By Megan hit 24 weeks this week and her students apparently noticed and asked if she'd eaten a basketball, which is the kind of thing only fourth graders can say without it being rude. She told me about it laughing and I laughed too and then felt a little protective on her behalf, the way you do, and she told me to relax because they also gave her a card they'd all signed and one kid wrote "We hope your baby comes to visit us" which destroyed me completely.
I've been deep in freezer meal planning mode. I've been reading about what people make ahead of time before a baby comes and I've got a whole spreadsheet going. Soups, lasagna, pierogi (obviously), pulled pork, a big pot of red beans and rice. The idea is to fill the freezer so that when things get hard in October we don't also have to think about what's for dinner. I made the first batch this week — two big pans of veggie lasagna that I wrapped tight and stacked in the chest freezer I picked up secondhand from a guy in Riverwest. He was also expecting a baby. We talked in his driveway for twenty minutes.
The brewing side of my life is deep in summer prep. We're scaling up the summer wheat and I've been doing a lot of quality checks and small-batch tweaking. There's a version with a little lemon zest addition that I keep coming back to. Not enough to say it's a lemon wheat, but enough to make it feel like it belongs in July. I like making things that feel like a season. The lasagna in the freezer feels like October. The wheat beer feels like summer. That seems like a good kind of work.
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.
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.
While I’m focused on filling that chest freezer with savory stuff — lasagna stacked two pans deep, soups still on the list — I keep thinking about the sweeter side of what Babcia Helen left behind. Poteca was hers: rolled thin on a floured tablecloth, filled with walnuts, baked until the whole house smelled like October already. It freezes beautifully, which means it belongs on the spreadsheet too. Making it now feels like putting something of hers in the room before she could be there to meet the baby herself.
Poteca Nut Roll
Prep Time: 45 min + 2 hr rise | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 3 hr 20 min | Servings: 16 slices
Ingredients
- Dough:
- 1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water (105—110°F)
- 3/4 cup whole milk, warmed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- Walnut Filling:
- 2 cups walnuts, finely ground
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 egg white, lightly beaten
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- Finish:
- 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp milk, for egg wash
Instructions
- Activate yeast. Dissolve yeast in warm water with a pinch of sugar. Let stand 5—10 minutes until foamy.
- Make the dough. In a large bowl, combine warm milk, sugar, salt, eggs, and softened butter. Stir in yeast mixture. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing until a soft, slightly tacky dough forms. Knead by hand 8—10 minutes (or 5 minutes with a dough hook) until smooth and elastic.
- First rise. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean towel, and let rise in a warm place 1 1/2—2 hours, until doubled in size.
- Make the filling. Combine ground walnuts, honey, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, egg white, and melted butter in a bowl. Stir until evenly mixed. The filling should hold together when pressed.
- Roll and fill. Punch down dough and turn onto a well-floured surface. Roll into a large rectangle, roughly 12 x 18 inches and about 1/4 inch thick. Spread walnut filling evenly across the surface, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides.
- Roll and shape. Starting from a long edge, roll the dough tightly into a log, pinching the seam and ends to seal. Carefully transfer seam-side down to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Curve slightly into a crescent if desired.
- Second rise. Cover loosely and let rise 30—40 minutes, until noticeably puffed.
- Bake. Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush the roll with egg wash. Bake 30—35 minutes, until deep golden brown. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 190°F.
- Cool completely. Transfer to a wire rack and cool at least 1 hour before slicing. To freeze: wrap tightly in plastic wrap and foil once fully cooled; keeps up to 3 months.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 39g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 95mg