The Twelve (Food) Days of Christmas: Day Two

Day Two: Recipe Search
Well, the recipes from cousin Louise are missing. I know they are not totally missing; I think I know where they are but I don't have the energy to dig to the back of my overflowing closet right now to get to them (I'm in the midst of a big cleaning binge right now; don't ask.)

Fortunately most of the Christmas cookie favorites are easy: chocolate chip cookies, some kind of fudge, "peanut butter blossoms" (you know, the cookies with the Hershey's kisses on top? I've also heard them referred to as "titty cookies." If that helps you visualize them.) and the ever-so-1950s "Chinese Chews." These are definitely a grown-up cookie, but not in the same way as the aforementioned peanut butter treats. The main ingredient besides butter is dates. When I was a kid I didn't like these cookies, but the first Christmas without Louise I was determined to replicate her tradition to the letter so I made them anyway. And wouldn't you know ... I loved them! I suppose the dates appeal to the more sophisticated palate that comes with age and experience.

And in 2008, that "sophisticated palate" most certainly wouldn't go around calling these cookies "Chinese Chews." For Pete's sake, dates come from the Middle East. (or California.) But back in the '50s I suppose the name evoked some exotic Oriental kitchen filled with bar cookies sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. A friend asked for the recipe a year or two ago and when I wrote it out I christened them "Chewy Date Bars."

So today, after I couldn't find the recipes (and my mom couldn't find a copy either, probably because she didn't like Chinese Chews when she was a kid and so has no interest in making them herself) I decided to try the Internet. First I looked for "chewy date bars." There's no way anybody out there is calling them "Chinese Chews" in this day and age, I thought. But no luck. So I finally searched, all stealthy-like ("I hope my ISP doesn't think I'm some kind of racist") for "Chinese Chews."

Results 1 - 10 of about 7,240 for "chinese chews".

Lo and behold! There are other people out there looking for these things! Lots of them! And one fellow food blogger even posted a story about her own "hunt" for them, which seems to authenticate my own idea that they are from the Fifties.

And here is a recipe which most closely approximates Louise's, as I remember. It's so simple. The most exotic thing in them are a box of pressed dates. I get mine at Wal-Mart.


EDIT, DEC. 20, 2014: I found Louise's handwritten recipe!
Unfortunately I can't easily add the image right now from my iPad because Google wants to make it difficult for me to do so. (This is why I don't update this blog anymore! Related: Why can't this be more like Wordpress?!)

The Twelve (Food) Days of Christmas: Day One

OK, so I let my absolute favorite food holiday go by with nary a post on this blog. I do have some Thanksgiving-related posts and photos lined up, however, so I will get them up soon. I have been very busy with a writing class I am taking so it feels the time I spend writing is best spent on writing for the class I paid money for instead of this blog. But the class ends soon, and I miss writing about food, so I will be back. In the meantime I bring you twelve days of food-related dispatches from my second favorite food holiday.

The Twelve (Food) Days of Christmas
Day One: Make a Plan, Stan

The plan is for two days of food-related family fun. Christmas Eve we do a dinnertime family gathering at a cousin's house, and on Christmas Day we do a big dinner at my parents' house. in between are stops at one or two other homes to which I plan to bring some food.

This year I am mainly in charge of cookies. I took on the mantle of Official Family Cookie Baker two years ago, when our elderly cousin who had been in charge of cookies longer than I have been alive passed away. Into my hands fell her giant stack of pencil-written cookie recipes (I have plans to turn them into a Christmas cookie recipe scrapbook) and her square Tupperware container with her name written on a piece of tape stuck to the lid. I also think this container, which she used to ferry cookies from her home to wherever our gatherings were, is older than I am.

Anyway ... last year I got myself involved in a cookie swap for which I made something like 12 dozen cookies. I had offered to host it this year, but didn't get around to it, so it didn't happen at all. But it was fantastic to have so many cookies. They lasted clear through Martin Luther King Day. At least. So this year I am planning to make a ton of cookies just so I have plenty at the ready.

In addition to cookies I plan to make some sort of candy-related thing. I was thinking maybe chocolate bark, and when I saw this easy recipe for marbled winter bark in the December issue of Martha Stewart Living I was positive. I already bought chocolate melty things on sale last week.

Probably the main thing I am doing is taking the pressure off. For Thanksgiving I like to make sure I have plenty of side dishes that I enjoy in addition to tasty after-dinner treats (and usually some kind of fun beverage, such as "cranberry spritzers," but I think that if you stick to all desserts or all side dishes, etc. you can be much more relaxed. So I am not making any side dishes. I think. I am much more a turkey girl than a ham girl so I don't actually have any favorite ham-friendly side dishes other than pineapple slices that you cook on top of the ham for a while. (mmmm ... pork-flavored fruit ...)

Anyway, tomorrow I will report more thoroughly on my cookie plans. I am worried that I put the sacred cookie recipes in a "safe place" that is so safe I won't remember where it is.

