Seattle has been my home for about two years now, and after being here, there are certainly a lot of things I don’t miss about Texas (the long commutes to get anywhere, summer mosquitos with more bloodlust than Patrick Bateman), but there are also things I miss every waking minute of every day. Okay, I exaggerate, but I do miss easy parking, wearing sandals for 90% of the year, and my Monday morning kolaches.
Kolaches are a Czech soft yeast pastry that’s kind of like a soft dinner roll, and traditionally they’re filled or topped with fruits or cottage cheese. The Texas kolache is a variation of this, filled with sausage, cheese, and a slice or two of pickled jalapeño. Most bakeries and donut shops in the Lone Star State sell kolaches just as regularly as they sell burnt drip coffee.
It was very much a routine to grab a donut (or two) and a kolache (or three) to kick off my Monday mornings — I liked to think of it as a “starting another work week” treat. To my dismay, since moving to Seattle, I’ve discovered that kolaches just aren’t a thing here. The closest thing to a kolache I’ve been able to find are pirozhki (Russian hand pies), and while also delicious, they’re still not kolaches.
