This cake came to me in a snow-covered dream. I woke up Sunday knowing I had to do three things: shovel my driveway, take my kids sledding, and bake something. It’s no secret I love to be snowed in; I view it as nature’s permission to let everything go — I don’t stress about it, I don’t complain about it, I just let it all go. Northern Virginia was in the epicenter of the recent “snowzilla” storm. We had historic snowfall and the world shut down for a few days. It was pretty wonderful. I’ll be back at work tomorrow, so while I’m enjoying my last day of snowed in freedom, I thought I’d hop back on the blogging wagon and share this wonderful, easy recipe. No mixer required, and I bet you have most of the ingredients in your pantry. Continue reading
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Tag: foodie
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Salted, Malted Chocolate Bundt Cake
Posted at 3:15 PM , on January 25, 2016
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Reminiscing and asking for a favor
Posted at 5:26 PM , on March 5, 2015
I recently discovered that one of my favorite food magazines, Saveur Magazine, is taking nominations for their annual food blog award. So, I thought I’d combine “Throwback Thursday” with my request for your nominations. I’m including my favorite and most personal blog posts. I hope you’ll revisit them, or read them for the first time, and if you like them and feel I am worthy, hop over to this link: Blog Awards 2015, and cast your nomination for little old me. You never know… You can nominate me, and all of your other favorite food blogs, until March 13th, then go back and vote on March 30th. I’ll be sure to remind you. Continue reading
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Slow Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Crostini
Posted at 8:40 AM , on January 23, 2015
Thanks to the lovely and talented Selma of Selma’s Table, a beautiful and delicious blog that I implore you to visit, I am participating in my very first blog party in celebration of Fiesta Friday’s first anniversary. Very exciting. There is such a wonderful community of bloggers, and I love meeting new friends who are so gracious and welcoming. I’m looking forward to meeting many more at the fiesta!
To get the party started, today’s theme is “happy hour,” and since happy hour isn’t complete without drinks and little bites I am sharing a few wine recommendations and my delicious recipe for slow roasted tomatoes, which I love to serve over goat cheese-topped, crispy baguette slices. Such an easy and beautiful appetizer. I hope you love it!
Let’s begin with a drink, shall we? I am not much of a cocktail aficionado, but I am a wine lover, and these crostini pair beautifully with a crisp, cool white wine. These are my three favorites, and each one will compliment the tangy, creamy goat cheese, and the jammy, sweet tomatoes. It’s a winning combo whichever wine you choose. The first is Despagne Eclat de Sauvignon—a lovely, crisp white from the Bordeaux region of France. This wine won my heart with its refreshingly tart, almost effervescent grapefruit notes. I was pretty impressed with myself on this one, because I immediately tasted the grapefruit notes and, later, when I did some research I saw that many other tasters had described it this way! Next is my old standby: Pinot Grigio. I am a big fan of Cavit Pinot Grigio—Italian, crisp, fruity but not sweet. I have often described it as a very “friendly” wine, since everyone likes it and it’s always invited to the party. Finally, the H.B. Picpoul de Pinet is a wonderfully intriguing wine made in the South of France. It is crisp and dry with hints of citrus—delicate, floral, and really worth trying. These are three of my favorite whites—and guess what—they are all under $10 (at least they are at my local Wegmans!). In my opinion, good wine does not mean expensive wine. Drink what you love—life is too short to drink bad, expensive wine.
Now, on to the recipe. A printable version is at the bottom of my post, but here is the step-by-step with photos.
**I originally published this recipe in a piece called “When Life Gives You Tomatoes, Make Crostini” on DCFud.com, a great online food magazine covering the DC metro area. Check it out!**
Slow Roasted Tomatoes
Ingredients:
- Lots of smaller tomatoes such as roma, cherry, or grape, halved—about 8 cups (they shrink during the roasting process)
- 1/4 cup Olive oil
- salt and pepper
- pinch or two of red pepper flakes to taste
- fresh herbs—oregano and thyme are my favorites
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and very thinly sliced
To prepare:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Toss gently to coat the tomatoes and spread the entire mixture evenly on a parchment lined, large rimmed baking sheet or two sheets. You want an even layer with no overlapping.
