re.CAP: THANKSGIVING

RER 11.27.14

Thanksgiving is over. Let that sink in for a minute. All that stress leading up to the family oriented holiday, all that anticipation of the turkey show-down, vanished. Those delicious eats that come around maybe once a year, gone. It’s over and it’s awful. The high has been a great ride and now it’s time for the crash. That holiday postpartum has set in and the blues is here.

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AJR 11.27.14

But you’re thankful. You’re thankful for another year and for your family and your friends and memories. Sure, devouring the sweet potato casserole crowned with toasted marshmallows brings you instant gratification, but what the holiday means lasts longer than that.

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RER 11.27.14

RER 11.27.14

RER 11.27.14

RER 11.27.14

This year has been difficult and there are more tangible things I am grateful for-- things that I can count on fingers and toes, things that are not so abstract and tenuous, maybe things that words can’t express. But I am counting my blessings, not marshmallows.

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12.1.14

RER 11.27.14

MangiaMore: KAMISH bread

RER 12.22.13

Snowed in today? Baking cookies is a fun cold weather activity anyway, and when you have to be cooped up indoors, why not take advantage of the time and bake some delicious kamish bread. I never had these wildly addictive jelly filled cookies until I was dating my boyfriend. Compared to recipes online, his family does it a little differently.

RER 12.21.13

It goes something like this:

3 cups flour

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾ cup oil

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Combine all ingredients to form dough. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  Roll out the dough and add toppings. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Cut the cookies while still warm.

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RER 12.21.13

Boom.

Many recipes that I have seen call for chocolate chips, but the ones I know are filled with jelly, and toppings ranging from coconut to raisins and almonds. After refrigerating the dough, we roll it out and creating “loaves.” We run a thick stripe of jelly down the middle, toss the toppings on that sweet jelly, and fold up the sides. Bake those badboys and cut the loaves into long, biscotti-shaped cookies.

RER 12.21.13

RER 12.21.13

Kamish bread is also often thought of as Jewish biscotti, because in some recipes it is baked twice. The end product is something more crunchy and crispy like the Italian cookies that have to be dunked to be chewed. The family recipe that I have come to love, does not instruct for a second bout in the oven. We often opt for underdone and initially soft. Once the cookies are cut and cooled, they do become more crumbly and drier, even without that last step of toasting.

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So simple and so satisfying. Much of the time the necessary ingredients are already in the house, which makes kamish bread the perfect snowed in snack.What do you make or do on snow days? Is baking high on the list? It is for me! Check out my snow days on instagram, facebook and tumblr!

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1.22.14

RER 12.21.13

re.CAP : merry CHRISTMAS

Bella 12.24.13

Hope everyone had a super happy holiday! There is most definitely a reason why the holiday season is called “the most wonderful time of the year.” And that is because it really just is. Beginning with the preparations of Thanksgiving dinner running all the way through the New Year, is a magical time. There always seems to be more food, more love and more laughter. It is a time when we get to indulge in family moments and memories, while stuffing our face with holiday baked goods and Christmas cookies (stay tuned), fishes and meats, pastas and sides, and tasty treats galore. Really, what’s not wonderful about the holiday season (other than mall traffic and amplified caloric intake)?

 

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AJR 12.25.13

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Bella 12.24.13

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What makes your holidays merry and bright? Any food traditions that you look forward to all year round? Christmas cookies that you can’t wait to shove in your mouth? Tell me about it! Follow on facebook, twitter, and instagram to stay in the loop!

RER

12.26.13

RER 12.24.13

MangiaMore: Aunt Lene's POUND CAKE

RER 11.28.13

There is something both classic and magical about pound cake. It’s not too sweet but perfectly satisfying. It’s dense and light at the same time, subtle in its flavors but big in memories. It’s like a blank canvas open for ice cream and toppings for dessert, great for toasting and smearing with your favorite jam for breakfast. But there is something about that intensely sweet crusty layer at the top of the cake that just barely separates, that’s magical.

RER 11.27.13

RER 11.27.13

RER 11.27.13

Our family has been making pound cake for various holidays forever and I have only known, my great great Aunt Lene’s recipe. We made it this year for Thanksgiving and it goes a little like this...

½ cup of shortening

½ cup butter

2 ¾ cup sugar

5 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon

1 cup milk

3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour tube pan.

Cream shortening and butter with the sugar, mix in eggs one at a time. Add in lemon and vanilla extract. Starting with milk, alternate the milk and flour. Beat well after each addition.

Pour batter in the prepared pan, and bake for at least one hour.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack. And remove once the pan is comfortable to handle.

Then slice and enjoy at your leisure.

 

RER 11.27.13

RER 11.27.13

RER 11.27.13

Toppings or not, this recipe is delicious. Does your family have an old school pound cake recipe that has been passed down for generations?

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11.30.13

RER 11.27.13