This recipe is authored by Marcy Goldman, and is taken from her Jewish Holiday Baking cookbook. It is one of the best baking cookbooks out there. My friend Beth bought this for me almost 20 years ago – it was one one of my first cookbooks – and I was instantly hooked. It continues to be one of my favorite cookbooks to this day.
Marcy named this recipe “My Mother’s Fancy Apple Cake”. She writes that it is one of her best childhood memories. I can understand why. This cake is mostly made up of apples that are combined with a scrumptious vanilla sauce. The crust that surrounds the cake is light, delicious and easy to prepare.
To be completely honest with you, this recipe is not simple. However, it is not very complicated either. It just requires a long prep time. Peeling and slicing the apples takes a while, so if you are planning to make this cake (and you definitely should) give yourself a little extra free time for this one.
To this day, it remains my family’s favorite dessert. So I take the time to make it. What better reason could I have than that? The lemon gives the apples even more enhanced tangy flavor. The vanilla extract and the cinnamon add a nice savory goodness to every bite. The crust is the perfect home for this delicious cake. I bet you won’t even leave a crumb. Enjoy!
You should too. You will not be sorry you did!
Ingredients for the Apple Cake:
For the Cake Crust:
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups all- purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
For the Apple Filling:
7-9 cups peeled and sliced apples ( or enough to fill up your cake pan)
Juice of 1/2 lemon, to sprinkle on the apples
1/4 cup granulated sugar
For the Vanilla Sauce:
3 tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
For the Topping:
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Make the Crust:
In a large bowl, combine all of the crust ingredients to make a soft but stiff dough.
Add a bit more flour if needed to ensure that you do not have a batter, but a soft dough.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for 10-15 minutes.
Make the Filling: In a bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice and sugar.
Brush the bottom and sides of a 10- inch springform pan with melted butter.
Preheat oven to 350.
Pat the dough evenly over the bottom and the sides of the pan (it should be between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick).
Fill with the apple slices, pressing gently.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil.
Bake the cake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove foil after 15 minutes or until the apples are soft. The top apples will seem dry; the interior apples should begin to feel soft to the touch.
Make the Vanilla Sauce:
In a bowl, combine the ingredients for the sauce in the order given.
Pour the sauce over the hot cake, trying to get it to drip into all the crevices.
Bake for an additional 20 minutes.
Refrigerate for at least 4 to 6 hours or overnight.
This Sweet Potato Pie recipe has been on my Thanksgiving menu for the past 15 years! It is the most popular side dish and one that has become a staple in my family. Everyone loves it and it has become a holiday tradition. This is my most requested recipe and I am happy to be sharing it with you again.
Most of us will have celebrations this year with a few close friends and family. It may seem different, but remember, it is the love, sharing and caring that makes any festivity special. My Thanksgiving will be very quiet this year, as I know most of yours will too. It will be just my husband and I and our sons and dogs. I am sorry to say that I will not have my usual Thanksgiving pictures. I know you all look forward to them. So do I. I missed organizing and decorating and prepping for my usual big gala. I will miss seeing everyone and catching up with a few drinks. But this year, I think the true meaning of Thanksgiving will be close in all of our hearts.
Whatever you decide to do, you must make this sweet potato pie. It is so decadent and a real crowd pleaser.
If you ask me who gave me the recipe, well that would have to be Shelley of course!
It starts with a graham cracker crust that is filled with sweet potato and a nutmeg flavored mixture. Top it with marshmallows and you have heaven on a plate!
Turn a traditional Thanksgiving dessert into a decadent side dish! This recipe is a MUST for your holiday menu!
Ingredients for Sweet Potato Pie
4-6 large sweet potatoes 1/2 cup of margarine (or butter), melted and cooled 1 cup of sugar 4 eggs 1/2 tsp. nutmeg (I always add just a little bit more) 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup of Coffee Rich (usually in frozen section of supermarket) or any half and half
4 graham cracker pie crusts
2 bags of marshmallows
Preheat oven to 425.
