Just Like Baba Used to Make!

We're celebrating Polish American Heritage Month during the month of October. Did you know that Polish is the third most spoken language in Chicago? Yup, Chicago is home to about 185,000 Polish language speakers and many more that have Polish ancestry.

Chicago also offers a wealth of authentic Polish restaurants—many can be found in neighborhoods on Chicago's Far Northwest Side in communities where Polish immigrants first settled. Many Polish restaurants come close to dishing up plates of traditional Polish foods, however when it comes to Polish food, there is nothing that beats home cooking.

Whether you're of Polish descent or an at-home gourmand who loves experimenting with international cuisines or trying your hand at Polish cooking on a whim, CPL is stocked with a great selection of Polish cookbooks to help get you started.

Polish Cooking: This Polish cookbook classic by Marianna Olszewska Heberle features of 200 authentic recipes for traditional Polish foods such as apple pancakes, hunter's stew and varieties of pierogies. This book also informs readers about Polish holiday traditions and the rich culinary heritage of Poland.

Polish Classic Recipes by Laura and Peter Zeranski is must-have for any home cook who experiments with Polish cuisine. This book features over 40 recipes of classic Polish dishes and a gorgeous mouth-watering photo to accompany each recipe. This book covers all the Polish culinary classics!

From A Polish Country House Kitchen is part cookbook and part culinary history of Poland. Authors Anne Applebaum and Danielle Crittenden have taken 90 recipes for Polish comfort food classics and simplified them for the home cook and the modern palate while keeping all the flavors of traditional Polish cuisine. This beautiful book includes recipes for traditional dishes such as mushroom soup and pierogi as well as delightful comfort food such as stuffed chicken breasts with cognac sauce. Yum! Yum!

Find your aprons, dust off your spatulas, pots and pans, and take a stab at some traditional Polish cooking and celebrate Polish American Heritage Month.