An Eastern European Easter

I was a bit overwhelmed with all my Easter baking options this year. I really wanted to bake items that are traditionally served for Easter in Eastern Europe and literally had dozens of options. Easter is a very traditional holiday and is taken very seriously in Europe. Baking becomes an exciting event because it means the end of Lent is near and the recipes call for lots of eggs, butter, sugar and other treats usually not consumed during the Lent. It also seemed every recipe I found required the use of yeast and I learned a long time ago that yeast and I don’t usually rise to the occasion. In other words, yeast hates me and like lemmings running over a cliff, it doesn’t hesitate to die off no matter the perfect temperature of the milk I add. So I picked the next best and tasty option, I went to local European bakeries in search of tradition.

Traditional Easter Kalac from the European Bakery

The first stop was at the European Bakery on 35th Avenue and Bell Road in North Phoenix. This bakery is amazing! Not only did we find traditional, braided bread baked just for Easter, we found a pastry case teeming with small, beautiful cake slices, cookies and other tempting treats. The Easter bread we picked up was Hungarian bread named kalacs which is braided in a circular shape and dotted with raisins. The bakery is family owned and they sure know what they are doing. My boyfriend and I shared the Louis XVI sandwich, served on an incredible French baguette. After eating our lunch, we decided to split a Pistachio Chocolate Mousse Cake and a Savarina baba au Rhum. The mousse cake was delicious and sprinkled with crushed pistachios over the top. My boyfriend enjoyed the Savarina Baba which looked like a deconstructed cream puff with layers of fruit and we learned au Rhum means some rum is involved.

Romanian Cozonac from De La Ana Delicatessen & Grocery and yes I have a mesquite wood duck shaped cutting board!

The next stop was at De La Ana Delicatessen located on 19th Avenue and Northern in Phoenix. This was our second trip to the small market and deli and we were excited to go back. The owner is a very friendly and informative Romanian named Ana and she makes incredible sausages and other dishes to sell in the shop. We restocked with some homemade sausages and another shopper scooped up the last two stuffed cabbages that Ana made. Well, there is always next time! Ana had also baked some traditional bread from her native country. Cozonac is traditionally baked on Easter and Ana said that in Romania if you do not bake this bread on Easter, you are not really Romanian. Cozonac is sweet bread with fillings that vary based on the region where it is made. Ana used a filling of ground walnuts and cocoa in her bread. It smelled heavenly and we couldn’t wait to try it!

Easter morning brought the anticipation of trying all of baked good purchases. The kalacs bread reminded me of light challah bread with raisins and was delightful with a little spread of butter. It will make excellent French toast too! The Cozonac was a bit more cake-like and had a pinwheel swirl of the ground walnuts and cocoa throughout. We really enjoyed our culinary trip exploring the Easter traditions of Eastern Europe.

Meet the Chimney Cake

Euro trip advice: If someone says you can’t visit Prague in a day, don’t listen to them. I was pondering this thought the other day and realized it was exactly a year since my first trip to Europe. I am so glad I was able to sneak in a day trip to Prague from Vienna. This was no easy feat considering it was a five hour train ride one way to reach the City of 100 Spires.

The city of 100 spires

My friends and I left Vienna a little after 5 a.m. to arrive after 10 a.m. in Prague (Praha). Traveling through the countryside of the Czech Republic was amazing. Small, quaint towns dot the green countryside. Smoke billowed from chimneys and wood burning ovens. We chugged along through the provincial town of Kolin and on upwards until we reached the main train station Praha Hlvani Nadrazi. After disembarking from the train we wandered off into the city and enjoyed some amazing experiences that involved Czech beer, the John Lennon Wall in Mala Strana and discovering Chimney Cakes!

The last leg of our journey took us to the main square in old town Prague.

The Astronomical Clock in Old Town Prague

Since Easter was just a few weeks away there were amazing hand painted Easter eggs for sale.

