Paczki

While you kids possibly never had any traditional Polish food at Grandma Rose's house,* I do remember once or twice having some version of Paczki.  When she said it, it sounded a little different (like there was an "n" in the word), but that was probably just an ethnic accent sounding on my MN ears.

Anyway, I was just reading Brown Eyed Baker's recipe and the light came on that this is what Grandma was doing!  Hers were not filled and were rolled in granulated sugar.  She rolled the dough into little balls by hand before letting them rise and I'm positive no actual recipe was involved, but if any of you kids are looking for "a traditional Polish dish that Grandma used to make," this is probably as close as you're going to come (unless we can get Barb to actually write something down someday**).

*I have theories about why, but that's another conversation.
   I'm guessing fried cheese doesn't count.

**Not gonna happen.

White Bread

Pretty much perfect white bread!

*Makes 2 loaves

INGREDIENTS
3 cups luke-warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoon yeast
1/3 cup oil
1 Tablespoon salt
6 - 7 cups unbleached ground white wheat flour (you can use regular all-purpose bleached flour with success as well. It will make a softer, less-coarse bread. You will need more all-purpose flour... closer to 8 cups.)
*opt. 1 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten (if using whole white wheat flour, to aid the dough in rising, and not falling when baked.)

DIRECTIONS
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and sugar. Let sit 10 minutes. Add the oil. Add the salt and flour starting with 6 cups of flour. Mix all together. Knead the dough thoroughly until all ingredients are incorporated, and dough is smooth, elastic, very slightly sticky, and pulls away from the bowl (6-10 minutes). As you knead the dough, you may add more flour as needed, and repeat the process until dough reaches the desired consistency.

Cover the bowl of dough with a dish towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled (an hour or more depending on how warm your kitchen is.) You may speed up this process by placing the covered bowl inside the oven with the oven light on, and another bowl of warm water sitting on the lower rack.

Punch the dough down, divide and and form into 2 loaves. Place the dough in 2 greased bread pans. (I use 9" pans.) Cover and let rise until the top of the dough is an inch or two higher than the bread pans.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove the baked loaves from their pans immediately, and place on a cooling rack. Slice, and serve warm with butter and honey.

Store in an air-tight bag. Baked loaves AND bread dough freeze well.

NOTES:

• Source  (Thanks to Donna S. for her very high recommendation!)
• I tried the all white flour version and it was pretty excellent.  Soft enough for sandwiches even!
• It rose way quicker than expected (especially on the 2nd rising) so my loaves were amazonian.  No picture this time, but even with that the texture was excellent.

Powdered Laundry Detergent

1 c. Borax

1 c. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1 bar of laundry soap, grated (I used Fels Neptha)

• Grate the laundry bar.  
• Add the Borax and washing soda, mix it together and put into an airtight container. 

Use 1-2 T. per load.  I use 2T. on really dirty loads and 1T. for the lighter stuff.  Translation?  2T. on the kids’ clothes and 1T. on mine.

Source
Notes:

• I used a bar of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap the first time (thanks, Trader Joe's!).  It grated nicely and had a pleasant, kind of minty smell.  Looks like they make other scents as well.  This time I used Fels Naptha just to try it out and because I can get it any any Walmart or grocery store around here for under a buck.  Either works.
• I used my food processor to grate the soap - fine shredder blade, going slowly to grate it as fine as possible.
• Then I switched to the chopping blade in the bowl and added the other 2 ingredients.  This made everything an even finer consistency and mixed it.
• I'm storing it in a mason jar with a dedicated tablespoon measure.
• I'm kind of liking this version better than the other liquid recipe I've made for the past year or so.  It's much less trouble to make and store.  The ingredients are identical, so it seems to work just as well for me.

Grandma Rose's Veggie Dip

1 c sour cream
1 c salad dressing (Miracle Whip)
2 tsp. seasoned salt
2 tbls. parsley
2 tsp. chopped onion
2 tsp. dill weed

Mix.  Enjoy.

I forgot how delicious this is! Tangy and dilly!

Warm and Creamy Bacon Dip

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups Daisy Brand Sour Cream
3 ounces real bacon bits
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped green onion

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Place the mixture in a 1-quart baking dish. Cover. Heat the dip for 25-30 minutes or until hot. Serve with assorted fresh vegetables, crackers and/or chips.

NOTES:

• Easy and delicious
• I kept it warm in a fondue pot instead of baking it.  I first had it at Langfeld's and she had it in a mini crock pot.
• I used Aldi sour cream so it was a little thinner than it would be with Daisy, but the flavor was the same.