Roast for 4-6 hours, gently tossing occasionally (or just shake and rotate the pan). The time is broad, I know, but it depends on the juiciness and size of your tomatoes and your oven. The tomatoes will shrink and their juices will dry slightly. Don’t take them too far; you want them to still have some juiciness. This really needs to be judged by eye, so just check on them occasionally.
Enjoy straight from the oven, or transfer, along with all juices and herbs, to a mason jar or other storage container, cover with more olive oil and store in refrigerator.
Note: The olive oil will harden upon refrigeration. Allow refrigerated tomatoes to sit at room temperature for 30-40 minutes before using.
Slow Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Crostini
Ingredients:
- Baguette, or any good bread, sliced 1/4 inch thick on an angle
- slow roasted tomatoes
- Fresh goat cheese
- Fresh basil
To prepare:
Drizzle or brush bread slices lightly with olive oil, and either toast in a 350 degree oven 10-15 minutes, or gently toast in a grill pan or skillet until lightly golden on both sides, but still tender in the middle. Transfer to a platter and smear with a tablespoon or two of goat cheese, top with oven roasted tomatoes, and sprinkle with fresh chopped basil. Enjoy!
Slow Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Crostini
For the Slow Roasted Tomatoes:
Ingredients:
- Lots of smaller tomatoes such as roma, cherry, or grape, halved—about 8 cups (they shrink during the roasting process)
- 1/4 cup Olive oil
- salt and pepper
- pinch or two of red pepper flakes to taste
- fresh herbs, oregano and thyme are my favorites
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and very thinly sliced
To prepare:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Toss gently to coat the tomatoes and spread the entire mixture evenly on a parchment-lined, large rimmed baking sheet or sheets. You want an even layer with no overlapping.
Roast for 4-6 hours, gently tossing occasionally (or just shake and rotate the pan). The time is broad, I know, but it depends on the juiciness and size of your tomatoes and your oven. The tomatoes will shrink and their juices will dry slightly. Don’t take them too far; you want them to still have some juiciness. This really needs to be judged by eye, so just check on them occasionally.
Enjoy straight from the oven, or transfer, along with all juices and herbs, to a mason jar or other storage container, cover with more olive oil and store in refrigerator.
Note: The olive oil will harden upon refrigeration. Allow refrigerated tomatoes to sit at room temperature for 30-40 minutes before using.
To make and assemble the Slow Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Crostini:
Ingredients:
- Baguette, or any good bread, sliced 1/4 inch thick on an angle
- Oven roasted tomatoes
- Fresh goat cheese
- Fresh basil
To prepare:
Drizzle or brush bread slices lightly with olive oil, and either toast in a 350 degree oven 10-15 minutes, or gently toast in a grill pan or skillet until lightly golden on both sides, but still tender in the middle. Transfer to a platter and smear each with a tablespoon or two of goat cheese, top with oven roasted tomatoes, and sprinkle with fresh chopped basil. Enjoy!
Let’s connect!:
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Dad’s Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Posted at 11:36 PM , on January 16, 2015
Made this tonight. It was perfect. I updated my blog with a new theme and have added printer-friendly recipes! This is an older post, but I’ve updated the photos and added a printable recipe. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
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Old-Fashioned Peach Custard Pie
Posted at 11:49 AM , on August 14, 2014
One of the easiest and most delicious pies you will ever make. The recipe doubles beautifully, so whip up two pies and surprise someone you care about with something peachy like my daughter and I did. We delivered one to my grandparents when they weren’t home—like little pie fairies.
**Prepare crust first, either by pre-baking a store bought crust according to package instructions or use my recipe below. My crust recipe makes enough for two pies; however, the filling recipe is just for one pie—feel free to double it like I did!**
Ingredients:
- one pre-baked pie crust (recipe below)
- 3 peaches, peeled and sliced
- 2 large egg yolks
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- seeds from ½ a vanilla bean, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To Prepare:
Preheat oven to 400.
Arrange sliced peaches in bottom of pre-baked pie crust in a single layer—slight overlapping is fine.
Mix together all other ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined. You will have a slightly thick, almost peanut butter-like consistency.
Spread this over the peaches, don’t worry if it does not cover every inch, it will even out in the oven.
Bake for 10 minutes at 400, then reduce temperature to 300 and bake for 50-60 more minutes until the custard is set and the top is lightly browned.
