Theres no doubt that as children we are pushed and encouraged to chase our creative dreams. When did that desire stop? For some of us, I’m sure it simply never did. That innate calling to live a life daring to be transparent is often simply ignored. Books are left unwritten, movies are left without endings, and dreams are simply a place you go in the middle of the night when nobody is watching.
Maybe I’m naive. Maybe there are people who don’t have those pacing feelings… to get the words out in the middle of the night or embark on a plane to Belgium in search of that long lost muse. And to them I say… lucky you. There are some days where I feel like I could fill an entire book with concoctions from middle and Eastern Europe. No doubt, it is my favorite section of the European wonderland. It’s the flickering alleys, filled with oil lamp porch lights that take me to another world.
Let Your Kitchen Be Your Safe Place
Allow your kitchen to become your safe place. The place you can go to be wild, for at least a few hours each day. We need that as humans, to remove all creative restraints and think the things we want to think. I have that belief that you can create anything you see in your mind. Whether you are creating something as simple of an exquisite polish pierogi or you’re getting on stage to tell jokes you’ve had scribbled in your phone for the lat 4 years… it all matters.
You cannot mess up in the kitchen, especially when you’re cooking alone. Every “mess-up” is just a turn down a different road to a new path. Rewire your brain in the kitchen, nothing is perfect and everything is beautiful.
Next time you step into your kitchen to try one of my recipes, I implore you to look at it through new eyes. Cooking does not have to be this mundane chore that drives you to call your favorite take-out place instead. For me, it’s a tangible reset button. It’s isolated moments of peace- a house full of lit candles, windows flung wide open, and my favorite sweatshirt. Hell, if you’re really feeling wild, I dare you to find an Eastern European Spotify playlist to dance to (…I don’t do that). Enjoy the cathartic process of creating dough, and feel the flour between your fingers. That feeling takes me back to being a child, where creativity was a way of life.
How to Make Them Cheesy
Whether you are vegan, or simply want to reduce your animal product consumption… these dumplings are a MUST! Yes, I’m going to yell because I feel very passionately about these little dumplings of joy. I would encourage you to make an exuberant amount of these and freeze some, because you are going to be craving them for weeks. There are a few ingredients that level these up. By now, you know how much I love nutritional yeast AKA hippie dust.
If you’ve never heard of this magical, healthy, cheesy ingredient- check out my post on Mexican Street Corn for more nutritional yeast recipes! This ingredient is imperative when adding a dose of cheesy to your pierogi.
Coconut “Bacon” Bits
Vegan “bacon” bits are going to win you friends on this recipe. I make these baked coconut chips so often, because I really believe they are world changing. They taste just like bacon bits, and sometimes we need to satisfy those cravings. Yes, I am one of those vegans that enjoys the taste of meat. I didn’t take on a vegan life because I magically woke up one day and decided I hated the taste of meat. It has been programmed in my brain from such a young age, to enjoy and eat animals. So teaching my body that that is no longer something we are going to do, is a fight worth fighting. I do it because in my heart, it feels right. Check out my Vegan Italian Carbonara for more bacon bits recipes!
