Two Treats

Transylvanian Chimney Cake freshly made just up the street from our house!

Kürtőskalács

From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kürtőskalács
Kürtőskalács baking on a spit over charcoal fireKürtőskalács or kürtős kalács is a Hungarian pastry also known as chimney cake or stove cake or Hungarian wedding cake. It is baked on a tapered cylindrical spit over an open fire. Originally from Transylvania, it is famous as Hungary's oldest pastry[citation needed]. Kürtőskalács is sold in bakeries, pastry shops and even street vendors are selling them on street corners, carnivals and fairs.

Kürtőskalács consists of a thin yeast pastry ribbon wound around a wooden cylinder, heavily sprinkled with sugar, thus becoming a helix shaped cylindrical pastry or a pastry roll that sometimes tapers very slightly towards the end. The pastry is baked on a hand-turned, tapered, wooden spit, rolled slowly on the wooden cylinder above an open fire. The dough is yeast-raised, flavored with sweet spices, the most common being cinnamon, topped with walnuts or almonds, and sugar. The sugar is caramelized on the kürtöskalács surface, creating a sweet, crispy crust.

Kürtöskalács originates from Transylvania, a Romanian province with a sizeable Hungarian minority, and the name derives from the Hungarian word kürt that may refer to chimney (kürtő) or to horn (instrument) (originally made of animal horn).

The kids and I ran up to a garage sale a few blocks up from our house, and amazingly, a woman from Transylvania was cooking up Chimney Cakes over an open pit fire! You find the darnedest things here in the midwest. The cakes were delicious! They are shaped like a chimney - or a fat paper towel roll, and covered with cinnamon, sugar and some other mystery spices. I think I tasted a little orange zest in there. It was really neat to eat a 'street vendor' treat from Eastern Europe here in our little neighborhood.

A wonderful purple pillow, just for ME!

The second treat is a darling, handmade pillow that a friend of Big Sister made for me. She must know how much I love purple! It looks sharp on the green velvet Provençal chair from my grandmother. This little friend also made other sweet gifts for our family. What a treat!