In the spirit of offering our reader’s awesome recipes, here is one from a friend, Kelly Prostor, of Medina.

I saw a post from her on Facebook showing the dough spread across a whole table and a photo of the final product for this great holiday tradition, so I asked her to write a guest column:

I grew up in Euclid, which might be surprising to learn is an area with a high concentration of ethnic groups. Many of my friends had grandparents or parents who were first generation Americans.

In fact, the Cleveland area is home to the largest population of Slovenians in the world outside of Slovenia. Several of my friends spoke the language fluently, as it was all that was spoken in their homes.

Though I didn’t know what they were saying most of the time, one word was always crystal clear to me.

“Potica.”

Prounounced “poe-teet-zah,” this delectable nut roll is a staple at holiday gatherings in Slovenian-influenced homes. It was truly an honor for this mostly-Irish girl to be invited to enjoy this holiday treat.

Years later, I was fortunate enough to marry into a family that honors this tradition and I have become this generation’s beneficiary of the Prostor Family Potica recipe.

My husband’s aunt grew up watching her grandmother and then her own mother make potica. In “the old days,” the pastry-thin dough was actually stretched by hand. Aunt Joyce is a resourceful woman and knew there had to be an easier way. When it was her turn to take over, the rolling pin was introduced to the process, and, as time went on, the size of the rolling pin grew.

Aunt Joyce and I have created many memories making this together over the years. It is truly a labor of love but well worth it. Enjoy!

Dough

Scald 2½ cups milk, ½ lb. butter on stove. Cool. Set 3 packets or 3 tbsp. dry yeast, 1/3 cup warm water and 1 tbsp. sugar, allow to rise.

You’ll need 8 to 10 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp. salt, 8 egg yolks (save whites for filling).

Using a large standing mixer with the paddle blade, mix together egg yolks and sugar. Add cooled milk/butter combo to mixer (if too hot, it will cook eggs), then add the yeast. Add flour cup by cup and include the salt with the third or fourth cup of flour.

After the sixth cup of flour, remove paddle blade and insert dough hook. Continue to add flour a half cup at a time until mixture begins to drag everything together away from the bowl into a more ball-like consistency, yet still slightly sticky.

Remove dough and place in clean, greased bowl. Cover with a dish cloth, place inside oven and let rise until it has doubled in bulk.

Filling

You will need 1¼ cups hot milk, ½ lb. butter, ¾ pint sour cream, 8 egg whites (beaten to peaks), 3 lbs. ground walnuts (approximately 14 cups, to fine sand-like consistency), 10 cups sugar, 1 tbsp. vanilla.

Melt butter in milk on stove, add vanilla when cool. Combine sugar and nuts, mix well. Add milk-butter combination, sour cream and mix well. Beat egg whites and fold in last. Divide filling into three equal portions.

Divide dough into three equal portions. Roll out on back of table cloth (linen or heavy cotton) on kitchen table. Roll from center out until wide enough to accommodate two 13-inch-wide pans. Flour the tablecloth as you go. Roll it so thin you can see the pattern on the table cloth on the opposite side through the dough.

Divide filling into thirds. Spread 1/3 of filling evenly over dough and roll up by using table cloth to pull toward you. When fully rolled, cut down center and cut off ends. Place in two greased foil-lined, small bread pans. Continue this procedure two more times, thus getting six rolls plus one pan of ends.

Cover with a dish towel and let rise inside oven until double in bulk. This process could take 3 or more hours. When ready to bake, brush tops with 1 beaten egg yolk with water added; let out air by poking frequently with tooth pick. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour or until done.

This recipe makes six perfect – and one not-so-pretty – loaves. It is an investment in time, but more than worth it.