Polonez Polish Restaurant

It’s been a while. Polish restaurants simply do not exist in the DC area. When we first moved to DC thirteen years ago, we found a sort of  Polish restaurant in Baltimore. We grew up on pierogi, stuffed cabbage and kielbasa. Living in Milwaukee also afforded us a few Polish restaurants. But now there is primarily one - that we know of. So we drove over to Polonez in Cudahy for a Polish treat. We had been there several times before. We took my parents there when they would visit us every October all those years ago. So we ordered the Polish platter - kielbasa, stuffed cabbage, potato pancakes, potato salad, and potato pierogi. We also ordered a couple more saurkraut/mushroom pierogi. For whatever reason we didn’t get a cup of chicken soup - something we really needed because both of us are fighting off terrible colds since we arrived in the Midwest. The salad and rolls filled the bill. So it was a treat to eat Polish food. It’s something one needs on a very rainy and cold evening. 

Polska and Mrs. T's Pierogi and Chocolate

Mrs. T's pierogi come from Pennsylvania and Polska pierogi come from California. We always liked Mrs. T's - especially the potato with feta and spinach. My husband also adds onions to the mix and they are delicious! Of course, nothing could ever replace my mom's original hand made and time consuming pierogi that we always had at Christmas. But while we were at Safeway, I noticed another brand called Polska foods. The saurkraut, cabbage, and mushroom item looked quite promising - and it was. My husband added a bit of ham bits to that mix. Because they were so good, we got another package along with the potato and cheese version. Why am I dreaming of pierogi? Today, we went out to lunch with a good friend who just returned from a trip to Poland, Italy and England. And she brought with her a Polish chocolate/orange treat as a keepsake for us. Because it is written in Polish, I can't read the brand. All I can say is that they too were delicious. It's hard to believe Polish was my first language. That sure didn't last very long. But the craving to eat polish food luckily never disappeared. Thank goodness for frozen food because it's tough to find a polish restaurant here in DC. Milwaukee and Chicago were much different - but we don't live there anymore. 

Polish Festival at St. Stanislaus in Fall River

It's been ages since we attended the Polish festival in Fall River. The last time we were there was for my parents fiftieth wedding celebration. We all joined our family in Boston and made the trip south to visit known and familiar landmarks of days gone by. That's where my parents were born, met, and got married. What I remember about the festival is the food, but also losing my balance and sticking my foot, with shoes and socks, in water after a little boat ride, and having a very soggy and squishy situation on one side only. At a later time, someone threw a dart right in to someone's head! Luckily it didn't stick! My cousin still has connections there, and I found these photos on Facebook advertising the event this coming weekend. I sent the food photo to my mother. She remembers the festival well and has wonderful memories from them all. We are pretty sure the venue has changed, but the event remains the same. There are hundreds of these community activities going on all over the place, but this one brings back a really good feeling. 

A Target and Polish Deli Day

Since my dad passed away in June, we made our first trip back to Florida to visit my mom to see how things were going. Here in DC, there are no Polish restaurants. In Rockville, there is a Polish grocery store. In Milwaukee, there were not only Polish restaurants, but grocery stores too. My mom's dad owned a grocery store, and they were very Polish. So whenever we go to Florida, we take her to the Polish deli to load up on kielbasa, pickles, veal loaf and kishka, along with cakes or breads, or whatever else she may like. A few of the housewares were not working, so we also stopped at Target to get a can opener, toaster, and extra coffee pot, along with some other stuff for the house. It seemed strange that this time we didn't have anything to do for my dad, as all the last many visits always did. It seems my mom is doing quite well for her age and her outlook is bright in spite of her physical disabilities. We even found some shoes on line and ordered up a pair, and we took her to the doctor to get a flu shot and fill out some papers. It is difficult to live far away at times like this, but we are glad we are able to get around and spend time with her. She is a real inspiration. Maybe it has something to do with being Polish!

The Polish Deli - Pierogi, Kielbasa, and Head Cheese?

There are no Polish restaurants in DC. There were several in Milwaukee and Chicago. While in St. Petersburg visiting my parents, we try to stock them up with Polish delights since they no longer drive. There is a Polish Club somewhere that I know we went to a few times when we were kids, but I'm not sure about any sit down places. So we went to the Polish Deli located several miles away and looked around. There was a good selection of pierogie, and different kinda of kielbasa, cookies, and cakes. But what took me by surprise was the head cheese. Apparently my mother used to eat that! Actually her dad had a grocery store in Massachusetts and made all this stuff and more. I think I'll pass on it, but I'm glad she was able to find what she likes. And wouldn't you know the pierogie came from Chicago. What's with DC? I guess we'll have to make due with Mrs. T's. 

Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls from the Unstoppable Farm Woman - The Polish Kabob?

Growing up in a Polish household afforded us the delights of pierogi and stuffed cabbage, plus sauerkraut and Polish sausage. Not necessarily the healthiest food, but tasty and very ethnic. Milwaukee had all kinds of Polish restaurants and even a Polish Fest on the Lakefront. My first Madame Alexander doll was from Poland, and my mother tells us we all spoke Polish before we knew English. Unfortunately, there are no Polish restaurants around here that we know of. I even contacted the Polish Embassy for help but didn't receive an answer! I don't usually pay attention to recipes posted on Facebook but this one caught my eye. I showed it to my husband who likes to cook and he gave it a whirl, adding to it his brand of flavors and seasonings. We definitely added rice and mixed it all together to make it look more like the real stuffed cabbage. We liked it so much we made it again the following week and it will probably become a routine. As my husband is Iranian, we like a few Persian places around here - Moby Dick take out, Yekta in Rockville, and Kabob Bazaar in Arlington. You could say this recipe is the Polish version of Kabob... Rice, hamburger/ground meat... If you look and enough you can always find something in common.