OT Strangeness with Strangers including recipe

> Forgive my spelling, when venturing into foriegn languages it is even
> iffier than usual.
> I was shopping today, sort of. Browsing for a new washer as my 15
> year old Whirlpool has finally developed a problem expensive enough to
> fix that I might as well buy a new one.
> While we were in Home Depot I heard a man exclaim "I would pay fifty
> dollars for a gomboc!" I immediately whirled around and walked back
> down the aisle and said "Done! What kinds and how many?" I mean jeez
> I am having to shop for a new washer, money is good right now. He
> looked at me oddly. I cringed and said "Oh dear, didn't you just say
> you would give fifty dollars for gomboc?", thinking maybe sticker
> shock was taking it's toll. He said he certainly did say that, but
> they only come in one kind so I had confused him. I pointed out that
> I know how to make szilvas gombac, jam gombac, turros gombac, and
> makos gombac, there are indeed all different kinds. We had to huddle
> and compare notes. He walked away in a bemused state with some
> recipes on his palmie, and I walked away in a bemused state with the
> knowledge that Hungarian mathmeticians made a three dimensional object
> that has one stable and one unstable point of equalibrium when it is
> sitting on something. Guy is a math teacher at the college, his wife
> kept telling him if he wanted something exotic he was going to have to
> cook it!. So far as the hungarian mathmeticians, apparently they
> thought it would be cool to name their thingy after dumplings.
> Mrs. Lina (don't even ask me to spell her last name, RIP) that used to
> live up the street taught me how to make these.
> Before starting, set a pot of water to boil, deep is good, wide is not
> so important.
> The Dough
> take equal quantities flour and cold plain mashed potatos, for every
> cup of flour use one egg, and a half teaspoon (or thereabouts) of
> salt.
> Cut enough butter into the flour to achieve a meal like texture.
> Add potatos and salt and mix, add eggs. Work into a dough and fill as
> directed. If your flour is very dry, you may need more fluid.
> Seperate an egg, and try one half or the other, adding the rest if
> needed.
> Szlivas Gombac
> make dough with 2 cups of flour
> Take a dozen plums (you may need more if you use those weeny prune
> plums, or less if you use monstrous huge ones), wash well, then cut
> them just enough to get the pit out. Replace the pit with a sugared
> almond.
> Put a plum in the center of each square, moisten the edges, fold over
> and seal. Take the dumpling between your palms and roll it into a
> ball.
> Turn the water down to a gentle boil, keep it boiling but don't let it
> get exuberant.
> Put the dumplings in the water one at a time with a slotted spoon. let
> cook for about fifteen minutes, they will rise to the top when they
> are done remove them as they come up. Set aside in a collender to
> cool.
> In a frying pan, melt another couple of tablespoons of butter. Add
> fine crumbs (a cup or cup and a half thereabouts), and brown.
> roll the dumplings in the crumbs.
> serve as is or sprinkled with sugar or cinnamon sugar.
> The above may be made with small apricots instead of plums, with
> sliced fruit if the pits are stubborn, or with pieces of almost any
> somewhat soft fruit.
> With the following fillings be extra careful about sealing the dough,
> and gentle when rolling into balls. Also gauge your quantity of
> filling carefully, use too much and it will burst the dumpling and
> vanish into the boiling pot:
> jam gomboc
> make as above, but use a small spoon of jam instead of fruit.
> turos gombac
> use a small spoon of drained cottage cheese as filling.
> If you want these as a main dish or savory side, skip the sugar. In
> that case you can add crumbled bacon to the cottage cheese if you
> like.
> makos gombac
> grind a cup of poppy seed, mix over gentle heat with a two tablespoons
> of sugar, two tablespoons of milk, and an egg white, until thickened.
> (not very long at all)
> when cool use as dumpling filling.
> NightMist
> mouthy thing aren't I? (G)
> --
> Legolas is my house elf

> Forgive my spelling, when venturing into foriegn languages it is even
> iffier than usual.
> I was shopping today, sort of. =A0Browsing for a new washer as my 15
> year old Whirlpool has finally developed a problem expensive enough to
> fix that I might as well buy a new one.
> While we were in Home Depot I heard a man exclaim "I would pay fifty
> dollars for a gomboc!" =A0I immediately whirled around and walked back
> down the aisle and said "Done! =A0What kinds and how many?" =A0I mean jee=

