In the delineation of duties for this year's celebration of St. George's day (May 6th in Orthodox Christian calender), I was tasked to arrange cookies that, before I got to them, looked like this:
a huge tray of linzer cookies filled with homemade apricot jam (the light ones) and wild rose hip jam (the darker ones).
They are so tiny that two easily fit in a three-year-old's palm.
What you see in these two bowls are the inescapable "bear paws"! Balkan cooks and homemakers always make a batch or two of these ahead of New Year's Eve, Christmas, Easter, Slava or any other big date, as everybody loves them. They keep well, freeze well and are just YUM! They are usually made with walnuts, but I don't like the overpowering flavor of walnuts so this year I talked my mother into trying baked, ground hazelnuts instead. They turned out great! That fabulous flavor of freshly baked hazelnuts in every bite minus the overpowering and slightly bitter and gritty feel that walnuts give to each cake mix.
The small plate is a "sampling plate", of course, left to be devoured by yours truly and Kimchi boy.
Once my work was done, this is how they looked:
Mind you, these are just the biscuits, cookies or the "dry cakes", as my mother refers to them. Too bad I did not have a chance to take pics of the other batch - the creamy cakes and tortes, too busy with other assignments delegated by the Grand Master. They were kept in the fridge and would be served individually to the guests at the end of the feast, after the cold appetizers are served (cold cuts, cheeses, olives), the warm ones i.e.soup and meat-and-rice stuffed cabbage rolls (ubiquitous sarma), roast pork and salads. Yup, sarma is just an appetizer...aka, a light dish, by Serbian standards. Check out the smoked ribs...
And then the bread, of course.... Always the sole responsibility of the Grand Master, this was how close I was allowed to it. And only for photography purposes.
When baked, it was placed on a cater's cart until the time came for the bread to be sprinkled with wine and cut, first in half then in fours to kiss and thank God for, after slava prayer is read by the head of family once the guests and family gather.
The clear yellow onse are corn muffins and the darker ones are made of rye and corn flour.
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Another everlasting and omnipresent dish at Serbian feasts are grilled red peppers, doused in oil, vinegar and loads of garlic! Unfairly shunned by society for their strong smell of fresh garlic, once greetings are exchanged and all the kissing (in public) is done for the day, there is no better accompaniment to a roast. Whoever kisses you after you eat a plate of these, can only mean one of the two:
a) he/she loves you unreservedly and unconditionally, or
b) he/she also had a plate of grilled red peppers in garlic.
"Black and white bread rolls", chock-full of butter.
These rolls and a bottle of red was my lunch that day, along with an assortment of olives and cheeses from the cold appetizers tray. Gotta love slava!
And all that before slava prayer was even read out and the main feast began.
Guests arriving... and Danilo clearly has his favorites...
Guests are seated and served...
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