18.12.15

CHRISTMAS DINNER

In Hungary, Christmas Day used to be beigli sampling day, a day set aside to visit one's relatives. It was special when there was a plate of linzer cookies with a walnut pressed in the middle or a slice of zsebó. One year we went out to Zugló and I watched my mother’s sister assemble a small pan of zserbó. I don’t recall the feverish cookie production before Christmas, nobody I knew had a fridge let alone a freezer in those days. We made cookies and ate them fresh. What stayed with us was the proverbial beigli. By January we were sick of it, everywhere you went people wanted to feed you Christmas beigli . 

Last night I saw Heather, my in-law at Liv’s Christmas concert. She already made seven batches of cookies and she said there is more to come. I tend to be a last minute warrior so each year is a toss up if I get around to beigli making before or after Christmas. One year I made last year’s beigli for Easter! With two December birthdays in our family, I tend not to go overboard with Christmas baking. 

In Canada, nothing really gets into gear until Christmas Day. That is when we sacrifice turkeys and overeat. Even if you don’t like turkey there are lots of delicious side dishes and rich desserts to enjoy. Over the years, we were Christmas dinnered by our friends the Eggletons. With our aging and dwindling numbers [kids grow up and move away, sometimes far-far away] we will see if I can convince their numbers to join our numbers this year. Here is to all the turkey meals we shared!















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It began with posting a few recipes on line for the family. "zsuzsa is in the kitchen" has more than 1000 Hungarian and International recipes. What started out as a private project turned into a well visited blog. The number of visitors long passed the two million mark. I organized the recipes into an on-line cookbook. On top of the page click on "ZSUZSA'S COOKBOOK". From there click on any of the chapters to access the recipes. For the archive just scroll to the bottom of the page. I am not profiting from my blog, so visitors are not harassed with advertising or flashy gadgets. The recipes are not broken up with photos at every step. Where needed the photos are placed following the recipe. Feel free to cut and paste my recipes for your own use. Publication is permitted as long as it is in your own words and with your own photographs. However, I would ask you for an acknowledgement and link-back to my blog. Happy cooking!