Strategery

So, on Wednesday morning I realized I had a loaf of potentially stale bread. I figured I would give it to my companion's father to feed to the birds, as he is wont to do with stale bread (and various other kitchen scraps). The half-loaf was going to sit in my car all day then become birdfood when we went for our weekly Wednesday night pasta dinner.

But then, lo and behold, what should appear in the New York Times? The article and recipe "What to Do With Stale Bread? Pudding, for Starters." It describes a strata -- an Italian "bread pudding" of sorts, the name coming from the layers of bread and tomatoes -- more than a bread pudding per se. Its billing as a "Savory Bread Pudding With Tomatoes and Herbs" tells the whole story.

Since I was using a slightly smaller baking dish than it called for, and I neglected to measure out my bread (just used it all , since I definitely didn't want any left over after it had sat in my car all day), I didn't really stratify it as much as I did a layer of bread, a layer of tomatoes (diced, and with most of the seeds taken out), and a layer of bread. And I probably used twice as much cheese as it called for. OK, maybe three times as much cheese. I used Gruyere and Romano (the recipe called for Parmiagiano, but I usually just have Romano around; it's my go-to dry cheese). Also I used basil instead of the herbs it called for.

I think it came out pretty good. Tasty, easy, definitely a comfort food. Although it's supposed to be a way to use up bountiful late-summer tomatoes (in addition to the stale bread), I think it would be a nice addition to a cold winter day. (Once winter arrives in earnest, I'll introduce you to my zucchini gratin, which is one of my winter comfort-food faves.)

High Times

The local civic club of which I am a member sponsored an event Friday night for which I was required to bake a massive amount of dessert. I chose my go-to favorite: Brownie Bites. You take a box of brownie mix (I used four boxes, for a total of 80 Bites), follow the directions for "cake-like brownies," (usually means add one more egg), and pour the mix into mini-muffin tins.

So this time, I bought a different brand (store brands both times. They work great, as long as you don't overcook them.) But it was after a long day at work on Thursday, and I guess I was anxious to get it done. So I didn't read the box too carefully. I thought it was a little weird when it said to add three tablespoons of flour to the mix to make cake-like brownies. But hey, I figured, it all works out pretty good because I don't have enough eggs if I'm supposed to add three eggs to each box. It's a different brand, right, so maybe that's why?

My big genius move is to mix each box of mix up separately, then pour the mix into a big Ziploc bag till I have all four mixed up and ready to go. Then I cut a hole in the corner of the bag and use it like a pastry bag to fill up the muffins. It saves time on transferring the mix to the tiny tins and on cleanup, too -- works out great.

Once I'm done mixing the brownies and put the first batch in the oven (with the Ziploc bag securely in a bowl in the fridge, hole-side up, so it doesn't all leak out), I set about licking the bowl (and the extra that I didn't scrape out so I could eat it.) Mmm, tasty ... and thicker, more fudgey and delicious than usual.

Now, I like to read as I eat. The nearest thing to me is -- what else? -- the brownie mix box. And then I see it: "High-altitude directions (3,500-6,500 feet) ..."

Whoops. I think they ended up coming out none the worse for wear. They were definitely better than the ones I overcooked for this same event last year. These brownies actually looked really nice, with crackley tops. Fortunately the event on Friday was such a success that there were no brownies left over for me to try. But the mix in the bowl tasted awesome.

Another Irish food with a beverage in the title

Best Irish soda bread recipe? Ina Garten's.

'tis the season ...

... for the annual Making of the Bailey's Cake.

Those who have known me for a while probably have eaten my Bailey's Irish Cream Cake. By "my," I mean, a cake that was made by me, not a cake that was invented by me. I can lay no such claim to this recipe, but I can attest to the fact that it is universally acclaimed by all who taste it.

Except, presumably, by vegans.

That there are eggs in the cake seem to be no big problem to overcome; The Vegans have figured out many such ways to imitate their binding qualities. But the Irish cream presents another quandary altogether. So when I brought a cake to a gathering this weekend a vegan friend, who partook in the cake in her pre-vegan days and was an enthusiastic distributor of this recipe throughout the Midwest, said the next recipe she was going to Veganize was this one. (Expect a full report here when the mission is accomplished.)

Here is the recipe in its loves-me-some-animal-products form. While I might like to keep it a secret, alas, since it came to me through the good grace of others, I too shall pass it along.

Irish Cream Cake
for the cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
1/4 cup vodka
3/4 cup veg oil
4 eggs
1/8 cup water
1 box chocolate instant pudding
3/8 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream

for the glaze:
more Bailey’s
confectioner’s sugar

Mix all the ingredients together. Grease or spray the bundt pan thoroughly with Pam for Baking. Dump the cake in. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. To make the glaze, mix about a cup of confectioner’s sugar with some Bailey’s until it makes a smooth, very thick glaze. Drizzle it all over the top of the cooled cake. Enjoy!