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April 14, 2006
Live Blogging Paska
Noel's family has a strong Ukranian heritage that makes itself known most visibly at Easter. This year marks my first attempt at making the traditional Easter bread and cheese spread by myself. It seemed worthy of record.
Friday, April 14
9:24 a.m.
2.5 lbs of cottage cheese has been straining through cheesecloth overnight. I feel kind of Amish. This is intense.
9:48 a.m.
5 eggs, two cups of sugar, one cup of butter, and one cup of sour cream later, thick substance is waiting to bubble on stove. I am enamored with pale yellow color. Begin scalding milk for bread.
10:06 a.m.
Cheese chilling in fridge. Still aesthetically pleasing. Now worrying about inadvertently killing the yeast.
10:11 a.m.
Yeast is most definitely alive.
10:33 a.m.
Batch #1 finished and rising. Well, at least I hope it's rising. So far, things look and taste similar to what I remember from Easters past. Something's going to wrong soon.
10:47 a.m.
Batch #2 rising. I am emboldened. Dare I make a third?
11:19 a.m.
And, #3. I really thought this was going to be fraught with far more peril.
11:36 a.m.
While the dough rises in a warm, dark place, I instead read in a warm, sunny place.
11:40 a.m.
I just learned that "paska" is a Finnish obscenity. Uncomfortable.
12:18 p.m.
The second round of cheese draining has commenced. Bread shaping will begin shortly.
1:39 p.m.
Note to self: the next time live blogging a baking event, invest in voice recognition software. There was a brief moment of panic when, as I reached the end of the loaf shaping, I realized that I was perilously low on the extra dough needed for decorating purposes. Issue resolved by making very, very thin braids.
Loaves #1 and #2 are in the oven. The little one is "Pavla." I think I'll call the big, high-rising one "Petro."
1:47 p.m.
Lunch Break and Extended Remarks:
Paska bread and cheese are just one part of the lavish Easter meal traditionally prepared by the Russian Orthodox. In their church, Easter is the most important and well-celebrated holiday of the year. As Noel's mom explains it, every dish served on Easter has special significance. After abstaining from meat for forty days of Lent, they break their fast with lamb, ham, and sausages. The lamb, of course, also echoes the sacrificial Passover lamb. A bitter concoction of beets and horserdish serves as a reminder of death's bitterness, but green beans and fresh salad and fruit represent new life.
The paska bread, too, is symbolic. The sweet bread and the cheese are stuffed with white raisins and almonds, rich treats to poor Ukrainians. The round loaves are decorated with two braids (three strands each, representing the Trinity) that form a cross.
And... there goes my timer.
2:01 p.m.
Loaves look promising, now covered with foil to keep the tops from burning.
2:17 p.m.
Brief consultation with mother-in-law. Finished loaves look beautiful, especially after being glazed with an egg wash. Biggest loaves now baking: Ivan and Oksana.
2:25 p.m.
Another Extended Remark:
If it wanted, paska bread could claim responsibility for bringing Noel and I together. During our junior year at Covenant, Paige and her mom came up to preview the school and to visit Noel. Easter had just passed, and so they came bearing paska bread and cheese. While the trio sat in the 2nd South stairwell, partaking of this mini-feast, I happened to walk by, enroute to my room. Noel introduced me to his family, and Paige offered me some bread.
I was amazed. The bread was amazing -- lightly sweet, spiced with cloves, and chocked with raisins and nuts. I had never tasted anything like it.
While I didn't exactly vow at that moment to obtain the recipe for this amazing Easter bread and cheese by whatever means necessary, including marrying into the family-of-amazing-food, my effusive praise of the stuff evidently made an impression on Paige. She subsequently decided that I was supposed to be her sister-in-law and spent the next two years assisting Providence in that endeavor.
2:37 p.m.
Great relief at the painless removal of first loaves from respective pans.
2:46 p.m.
Ivan and Oksana are out. Weeny loaf is in.
3:20 p.m.
All loaves are cooling and my kitchen is beginning to resemble its former clean self. Now to see if Noel approves...
4:11 p.m.
I send a cell phone photo of some of the loaves to my sister-in-law. My mother-in-law calls me back with encouraging praise. Huzzah!
4:17 p.m.
Noel wholeheartedly approves of the appearance of Petro and Pavla, but suggests that a longer cooking time may have resulted in a deeper color for Weeny, Oksana, and Ivan. Ah well, better golden than burnt. Taste gets a thumbs up, though. I am *so* Ukrainian.
6:54 p.m.
The cheese has finished straining and been transferred to smaller bowls to chill further.
And we're spent. Whew. Lovely, delicious bread to eat and to give away? I think I can be Ukrainian once a year.
Grub | By elissa | 02:51 PM
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Comments
Hooray! I made Paska bread this year as well-- I wasn't brave enough to make the cheese. Or really, I just didn't have the time. But I was just happy that the bread worked! Yaaay!
I hope you're well, Elissa. Have a most blessed Easter!
Posted by: becky at April 15, 2006 01:28 AM
paska, in all shapes and forms, has been THE topic of conversation around here for the past two days. i cannot wait until tomorrow. mmmmmmmmmm...
Posted by: hannah s. at April 16, 2006 12:52 AM
I just read your description of Paska bread.
Could you please email me your recipe. It's sounds
just wonderful!
Linda
Posted by: Linda Drewlo at April 16, 2006 06:58 PM
