’t fathom it.  How could sliced cheese on plain bread be the best that she could do when I’ve sat in her kitchen eating fantastic Nepali curry dishes?  Me being me—the ever curious, ever question-at-the-ready woman—inquired as to the sad state of my friend’s lunch.  The reality was, yes, for her, that truly was the best she could do…then.