Gaby
Anyone born between October 24 and November 22 is a Scorpio. I am too. It’s not such a bad sign after all. Scorpios are known for their strong personalities and interesting lives, influenced by two major planets—Mars and Neptune. Their intensity and stubbornness can earn them a fair share of enemies, but they also have many friends, as horoscopes often describe Scorpios as “noble and loyal.”
So, on a certain day in November, my friends will come over, as they always do. Someone might call in the morning to wish me a happy birthday and ask if I’m ready to host, but most will show up uninvited. In my younger days, my home would be filled with laughter and jokes from my friends. We would talk about love, new acquaintances, fashion trends, hairstyles, and of course, politics. And oh, how we sang and danced!
Now, the conversations revolve around health issues and grandchildren. I don’t have to borrow tables and chairs from neighbors anymore; there are enough in my home. But today, I’m at a loss for what to put on the table. I remember the hungry post-war years when guests would bring something edible instead of gifts. Thank goodness that’s not the case now, although finding gifts can be tricky. I won’t even mention rings or bracelets with amethysts or topazes, which are associated with the Scorpio sign. Prices have skyrocketed. For instance, buying a tablecloth, a vase, or a bottle of perfume would mean making a significant dent in my meager pension budget. But I’m not expecting expensive gifts. My friends are such creative artisans that they will delight me with their homemade creations. They bring quirky tea cozies, colorful appliqué potholders, knitted gloves, or something else. There’s no better gift for me than spending time with friends.
However, I still need to think about what to serve my guests. So, let’s move the table and cover it with a festive tablecloth.
Every hostess worries about winter supplies during the summer and fall. So, what do we have? Let’s check the eggplants. In the past, I sliced them into rounds, seasoned them, and sautéed them in oil. Then, I packed them into jars, pouring a mixture made from 10 sweet and 6 bitter pepper pods, 300g of garlic minced in a meat grinder, a bit of vinegar, three tablespoons of honey, a cup of sugar, two tablespoons of salt, and a liter of water, along with 200g of oil. This recipe is based on 5 kg of eggplants. So, we already have one delicious appetizer ready.
Let’s also put out bowls of sauerkraut, tomatoes, canned zucchini, and cucumbers. Unfortunately, there won’t be any mushrooms, which used to be a staple on my table, as it’s dangerous to forage for them in our radiation-contaminated forests.
What’s a table without herring? But where can we find it? So, we’ll prepare salted fish instead. A day or two before the celebration, we’ll buy frozen sardines or another small fish. We’ll clean them, remove the heads, tails, and bones, and make fillets, rolling each piece in a mixture of salt and sugar (1:1 ratio, though it’s better to use a bit more sugar). After a day, this fish becomes delicious and can be served without any seasoning.
We can also enhance the table with fish baked in a skillet or another metal dish. Here’s how to prepare it: we coat fillets of carp or another fish in flour mixed with salt and fry them on both sides. We slice potatoes and onions into rounds and fry them as well (the onions should be coated in flour first). We then slice boiled eggs and layer everything in the skillet—first a layer of potatoes, then the fish fillets, topped with “scales” of potatoes, onions, and eggs. Now, we’ll add a bit of salt and pepper, pour sour cream over it, and place it in a hot oven. After a few minutes, when the dish is golden brown, it can be served to guests, garnished with chopped celery or dill.
Little sandwiches on colorful skewers will also beautify the table. On toasted or buttered bread (you can use cookie cutters to shape them), we can add whatever we have: sausage with a slice of pickled cucumber; herring with a slice of egg or onion; boiled fish fillet with horseradish. It all depends on the ingredients and your imagination.
Of course, a pie is a centerpiece of the table. I buy yeast dough from the bakery. Sure, I could make it at home, but good luck finding flour and yeast. So, I have the dough. About two hours before my guests arrive, I place it in a warm spot and cover it with a clean towel. Meanwhile, I prepare the filling. For 1 kg of ground meat, I take one onion, 125g of butter, and half a cup of broth. I can make a pie with meat and eggs. On the larger portion of dough spread on a baking sheet, I first place a layer of meat, then a layer of finely chopped eggs, followed by more meat, and cover it with the remaining dough. I brush it with a beaten egg and let it sit in a warm place for 20-30 minutes before placing it in a hot oven. Once baked, I transfer the pie to a board, brush the top with butter, and cover it with parchment and a towel.
