By Five weeks. The pierogi transport is planned. On the Thursday before the wedding, Tom and I will drive the frozen pierogi from his freezer to the Polish Center's kitchen in Tom's truck. Linda will supervise. Colleen will help. Mrs. Wojcik will inspect the Polish Center's kitchen and either approve it or not. (She will approve it. She has cooked there for forty years. But she will inspect it anyway because quality control never sleeps.)
The Dwa Narody beer is in the cooler at Lakefront. Sixty bottles. Labeled. Ready. The head brewer did something unprecedented this week: he tried a bottle and said, "This is excellent." Not "good." Not "fine." Excellent. In eight years of working with this man, I have never heard the word "excellent" leave his mouth. I may never hear it again. I am framing the moment in my memory.
Megan and I went to the Polish Center this week for the final walkthrough. We stood in the hall where the reception will be — the same hall where I went to the harvest dinner with Megan, where Mrs. Wojcik called me "the pierogi boy," where Babcia's spirit lives in the walls and the tables and the polka music. We stood there together, hand in hand, and I could see it: the tables, the flowers, the food, the people. 180 people eating food I made, drinking beer I brewed, celebrating a love that started with a fork in a plate of nachos.
Made a simple roasted vegetable soup — whatever was in the fridge: carrots, sweet potato, onion, garlic. Roasted until caramelized, blended smooth. A clearing-the-fridge soup. A use-what-you-have soup. Babcia would approve. She never wasted food. She never wasted anything.
That roasted vegetable soup I threw together midweek — carrots, sweet potato, onion, garlic, just whatever was left in the fridge — reminded me how much I love cooking that way: no plan, no pressure, just instinct and good ingredients. This corn salad comes from the same place. It’s the kind of thing Babcia would have made without blinking — bright, simple, nothing wasted. When everything around you is building toward something enormous, there’s real comfort in a dish that just asks you to chop a few things and toss them together.
Corn Salad
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 ears fresh corn, husked (or 3 cups frozen corn, thawed)
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/3 cup red onion, finely diced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced (optional)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
- Cook the corn. If using fresh corn, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add ears and cook 4—5 minutes until just tender. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool slightly. If using frozen corn, warm in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3—4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until heated through and lightly golden.
- Cut the kernels. Stand each ear upright on a cutting board and slice the kernels off in downward strokes, rotating as you go. Collect kernels in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the vegetables. Add the diced red bell pepper, red onion, cilantro, and jalapeño (if using) to the bowl with the corn.
- Dress the salad. Drizzle the lime juice and olive oil over the vegetables. Sprinkle in the salt, pepper, and chili powder. Toss everything together until evenly combined.
- Taste and adjust. Sample the salad and add more lime juice, salt, or chili powder to your preference. Serve immediately at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to 2 days. Toss again before serving if chilled.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 130 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 23g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 250mg