Cook potatoes in boiling water until you can easily put a fork through it. Let cool. Take the skins off.
Place in mixer and beat until smooth.
Add margarine (or butter) and sugar.
Place one egg in at a time and continue to blend.
Add in nutmeg, salt and coffee rich.
Pour it into unbaked pie crusts.
Bake it for 20 minutes.
Turn oven down to 325 and continue to bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
You can now freeze this recipe for up to two weeks without the marshmallows. What a time-saver!
If you have frozen this, take it out of the freezer in the morning, let it thaw and come to room temperature.
Top with marshmallows.
Place back into the oven at 325 for about another 10-15 minutes or until marshmallows have melted and tops are golden brown.
Even though I clearly love to cook, there are some things that I just do NOT like to make. Mashed potatoes is one of these foods. It is such a process, and I always feel insecure about mashing them. I worry that they will have lumps in them, and nobody likes lumpy mashed potatoes. I also dislike peeling the potatoes. It takes a considerable amount of time and I worry that they will turn brown before I cook them.
We all have our pet peeves, strange though they may be. I hate to vacuum and iron, so I do everything I can to avoid these chores. Cooking may fall in that category for some, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Sure, if you are coming home after a long day at work, prepping, cooking, and cleaning might not be on your list of ways to wind down. You don’t have to love cooking, but knowing the basics may help alleviate some of the stress that goes with it. You can hate cooking if you want, but let’s try to make it a little more palatable, shall we?
Try not to pick complicated recipes. Some of the best meals are simply roasted, or sautéed with very few ingredients involved. Before you find a recipe, choose an ingredient that you actually enjoy. You may enjoy cooking it, and find yourself pretty proud of your accomplishment–just don’t cook it to death. You do not have to cook your broccoli the same way your mother did. Simply roast it or sauté it until it is a bright green (this goes for any vegetable) and take it off the heat. Voila, no more mushy, tasteless veggies.
Invest in really good knives. Doing this will cut your prep time in half. It may be a little pricey, but the knives will last forever and are definitely a good investment.
Start small. Your family will appreciate your attempt, no matter what. You may begin to feel that there is some kind of beauty in the prep. Chopping and dicing may relax you. Play your favorite music, and sing along. If you have kids, try to get them to help you even if they don’t like your music. Even my husband and I have completely different tastes in music, but he knows when I am in the kitchen, the room is mine and I get to play my favorite tunes. It really helps the time go by.
I may try to perfect my mashed potatoes in the future, but in the meantime, I found this recipe. There is some peeling involved, but not too much and it will be worth it in the end. This side dish is an amazing addition to any main dish. The flavors of the leeks, celery root, and potatoes combine deliciously to make this a mouthwatering alternative to mashed potatoes. The apple, (which I added on my own) adds further sweetness. The half and half makes this dish lusciously sweet and creamy. The Brussels sprouts are the perfect topping to this puree, giving it a nice crunch and added flavor. Feel free to add parmesan cheese over the top if your family likes cheese as much as I do.
This recipe is closely adapted from Ina Garten and will serve 6 to 8 people who will be pleasantly surprised at this warm and hearty side dish.
Ingredients for Celery Root and Cauliflower Puree:
Good Olive oil 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 2 1/2 cups chopped leeks, white and green parts (2 leeks) 2 pounds celery root, peeled and 1/2-inch diced 1-pound cauliflower, core removed, cut into florets 8 ounces Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and 1/2-inch diced 2 apples, peeled and cored, and 1/2 diced Kosher salt and pepper 3 cups half and half 8 Brussels sprouts, cored and outer leaves peeled off
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large pot or Dutch Oven.
Add the leeks and sauté over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender.
Add the celery root, cauliflower, potatoes, apples 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.
Sauté the vegetables for 4 to5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften.
Add the half and half, bring to boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender.
Meanwhile, core the Brussels sprouts and pull off the outer green leaves, saving the inner white leaves for another use.
Place the leaves on a sheet pan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt, and toss with your hands.
Spread out in one layer and roast for 10 minutes, until the leaves are slightly browned and crispy.
