Words that are pronounced nothing like their spelling drive me crazy. I know with Kolacky the issue is that the word is Polish, but typing it and worrying that it won’t be pronounced right when read makes my skin crawl. In my family, we pronounced it [kuh-lahch-kee], so you should too. I am quite familiar with butchering pronunciations. My maiden name, which is Latvian, was mispronounced by teachers, doctors, and friends, etcetera for years. 97% of people that know my maiden name say it wrong, and it’s easier to just let them say it their way than to repeat it over and over.
Have you ever come across the word Schuylkill? This one makes me crazy. If you’ve ever travelled on this part of Interstate 76 that is in Eastern Pennsylvania, you know what I’m talking about. Siri knows how to pronounce it, but when I glanced down at my navigation and saw the word compared to what I saw on the highway sign, I thought I was going the wrong way. I was driving my son to a swim meet along the sketchy 8 lane stretch from Philadelphia to New Jersey and was terrified. Cars are flying across lanes and a new transplant to PA from Chicago gripped the steering wheel with sweaty hands and made it through. I talked to some other parents about traffic and how long it took us to get there and they kept saying that word, Schuylkill, yet pronouncing it completely different. Finally, I was like “Ummm so what is that anyway?” The PA locals think I’m stupid, but obviously I didn’t grow up driving on what I thought was pronounced SkullyKILL.
So it’s easy to know how to pronounce a word when you say it before you’ve seen its spelling. It’s easy to have the superior attitude when you are the one in the knowing.
Pronounce Kolacky however you want, they will still taste amazing. This recipe is from my mom who is mostly Polish. The recipe is simple and the only difficulty might be finding the right filling. My favorite 2 flavors are cherry and apricot, but raspberry and prune are also good.
Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package cream ceese, softened
1 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (12.5 ounce) can apricot fruit filling (such as Solo(R))
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions
Place the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl; beat with electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat 1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar into the butter mixture. Slowly beat in the flour; mix well. Cover bowl and refrigerate at least 3 hours, or overnight.
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
On a well floured board, roll out chilled dough to 1/8 inch. Use a pizza wheel to cut dough into 2 1/2 inch squares. Spoon approximately 2 teaspoons of filling in the center of each square; do not overfill. Fold opposite corners of each square into the middle to encase dough, pinching dough together in center. Filling should peek out a little at each end. Transfer cookies to an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake the kolacky in the preheated oven until set but not brown, about 12 minutes. Remove to racks to cool. Dust cooled kolacky with remaining powdered sugar.
Source : allrecipes.com
