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- BBQ Hotspots & Easter Eats
Happy YASSSletter Thursday Gingis! Zikki, Tamster, and I just got back from a quick family trip to visit friends in Kansas City and we had a blast. Lots of quality family time and even more BBQ. Three different meals of BBQ in 3 days must be a record somewhere…right? (lol)
BBQ at Slaps, KC
We checked out a few spots and ate far more meat than anyone ever should. On our journey, we managed to narrow down the long list of BBQ spots to these top three favorites: Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que (the original gas station location only), Slaps BBQ, and Jack Stack Barbecue.
My favorite BBQ dish, you ask? Burnt Ends, better known as meat marshmellows in KC. Burnt ends are flavoraful pieces of meat cut from the lower and juicy part of smoked brisket. Burnt ends are a KC culinary tradition and our favorite were at Joe’s!
Anyway… we are finally back in the big apple, just in time for the spring holiday season and we sure have a lot of holidays in our household. More than anything we value the diversity within our little family unit and do the best we can so celebrate both sides and their adjacent traditions.
Our Easter basket ready for blessing.
This year, Ukrainian Easter (which is traditionally celebrated by the Julian calendar in May) is actually on the same day as the American Easter - March 30th. With that being said, we wanted to tell you all a little about how we celebrate!
This has to be Zikki’s favorite holiday because it is all about celebrating the coming of the spring. In the world of Ukrainian culture, Easter is an especially significant holiday loaded with lots of activities and rituals, such as making pysanky (Ukrainian Eastern eggs), baking Paska (Ukrainian Easter bread), building and blessing a basket, and sharing time with the ones you love!
Our Ukrainian Easter Eggs (Pysanky) at home!
Today: Easter Treats!
In our house we use our Classic Challah recipe to make our Easter Paska Bread, but we apply the following modifications in process:
After the dough has proofed and doubled in size, transfer it to a working surface. Divide the dough into 150g pieces. Take each 150g piece and divide it into 3 smaller pieces. Roll each small piece into a strand. Braid the three strands together to form a long 3-strand challah. Roll the braided dough into a round shape and place it into a well-buttered large can. Cover the can with a clean cloth and let the dough proof until doubled in size while preheating the oven. Once doubled in size, brush the top of the challah with an egg wash or melted butter. Feel free to top with sunflower seeds or poppy seeds after brushing! OR, keep it plain and simple. Then bake in the preheated oven according to the classic recipe instructions until golden brown.
Enjoy your delicious Paska bread!
These beet colored and potato filled Varenyky are a great dish to serve along side your meat heavy Easter brunch!
For those of you that go the traditional Eastern route, these updated Hot Cross Buns recipe is the best! Finsihed with a stripes of icing, these classic dried fruit centric spiced buns are always a fan favorite.
