Every Shabbat my Dad's parents call to wish me a "Good Shabbos" and each week I am entertained by my grandparents. This past weekend was no exception. Our conversation went something like this:
Big Z: Good Shabbos, Maideleh. What are you doing?Hil: I'm making a pea soup.
Big Z: A what?
Hil: A PEA SOUP.
Big Z: You're a chip off the old block! Here talk to your Bubba - I can't hear anything!
(My grandfather just got two new hearing aids)
Bubba: Hi Maideleh, Good Shabbos to you! How are you? What are you making?
(She said this VERY quickly)
Hil: I'm making a pea soup.Bubba: Really? I used to make pea soup but I never taught you how to make it. You don't even like pea soup. Do you? My kids don't like me making pea soup because it has too many calories and too much fat!
Hil: I didn't know I liked it until last year but it's pretty easy to make. I'm also making a banana cake.
Bubba: You are? How do you know how to bake? I never taught you how to make a banana cake. Good luck to you. Give your honey a kiss for me. Good Shabbos.
... and she hung up the phone.
I am often entertained by my Bubba. She keeps me laughing and I tell her stupid jokes. She always tells all of her grand kids that she loves us equally but I know that moving to the Holy Land broke her heart.Here's a little background info on my Bubba:
She was born in Poland, lost her mother at age 8, lived through the Holocaust and moved to the United States with my Zeidy rather than moving to Israel with the rest of her family. Moving to the U.S. was hard because she didn't have any family but family legend (and my aunt) says that my great-grandfather never forgave her for moving so far away from him.
Fast forward many years - her granddaughter (me) moves to Israel and the torn feelings erupt again.
Since moving to Israel, I've become quite good and listening for anything that might seem off with my grandparents - be it a crackle in their voices or the emotion that comes through the phone. I can't physically see them get older but I can hear it.
A few weeks ago, when speaking to my Bubba just before Shabbat, she asked me when we're going to start trying to have kids. I told her we're already trying and she said "good - have a lot of children. I taught you well, you'll know what I mean when you have kids." In truth, I already know what she meant by that. I worry the same way she does, I fret over people and constantly feed my friends, and I carry the weight of my family on my shoulders. My Bubba taught me that without family, you have nothing.
While my Bubba may not have taught me how to bake, she did give me one recipe that I indulged in making for a friend's engagement party. She used to make blueberry piershgies (pronounced: pee-airsh-gees). They are a Polish dessert that my Bubba passed along to all of us. The dessert itself is fairly easy although I make it differently than my Bubba. The taste is the same but my way is easier.
You can either buy puff pastry dough in the store or make it on your own with this recipe.
3/4 tsp. salt
12 oz. (24 Tbs.) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 oz. (3/4 cup) very cold water
Sift the flour and salt onto the cold cubes of butter. Using a pastry scraper or a large chef's knife, cut the butter into the flour. Work until you have a crumbly mixture. Flatten any large chunks of butter with just your fingertips. Add the ice-cold water a little at a time to loosely bind the dough. Mix the dough with the pastry scraper until it just hangs together. Shape the messy, shaggy dough into a rough rectangle and roll it out until it's 1/2 inch thick. Resist the temptation to overwater or overwork the dough; it will eventually hold together.
Use the pastry scraper to fold the dough in thirds like a business letter. Don't worry if it folds in pieces. Turn the package of dough 90 degrees so the folds run vertically. Square off the edges of the dough as you work. Roll the dough into a rectangle that's 1/2 inch thick, always rolling from open end to open end. Continue rolling, folding, and turning until the dough looks smooth. By four or five "turns," the dough should hang together well.
For even more layers, fold the smooth dough up like a book. To do this, fold the two shorter sides into the center and then fold the dough like a book. Brush off excess flour as you fold. Wrap the dough and chill it for half an hour before giving it two final turns. At this point, you can then use the dough, though another short rest will make rolling and shaping easier.
Filling:
3 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg whisked with water for an egg wash
After your dough is made, preheat your oven to 350degrees.
In a bowl, mix your blueberries with half of the sugar and half of the cinnamon.
Roll out your dough and cut large circles about the size of your hand.
In the center of each circle, place a big spoonful of blueberries. Bring the outer edges of the dough together and pinch closed (you can press it with a fork if you need to). Make sure there are no openings in the dough.
Place the piershgie upside down on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
Continue the process until you're out of dough and blueberries.
Once all of the piershgies are upside down, take your egg wash and lightly brush the dough.
Take the remaining sugar and cinnamon and mix it together in a dry bowl. Lightly dust the piershgies with the mixture.
Stick the baking sheet in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Check every few minutes after that to see if the pastries are golden brown.
Once they brown, take them out of the oven and let them cool. Carefully place them on a cooling rack until properly cool.
There you have it! My Bubba's piershgies. I won't lie and say I don't cheat and use store bought puff pastry - I do. My Bubba also prefers yeast dough and I prefer flaky dough. In reality, they turn out the same.
From our house to yours - don't forget that my Bubba can teach you to cook, too! Just not banana cake.
2 comments:
Aw, it's so nice that you have such a close relationship with your family!
Like I have a choice! Hahaha, just kidding. My family is awesome - very close knit!
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