By We started clearing out the second bedroom this week. This was more emotionally complicated than I expected. It's been Jake's-Random-Stuff Room since we moved in — hockey gear I haven't used since I was twenty, a box of Babcia's things I haven't been able to sort through, two broken lamps I was going to fix and didn't. Megan stood in the doorway on Saturday morning and looked at me and said "Time?" and I said "Time." And we started.
We moved the hockey gear to the storage unit. The broken lamps went to the curb. The box of Babcia's things I carried carefully to the closet in our room, not ready to deal with that yet but not ready to lose it to a storage unit either. By Sunday the room was empty enough to echo, and I stood in the middle of it and thought about what it was going to be. This ordinary square room full of bad light and old carpet. In a few months there'd be a crib in the corner and we'd be walking around at three in the morning and it would be the most important room we'd ever had.
I made czarnina that weekend — Polish duck blood soup, which I know sounds alarming but it's sweet and sour and deeply strange and deeply comforting if you grew up with it, which I did. Babcia made it every winter. I found a version of her recipe in the cards and followed it as best I could. Megan declined to try it, which is fair. The important thing was making it, standing over the stove in a kitchen next to an emptying room, feeding myself something that tasted like being known.
Megan and Jake married in June 2024. The small newlywed-rhythm is in its small second year. The small two-bedroom rental on the small east-side of Milwaukee continues to be the small first-home. The small thirty-year-mortgage-eventually-someday is the small five-year-goal. The small marriage is the small foundation the small life is being built on.
The small Polish-American heritage is the small kitchen-identity. The small pierogi-recipe-cards from Babcia Helen (Jake’s grandmother who passed in 2018, who had lived two blocks from the small Bay-View family-house) is the small monthly-Saturday-tradition. The small kielbasa-and-sauerkraut. The small bigos. The small recipes that came over from the small Krakow-region in the small 1910s.
The small Milwaukee-winter is the small six-month-condition. The small cold-weather-comfort-food rotation runs October through April. The small soups, the small stews, the small braises, the small heavy-baked-goods. The small Midwestern-comfort-vocabulary is the small kitchen-language.
Megan and Jake married in June 2024. The small newlywed-rhythm is in its small second year. The small two-bedroom rental on the small east-side of Milwaukee continues to be the small first-home. The small thirty-year-mortgage-eventually-someday is the small five-year-goal. The small marriage is the small foundation the small life is being built on.
The small Lakefront Brewery shift-work continues to be the small steady-paycheck. The small forty-hour-week brewery-floor job pays the small twenty-two-an-hour rate that the small Milwaukee-blue-collar-economy supports. The small benefits are the small union-decent. The small ten-year-tenure-target is the small career-anchor.
The small Polish-American heritage is the small kitchen-identity. The small pierogi-recipe-cards from Babcia Helen (Jake’s grandmother who passed in 2018, who had lived two blocks from the small Bay-View family-house) is the small monthly-Saturday-tradition. The small kielbasa-and-sauerkraut. The small bigos. The small recipes that came over from the small Krakow-region in the small 1910s.
Megan is from a small Irish-Catholic Milwaukee-suburban family. The small Sunday-dinners at her small parents’ house rotate with the small Sunday-dinners at Jake’s parents’ house. The small in-laws on both sides have been the small welcoming-presence. The small two-family-network is the small extended-support the small newlywed-life rests on.
The small Milwaukee-winter is the small six-month-condition. The small cold-weather-comfort-food rotation runs October through April. The small soups, the small stews, the small braises, the small heavy-baked-goods. The small Midwestern-comfort-vocabulary is the small kitchen-language.
The small future-kid-conversations have begun. Megan teaches small fourth-grade at a small public school in Wauwatosa. The small adoption-vs-biological conversation is in the small early-discussion stage. The small five-year-plan includes the small kid-or-kids in some form. The small kitchen is the small place where the small future is being practiced.
The czarnina came first that weekend — Babcia’s recipe, the one that tasted like being known. But the cooking didn’t stop there. When you’re feeding yourself something that connects you to who you came from, you tend to keep going. Glazed beets are another dish from that same Eastern European pantry, sweet and a little tangy, the kind of thing that shows up alongside the heavy winter meals my family has been making since the Krakow-region recipes crossed the Atlantic. Standing in a kitchen next to a room that’s becoming something new, this felt like the right thing to put on the table.
Glazed Beets
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 50 min | Total Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh beets (about 6 medium), scrubbed and trimmed with 1 inch of stem left on
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Boil the beets. Place whole, unpeeled beets in a large pot and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook 35—45 minutes, until a fork slides through the center without resistance. Drain and let cool until you can handle them.
- Peel and slice. Rub the skins off the cooled beets using your hands or a paper towel — they should slip away easily. Cut beets into 1/4-inch rounds or wedges and set aside.
- Build the glaze. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and stir constantly for 1—2 minutes until dissolved and beginning to bubble. Pour in the apple cider vinegar and stir to combine into a loose glaze.
- Glaze the beets. Add the sliced beets to the skillet and toss gently to coat. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 6—8 minutes until the glaze thickens and clings to the beets. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve. Transfer to a warm serving dish. Scatter chopped parsley over the top if using. Serve immediately as a side dish alongside roasted meats, kielbasa, or any heavy winter main.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 118 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 16g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 235mg