Eastern European Food

This recipe for Rustic Eastern European Bread makes two large loaves with a seeded topping (poppy and sesame). The beauty of this dough is that it keeps refrigerated for three days. So bake one today and bake another three days later!

The crumb is very slightly sweet and has an off-white color from the honey in the ingredients. This would be a great accompaniment to grilled food or with butter and fruit butter or jams, jellies or marmalades. And dad would be tickled pink with a loaf on his special day. This dough can also be turned into Apricot Cream Cheese Coffee Cake Recipe or Jewish Challah Recipe

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Of all Orthodox Christians, only Serbians have a slava -- the custom of celebrating a family's patron saint's feast day. Other Eastern Europeans celebrate their personal name day instead of a birthday, but Serbs pick a patron saint for the entire family which is passed on from generation to generation. When a woman marries, her new patron saint becomes that of her husband.

The tradition dates to the ninth century when Serbs gave up their pagan beliefs and accepted Christianity. One theory is that each village or tribe adopted a collective saint as its protector. Another is that the saint on whose day a man was baptized became his family's patron.

Central to this largely religious holiday are certain ritual foods including slavski kolac (slava bread) and zhito also known as koljivo (boiled wheat with honey and walnuts) and red wine, which are blessed by the parish priest. A special beeswax candle is lighted and only then can the feasting and merrymaking begin. Read more about krsna slava or Serbian name day.

Compare this with Polish Name Day or Imieniny.

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I love the brilliant contrast of colors in rhubarb -- the magenta-hued stalks and the bright green leaves. One word of caution. Don't eat the leaves, they're toxic. But go crazy with the stalks as I have. This darling of spring is so versatile. Oh, and yes, rhubarb is technically a vegetable even though it is often used like a fruit.

Eastern Europeans love rhubarb and its sweet-tangy taste that fits the flavor profile beloved by Slavs and Balkans. Check out these Eastern European rhubarb recipes if you need inspiration. You'll find recipes for soup, salad, compote, sauce, ice cream, pie, crisp, cordial and more.

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The beloved white storks (bociany) of Poland return every spring from Africa where they overwinter in the savannas between Kenya and South Africa. According to naturalists, about 50,000 pairs of the birds nest in Poland each year, which amounts to a fifth of the world's white stork population.

They can be seen in both the city and countryside and are considered good luck, bringing prosperity and fertility, so Poles encourage them to build their nests on their property.

Some nests are as large as 6 feet in diameter and 9 feet deep and weigh several hundred pounds, if not a ton. They are used over and over again, with new "rooms" added each spring by both the male and female storks. The nests are made of branches and sticks, and lined with twigs, grasses, sod, rags and paper.

Watch a live webcam of white storks here.

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I saw "Dark Shadows" with Johnny Depp on Friday. What a hoot! I loved the music and it brought back wonderful memories from the daytime soap opera of the same name so popular in the late '60s and early '70s.

But vampires aren't the only ones who have a taste for blood, albeit not human blood. Many cultures work blood into their cooking repertoire. Not only was it considered a way not to waste any part of a butchered animal, it was discovered to have redeeming qualities on its own -- including the ability to thicken any ingredient. In fact, if you don't mix freshly harvested blood with vinegar, it will clot into a solid mass. Am I making you squeamish? OK, I'll stop. But, for those who don't mind, check out All About Cooking with Blood for more droplets of information.

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It's only Friday. You have two days to make a fabulous dessert for Mom or for the mother figure in your life. Buy the ingredients on Friday, bake and decorate on Saturday, and serve on Sunday. Not only will you have a knock-out sweet ending to a special day, but you're giving the gift of time. A rare commodity in this busy world of ours.

• Croatian Peach Cookies Recipe - Breskvice
  
  
• Russian Apricot Torte Recipe - Biskvitnyi Abrikosovyi Torta
  
  
• Polish Drunkard's Cake - Ciasto Pijak

And here are some recipes that use common ingredients and can be made as late as Mother's Day itself. While you're at it, read about Mother's Day in Eastern Europe.

• Bulgarian Rice Pudding
  
  
• Moist Sponge Cake Recipe
  
  
• Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
  
  
• Easy Chocolate Mousse

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If you've dreamed of making a fancy fondant cake with gum paste flowers for your Mom on Mother's Day or any special occasion, but never got around to mastering the skills, you've run out of excuses!

Nancy Siler and Melanie Glasscock break down the techniques for everything from making a cake to decorating a wedding showpiece. Bake Decorate Celebrate! is their brainchild that couples step-by-step instructions on their website with TV shows that air on PBS stations across the country. Check the Web site to link to your local PBS station's schedule.

Here is how they describe the show: "On Bake Decorate Celebrate!, you will see how exciting it is to create great cakes, cupcakes, cookies, candies and more. No prior experience needed!"

By the way, Siler is the director of The Wilton School of cake decorating, so you know youre in good hands!

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I don't know what packs more bang for your buck than puff pastry. You can cut down on the time it takes to make it from scratch with this blitz puff pastry recipe or use purchased puff pastry in these two wowzer breakfast / brunch / dessert pastries -- Fresh Fruit Galette (Tart) Recipe which takes all of 45 minutes to prepare, and Cherry Cheese Baskets Recipe.

The former recipe is from "Gourmet Meals in Minutes" (Lebhar-Friedman Books, 2004), and the latter recipe is from "Breakfasts & Brunches" (Lebhar-Friedman Books, 2005). Both books are from the Culinary Institute of America.

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It was two days of tasting pies for me recently at the 2012 American Pie Council/Crisco National Pie Championships in Orlando, Fla.. This year, cream pies took best in show in three divisions. Here are the winning recipes. One of these might be a good candidate for Mother's Day dessert.

• Susan Boyle's Coffee Toffee Crunch A Bunch Pie recipe in the professional division.
  
  
• Peg's Banana Cream Supreme Pie recipe in the amateur division created by John Sunvold.
  
  
• Spider Monkey Peanut Butter Pie recipe in the junior division.

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For those in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, and the United States, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. While Mother's Day or Dzien Matki is celebrated on May 26 in Poland, March 25 in Slovenia, the first Sunday in May in Hungary and Lithuania, Oct. 14 in Belarus, and the last Sunday in November for Russians.

The date doesn't matter, the sentiment does. If you're looking for an easy, moist Bundt-style cake for your celebration, try this Blueberry-Almond Cake Recipe. With its combination of sour cream, almond paste and blueberries, it's sure to please.

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