This lady was handpainting names onto the eggs!

I also discovered chimney cakes! I spied a booth that was spinning dough on wooden spits called trdlos over coals. The sign above the booth indicated these treats went by the name of Trdelnik.

Trdelnik spinning on their trdlos

My friend Beth and I decided to split one and we were surprised to discover beyond the crusty exterior that there was a slight yeast taste to the dough. It seemed like we may have had options to add toppings or flavors, but our lack of Czech prevented us from delving into conversation.

Trdelnik in Prague

I was recently looking through the Saveur magazine website and came across recipes for Hungarian Chimney cakes. My jaw dropped as I recalled the Trdelnik I had discovered in Prague. Chimney cakes looked like a direct relative of Trdelnik. Following some research on the web, I discovered that variants of chimney cakes are strewn all over Europe. Their roots seem to trace back to Translyvania in Romania. The tall, spit-fired cakes seem to be a new dessert trend with shops dedicated to the treat popping up in the states! When in Prague, make sure to visit the John Lennon Wall of Peace, enjoy a Czech beer after your trek up to the Prague Castle and order a Trdelnik!

Enjoy Prague!

It began with Mayerling

About 11 years ago in the early morning hours of a cold January night I couldn’t sleep, so I wandered into the living room, sat on the couch and turned on the television. I flipped through some channels and landed on TCM just as Robert Osborne was announcing the next movie, Mayerling (1936). He described it as one of the greatest love stories and having never heard of this story, I was hooked. My original plan was to be up long enough to get sleepy and instead I spent the next two hours transfixed by Charles Boyer and the beautiful Danielle Darriuex in all the drama that is Mayerling.

As we approach the 123rd anniversary of the incident at Mayerling on January 30, 2012, I am reflecting on the personal journey that Mayerling has led me on. This journey led me from the couch to walking the streets of Vienna in the footsteps of Crown Prince Rudolf and Mary Vetsera.

Crown Prince Rudolf was the heir to the illustrious Hapsburg Empire. The son of Emperor Franz Josef and the legendary Empress Sissi, Crown Prince Rudolf was the long awaited prince expected to carry out the rule of Hapsburgs. The Hapsburgs had ruled for centuries and their Austro-Hungarian empire stretched out to cover many regions and cultures. The Hapsburg Empire seemed unbreakable; everything the empire touched seemed to turn to gold.

Yet, not everything glittered in the Hofburg palace. Emperor Franz Josef was a rigid, militaristic leader. He slept in a small iron bed and rose every morning long before the sun did. The tempestuous Empress Sissi had been plucked at the tender age of 16 from her fairy tale existence at her childhood Bavarian castle. Sissi’s mother, Ludovica, was the sister of the Archduchess Sophie who was also the mother of Emperor Franz Josef. Archduchess Sophie was a chilly woman with strict guidelines for proper conduct. She had picked Sissi’s sister, Helene to become the bride of Franz Josef and yet those plans fell to pieces once Emperor Franz Josef saw Sissi. Sissi was considered at the time the most beautiful woman in the world. They became betrothed and Sissi moved to a cold, glacial existence at the Hofburg with a nightmare of a mother-in-law. Sissi would later go on to roam all of Europe to escape from her symptoms of hysteria and try to gain control over her life by starving herself into anorexia.

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Thanksgiving with the Monks, a New Mexican Adventure

Visiting the land of enchantment always results in an encounter with something you can’t quite name. You know it’s there once you smell the wood smoke mixed with pinon. You sense it when you see the snow capped Sangre de Cristo mountains rising in the unmistakable New Mexican blue sky. You catch a glimpse of it when a startled bird flutters by or when you stumble across a menagerie of animal prints in the muddy ground after the snow has melted. New Mexico has its secrets and it delights in surprising you during your journey.

