Oh, man, we loved this when we were kids. We also loved it when Mom made us afterschool treats of anchovy paste on buttered toast points … yes, we also loved chocolate chip cookies and Lucky Charms, but Eastern European treats have so much of that lovely salty fatty umami that one just craves sometimes.

We honestly thought this was lost until the kids came over a couple of weeks ago to help us clear out the garage. We opened one of the mystery boxes, and there they were: two recipe boxes, one copper and one Mom painted with pansies, stuffed with old yellow index cards. And the paté recipe was right in front, in Mom’s handwriting, in red felt-tip pen.

• 2 pounds chicken liver
• 1/2 pound lean veal
• 1/2 pound lean pork (tenderloin works nicely here)
• 1 pound bacon
• 1 pound diced white or yellow onions
• 2 cups water

To taste: salt, pepper, Maggi, Lawry’s salt (a splash of Manischewitz Concord Grape wine brings back a lot of memories of childhood friends’ bar mitzvahs, too)

Cut meats into medium-small chunks; place into Dutch oven or large deep saucepan and cover with 2 cups water. Start on low-medium heat. In a separate pan, fry bacon until crisp. Do not discard fat. Chop bacon and add to other meats. Next, fry diced onions in the bacon fat. When browned, add onions and remaining bacon fat to other meats. Cover saucepan.

Note: Mamcik, and later Mom, cooked this until the meats looked done to them. However, we STRONGLY recommend you now follow USDA guidelines and cook until the pork and veal have reached an internal temperature of 145 degrees; after they have, you can remove them from the pot. Allow the liver to continue cooking until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Once you have everything cooked to the proper temperature, get the food processor ready to go. Strain all of the bacon, onions, and random bits from the cooking liquid, but don’t throw anything away yet.

Start with a rough process of all the meats and onions. Next, add a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquid, and process again. Keep adding small amounts of liquid, and processing, until the mix is soft and silky and fluffy – no chunks should remain. Now you should add whatever seasonings you like.

You can shape this, or put it into a mold, or just into a nice covered bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap, and chill thoroughly (overnight is best). Serve with crisp crackers, or any kind of bread, toasted or not. Some people like to serve it with cornichons (those tiny sour French pickles) or hard-boiled eggs.

Enjoy, even as an afterschool snack.