Cinnamon Swirl Bread

June 20, 2011 by Stephanie | Leave a comment

Cinnamon swirl bread, the kind without the raisins, is one of the best types of bread. Of course it’s not that versatile as a sandwich bread, I mean, you certainly can’t make a tuna sandwich with it (or you can, but I don’t think i want to), but toasted up with some cream cheese? It makes a perfect easy breakfast or pre-dinner snack! the best part about homemade cinnamon swirl bread is that it’s even better than that stuff you buy at the supermarket, you don’t even need to toast it or cream cheese it, it’s still the best snack! And it’s pretty, too; there’s no doubt in my mind that when you cut into it you’ll be proud of the cinnamon swirl you find inside.

Old-Fashioned Banana Cake

June 17, 2011 by Jessica | 4 Comments

The problem with making desserts for Shabbat is that we can’t take pictures of the final project…I mean, you can see the cake and how it looked right out of the oven, but you can’t see it sliced and on a plate, which is too bad because this cake was pretty. Okay, the pan is a little bit messy, but at least my counter is clean! Oh, and the other problem is that you have to make the desserts pareve. Which means no cream cheese frosting! Those who dare to eat pareve whipped topping dolloped some on top of their cake. I ate it plain and it was amazing just the way it was. Continue reading …

Kanafeh

June 15, 2011 by Jessica | 8 Comments

Please welcome our sister-in-law Adele, who learned to make this Syrian specialty from a Syrian cooking expert and is now sharing it with everyone!

This recipe was taught to me as part of my you’re-getting-married-time-to-learn-how-to-cook training by an amazing cook…. who does not use measurements. I stood with her and watched closely, taking notes diligently. After making this a few times on my own, a measurable recipe was born. Continue reading …

Candied Apricots with Pistachio, aka Helou Michmosh

June 13, 2011 by Stephanie | 2 Comments

I made this a while ago, but was hesitant to share it because of its mixed reviews. Some people thought it was too sweet, others not sweet enough. I even got one “this is the most delicious thing ever!” So I guess it’s up to you to judge…I happened to like the slightly bitter chewiness of the candy, and snacked on it for weeks.

Rachel’s Challah

June 10, 2011 by Stephanie | 4 Comments

Our friend Rachel makes such delicious challah and is always generous enough to share with us! The first time she brought me a loaf was when we went out to dinner on a Thursday night. She said she made six, so she could spare one. She brought another one when I invited her for a fish taco dinner at our apartment. I told her how much we loved it, so she shared the recipe with me, and now I can have Rachel Challah whenever I want (not that there’s a shortage of challah recipes out there)!

Pecan and Almond Squares

June 7, 2011 by Jessica | Leave a comment

Shavuot is here! You know what that means? You guessed it – DAIRY DESSERTS! Delicious buttery crusts and caramels. Cheesecake. Ice cream. Yup, desserts just taste better on shavuot. This year, Mommy Foodie’s birthday is the second day of the holiday. Aside from making her an awesome cake, I made her these nut bars. My mom loves nuts, so I know she’ll really enjoy these for dessert! A dairy dessert with shortbread crust and a caramely nutty topping – how can you go wrong?

Ina really knows how to write a decadent recipe! This recipe for pecan squares has more than a pound of butter in it – enough said. These “pecan squares” are really a shortbread crust with caramel and pecans on top. Kinda like a pecan pie, just in bite size portions. How bad can that be? Well, after reading through hundreds of reviews on the food network site, I realized that many people did not really like the crust. And there were a lot of complaints about burnt sugar on the bottom of ovens. Even though I have a self-cleaning oven, I was not about to let that happen. So I halved the recipe, to make sure it really would fit on a half sheet pan. A lot of people said they just made them in 9×13 Pyrexes, but I wanted that flat look all over, plus I wanted very thin bars – once you see how much sugar and butter are in these, you’ll know why. Continue reading …

Cream Soda

June 3, 2011 by Jessica | Leave a comment

Stephanie has had the pleasure of working next to the folks of P&H Soda Co. for the past month at Madison Square Eats, an outdoor popup food fair. Not only did she drink tons of gourmet soda (her favorite flavor was ginger-lime, by the way), but she also learned that Anton, the owner, was once on TV with Martha Stewart! When she sent me this video back in February, she never even heard of Anton or his soda company, but knew I would be interested in making Anton’s cream soda at home; I’m so glad I did! Continue reading …

Cake Batter Ice Cream Cake

May 30, 2011 by Jessica | 8 Comments

Zeke’s favorite ice cream flavor is cake batter. Whenever I drag him to Carvel, he gets the same flavor – sometimes he gets it in a milkshake, though. So for his birthday, I decided to surprise him with a second birthday cake! A colorful ice cream cake that tastes like cake batter. It was awesome. Continue reading …

Spinach and Cheddar Souffle

May 25, 2011 by Jessica | Leave a comment

As you know, I’ve made a chocolate souffle before. And while it was amazingly delicious, it definitely wasn’t a meal. So I decided to try my hand at something new, and something that home cooks are way too often scared of: savory souffle! This souffle with cheese and greens was SO easy to make, I promise! Of course, I used an Ina recipe. One that I actually didn’t see online, but rewound my DVR to make sure I got all the measurements and ingredients right.

Pizza with Baby Artichokes and Lemon Ricotta

May 23, 2011 by Stephanie | 4 Comments

Springtime means artichokes, a vegetable I’ve gotten familiar with these past few years, but this spring marks the first time I’ve ever made baby artichokes.

Baby artichokes are a smaller, fully mature variety of the globe artichoke. The fun part about them is that there’s no choke to be found in these little guys, so with a little bit of trimming, the whole thing is edible. I guess they should really be called artis?