Enjoy at room temperature with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Basic Pre-Baked Flaky Pastry Crust
Ingredients:
- 3 cups AP flour
- 1 1/2 stick butter (12 tablespoons), very cold and diced into small cubes
- 1/3 cup shortening, also very cold. I keep mine in the refrigerator, as this is really the only time I use it.
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbs sugar
- 2 tbs vodka mixed with 4 tbs water, very cold (I learned the vodka trick from America’s Test Kitchen a long, long time ago, and it really makes a difference; however, you can leave it out and just use water.)
To prepare:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place dry ingredients in food processor and pulse to mix. Add cubed butter and shortening and pulse about 12 times until the butter and shortening are mixed throughout. Slowly pour the water/vodka mixture through the lid while pulsing, until the dough begins to clump. Give it one more good, long pulse. Carefully transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead a few times to combine. Divide the dough evenly in half (this makes enough for two one-crust pies). Place each half between parchment or plastic wrap, flatten into a round disk, and chill for 20-30 minutes. Prepare your fruit and custard while it chills.
After chilling, roll one of the disks out on a floured surface until you have about a 12 inch circle, and a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Make sure to keep moving the dough and adding flour while rolling to make sure it isn’t sticking. Carefully place rolled dough into pie plate, easing it into the corners without stretching it too much. Make any kind of decorative edge you want. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes.
Remove dough from refrigerator, place parchment or aluminum foil directly on top of dough and fill the pie plate with dried beans or pie weights.
Bake for 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and pie weights, poke holes all over bottom of dough with a fork, and return to the oven for 5-10 more minutes until lightly browned.
Continue with recipe above or use for any pie recipe requiring a pre-baked crust.
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Peach Muffins
Posted at 11:12 AM , on August 9, 2014
This is the first recipe I came up with after a recent peach-picking trip to Hollin Farms with my kids. On the drive home, my son was already devouring a peach, and I was already thinking of what I would make with the fuzzy beauties.
Before I moved on to peach pie and peaches over vanilla ice cream (my favorite), I was determined to use them in some kind of breakfast recipe. Peach pancakes crossed my mind, obviously fresh peaches sliced up on yogurt or french toast would be delicious, but then my thoughts landed on muffins. Peaches with brown sugar and vanilla? Yes, please. I’m not really sure why peach muffins aren’t as common as banana or blueberry, but maybe this recipe will change that.
PS: I’ve got a few more peach recipes to come. (We picked lots!). Stay tuned.
Peach Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups peeled and chopped peaches (should be about 2-3 peaches)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil or any flavorless cooking oil
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- granulated sugar for sprinkling
To prepare:
Preheat oven to 400. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
Stir flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Stir brown sugar, sour cream, milk, oil, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl.
Add wet ingredients to dry along with the peaches.
Stir just until combined. I use a fork, because it really prevents over mixing. As I’ve said before, muffin batter should be lumpy and kind of ugly. You will end up with the yummiest, most tender muffins this way. Trust me.
Scoop your gently mixed batter into muffin tins. Sprinkle tops with sugar if you want a crackly, sparkly crust.
Bake in preheated oven for 15-17 minutes or until muffins are domed and lightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Enjoy!
Check out my other muffin recipes: Pumpkin Banana Muffins, Mini Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins, Mini Spiced Banana Muffins
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Lemon Bars
Posted at 5:13 PM , on June 23, 2014
I just got back from dropping off a plateful of these to my grandparents — my grandparents, who are both from Minnesota. So, of course we were standing around in the kitchen, giggling, saying “bars” with that distinctive Minnesota (Minne-SOH-ta) accent. Dontcha know that accent??
My grandpa has a major sweet tooth, and he is known for his love of chocolate, but his favorite dessert is “lemon pie” as he calls it — (lemon meringue pie) — so when I made these bars I knew I’d be surprising him with a delivery. The first thing he said when he took a bite was, “these taste just like lemon pie.” Mission accomplished.
This recipe is almost exactly The Barefoot Contessa’s lemon bar recipe, but I made a few tiny changes. The biggest change was to the crust. Not the ingredients so much, (although I did add vanilla; I am a vanilla-aholic), but the method. The way I do it is faster, since it doesn’t require you have the butter at room temp, but it also just creates a better texture in my opinion.
