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Whether you know it as poppy seed swirl bread, makowiec, Mohnstrudel, makovnjača, or something else altogether, and whether you eat it for Easter, Christmas, Purim, or none of the above, this lightly sweetened yeast bread swirled with sweetened poppy seed filling is a really special treat. My filling includes raisins because I first made this bread with leftover hamantaschen filling and liked how it turned out, but it’s adaptable: depending on your tastes, you can add a splash of rum, or reduce the liquid and replace the sugar with agave, or replace the walnuts with a tablespoon of vegan butter. In a high-speed blender, combine poppy seeds, ⅓ c sugar, raisins, ¼ c hot water, walnut pieces, lemon juice, zest, and extract. If you have neither, you can carefully pour the water off by hand -- but since you'll likely be unable to drain all of the water in that case, I'd recommend that you reduce the hot water for the filling accordingly.

Curry powder got me through a lot of hard times, but as my cooking skills (marginally) improved over the years, I largely stopped using it. A couple of months ago, though, I made a nice Thai dish using curry paste (the indisputable adult alternative to curry powder). I always use the full 2 tablespoons of curry paste because I prefer my meals on the hot side, but if you're really sensitive to heat (or want to feed this to children), you can start with 1 tablespoon and stir in more to taste. While using a high-speed blender will give you the silkiest results, this should work well in a regular blender or food processor so long as you boil the carrots a little bit longer, until they're quite tender.