My fascination with the Land of Enchantment began 11 years ago when I decided I wanted a CD of monastic chants. That’s not a typical purchase for an 18 year old, but after the loss of a dear friend due to a sudden passing, I longed for solace through music. I stumbled across the website for the Christ of the Desert monastery and their online gift shop that offered recordings of their chants. This was my first internet purchase and I made a vow to myself that one day I would visit this remote and seemingly mysterious monastery hidden in a canyon in New Mexico.

Thanksgiving of this year I completed my vow to visit the monastery. Having never visited Santa Fe before we stopped for a night at the Inn on the Paseo and enjoyed Thanksgiving Eve in the America’s oldest capital. The inn had the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten! I had agonized for 2 weeks prior to the trip over where we should have dinner and experience authentic New Mexican cuisine. I found a great resource through Twitter- @santafetraveler who provides great blogs about local food happenings in the area and ultimately these helped me to decide on Casa Chimayo. The dinner at Casa Chimayo will always be on my top 10 list of best dinners ever!! The blue corn enchiladas filled with calabacitas and served with sides of charro style beans and Spanish rice was amazing. Absolutely amazing! The owner converted his former childhood home into the restaurant. The food is prepared according to how his grandmother and great grandmother cooked. Don’t miss this gem.

Heading out on Thanksgiving towards Abiquiu, we stopped off at Chimayo and visited the sacred shrine there. Receiving Chimayo’s blessings and gathering the holy dirt from the posito inside the church I participated in this long standing tradition that has resulted in Chimayo being designated as the Lourdes of the West. One lone Chimayo vendor was open to accommodate the Thanksgiving pilgrims. I purchased chili powder, beans, dried cherries all native to this region.

Back on the quiet twisting road to Abiquiu, I began to anticipate our arrival at the monastery. Turning off the main road and onto the Forest Service road toward our destination, we rolled down the windows and gazed at the colorfully painted cliffs that Georgia O’Keefe so loved to capture in her art. Rumbling along the one lane road we followed alongside the life giving Rio Chama, the road rising above it at times and then meeting up with us again. Coming around a bend we spotted our first glimpse of the Monastery. The colors of the monastery match it surroundings and the cross rising above the main church gives away it holy presence.

Staying in a monastery guest house offers a few comforts. With no light switches to flip, battery operated lanterns fill that void. The tiny bathroom we shared with our neighbors is heated by a gas lit heater. Forced air heating kept our room comfortable though. Silence reigns throughout. The view from the balcony was amazing. Tall red ochre cliffs soar with hardy trees and shrubs clinging precariously from ledges. The walk to the monastery from the guesthouse follows a path lined with the stations of the cross. Stepping inside the monastery was unforgettable. Light poured in from strategic windows above that share an incredible view of the 500 foot cliffs that tower over the monastery. Visible are three large crosses planted on top of the cliff. They stand tall and firm and guard this holy canyon.

Thanksgiving dinner with the monks was joyous. Gathering in the anteroom at the appointed time, the abbott cracked a joke exclaiming, “Did we really invite all these guests?” Plenty of others had the same idea to celebrate Thanksgiving with the monks. Dinner was served buffet style and included turkey, stuffing and all the other fixings made by the monks. Six large pies lay on the dessert table and my interest was apparent. Nathan had to scoot me into the refectory. Meals are usually held in silence, but Thanksgiving is one of the few days where those rules cease and monks mingled with the guests. Beer made by the Benedictine monks is consumed and it was sweet to hear monks made happy remarks about getting to enjoy ice cream again.

I preferred to observe and watch the festivities and smiled and thanked God that he created the path that led me to such a wonderful Thanksgiving. Walking back to the guesthouse after the feast, the night sky held the most amazing array of stars. The Milky Way was visible across the intensely dark night sky. Nathan and I each made a wish on separate shooting stars that seemed meant only for us. I wished to come back one day and I know my wish will be granted.

