Slovak Recipes

Slovak master folk artist Sidonka Wadina was raised in a Slovak neighborhood in Milwaukee’s Menomonee River Valley. Her grandmothers, who emigrated from Slovakia, continued to practice the traditional arts of baking and egg decorating.

At the age of three, she began to help them, especially with the making of Slovak dumplings. Now, after a lifetime of preparing Slovak ethnic foods, Sidonka has agreed to share her cherished recipes and original illustrations.

Co-author Toni Brendel’s Czech-Slovak heritage is dear to her heart, and she continues to study and write about the Slovak culture. She is the author of Penfield’s Slovak American Touches. This book includes her photos from Slovakia.

Midwest Independent Publishers Association 2009 prize winner (awarded in 2010)

Sidonka’s Medovnicky
(Slovak Honey Cookies)

4 eggs, beaten well
3/4 pound brown sugar (1 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup honey
2 ounces sweet unsalted butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/4 pounds flour (5 cups)

Mix eggs, sugar, vanilla, honey and butter. Add baking soda and flour; mix well. Let stand in refrigerator (covered) overnight. Roll out, cut into heart shapes, and place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 400 degrees about 7 minutes. Frost with design pattern. Makes about 4 dozen cookies depending on size.
Note: These heart-shaped cookies baked by Sidonka are on the book’s cover.