These recipes by Sister Emerita have been provided by her sister Helen. It’s unfortunate that we don’t have the recipe for those delectable sticky buns that everyone enjoyed. Helen who provided the recipes recorded here said that she probably made them from memory.
– Sr. Bernadette Marie
Lentil Soup
1 cup lentils
1 and 1/2cups cubed potatoes
1 cup cubed carrots
½ cup celery
1 small onion chopped
Rinse lentils in a fine mesh sieve and pick them over before you cook them. Discard any shriveled lentils or debris. Fill a large 4 quart pot halfway with water, bring it to a boil, and add the lentils. Simmer until they’re tender. Add uncooked potatoes, carrots, celery and onions. Cook until vegetables are tender. Then add zapraška.
Zapraška
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup water
Cook flour and butter in a saucepan over low heat until dark caramel color, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add cold water slowly, while stirring. Return to heat and cook until it has the consistency of gravy. If too thick, add more water. Add to soup and cook for about 10 minutes.
Baking Powder Kolačky
4 cups flour
1 cup Crisco (or softened butter)
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 egg yolks or 1 egg
1 cup milk
A pinch of salt
Filling: May use apple pie filling, apricot or strawberry preserves, or other fruit filling of your choice.
In a large bowl, beat together butter, milk and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in the butter mixture to make a stiff dough. If the dough gets too soft, refrigerate for about five minutes before continuing. Roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into 2” squares. Spoon about ½ tsp pastry filling onto center of each square. Use finger-tip to lightly moisten 2 opposite corners of each dough square with water, then overlap corners in the center and press together to seal. Place, filling-side-up and 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool on a cookie rack. Dust lightly with powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container
Sour Cream Kolačky
3 cups flour
1 lb. softened butter or margarine
3 teaspoons baking powder
4 eggs
2 drops vanilla
2 tablespoons sour cream
Powdered sugar
Filling: Use nuts, poppyseed, apricot or apple pie filling.
In a large bowl, beat together flour, butter and baking powder. Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream and beat until well mixed.
Divide dough into thirds, shape each into a ball, wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one hour. Roll out the dough on powdered sugar and cut to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into 2” squares. Spoon about ½ tsp pastry filling onto center of each square. Use finger-tip to lightly moisten 2 opposite corners of each dough square with water, then overlap corners in the center and press together to seal. Place, filling-side-up and 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake at 375 degrees until light brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
Ode to Sister Emerita’s Slovak Cooking
– by Sister Bernadette Marie
Mingling with the odor of sanctity, the aroma if baking—
Homemade bread,
Nut and poppy seed rolls,
Raised doughnuts,
The ever-popular sticky buns.
And the pies,
Rhubarb, tangy and juicy,
Shoofly, moist and tasting of molasses.
The piece-de-resistance—
The soups, hearty and seasoned to perfection:
Vegetable,
Bean,
Lentil, and a special treat,
Caraway.
What else can one say when the mouth savors
The results of her master’s touch.