A delicious pie with fresh cabbage. The cabbage is finely shredded, salted, squeezed after 10 minutes, scalded with boiling water, drained, and then sautéed in butter, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Once cooled, it’s mixed with chopped boiled eggs and seasoned to taste. For one head of cabbage, use 125 grams of butter and 3-4 eggs.
With pies and baked fish, we could skip the traditional hot dish and just serve baked potatoes. We wash and peel them well, coat them with salted oil, and bake them. Once done, we place the potatoes on a dish and drizzle them with melted butter and finely chopped garlic.
Or perhaps we’ll decide to prepare a hot meat dish, like duck with apples? Experienced cooks recommend using Antonovka apples, but other tart varieties will work too. So, we rub the prepared duck with salt, cut the cored apples into 2-4 pieces, sprinkle them with sugar, and stuff them into the bird. In a roasting pan, we add a bit of water, place the duck inside, cover it, and braise it on low heat, basting it occasionally with its juices. About 40-50 minutes before serving, we place the remaining prepared apples around the duck and, without covering it, put it in a hot oven. When the apples are ready and the duck has a golden skin, it’s time to serve.
We can also serve a magnificent hot dish—stuffed potatoes. For 1 kg of potatoes, use 300g of meat, one egg, two tablespoons of tomato paste, three tablespoons of sour cream, salt, dill, and allspice. We select large tubers, wash them well, pour boiling water over them, salt, and cook until half-done. Then, we peel the potatoes, cut them open, and scoop out the insides. We grind the meat together with the scooped-out potato, add the egg, chopped dill, salt, and pepper, and mix well. We fill the potatoes with this mixture, place the tops back on, pack them tightly in a wide dish, add broth or water, and braise. We sauté onions, add tomato and sour cream, and pour this sauce over the potatoes a few minutes before they’re done.
Alternatively, we can do it differently: grinding the meat (preferably pork), we can add the onion right away and not use the scooped-out potato for the filling. We fill the potatoes with the meat mixture and leave them open on top. We pour a bit of broth and sour cream into the dish and braise covered until done. Then, removing the lid, we sprinkle the potatoes with grated cheese and bake them in the oven.
So, please, let’s set the table. Even if it’s not lavish, the guests will be happy—everything is homemade, delicious, and aromatic.
Sweet tooths, of course, eagerly await the “dessert table.”
Well, here’s a recipe: I have a jar of cocoa with condensed milk left. Half a jar went into some flatbreads, along with a cup of sugar, a cup of sour cream, one and a half cups of flour, two eggs, and a spoonful of baking soda, which I activated with vinegar. The batter turns out quite runny. I spoon the batter into a greased pan, yielding three layers. While they bake, I prepare the cream: for 300g of butter, I use half a jar of cocoa and 10-15 crushed nuts. I mix everything well. I cut the layers with a sharp knife, resulting in six pieces. I spread cream on all but the top layer, which I decorate with various flowers and, say, the inscription “Happy Birthday, my beloved Scorpio.” I do this using a pastry syringe with colored vegetable juices and oil.
Not everyone might have a jar of condensed milk lying around. I didn’t stop with just that cake. I bought a pack of “sandy cake” from the store, prepared it according to the recipe, placed it in a hot oven, and when it was almost ready, I added a mixture of fresh cottage cheese (made from milk and kefir), two yolks beaten with sugar, and candied fruits, then let it brown. Finally, I poured two whipped egg whites with sugar over it and, after a few minutes, took out a quite tasty cake that can be enjoyed warm.
What did my friends drink besides tea at the birthday table? I won’t speak for the men, but we women enjoyed a homemade liqueur that I made back in August when there was plenty of cherry plum at the market. I washed the berries well, poured boiling water over them, removed the pits, filled bottles almost to the top with the plums, and covered them with sugar, ensuring no air reached the berries. Gradually, the berries released juice and settled at the bottom, and I added sugar several times. After two or three months, when the juice level stopped rising, I strained the contents and bottled it, corking them. If you add 100g of vodka to 400g of juice, this liqueur can last for years. By the way, you can also make liqueur now by gathering rowan berries.
A birthday is still a celebration, even in our troubled and unyielding times. It’s a celebration of friendship, memories of the past, and hopes for a better life for us and our children and grandchildren.