Here’s how I made them!
Lemon Bars
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling:
- 6 eggs
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup flour
- zest of one lemon (zest it before you juice it!)
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
- 1 teaspoon salt
To Prepare:
Preheat oven to 350.
Butter a 9x13x2 inch baking pan, or spray generously with cooking spray. For extra safety, line the pan with parchment paper (butter or spray the paper too!) so that the edges hang over each side. This will help lift the bars out later. The filling can get sticky, so the buttering and spraying is really important, even if you have a non-stick pan.
Place all crust ingredients in a food processor and pulse several times until combined. You will have a dry, crumbly mixture. It won’t come together like a dough, so don’t worry.
Dump this mixture into the prepared baking pan. Gently even out the mixture, and begin pressing into the bottom of the pan with your fingers and build up about a 1/2 inch edge on all sides. It doesn’t have to be perfectly even.
Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes until just beginning to brown around the edges.
While the crust bakes, prepare the filling:
Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to completely combine.
When the crust is done, pour over filling and return to oven for 25-30 minutes, until the filling is set.
Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. You can also refrigerate them overnight, which makes them even easier to slice. Either way, when ready to slice, slide a thin knife around the edges to make sure the bars are loose, and if you’ve used parchment you should be able to lift them out in one piece. Place on a cutting board and slice into bars, squares, or triangles and enjoy.
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Shrimp in Red Thai Coconut Curry Sauce with Fresh Sweet Corn
Posted at 9:16 PM , on May 18, 2014
Earlier, I was enjoying this gorgeous spring day with my windows open, a pot of Bolognese sauce bubbling away on the stove, and chocolate chip cookies cooling on the counter. Can you tell I’ve missed cooking? I mean, I’ve been cooking; my family hasn’t gone hungry, I assure you. But I haven’t been cooking, cooking… Like, the kind of cooking where I wake up in the morning and spend most of my day doodling around in the kitchen, making up dishes like the one I’m about to share with you.
I’m pretty sure I didn’t have my first Thai food experience until I was at least 25 years old. My dad cooked a lot of Asian-style food when I was a kid, but Thai was not part of his repertoire. Since discovering Thai food, I have become completely and hopelessly addicted. You can bet that if I’m having a wildly uncontrollable food craving, it will be a Thai food craving. It is just so flavorful and balanced. I love the heat; I love the combination of salty, sweet, and sour; I adore coconut milk, Thai basil, and cilantro. So, the other night the craving struck. And, yes, we have a great Thai food restaurant nearby, and yes, they deliver. But I felt like cooking, and my creative juices were already flowing.
This is what I came up with:
Shrimp in Red Thai Coconut Curry Sauce with Fresh Sweet Corn
**Note: this takes minutes to prepare, and it really should be served with rice–jasmine rice, please. So, before you start prepping your ingredients, put a pot of jasmine rice on to cook (instructions follow). It will be ready to soak up all the yummy sauce by the time you’re done cooking.
Ingredients:
For the rice:
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 3 cups water
For the curry:
- 1 pound shrimp-peeled, deveined, and tails removed
- 1 cup of fresh corn kernels, cut from 2 ears of corn
- 2 red fresno chile peppers, seeds and ribs removed and finely sliced into long strips
- 4 garlic cloves-sliced
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger-peeled and julienned (you can grate it if you want, but I like the long, thin pieces of ginger)
- 1 14 ounce can of coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- juice from 2 fresh limes
- Cilantro and basil (Thai basil if you can find it!)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
To Prepare:
For the rice:
In a medium sauce pan, add rice and water and bring to a full boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to lowest setting, clamp on a lid, and set your timer for 20 minutes. Don’t stir it; don’t lift the lid; just let it cook for 20 minutes and you will have perfect, fluffy rice.
For the curry:
Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, until very hot–I used cast iron. Add vegetable oil, swirl to coat pan, and add shrimp in a single layer. Cook for no more than 2 minutes, tossing to get both sides cooked, remove from pan and set aside. They will cook a little more in the sauce, so don’t overcook them here. Overcooked shrimp are not worth eating.
