{"id":3430,"date":"2014-12-18T08:00:58","date_gmt":"2014-12-18T13:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=3430"},"modified":"2014-12-17T15:49:22","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T20:49:22","slug":"on-your-table-holiday-food-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=3430","title":{"rendered":"On Your Table: Holiday food memories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sweet treats often bond the generations, families at the holidays<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Cathy Branciaroli<\/strong>, Food Correspondent, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cookies\"<\/a>

While you might see just a plate of cookies, some might see a reminder of holidays past, times with loved ones no longer here.<\/p><\/div>\n

A few days before Christmas, friends come to my house to share holiday treats and stories of their family food traditions.\u00a0 Their recipes hold long-treasured memories kept alive by us for the next generation.\u00a0 While we come from different places — Hungary, Italy, the Ukraine, Poland, or Puerto Rico — the stories are similar.<\/p>\n

Some of the stories are about great cooks, some about those who could not cook at all.\u00a0 \u00a0Some of the stories are wistful, like longing for the crusciki recipe that died with my friend\u2019s mom.\u00a0 Some are joyful, like enjoying rice pudding with coconut and cinnamon.<\/p>\n

We each bring tons of treats to pass around while we catch up on family doings.\u00a0 Every one of us has our traditions and this time of year things get very busy as we organize to share them once again with family and friends.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the rare family that doesn\u2019t have some holiday food tradition to share, from sitting around the table all day making pierogies, to sharing twelve dishes for the twelve Apostles on Christmas eve, to enjoying a whole roasted pig wrapped in green banana leaves. \u00a0\u00a0The favorite in my husband\u2019s family are his mother\u2019s sugar cookies with sprinkles on top and applesauce cake baked in a Christmas tree shaped pan.<\/p>\n

For me it\u2019s all about my mother\u2019s Hungarian pastries.<\/p>\n

My mother\u2019s mother brought the secret of these specialties with her when she immigrated to the US from Hungary many years ago and the recipes were never written down.\u00a0 So when my mother set up her own household, she had to experiment to recreate them.\u00a0 She must have tried twenty versions, trying her friend Gabi\u2019s recipe and those of others before she felt she had matched her favorite, the nut rolls.<\/p>\n

I was luckier.\u00a0 I became my mother\u2019s baking helper and in so doing learned her nut roll secrets.\u00a0 Along the way she offered pointers, saying, \u201chere\u2019s the way I like to do this\u201d while demonstrating each step.\u00a0 For silky smooth dough she instructed \u201cstretch and fold it until the surface shines.\u201d Or to avoid a gritty crushed nut filling, \u201ca splash of hot milk does the trick,\u201d she advised.<\/p>\n

These days my mother supervises, drinking hot tea at the kitchen table while I do the heavy lifting and she visits with my friend Diane.\u00a0 Nut rolls are from the Eastern European tradition although even my Irish friend Diane has a trusted recipe.\u00a0\u00a0 Each year the nut rolls turn out a little differently but we look for success in a golden brown crust and uniform pinwheel shape.\u00a0 No matter how they turn out, we congratulate ourselves on another year of keeping this family tradition alive.<\/p>\n

In the spirit of holiday giving, here are some scrumptious holiday recipes from friends of mine in the food world, which I hope you will enjoy.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Berry Chocolate Mocha Mousse Dessert<\/span> by Flavor Mosaic<\/p>\n

\u2022 Caramel Apple Turnovers<\/span> by In The Kitchen With KP<\/p>\n

\u2022 Chocolate Mousse Cups<\/span> by That Skinny Chick Can Bake<\/p>\n

\u2022 Fudgy Chocolate Berry Bundt Cake<\/span> by Desserts Required<\/p>\n

\u2022 Italian Wine Doughnut Cookies<\/span> by Bobbi\u2019s Kozy Kitchen<\/p>\n

\u2022 Lemon Pound Cake<\/span> by Peanut Butter and Peppers<\/p>\n

\u2022 Red Wine Chocolate Cookie Cups<\/span> by Alida\u2019s Kitchen<\/p>\n

\u2022 Red Wine Chocolate Truffles<\/span> by Life Tastes Good<\/p>\n

\u2022 Vanilla Cupcakes with White Wine Caramel Apple Compote<\/span> by Feed Me,Seymour<\/p>\n

\u2022 White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Snowballs<\/span> by Cupcakes & Kale Chips<\/p>\n

\u2022 Amaretto Cranberry Swirled Cheesecake<\/span> by The Life and Loves of Grumpy\u2019s Honeybunch<\/p>\n

\u2022 Caramelized Banana Upside-Down Rum Cake<\/span> by Wallflour Girl<\/p>\n

\u2022 Dumante Frozen Espresso Creams<\/span> by Seduction in the Kitchen<\/p>\n

\u2022 Honey Chamomile Hot Toddy Tea Cake<\/span> by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen<\/p>\n

\u2022 Kahlua Bundt Cake<\/span> by That Skinny Chick Can Bake<\/p>\n

\u2022 Tiramisu Biscotti<\/span> by The Redhead Baker<\/p>\n

Cathy Branciaroli also writes about her adventures in the kitchen on her blog <\/i>Delaware Girl Eats<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sweet treats often bond the generations, families at the holidays By Cathy Branciaroli, Food Correspondent, The Times A few days before Christmas, friends come to my house to share holiday treats and stories of their family food traditions.\u00a0 Their recipes hold long-treasured memories kept alive by us for the next generation.\u00a0 While we come from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,8],"tags":[2434,2433,138,2408],"class_list":["post-3430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-featured","tag-cookies","tag-holiday-baking","tag-memories","tag-recipes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3430"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3431,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3430\/revisions\/3431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}