The amazing thing is that the most Poles (or at least Polish heritage) live in Chicago, then New York and finally Warsaw. The main problem in Texas which prompted a lot of Poles to leave and go to Chicago or Australia was the, wait for it... rattlesnakes lol
The visitor center is named after my family and it once was the local store way back in the day. My great great great (roughly enough greats) Mathias (Matthew) was a mercenary and a high captain/ bodyguard for Emperor Maximillian during the Mexican Revolution. Well, we all know how that turned out and he took off from a firing squad and made his way to Texas, and miraculously found his way to Panna Maria and married a girl related to the founding father. I hope this does not get me in the mods outhouse but I always kid with my Hispanic friends that I am a Polish ******* and we never fail to laugh... yeah, yeah, I know, but that is why we can't make a Mel Brooks movie today
I’ve never seen a dunkin out here. There used to be a winchells but it’s been long gone for years.
OC does have Krispy Kreme, I went to one in Irvine I think for veterans day.
Yes Krispy Kreme exists here. I forget about them bc I think their donuts suck.
Their assorted donuts do yes, but their glazed are hands down better.
Then we’ll have to fight. Their donuts are too small which makes the thick glaze overwhelming. I like sweets - too much. So for me to actually actively dislike Krispy Kreme says a lot. Even if they’re the only sweet available I’ll usually refrain. And don’t even get me started on a “chocolate frosted donut” that puts the chocolate frosting over a glazed donut. Just stupid imo!
Personally, I think most of the Asian donut shops all throughout LA are terrible. Just overly sweet yuck. The real jam is those massive croissant sandwichs.
A warm glazed Krispy Kreme donut with coffee is almost heaven for me. A light fluffy donut they are.
I can’t argue there. The croissant sandwiches . . . particularly after bars close . . . are transcendental.
Man I've ordered a few before that had to have been 1800 calories. Saved half for later!
I grew up in Syracuse, NY, and I’m 100% Italian. And the middle class neighborhood I grew up in was Italian, Polish, and Irish. My Dad was a member of the Vendetti Post (mostly Italian social club) and the Polish Home, mainly because they had bowling lanes in the back & charged a ridiculously low price. I was the only boy in a family of 8 children, so my Dad would take me bowling there often. After bowling, we would get a meal of kielbasa & sauerkraut. That meal was our favorite for years!!
My mentor was Italian and the love of my life was Italian... love Italia
Kielbasa yummmmm. We actually made our own several times. Quite the process especially is you smoke it. Keeping the smoke from getting too hot is the key. It usually took about 12-16 hours of smoking to fully cook the kielbasa. I’m half Polish, half Slovak.
I like what we term the 'wedding' sausage here which is not smoked but more of its purest form of slavic kielbasa. I found Poles in Poland are not too hip about smoking the Kielbasa since it distorts the flavor for them but being an American like you, the smoked preparation also provides a nice variety... being in Texas we put an emphasis on the proper age mesquite to do the job. The funny thing is that when you look for 'Polish' pickles down South they always have peppers in them but in Poland that is not accurate and they like to use horseradish which gives the flavor not much heat at all but great depth towards the taste
I used to work with a Polish gentleman who made the pickles like you describe them from Poland. They were SO good!
Unsmoked Kielbasa is also quite tasty. Applewood was the preferred choice for smoking. The other trick with smoking was to make sure you had enough fat in the kielbasa so it wouldn't dry out as you smoked it. Horseradish was a staple in our house. I like putting it on a sandwich just as you would mustard or mayo. Don't know if you ever noticed this but root vegetables were a large part of our diet. I always assumed that was because of the climate in Poland and maybe they were the easiest to stored over winter. As a kid I remember having a root cellar where we stored potatoes, carrots, onions, etc. We used to wrap green tomatoes in newspaper and place them in there. They would last until a bit past Christmas. They would slowly ripen so you had in the newspaper.
Yup, my mom and most here all have their own versions of the bread and butter pickles and being in Texas some even add chili petines to the mix. We also have something here called chow chow, a relish with cabbage and green tomatoes but it requires a lot of patience and craft, so not many seem to get it just right or want to take the time making it now... I call it the Polish version of kimchee lol
LOL chow chow I totally forgot about that. It was made but I never ate it. Did not like it. The Polish version of Kimchee is right!