A Cupcake in Vienna

Waking up in Vienna and realizing it isn’t a dream is truly a dream come true. I had always felt Vienna calling me and I knew somehow, some way Fate would intervene and I would get to visit this jeweled city that still glitters with the glory of its illustrious past. The apartment building where my friend Beth and I were staying while in the city also boasts of a dignified past. On the 2nd floor of Rauthaustrasse 7, Sigmund Freud opened his first neurology office. Looking out from the bedroom window onto the street below it’s very easy to begin to replace the sight and sound of cars and imagine instead the sound of clopping hooves and people dressed in Victorian era clothing. Time has marched on, but the buildings and narrow streets remain the same and we find ourselves walking their streets but with our shoes.

Overlooking Vienna from Rauthaustrasse 7

Stepping out onto the street for the first full day in Vienna we didn’t really have a plan. We had four travel books between Beth, Michael and I and yet we just couldn’t decide. Beth happened upon a charming picture of a secretive courtyard in her book that was in an area known as Josefstadt. How hard can it be to find a location in a travel book that also lists directions? We were about to find out.

I spy a Viennese Cupcake!

Trekking through the Museum Quartier heading toward the Josefstadt district that promised an 18th century, genteel charm we were filled with anticipation. Rounding a corner on a humble, narrow street I saw something that stopped me in my tracks. A large maroon banner proclaiming, Cupcakes Wien, which immediately evoked a round of Oooo’s from Beth and I and nothing from Michael. Stepping inside this charming storefront there was a fanciful, artistic feel about the place mixed with Victorian charm. Since Easter season was about to start, soft pastels and Easter bunnies were intermixed. I parked myself in front of the display case and began to focus. I had to have one of these cupcakes and I just didn’t know how I was going to decide!

Beautiful Cupcakes for sale

The frosting was swirled so high and thick, it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The owner was behind the counter and seemed a bit standoffish. Most likely because she had a photographer in to do some marketing photos and here was an American whose jaw kept dropping every time she looked at new flavor. She probably thought I had never seen a cupcake before. I looked around and realized that all the tables were taken by locals who were sipping coffee and had obviously finished their cupcakes ages ago but were in no hurry to leave. I had to make a practical decision, if I was going to be walking and eating, Vanilla frosting was the way to go.

I paid my 3.90 Euros (5.53 USD!!) and was handed my heavily or should I say heavenly Vanilla frosted chocolate cupcake. My first bite was a bit messy but delicious. I expected it to be super sweet but it wasn’t at all. It was perfect. Getting a bite of the cake this time along with some frosting and I was rewarded with a dense chocolate cake that wasn’t too sweet but perfect. We passed the cupcake around for bites and opinions. We of course made Michael finish it, which he was politely reluctant to do, but gave in pretty quick.

The next order of business was to find that courtyard. The picture in the travel book was so enticing and we were so close, or were we? We were on the right corner but we were looking for a number 29 above a door. Michael and I found door 27 then 28 and where there should be a 29 there was nothing.

The Doors with a Secret....

I tried to push on the numberless door and nothing happened. I looked at Michael with pleading eyes and he rammed his shoulder into the doors and they popped open.

We found it! The Secret Courtyard

This time it was Oooo’s and Ahhh’s all around. It was just like the picture, only better. It was like stepping back into time. This area used to be servant’s quarters in the 18th century during the time of Josef I. The walls were a bit crumbly in places and the cobblestone gracefully aged and bumpy. There was a staircase that definitely oozed 1700's charm and even an antique spigot and basin attached to an outside wall.

Who has walked these steps before?

New tenants now live here who are no longer servants, instead partaking in the charm and history of such a place. A lady was chatting on her cell phone and looked up to smile at us while tending her plants as if to say "Welcome, you have found our secret and not many do." After many snapshots and glee we walked out and closed the numberless doors behind us. Our theory is that maybe the travel book attracted a bit too many visitors and the 29 was taken down to keep the peace. If you can find it now, you may get a smile from a lady who lives there in harmony with Vienna’s past and present.