As I sit here taking a coffee break, sipping my espresso and savoring each bite of my kolac, a danish type pastry filled with sweet cheese, jam, and a poppyseed mixture, I’m in Eastern European culinary heaven. The last time my taste buds feasted upon poppyseed was Easter time when my mom delivered to me a traditional poppyseed roll from a local Ukrainian church. I’d venture to say that for most of you, your experience with poppyseed has been limited to lemon poppyseed muffins, but I encourage you, if you have not yet, to sample the many offerings of Czech, Polish, Slovak, Ukrainian, Russian, and Hungarian sweets. They are not what I’d call overly sweet, but just right. A friend from Holland has complained about the lack of butter and sugar, but in my opinion, Eastern European pastry chefs have achieved a happy compromise between American high-sucrose laden goodies and the Dutch rich and creamy desserts. I’d include a picture here, but alas, my kolac is gone! 
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