and in my friend's house I was still in my pjs, planted on the couch.
I do have to get up at some point and go to the store. I'm thinking of making this tomorrow morning. As I've said before, I love breakfast, and it doesn't get much better than Christmas morning breakfast. Then again, I might just head over to Stew Leonard's and pick up some pretzel bagels and sour cherry crepes. mmmm local novelty grocery store.
Anyways, enjoy the holidays and I'll be back in a few days!
That's right. Coffee. Jello. Or jelly. It's a New England-y recipe and a Sullivan tradition but, in retrospect, I think it was more of a favorite of just my Grammie and me. My father and his siblings were subjected to her 'cooking' growing up and, consequently, all became gourmands (cranberry orange cheesecake with a milano cookie crust, anyone?). However, one thing she did right was coffee jello and it always had a place on our holiday table. One year my Aunt Maura found a packaged mix in Maine that was ok, but the basic recipe is simple enough:
Ingredients:
2(1/4 ounce) envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2cup cold coffee
3 cups hot coffee
1/4cupsugar
1 pinch salt
Tip: Instant coffee is perfectly fine. I'd suggest that new Starbucks Via. Any flavored coffee would be good too. One year we did French Vanilla.
Directions:
In a large bowl combine gelatin and cold coffee
Allow to sit 10 minutes to soften
Add hot coffee, sugar and salt; stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and mixture is clear.
Pour into individual serving dishes and chill till set.
Top with a generous dollop of whipped cream
I found this fun twist that incorporates condensed milk. I'm sure Grammie would have loved it.
Katie trying to get her Christmas Trifle fix in July...
It seems like every family has a few treasured recipes that always make an appearance during the holidays--if someone dares to buck tradition by replacing, say, Aunt Linda's Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bon Appetite's Dark Chocolate Torte with Gingersnap Crust, oh there will be hell to pay.
Sometimes though, you can really eat only so much of a certain dish. My mother's family was held hostage by Lemon Delight, a 50's throwback dessert that my mom made for Easter one year which was then requested for nearly EVERY family gathering for the next decade. I mean, I like Cool Whip, cream cheese, and lemon pudding as much as the next person, but really guys?
Thankfully, Lemon Delight has gone to a peaceful resting place in the pantry with the rest of my mother's recipes and instead I give you her recipe for Christmas Berry Trifle--a name I just gave it because "that trifle you made last Christmas that Katie likes" doesn't have as much of a ring to it.
She found the original recipe in Parade magazine at least ten years ago and since it was British-sounding (and wasn't Lemon Delight) I was on board. Since then, it's become a family favorite, particularly with my cousin Katie, who now buys anything with the name 'trifle' in it.
Ingredients 1 jar red raspberry jam
1 package vanilla pudding (cook and serve, not instant) 1 ten oz. package frozen red raspberries, thawed 1 ten oz. package frozen strawberries, thawed 3/4 cup dry sherry wine 2 pound cakes (thawed if frozen) 1 c whipped cream (from scratch) Handful of slivered, toasted almonds
Directions Cook pudding according to package directions. Cover pudding with waxed paper or plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate 3 hours.
Drain raspberries and strawberries thoroughly in a sieve, measure 3/4 cup drained liquid and mix with sherry.
Slice both cakes crosswise into 10 pieces each. Sandwich jam in between slices of cake and cut again into fours.
Arrange the pieces of sandwiched pound cake along the bottom of a large glass bowl or trifle dish. Then pour half the sherry mixture over the cake; top with half the raspberries and strawberries, then half the pudding. Repeat the layering and chill for at least 4 hours. Cover with whipped cream and sprinkle with toasted almonds.
Don't worry, it's not a present wish list...although if you'd like to buy your favorite blogger something I wouldn't say no *cough* giftcertificatetoflour *cough*. Instead, this is a wish list of holiday activities I'd like to do this year.
Granted, perhaps for true ballet aficionados Tchaikovsky's Christmas classic is considered mere child's fare, but I don't care. I was obsessed with The Nutcracker when I was little and though I'm much more fond of Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty in terms of musicality, The Nutcracker captures that childhood feeling of the magic of Christmas, where dreams come true--even if those dreams involve dancing rats and a wooden nutcracker romancing a young girl.
--EDIT-- Ok, so turns out I went to The Nutcracker last night with Katie. It was great and satisfied my holiday/nostalgia sweet tooth. Still....dancing rats and Clara/Nutcracker Prince romance creeped me out.
It seems like when you're a kid, you go ice skating every winter. Then, suddenly you're a boring adult who can't even remember the last time you laced up. I'd like to change that this year.
Even though my Irish-Catholic Grandmother used to call me her "little heathen grandchild" the holidays bring out the best in organized religion. As such, give me something vaguely medieval with choir music, minor religious overtones and pageantry and I am allll over it. I've never been to this, but I see it advertised in The Hartford Courant every year (and usually most dates are sold out).