Add corn, garlic, ginger, and peppers to the same pan and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add curry paste and stir for about 30 seconds, then add coconut milk and fish sauce to pan. Stir to combine and scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to medium, add shrimp to sauce and cook for about 5 minutes. The sauce should be at a gentle simmer, not a full rolling boil. When your shrimp are just cooked through, and your sauce is slightly thickened, remove from heat, add lime juice and a big handful of chopped cilantro and basil, and you’re done!
Serve with jasmine rice and enjoy!
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My Classic Meatballs and Marinara
Posted at 9:05 AM , on January 10, 2014
Meatballs: I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who doesn’t like them. My daughter—who can sometimes be quite picky—has loved them since she was old enough to chew, even requesting them for two of her birthday party meals—so much better than pizza! I made these a couple weeks ago on a night each of my kids had a friend sleeping over (it wasn’t as scary as it sounds). 4 kids with clean plates: if that doesn’t sell my recipe I don’t know what will.
Unsurprisingly, I always make mine a little differently, but I finally wrote down my ingredients, and I actually used measuring devices this time! This is my “classic” version. Just a really good, moist, flavorful Italian meatball. Comforting and familiar—the kind of food people want to eat.
I often make them with turkey to lighten things up, or for my friends who don’t eat pork. There are some great Italian turkey sausages out there, and you’re not sacrificing any flavor if you choose to use turkey, but these are the real deal: beef, pork, and Italian sausage. You can substitute whatever meat you like, just make sure the total amounts are the same: two pounds of turkey, one pound of turkey Italian sausage; two pounds beef, one pound sausage; you get the idea. I really, really like the sausage addition—turkey or pork. It adds so much flavor, but if you aren’t a fan of sausage you could omit it and just replace it with a pound of something else. Use this recipe as a guideline, and experiment to find your classic.
This is a very large recipe. Because I like this meat combo, and it’s kind of hard to find any ground meat in less than 1 pound packages, I just go for it and make a huge batch. I cook what I need, and freeze the rest on sheet trays, then transfer them to resealable plastic bags. They are a great thing to have in my arsenal, and I cook them right from the freezer—either browning them slowly or adding them straight to simmering sauce. That’s my kind of frozen convenience food.
A funny thing about this recipe—most meatball recipes, really—is that it’s basically a meatloaf. You could take this exact mixture, form it into a loaf (or two) and bake it: Italian meatloaf! That might sound a little nutty, but that’s how I cook, and how my mind works in the kitchen. I love having recipes, but I really love when they’re versatile enough that I can let my imagination loose on them. Here’s my recipe; I hope you love it.
Classic Italian Meatballs
(Makes approximately 60 medium-sized meatballs)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 lb mild Italian sausage
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano–grated
- 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano–grated (alternatively, you can use a full cup of either cheese, rather than the mixture)
- 1/2 yellow or white onion–grated or very finely minced
- 3 cloves garlic–minced
- 1 cup dry seasoned Italian bread crumbs
- 1 cup milk
- handful of parsley–chopped (about 1/2 cup chopped)
- tablespoon dried oregano
- tablespoon fresh rosemary–finely chopped
To prepare: In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except the meat. Mix well to combine. You will have a very wet mixture. Add the meats, and mix really well to completely combine. I use my hands and squish away until it becomes one homogenous mixture. I can’t stand meatballs that have big chunks of ingredients that weren’t mixed through properly. So, if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, now is the time to use them!
You can make your meatballs any size you like, I use a medium sized ice cream scoop, which makes meatballs a little smaller than a golf ball. (Side note: this scoop is one of the most versatile tools in my kitchen. I use it for cookies, muffins, meatballs, sliders. One of my favorites). Portion out what you want to cook and in a large skillet, melt a couple tablespoons of butter and a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat and add the meatballs.
Brown on all sides. At this point, you can either use your own sauce or a good jarred marinara. If you want to make your own sauce, remove the browned meatballs to a plate or bowl and follow my recipe below.
If you use a jarred sauce, just pour it in with the browned meatballs (if you have lots of fat in the pan remove it before adding the sauce), and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Then serve with spaghetti, or your favorite noodle, lots of grated parmigiano, and really good bread.
