Food for a Rainy Day

I must admit that I cooked this food several weekends ago.  Perhaps even a month ago.

And, it is still raining now.  Or, at least it feels that way.

I love cooking and baking on rainy days.  The chopping, delicious smells and warm oven can make even the most blustery day feel cozy and productive.

Blustery days are perfect for Caramelized Red Onion Soup and Roast Chicken.  What day isn't, really?

This Red Onion Soup is one of my favourites.  It's basically a vegetarian version of French Onion soup and, I would say, so much better!

Waiting for caramelization

Roasted Tomatoes

After the soup was made, I toped a serving with toasted bread chucks and gruyere before broiling it in the oven.  Soup heaven!

With lunch out of the way, I moved on to dinner.

A Perfect Roast Chicken:

 Roasted on a bed of carrots and onions.

Alongside some smashed veggies.  Why have mashed potatoes when you can have mashed potatoes, broccoli and peas?

Yum!

My Polish Feast

After spending Christmas with my parents, I retuned to home for my annual "week of nothing". I always intend to relax and rest during this week, but it usually ends up being a time for doing all those bits and pieces I usually don't have time to do . . . writing letters, painting doors, reorganizing closets and, this year, making a Polish feast.

My maternal grandfather was a Polish immigrant, but he died when my mom was young and she was raised by her very Scottish mother. I never really thought about this too much (in fact, I didn't even know I was part Polish until I was in my twenties), but I've become more interested in culture and food over the past few years. And, when one of my co-workers raved about her Hungarian Christmas Eve feast one day, I began to wonder what my family would have eaten, had Polish traditions been maintained. And so, I decided to give it a try and make myself a Polish dinner for New Year's Day.

I started with an unbelievably fuchsia coloured borsht. If anyone out there has vegetable adverse little girls, I think that this pink soup would be a hit!

Next, I made perogies. I was worried about the labour intensity of this task, but they were actually kind of fun to make.

First I made the dough.

Then I stuffed each pocket with a mixture of potato and cheese.

And then I ate them. Yum!

Lastly, I made makowiec, a sweet poppy seed cake. This recipe had quite a few steps, but it came together really nicely and I enjoyed the process.

To me, this dessert is more of a bread than a cake, but either way, it is delicious. I love poppy seeds and macowiec is certainly a way to get your fill!

I am not sure if I will make borscht again (I prefer my beets in their non-soup form), but I plan to keep homemade perogies and poppy seed cake in my repertoire. Food is so much more nourishing when it comes from a history and not from a box!