Friday, April 14, 2006

More "Easter Feaster" prep

I decided to make my Uncle Steve's Pickled Egg recipe for the first time this year. I looked at them a while later and saw that the garlic in the pickle had turned blue! Whoops, forgot about that possibility! (read an explanation here of why garlic does that sometimes). It's still perfectly safe to eat, but as you can see, it can look kinda funky and maybe a little scary if you're not prepared for it. I still look forward to eating them though!



I've always used Campbell's yummy canned beef consomme for my pidpenky (see my recipe on LearnPysanky.com) previously, but this year I decided to try making some from scratch. It smells divine! I forget where I got this recipe originally, but it's really wonderful! I highly recommend trying it!

Beef Consomme

2 cups water
2-3 packets/cubes of OXO brand powdered beef broth
1/4 cup sliced onion
1/4 cup sliced carrot
1/4 cup sliced celery
2 sprigs parsley
1 small bay leaf
1/8 tsp thyme leaves.

In a saucepan, low to medium heat, covered, about 1 hour (should be at a simmer, not a boil). Strain, and use wherever you would use regular beef broth or consomme for extra rich flavour!

As you can read below, I also made my perogies already. I made a half-sized batch, and added bacon to some of the traditional recipe filling. WOW. Yum! Add to that some kielbasa (what we call koubassa) - a type of spicy sausage - and a little garlic coil (another type of sausage), and we've got a great Easter feast ready!