> I am having to shop for a new washer, money is good right now. =A0He
> looked at me oddly. =A0I cringed and said "Oh dear, didn't you just say
> you would give fifty dollars for gomboc?", thinking maybe sticker
> shock was taking it's toll. =A0He said he certainly did say that, but
> they only come in one kind so I had confused him. =A0I pointed out that
> I know how to make szilvas gombac, jam gombac, turros gombac, and
> makos gombac, there are indeed all different kinds. =A0We had to huddle
> and compare notes. =A0He walked away in a bemused state with some
> recipes on his palmie, and I walked away in a bemused state with the
> knowledge that Hungarian mathmeticians made a three dimensional object
> that has one stable and one unstable point of equalibrium when it is
> sitting on something. =A0Guy is a math teacher at the college, his wife
> kept telling him if he wanted something exotic he was going to have to
> cook it!. =A0So far as the hungarian mathmeticians, apparently they
> thought it would be cool to name their thingy after dumplings.
> Mrs. Lina (don't even ask me to spell her last name, RIP) that used to
> live up the street taught me how to make these.
> Before starting, set a pot of water to boil, deep is good, wide is not
> so important.
> The Dough
> take equal quantities flour and cold plain mashed potatos, for every
> cup of flour use one egg, and a half teaspoon (or thereabouts) of
> salt.
> Cut enough butter into the flour to achieve a meal like texture.
> Add potatos and salt and mix, add eggs. Work into a dough and fill as
> directed. =A0If your flour is very dry, you may need more fluid.
> Seperate an egg, and try one half or the other, adding the rest if
> needed.
> Szlivas Gombac
> make dough with 2 cups of flour
> Take a dozen plums (you may need more if you use those weeny prune
> plums, or less if you use monstrous huge ones), wash well, then cut
> them just enough to get the pit out. =A0Replace the pit with a sugared
> almond.
> Put a plum in the center of each square, moisten the edges, fold over
> and seal. Take the dumpling between your palms and roll it into a
> ball.
> Turn the water down to a gentle boil, keep it boiling but don't let it
> get exuberant.
> Put the dumplings in the water one at a time with a slotted spoon. let
> cook for about fifteen minutes, they will rise to the top when they
> are done remove them as they come up. =A0Set aside in a collender to
> cool.
> In a frying pan, melt another couple of tablespoons of butter. =A0Add
> fine crumbs (a cup or cup and a half thereabouts), and brown.
> roll the dumplings in the crumbs.
> serve as is or sprinkled with sugar or cinnamon sugar.
> The above may be made with small apricots instead of plums, with
> sliced fruit if the pits are stubborn, or with pieces of almost any
> somewhat soft fruit.
> With the following fillings be extra careful about sealing the dough,
> and gentle when rolling into balls. =A0Also gauge your quantity of
> filling carefully, use too much and it will burst the dumpling and
> vanish into the boiling pot:
> jam gomboc
> make as above, but use a small spoon of jam instead of fruit.
> turos gombac
> use a small spoon of drained cottage cheese as filling.
> If you want these as a main dish or savory side, skip the sugar. In
> that case you can add crumbled bacon to the cottage cheese if you
> like.
> makos gombac
> grind a cup of poppy seed, mix over gentle heat with a two tablespoons
> of sugar, two tablespoons of milk, and an egg white, until thickened.
> (not very long at all)
> when cool use as dumpling filling.
> NightMist
> mouthy thing aren't I? (G)
> --
> Legolas is my house elf

> Gomboc .... it just sounds like something that would have had me
> tearing my hair out on a test in some required undergrad class years
> and years ago. I'm glad to know that not only can a gomboc be savory
> OR sweet, but it can be something absolutely fascinating. How on earth
> did they ever figure out that kind of principle, and (now here's the
> big question ) what good is that knowledge? I figure in the long run,
> the ones with plums and sugared almonds inside are the ones with
> inherent value.
>
> Sunny