I think you're sauceome.

…So now we have everything we need to make kolaches! My neighborhood farmers market opens in a week and a half, I think I’ll be looking for sweet things to bake into these. I’m kind of embarrassed that I’ve never tried to make kolaches before, since they were such a part of my childhood, and since they’re such a part of my heritage.

Actually, speaking of fillings, one of my personal favorite kolache fillings is poppy seed! Poppy seed is a pretty traditional filling for breads and cakes in central and eastern European cuisine. I know you can get giant poppy seed rolls at the Polish markets up the street from me, so I’m guessing you could probably also get the canned poppy seed filling for kolaches there. Just don’t try to pass any drug tests after eating one.

I’d like to say a HUGE thanks to Beckie!! Give Beckie a round of applause everyone, for being an awesome baker, for spending I don’t know how long testing and perfecting this recipe, and for being kind enough to write it all down for us. Everyone say thank you, Beckie!

So, I asked the youngest sister if she’d write me a kolache recipe. I have always kind of sucked at baking. Cooking, you can improvise, you can change what you’re doing mid-stream, you can make substitutions. But baking involves so much chemistry, if you forget something or do something wrong you can destroy the whole recipe. I might not be great at following instructions.

Anyway, Beckie has always been really great at baking, and she worked really hard on this kolache recipe. I thought it’d be a quick one page comic, but there’s so much information that it needs a full week to get through. First and foremost, I realized I’d probably have to explain what a kolache is! If you don’t live in Iowa or Nebraska or South Texas (where my parents are) or somewhere else the Czech diaspora settled, you might not be familiar with them. I suppose they’re kind of like danishes, but the dough is something really unique. It’s sweet and soft and pillowy, almost like a Hawaiian roll. There are cities that have annual kolache celebrations, there are bakeries that specialize in them, and in places with large Czech populations, even the regular donut shops will get in on the kolache game. These little guys are really good.

When I first moved to Chicago, my dad asked some of the ladies at his local KJT hall (that’s Katolická Jednota Texaská, or the Catholic Union of Texas in Czech) what neighborhood I should live in. “Where are all the Czechs in Chicago?” He asked them. “Bohemian National Cemetery,” they cackled. Chicago used to have a lot of Czechs (it’s how the neighborhood Pilsen got its name) but they all moved out of the city. I have no idea where to get kolaches in Chicago. Maybe out in Berwyn? So I’ll be learning how to make kolaches too, just so I can have some of my own.

In other news, I got glasses! I have to wear glasses now. But I’m not comfortable drawing myself in them yet. So when kolache week is done, there might be a glasses week.

Oh! in other, other news, I made a map of awesome Chicago food for all the people coming here for CAKE next month. I’m still making changes to it, but it’s a place to start. I’ll be exhibiting at CAKE too, so save the date!

When Corinne and I got to Toronto, we were wondering if we should hit one of the TCAF parties on Friday night, when Corinne looked up the St. Lawrence Market. Corinne has a habit of checking out the farmers market in whatever city she’s doing a convention in. Apparently, the market was closed Sundays and Mondays (the only other days we would be in Toronto) so if we wanted to see it, we’d have to go early, early Saturday morning, before TCAF opened.

TCAF opened at 9:00 am. We were expected to be there at 8:30. We’d have to get up and leave the hotel by 6:30 if we wanted to have at least an hour at the market. Fortunately, we were just crazy enough to do it. And when I told Lucy about our plans, she and her mom decided to come with! So we’re not the only crazy ones. And it was absolutely worth it – National Geographic says the St. Lawrence market is the best food market in the WORLD, and for good reason. At first we thought it was only the farmer’s market part, but even that was amazing. Caribou, elk, artisanal breads and pastries and sausages, whole pigs, farm fresh eggs, and gorgeous vegetables as far as the eye can see. And just when we thought we had gotten a good look at everything, we realized there was a WHOLE OTHER BUILDING. Which was much, much larger than the farmer’s market part.

Unfortunately I didn’t buy much – we had just gotten to Toronto, I didn’t have much Canadian money on me, and honestly I wasn’t sure how much I could bring back across the border, seeing as most of it was perishable. I did buy an assortment of delicious bread rolls, including a beet roll, a potato roll, a butternut squash roll, and more… and I got a stick of elk jerky too (tasty!) and a little pastry of sweet cherry tomatoes, pesto and prosciutto, which was delicious. I pretty much ate all of it during the convention. If this market had been open on Monday morning, I would have spent all my comics money on food, I can tell you that much.

Toronto, you guys should be proud. St. Lawrence Market is amazing!

Hey, this seems as good a time as any to remind you guys that I have a few Sauceome prints and originals for sale, as well as some books and other things too!

Sunday night after Mocca we ended up at Japadog, in St. Mark’s Place. They apparently started as a humble hot dog cart in Vancouver, and now they have 6 locations, including the one we visited. They serve hot dogs with a delicious Japanese flair, including a yakiniku dog; a tonkatsu pork dog; one with teriyaki and mayo; daikon and shoyu; sliced onion and plum sauce. And then there’s this marvel of the modern world: the Okonomi Dog. Amazing Kurobuta pork, sweet and tangy okonomiyaki sauce, buttery Japanese style mayonnaise and a generous pile of delicate bonito flakes. It was phenomenal! Honestly, it tasted just like okonomiyaki, or takoyaki, only with a hot dog underneath it.

We got our dogs with a side of wasabi-dusted french fries, which were also amazing. In fact, the only flaw I can see in this restaurant is that they don’t have a Chicago location. I can’t be traipsing off to NYC or Vancouver every time I want one of these!

Guys, I tried so hard to do another comic for you, but I fly out for Toronto early in the morning, and I need to finish packing for TCAF, and do laundry and another thousand little things. So again, I’ll be skipping a comic while I’m off trying to sell comics. At least I managed to squeeze this one out between cons, right? Guys, don’t let me ever try to do two conventions in a row again.

So MoCCA was lots of fun, I met some amazing new people at Drink and Draw, we had a phenomenal time staying with Lucy, and there was all sorts of excellent food to eat. It was a super brief trip, and I’m really amazed at how much we were able to fit into it.

Anyway, Niles has always been a night owl, and I have always been a morning person, and when we got back to Lucy’s place after Drink & Draw I could have fallen asleep right there. I was already pajamafied and my teeth were brushed! But I’m a pretty good sport, and Lucy and Niles convinced me that Indian burritos were worth investigating, and boy were they ever! Fingers crossed none of the smart looking fashionable people out having fun in the West Village on Friday night noticed my ratty sneakers, messy hair and pajama shirt under my coat.

Okay! I’m off to Canadia, people! If you’re in the Toronto area, come and say hello! I’m at table 234, between Lucy and Corinne!