Quick Marinara
(enough for 30 meatballs and 1 lb of spaghetti)
Ingredients:
- 1 large can of crushed tomatoes (28 ounces)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
- 1/2 cup chicken stock or water
- 1/2 onion–chopped (I use the other 1/2 of the onion from making the meatballs)
- 2 garlic cloves–minced
- teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- tablespoon of sugar
- teaspoon salt
To Prepare: Saute onion in the same pan you removed the meatballs from, (if you haven’t just made meatballs, just cook the onion in some olive oil). Cook until softened, about 5 minutes, and add salt, garlic, red pepper, oregano and cook another 30 seconds. If using the wine, add it now and allow to bubble for a minute or two before adding the tomatoes, water or stock, and sugar. Add the meatballs back to the sauce, and simmer for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.
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Christmas: Feeling Nostalgic Already
Posted at 9:31 AM , on December 28, 2013
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything. I thought about doing a Thanksgiving or Christmas post… but for some reason, I just didn’t; it didn’t feel right. I have tons of holiday recipes, as I’m sure you do, too. I just think the holidays are so intensely personal that I didn’t want to impose. That might seem silly, but that’s just how I felt.
So, Christmas—my favorite time of year—has zipped by, and I have cooked and eaten everything in sight and had lots of fun doing it. And here I am, thinking about what to cook and what to write about next… But first, I think I’ll write about my version of the holidays—what makes them special to me—if for no other reason than to help me accept that Christmas is, in fact, over—like a therapy exercise.
For me, the holidays are about food, family, and smells. The smells I remember from my childhood—the smells that never change: Celery and onion cooking in butter for stuffing; warm buttery graham cracker crumbs being pressed into the pan for a cheesecake crust; the smell of a real Christmas tree; peppermint sticks—the real ones—that my dad taught me how to drink milk through. These smells make me remember being a little girl, they make me remember the magic of Christmas: Leaving my Grandma’s house on Christmas Eve, and leaning my sleepy head against the cold van window, looking up and being sure—every year—that Orion’s belt was Santa and his reindeer; waking up on Christmas morning to find the tree had been decorated with candy canes and tinsel by Santa while we slept; Cold, cold eggnog; bowls full of oranges to be peeled and nuts to be cracked; lying under the Christmas tree and looking up through the branches; the kitchen counter lined with cooling cheesecakes. These little traditions and memories make Christmas special and personal, and I love continuing them, tweaking them, and of course starting a few new ones.
Without a doubt, the biggest tradition I’ve continued is that of my dad’s cheesecake. Every Christmas he made dozens of them for everyone we knew. My brothers and I helped him, and he’d scream at us if we ran through the kitchen while they were baking, insisting that they would “fall” if we shook the floor too much. When I was about 19, I started to really cook on my own, and the first thing I tackled was my dad’s cheesecake. I read dozens of recipes, compared techniques, temperatures, timing, and after many changes and variations, came up with my cheesecake. When my dad tried it, and told me mine was better than his, it was like I had won the cooking Olympics. So now, every Christmas, I get funny stares for the obscene amount of cream cheese I buy, and I bake cheesecakes for my friends and family, just like my dad used to do.
Something new I’ve started is making monkey bread on Christmas Eve to have for Christmas morning breakfast. I started it with my son several years ago; his job (which my daughter now helps with, too) was to roll the dough balls in butter and then into the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture—messy, fun, and perfect for little hands. It rises overnight in the fridge, and bakes while we open presents. About two years ago he did an assignment at school about traditions, and guess what he wrote about. Monkey Bread. This is the stuff that warms my heart; this is why we have traditions!
Another new tradition is peppermint bark—something I don’t think I ever had as a child. I have my own secret recipe. I use my signature double sifting method to separate the crushed peppermint into three different size categories. It takes a little extra effort, but my kids love watching the “fairy dust” technique. It makes it more like candy, and gives the white chocolate (which I’m not normally the biggest fan of) some real texture and flavor—almost a crystalline crunch. I’m pretty proud of it, and it’s a sweet, festive homemade gift that takes two ingredients and hardly any time.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly (especially to my daughter) is the cookie decorating. Santa needs cookies. A messy, can’t-be-rushed activity that always results in giggles and creativity. The googly eyes were a new addition this year. I think they must become part of the tradition.
These are my traditions—the things that are special enough to wait all year for. The things that have me missing Christmas already. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, and I wish you all a very happy and healthy new year (full of lots of good food!).
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