My desire for a pączek led us to Polka Deli in Silver Spring. It’s only about half an hour away and was worth the trip—in addition to pączki they had a deli and a small grocery. We got a couple kiełbasa sandwiches (which were delicious) and picked up some żurek packets and sardines (the latter were all for Bren. Gross). I took a Polish cooking class once where we made żurek and they literally told us to use the powdered packets because nobody makes it from scratch. Even the grandmas use the mix. So the class was just about doctoring up the powdered stuff with sour cream, kielbasa, and boiled eggs.

Żurek, btw, is a sour rye soup, a bit of an acquired taste that I’ve acquired big time. I did try to make my own from scratch once, which basically involved letting rye flour go bad. I didn’t do it right and not only did the soup not work out but my apartment smelled weird for a few days. When my roommates asked about it I had to pretend like I didn’t know what they were talking about.

They also had makowiec—maybe this Christmas I’ll just buy some and pretend I made it. 🙂 But they also had poppyseed filling, and making the filling from scratch is the hardest part—so maybe I’ll just buy the filling and make the rest.

It was a really pleasant trip and for some reason it made me feel good to see the place so busy (like it somehow reflected how popular Poland is) and hear people speaking Polish. My relationship with my Polish heritage and my time living there is a little complex so I sometimes feel foolish “claiming” anything…on the other hand, how I feel is how I feel, and it felt good to be there.