Transfer the celery root mixture to a food processor fitted with the steel blade, (or you can use an immersion blender), and process until coarsely pureed.
Return the mixture to the pot, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, along with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper and reheat.
Transfer the hot purée to a serving dish, drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with crispy Brussels sprout leaves.
Now that the seasonal festivities are getting close, I thought it might be time to talk about how to throw a party that will leave your guests feeling happy, whether it’s a big bash, or a small family gathering.
One of my biggest pet peeves (and I am sure you all are going to agree with me) is when your guests arrive, and, though I’m sure they intend to be polite, come into the kitchen to greet me and end up lingering far too long. My guests would always gather in the kitchen while I prepared the dinner– it’s not that I disliked the company, but in a smaller kitchen, it was hard to move and work efficiently. My dining and living room are always decorated with lights, flowers, appetizers, and music, but for some reason, people drift back to the kitchen.
You can remodel, make your kitchen bigger, try to change the space to accommodate them. For some reason, this does not really help– the kitchen has a strange gravity that is hard to escape. People want to be someplace warm and inviting, and in most cases, that would be the kitchen. For a cook, the kitchen is a place where you can relax and focus. No fear of bumping into a table set with candles, and a place where you can put that glass of wine down, without worries of it spilling and staining anything.
Personally, for myself, I always end up in the kitchen during a dinner party or holiday that I have been invited to. The difference is that I roll up my sleeves and help, or I leave if I’m not wanted– I know how it goes, and I’m not offended. I can navigate pretty well in most kitchens, so I can assist in chopping, preparing, washing dishes, or even taking out the trash. Many of my friends are like that as well. If you’ve ever hosted a dinner, you know that no matter how organized you are, there is always room for an extra couple of hands. This is especially true for the clean-up. Don’t just sit there, get up and help! Cleaning up after a party is always a daunting task, so as many hands as you can get to help is a blessing, and it makes the work so much more enjoyable.
As for getting people out of your kitchen, I have no remedy for that. Maybe try turning up the music and putting appetizers in the living room where all the comfy seating and pillows are. You can enlist a friend to try to lure people out of the kitchen as they come in. Remove any comfort from the kitchen, like bar stools or chairs where people would tend to sit. I have a cousin, who, at every holiday would stand right in front of my ovens, which made it very difficult to maneuver my dinner in and out.
Finally, I just had to ask, sometimes very loudly, to get everyone out of the kitchen. Most listened for a short time, but they were back in there within minutes. So, maybe we have to plan for this to happen at holidays because there doesn’t seem to be a nice way to prevent it. Maybe a sign on the door warning people that the cook bites? I really think most people want to help, so I always give them something to do, even if it’s just cutting up lemons and limes. Have them dress the salad or better yet, make the dressing themselves. Hey, if you can’t get rid of them, try to make them useful.
If you are invited as a guest to someone’s home for the holiday this year, this is one dessert I highly suggest that you make and bring over. It’s so rich and decadent– perfect for a holiday gathering. After you manage to get the crust edges to look pretty (this is not an easy task, trust me), the rest of the pie is easily whipped up. The sweetened condensed milk is always a welcome addition to any dessert. It adds a sweet flavor and a gooey texture. The almond extract offers a rich, savory flavor that combines perfectly with the coconut. I think you’d better make two– it is easy enough to double, and there are definitely going to be people asking for seconds.
This recipe is courtesy of A Taste of Home and will serve 6 to 8 people who will want to be in the kitchen and make this with you.
Ingredients for Coconut Macaroon Pie:
1 sheet refrigerated pie crust 2 large eggs 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk 1/4 cup butter, melted 1 teaspoon almond extract 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 package (14 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut
Preheat oven to 350°.
Unroll crust into a 9-in. pie plate; flute edge.
Refrigerate while preparing filling.
In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, melted butter, extract and salt until blended.
Stir in flour.
Reserve 1/2 cup coconut; stir remaining coconut into egg mixture.
Transfer to pie crust.
Sprinkle with reserved coconut.
