Last Minute Easter Party
We have way too many leftovers
Sara,
The food you tried in Oaxaca looks incredible! Thanks for sharing that roundup. Adding to my bucket list to try all seven moles in my life. Also Japanese-Peruvian food in Oaxaca sounds like a dream combination. Let’s go back together one day!
My grandpa in Hungary is really sick so the week has been tough. Being so far from family during these times is so hard, you absolutely get it. Through the haze of the week, I got kind of excited remembering that Sunday was Easter! I’ve always really loved Easter food - the rich, meaty dishes, fresh springy produce, and of course many sweets - is such a comforting combination. My family would be sharing an Easter meal between hospital visits to find some comfort. I wanted to make some version of that here in New York, to feel closer to them, and to share with my friends.
I’m very lucky our close friend and downstairs neighbor, Kelsey, got the vision immediately and was down to host a little Easter party! She loves Easter in that same not religious at all, food forward, great memories kind of way I do. She has shared her memories of big Easter meals in Maine, full of traditional foods made by her beloved Polish grandma. It was all last minute with multiple time changes, but Kelsey and I were hellbent on bringing our dream of a Polish-Hungarian Easter party to life.
Kelsey and Brad, her husband and co-chef, put together an awesome spread from the Polish side: pierogis with caramelized onions and sour cream, kielbasa with bread and many mustards, dilly cabbage with kielbasa, and the star - a massive pot of steaming Zurek or white borscht. It’s a thick and tangy rye based soup traditionally served for Easter. I’m eating a bowl of the leftovers right now… if you can get your hands on some please do try it immediately. It’s a really unique flavor!
I made a few Hungarian Easter favorites, inspired by my mom’s spread that she shared with me (below). A smoked ham served with horseradish cream, raw scallions, deviled eggs, and radishes with butter and salt. I’m not a baker and Hungarian Easter calls for Kalacs, a sweet braided bread similar to challah that I was sure I’d mess up. So instead make some very easy cookies. Including Macaroon Nutella Nests and my personal favorite American Easter food: Pillsbury slice and bake bunny sugar cookies.
We had many other spring inspired food, many brought by our awesome guests. These included a spinach quiche, asparagus with ham, vegetables with aji verde dip, bread with cheeses and olives, a cheese ball bunny with carrots, pigs in a blanket with fancy mustard, and enough Easter candy and chocolate to instantly turn our meat hangover into a sugar rush.
I have two friends who really inspired this gathering. One was our friend, Zach (who brought the quiche!), and is originally from Copenhagen. Since moving to New York, he’s hosted us for a Danish New Year’s Party and Fastelavn. He’ll make an entire bakery’s worth of beautiful Danish pastries like Kransekage, a marzipan flavored wreath cake, to share with us along with other traditions.
Another great friend, Abdool, hosted us this weekend for an Iftar dinner. He shared the significance of Ramadan to him, the tradition of breaking the fast with a date and prayer, then presented the most fabulous feast. I’ll be dreaming of the spicy stewed Guyanese snapper and spread of colorful fruits for a long, long time. Note: Both of these iconic individuals will definitely get a dedicated post in the future. There is too much goodness to share just here!
Sara, you remember how much we loved hosting people for food filled celebrations when we lived together! Two times that come to mind from our tiny Queens kitchen, was when my dad surprised us with a mountain of latkes when he visited and when a group of was it ten of us (?) folded and cooked what felt like hundreds (?) of pelmeni for hours. Not that a holiday is necessary, but these moments give us the designated space to make the foods that bring us closer to home. Sharing these moments with friends has been a consistently wonderful gift.
Kelsey and I want to try to have an Easter party every year with this ideas in mind. Sara, we missed you so much, so please mark your calendar for next year. It’s April 20th, 2025 and we’re expecting you to be in attendance!
A running letter between long distance friends who love to eat
Do you miss your best friend? Are really hungry you right now? If the answer to either of these is yes, you know what to do.