By Twenty-seven years old. November 22. Born in Milwaukee, raised in Bay View, currently standing in my apartment kitchen at seven in the morning making myself birthday pierogi because I am this person and I have accepted this fully.
Megan had booked dinner at Odd Duck — upscale farm-to-table place on the South Side, exactly the kind of spot neither of us goes to on a normal Tuesday, which is what makes it right for a birthday. She also made a cake. A box mix yellow cake with chocolate frosting from a container. I'm not saying this as a complaint. I'm saying it because Megan O'Brien, soon to be Megan Kowalski, is not a baker and she made me a birthday cake anyway and the fact that the layers were slightly uneven and the frosting was applied with what appeared to be a spoon and it tasted like exactly what it was — that was the best part. She was proud of it. I told her it was the best cake I'd ever eaten. I was not lying about that at all.
Tom and Linda came for dinner Thursday — not my birthday dinner, that's Odd Duck Saturday, but Thursday dinner which is just dinner, pot roast at their place. Dad asked me what it feels like to be twenty-seven. I said it feels like twenty-six but with a wedding coming up. He said that sounded about right.
The pierogi I made in the morning were potato and cheese — the classic, the standard, the version Babcia made for every birthday in the family. Fried in butter until golden on both sides, served with sour cream. Nothing fancy. I ate them at the kitchen counter while Megan was still asleep, and I thought about being a kid in this neighborhood, about Danny, about everything that happens between ten years old and twenty-seven. Mostly I thought about how good I have it. The kind of good that requires you to stop and actually notice it.
Odd Duck was excellent. Megan had duck. I had a smoked short rib that made me think very hard about our smoker and what else I could do with it. Another year. Another great one.
The pierogi in the morning were mine and mine alone — a private ritual, counter-eaten, reflective. But a birthday that also includes pot roast at Tom and Linda’s and a reservation at Odd Duck deserves something shareable, something that pulls apart at the table and gets passed around without ceremony. Party Cheese Bread is exactly that. It’s not fancy in the way Odd Duck is fancy, and it doesn’t carry the weight of Babcia’s kitchen the way the pierogi do — but it’s warm and generous and it disappears fast, which is exactly what food should do when the people around the table are ones you actually want there.
Party Cheese Bread
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 round unsliced sourdough or Italian loaf (about 1 lb)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/3 cup chopped green onions (scallions), white and green parts
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and set aside.
- Score the bread. Using a serrated knife, cut the loaf in a crosshatch pattern — slices about 1 inch apart in both directions — cutting almost all the way through to the bottom crust without separating the pieces completely.
- Make the butter mixture. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, green onions, minced garlic, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, and black pepper until combined.
- Fill the cuts. Gently pull apart the scored sections and spoon or brush the butter mixture evenly into every cut, working it throughout the loaf so each section is well coated.
- Add the cheese. Stuff the Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese into all the cuts, pressing it down so it settles between the bread sections. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top.
- Wrap and bake. Wrap the loaf tightly in foil and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Then open the foil and bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and the top is golden and bubbling.
- Serve immediately. Transfer to a serving board and let guests pull apart sections directly from the loaf while hot.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 318 | Protein: 12g | Fat: 19g | Carbs: 26g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 472mg