Make plans now to take kielbasa crown
1/27/2013How’s your kilebasa?
Thick and spicy? Tender and sweet? Is it heavy on the garlic? Peppery? Do you use powdered milk? How about citric acid?
The last Kielbasa Cook-Off in town was held back in October of 2011, and the Polish-American Community of Toledo has decided it is time to hold another one — or it will be on April 13. That is the day the not-quite-annual event will be held at the Blessed Sacrament Parish Hall at 4227 Bellevue Rd., from 1-6 p.m.
April? So why are we mentioning it now?
Because you can’t have a kielbasa cook-off without kielbasa cooks. And the organization is now actively looking for contestants to bring their best kielbasa recipes and participate in the good-natured (unless you win, in which case you should take it very seriously) contest.
And don’t worry, amateur kielbasacans, the cook-off is not open to professionals. They’re looking for that homemade, family-recipe taste.
The last cook-off drew more than 1,000 hungry people to sample the best sausage made by a dozen cooks, and to vote for their favorite. The winner that time was the Polish Village Kielbasa team, which was crowned Toledo Kielbasa Kings and has been able to brag about their accomplishment for well over a year.
Cash prizes and trophies will also be distributed.
The event won’t all be kielbasa-driven. There will also be — and this is the order in which they are listed by the sponsoring organization — plenty of beer, sweet and sour cabbage, coffee cake, and other Polish delicacies. Beer is listed first because nothing, absolutely nothing, goes better with kielbasa than a tall mug of beer. Music will be by Billy D.
Admission to the festival will be $5, or $3 for members of PACT. Money collected will go to the PACT scholarship fund and other charities, as well as the planned development of a Polish cultural center.
Anyone who wants to be a kielbasa contestant should get in touch with Betty Osenbaugh before March 31 at 419-691-5058 or info@polishcommunity.org.
Art. Wine. Food.
It’s food! It’s wine! It’s Friday!
The Toledo Museum of Art continues its weekly It’s Friday! series in February with a host of activities designed to lure hipsters, scenesters, and art lovers to the museum. Along with extended hours (to 10 p.m.), the museum offers music, lectures, glass-blowing demonstrations, tours, and the like.
Included most of the Friday evenings are wines and snacks. Four wines and an assortment of hors d’oeuvres are offered for $25, or $15 for museum members.
In honor of Black History Month, the Art of the Vine food and drink sessions will feature wines from African-American-owned wineries.
The wine and snacks will be served from 7-9:30 p.m. on Feb. 8, 15, and 22. Although other It’s Friday! activities are scheduled for this Friday, there will be no Art of the Vine event. The wining and dining takes place in the museum’s Glass Pavilion.
Toque Talk
We hear that chef Ed Gozdowski, executive chef at the Maritime Academy of Toledo, is retiring. Chef Ed, as he is universally known, has served in the kitchens of many Toledo restaurants and institutions, including Highland Meadows Golf Club (twice), the Toledo Art Museum Café, Gladieux catering, and the DANA Holding Corp.
Chef Ed has racked up awards and honors like some chefs stack loaves of bread. A Certified Executive Chef, he was named a Fellow in the American Academy of Chefs, he is a Certified Executive Chef and was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Maumee Valley Chefs’ Association, of which he is a past president.
He may not be the best-known chef in this food-crazy town, but Chef Ed is the chef that chefs love to love.
Items for Morsels may be submitted up to two weeks before an event to food@theblade.com.