This meal consisted of food from the Czech Republic and we welcomed our special guests Mirek and Hana Holubec, who provided the menus and great stories. Held at Wayne and Dar's on the 26th, the menus went as follows:

Sweet & Sour Cabbage

	1 medium size cabbage cored and sliced to medium thin slices
	1 yellow onion diced
	1 teaspoon caraway seeds
	oil
	salt
	sugar and vinegar to taste
	water
	all purpose flour 1/3 of a cup

In a large frying pan sauté the diced onion till translucent, add the cabbage, salt and a little water just enough not to soak the cabbage. Cook on medium heat (mix occasionally to prevent burning until tender but not completely soft. Add sugar and vinegar to taste. In a different smaller frying pan heat approximately 1/3 cup of oil and add the flour, let it bubble while stirring avoiding turning brown, remove from heat and add to the cooked cabbage while on medium heat and stir while the cabbage thickens. The cooked cabbage should still have some water left but not too much and that will be base for the thickening process. Taste and add sugar or vinegar and salt to taste.

- brought by Hana and Mirek

Pork roast

	Pork roast meat like a “picnic” or slab of whole pork chop meat usually available tied together with a string
	2 large yellow onions cut in slices
	2 teaspoons of caraway seeds
	salt to taste
	oil
	water

Sauté the onions and part of the caraway seeds shortly add the meat already salted and sauté from all sides for short, add some water and transfer the meat into oven, bake slowly for 2-3 hours covered turning the meat around. If necessary add water, uncover the meat and bake until golden brown again turning around to obtain the brown roasted color all over the roast. If desired put the oven on broil for short before serving. Remove the sauce with the baked onion and put in a blender to obtain gravy or leave as such.

- brought by Hana and Mirek

Sauerkraut

	3 quarts of sauerkraut in glass jar (“Steifelds’” homestyle for example), drained and lightly rinsed
	1 large onion cut into small cubes
	2 teaspoons caraway seeds
	half cup of oil
	2 tablespoons sugar, salt
	2 tablespoons Wondra flour.

Sauté the onion until translucent (not brown), add caraway, sauerkraut, and sugar and about 2 cups of water and simmer for about 30 minutes on medium heat, stir occasionally. If the water cooks out before 30 minutes add another cup of water. When most of the water is gone, sprinkle the Wondra flour all over the sauerkraut and stir immediately and remove from stove couple minutes thereafter.

- brought by Don and Sharon

Potato Mushroom Soup

2 lbs. red or yellow potatoes, peeled, cut into cubes

1 large onion quartered

5 large cloves of garlic

1 carrot cut up

1-2 bags of dried wild mushrooms presoaked in cup of water (Trader Joe’s)

salt

pepper

half cup oil

finely diced onion

3 cloves of garlic crushed

half cup of all purpose flower

Sauté all the ingredients (add salt too) for a few minutes on butter over medium heat until the potatoes and carrots release juices (make sure that the butter does not overheat and turns brown, to avoid this, small volume of water can be added). Add 10-12 cups of water including the soaking water from mushrooms, add more salt if not salty enough. Boil until the potatoes are quite soft. To thicken the soup, in a separate skillet, sauté the onion and garlic only until translucent, add the flour and stir for a minute, flour starts to bubble. Transfer this into the soup and mix immediately to avoid clumping.

- brought by Dar and Wayne

Potato Pancakes

	2-3 lb yellow or red potatoes, peeled and grated using a food processor or blender
	1 ½ cup all purpose flower
	2 eggs
	6 large cloves crushed garlic
	salt to taste
	pepper
	oil for frying.

Mix the ingredients in a bowl, keep refrigerated before ready. The pancakes are fried just before ready to eat. To fry: Heat about 3-4 tablespoons oil in large frying pan on medium to high heat. Spread potato mixture onto pan to make a pancake about ¼ in. thick. Fry until golden, then flip and fry second side until golden. (Note: you may want to drain excess oil with paper towel before serving).

- brought by Joe and Ronnie

Plum Cake (Kolach)

Yeast dough:

¼ cup sugar

½ cup warm milk

1-1/2 pkgs active dry yeast

2-1/3 cup all purpose flour

pinch of salt

4 tablespoons butter

2 eggs.

Filling:

2 lbs. of plums, cut in thin half moon shaped wedges (pits discarded)

Topping:

1-1/2 cup Wondra flour

½ cup butter

½ cup sugar

To make yeast dough, stir a pinch of sugar into warm milk and sprinkle with yeast. Let stand 5 minutes or until surface is frothy. Stir gently to moisten any dry particles remaining on top. Mix flour, remaining sugar and salt in a large bowl. Melt butter; cool slightly. Lightly beat butter and eggs into yeast mixture. Pour into flour mixture, combining to make dough. On a floured surface, knead dough lightly. Cover and let rise in a warm place one hour. Grease a 13x9-inch cake pan.

To make topping, mix flour, sugar, and unmelted butter in a bowl. Mixture should resemble crumbs.

Knead risen dough. Roll out to fit bottom of greased cake pan. Place dough in pan. Distribute plums evenly on top of dough. Sprinkle crumb topping over plums.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until topping is golden.

- brought by Chuck and Linda