Bake on a lower oven rack until golden brown and filling is set, 35-45 minutes.
As it goes closer to Thanksgiving, we realize that the world is not the same place it used to be. Maybe we all need to take a closer look at how we will celebrate this year. The pandemic is still here and celebrations will look very different.
It has been months since many of us have seen our extended family. Some of have not seen elderly parents or other elderly friends. I know my brother and sister-in-law have not seen their daughter or their grandchildren for over a year. While I am grateful I am able to see them, I feel terrible that they have not seen the people who are the closest to them for so long. My brother and Shelley are very close to their grandchildren and are very hands on grandparents. My niece, Leslie and her family live in Connecticut and my brother and Shelley live in Florida. Visiting her parents is not a problem, it’s the length of the quarantine they would have to abide by when they come home. Both her children are in school and can not afford to take the time off from learning (one of their children is in the classroom and not doing remote learning).
I have elderly Aunt’s and Uncle’s that I have not seen since last Thanksgiving. I miss them. Talking on the phone is okay, but I miss having them over for dinner and just being with them.
“Right now, in many areas of the country, COVID-19 rates are starting to surge again,” says Dr. Tina Tan, pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Tan fears that the lure of holiday parties as well as more indoor activity because of the colder weather may result in more illnesses.
Now, although wonderful tradition that is celebrated by people all over the country, the CDC has advised that the festival should be curtailed this year. They recommend that you limit the amount of people who come to your home, as well as checking the amount of COVID-19 cases in your community s as well as where attendees are coming from, and whether they will increase the risk of infection and spread among attendees. Family and friends should consider the number and rate of COVID-19 cases in their community and in the community where they plan to celebrate when considering whether to host or attend a holiday celebration. Here are some other recommendations from the CDC:
Where to gather: indoor gatherings generally pose more risk than outdoor gatherings. Indoor gatherings with poor ventilation pose more risk than those with good ventilation, such as those with open windows or doors.
The duration of the gathering: gatherings that last longer pose more risk than shorter gatherings.
The number of people at the gathering: gatherings with more people pose more risk than gatherings with fewer people. CDC does not have a limit or recommend a specific number of attendees for gatherings. The size of a holiday gathering should be determined based on the ability to reduce or limit contact between attendees, the risk of spread between attendees, and state, local, health and safety laws, rules, and regulations.
The locations the attendees will be traveling from: gatherings with attendees who are traveling from different places pose a higher risk than gatherings with attendees who live in the same area. Higher levels of COVID-19 cases and community spread in the gathering location, or where attendees are coming from, increase the risk of infection and spread among attendees.
The travel behaviors of the people coming: gatherings with attendees who are traveling from different places pose a higher risk than gatherings with attendees who live in the same area. Higher levels of COVID-19 cases and community spread in the gathering location, or where attendees are coming from, increase the risk of infection and spread among attendees.
Unfortunately for me, I have guests who fall into all of the warnings of the above to think about. Elderly people should not be traveling on a plane, nor risk themselves being exposed to people who are not following guidelines, i.e., teens and young adults. I usually have about 50 or more people. My home is big enough to accommodate all these people, but it just is not safe to have them all in my home, since I probably don’t have enough windows and ventilation to keep them safe. My main priority is to keep all my guests guarded, and since I can not guarantee all the safety precautions, we have decided to cancel this incredible tradition that my family has observed for over 20 years. I am not even sure what I am doing for the holiday. I am waiting for some people to get back to me, but I have a feeling I will be celebrating at my cousin’s home, just her family and ours.
No matter what your family decides to do this year, this is one dish that you do not have to wait until Thanksgiving to make. It is a very light dish, yet it is packed with flavor. The tomatoes add sweet and tangy freshness. The heat provided by the crushed red pepper flakes is the perfect amount for this dish. The olives, parsley and capers add full-blown savory goodness. The tuna is another tasty addition giving this dish more light but delicious flavor.
This recipe is courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen and will serve 4 to 6 people, safely gathered around a festive table.
Ingredients for Spaghetti Puttanesca with Flaked Tuna:
