-Global Traveler - Peace Corps Volunteer - Author -
Louise Mae Hoffmann
Books that make your mouth water
Traditional recipes from Bulgaria and Wisconsin, featured in Hoffmann's two books. Plan an authentic meal to enjoy with friends and family.
7 Hours to Sofia
In her memoir, Louise Mae Hoffmann shares her adventures in Bulgaria, where she served twenty months as a Peace Corps volunteer. After years of dreaming about it, Hoffmann joined the Peace Corps in her mid-sixties.
7 Hours to Sofia is a collection of journal writings, e-mails and letters that reveal the route Hoffmann took from growing up in a German farming community in Wisconsin to joining the Peace Corps at sixty-four, where she taught English in a small village 7 hours by train from Sofia. Hoffmann openly shares the highs and lows of her experience in the Peace Corps, the friendships she made, and her personal challenges in adapting to the culture and learning the language.
Two Classic Bulgarian Recipes from 7 Hours to Sofia
Shopska Salad
Traditional Bulgarian Salad
Shopska salad is a traditional Bulgarian cold salad made from tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, raw or roasted peppers and sirene (Bulgarian cheese, feta cheese, or white wine cheese). Shopska salad is a very distinctive Bulgarian Dish. It is named after a group of very frugal people called shopi who live in the capital of Bulgaria, Sophia.
Ingredients
4 ripe tomatoes
2 long cucumbers
1 onion
1 red or green pepper
1/3 bunch of parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cup (1/2 lb.) Bulgarian cheese (or feta)
Preparation
Chop all tomatoes (leave the pieces relatively large), cucumbers and the pepper and put in a bowl. Add the finely chopped onions and parsley. Sprinkle with the oil and vinegar and mix it all together. Grate the cheese on top.
Banitsa
Bulgarian cheese pastry
Traditionally, some kismets (lucky charms) are put into the pastry on some of the national holidays or other occasions - Christmas Eve, the first day of Christmas, New Year's Eve, etc. They are usually small pieces of a dogwood branch with a bud - this symbolizes health and longevity. Other wishes include happiness, health, and success throughout the year.
Banitsa is served for breakfast with plain yogurt, ayran, or boza. Served hot or cold, it is always a very tasty meal. There are several varieties which include banista with spinach, banista with milk, banista with pumpkin, etc.
Ingredients
1 pack of filo dough
3 eggs
1 lb Bulgarian cheese (or feta cheese)
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup of milk or yogurt
Preparation
Mixed the crumbled cheese, milk and eggs together. Don't over-mix - the cheese should be lumpy. Melt the butter in a cup. Butter the bottom of a casserole pan. Lay 5-6 sheets of filo dough, one after another (not together) as you spread some butter in between - use a brush for this. Spread some of the cheese mixture on top, lay another 3-4 sheets. spreading butter in between. Repeat until all mixture is used. Lay the last 3-4 sheets on the top with no butter in between. Spread the rest of the butter on top. Cut in portion sized squares and bake in the oven until golden (about 30 minutes on 400 F).
Goulash and Picking Pickles
an almost boomer growing up in rural Wisconsin with recipes from Grandma and other relatives
"Goulash and Picking Pickles is a zesty mix of tender, frustrating, funny, scary, wonderful, and terrifying moment of growing up the daughter of a fairly important person in a small, homogeneous town. Baby boomers will especially like this book because it describes the things kids did in the 1950s and 1960s: sleep-overs, sock hops, finding ways to earn pocket money, going to church, wondering about boys, love and death. Hoffmann closes each chapter of her book with a family recipe." Connie Gotsch, author
Two Classic Wisconsin Recipes from Goulash & Picking Pickles
Heavenly Spaghetti
Ingredients
1 package (7 oz) spaghetti
8 oz. cottage cheese
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 cup chopped green onion
salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
8 oz. sour cream
6 oz. can tomato paste
1.5 lbs. ground round
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tablespoon minced green pepper
1 can mushroom (or fresh mushroom sauteed first)
Preparation
Cook & drain spaghetti. While spaghetti is cooking, saute beef and mushrooms in butter until brown. Add tomato paste and tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Combine cheeses (be sure to set out cream cheese a while before beginning recipe so it softens) and sour cream with onions and green pepper. Layer spaghetti, cheese mixture and meat sauce. Refrigerate overnight. Bake in oven at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes covered AND 35 minutes uncovered. Serve with garlic bread, French-cut green beans, and green tossed salad.
Sliced Pickles
Ingredients
5 cups cider vinegar
5 cups sugar
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon tumeric
2 teaspoons celery seed
1/8 cloves, ground
4 large green peppers
10 large white onions
1/2 cup salt
50 medium sized cucumbers
Preparation
Wash the cucumbers and slice thin. Chop onion and peppers finely. Combine these with the cucumbers and salt. Let stand 3.5 hours and drain. Combine vinegar, sugar and spices in a large preserving kettle. Bring to a boil. Add drained cucumbers. Heat thoroughly, but do not boil. Pack while hot into sterilized jar and seal. Makes 5 quarts.