Dlo: Is that a lobster? Me: No, it's a dragon sent to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas. Dlo: Oh. Right. Cause that makes sense...
Again--medieval roots, pagan/christian mysteriousness, singing in costumes=fun times for Emily.
Bonus! It's set in Derbyshire, England! Home to a certain imaginary English Gentleman I enjoy...
5.) Have Fun On New Year's Eve
New Year's is the holiday I love to hate. There's so much pressure built up around the night that it's nearly impossible not to be let down. Sure, I've had some good ones, but usually the weather is absolutely beyond frigid (damn New England), someone gets into a fight, there's no one there to kiss you at midnight, and then to top it all off you wake up the next morning hungover and poorer than you were the night before.
While I wait for my mom to get back to me about these recipes, here's a little list of my favorite holiday-themed things that I wish were available all year 'round....
My friend Lorene was talking about her obsession with these a couple weeks ago. I had never tried them before because normally I'm not big on candy canes and the regular Joe-Joe's are essentially boring old Oreos (America's favorite cookie my ass...) But, when I noticed them at my local TJ's last Friday, I decided to buy a box and see what all the fuss was about. It's been four days and that box is almost gone. So. I am now publicly calling Lorene out on the internet:
Thanks a LOT for those extra five pounds, Lorene!
Anyways, as I was saying...These cookies create a chocolate/peppermint party in your mouth that's way better (and less vomit-inducing) than a York peppermint patty. And they go perfectly with a mug of hot chocolate or tea if you're not into 'overloading on chocolate in one sitting', like me. I suppose now I'll have to stock up on them for winter, like some strange Joe-Joe hoarding squirrel.
Seriously, what marketing exec thought plain white cups were a good idea? That nice, deep, crimson--reminiscent of a fiery, late-October maple leaf--is way more pleasing and eye-catching. Man, I am in the wrong profession...
Vanilla, chocolate, that weird pink ripple going down the middle--Who doesn't like a Jubilee roll! I remember my mom buying this when I was a kid and every day after school I'd come home and cut my self a big, thick slice. Why she bought this for just two people, I don't really know, but I won't question it.
First, Dunkin Donuts came out with pumpkin. Now, they have gingerbread. And, unlike actual gingerbread, people aren't disappointed when you show up with some. However, the headline "Gingerbread Everything" is more than slightly reminiscent of this. I'm on to you, DD....
They were the best ones anyways because, let's face it: Those flashbacks featuring Courtney Cox in a fat suit are funnier than anything Ross ever said. Ever.And now, thanks to the magic of the internet, you don't have to watch TBS every evening hoping to catch the one where Joey eats a bunch of turkey and says something stupid. Christmas dreams really do come true!
That's it.
I thought about including those white chocolate oreos, but who really likes white chocolate? Answer: No one.
Seeing as we're less than two weeks away from Christmas, I figured I'd do a series of posts on holiday food traditions. You know, those special recipes you break out only once or twice a year. Cause, let's face it: no one's gonna make those German spritz cookies in April. It's just plain wrong. And, it makes Baby Jesus cry. So. Stay tuned for some of my family's holiday favorites, including those damn butter cookies, coffee jello (yes), and the Christmas trifle that my cousin Katie spends all year talking about.
New York was a bust. My friend is sick, so it looks like I'll be in Boston this weekend. I hadn't realized until yesterday though that I would have been in NYC on the 30th Anniversary of John Lennon's death. He has always been a favorite of mine, as both a solo artist and as a member of the Beatles. But, this isn’t meant to be a pissing contest about which Beatle is the best. I love George, tolerate Macca because of “Maybe I’m Amazed” and well, I don’t mind Ringo. I mean, who doesn’t?
If you weren’t alive during Beatlemania everything you know about the fab four is being fed to you through some kind of filter: friends, parents, the media, etc. In my case it’s through my mother. John Lennon is her favorite. I grew up with a picture of him resting on the bookcase, a fuzzy close-up of his face taken off the tv, a part of an art project of a friend (hey, it was the 80s).You knew who it was—the nose, the glasses, the (then) long hair.Now, looking back, I realize we didn’t have many framed photos around or art on the walls. Maybe it was because after my parent’s divorced every apartment we lived in was simply temporary until my mother finally bought a house for us when I was 11. Still, no matter where we lived, that photo always came with us.
I was pretty anti-Beatles when I was too young to know better. I didn't like the name and didn't even bother listening to the music. It wasn't until my mother rented a VHS tape of the best of the Ed Sullivan Show one evening that I actually saw and heard them for the first time. This was, of course, their famous first U.S. television performance. I was 8 or 9 and just didn't understand the crying girls, the high pitched screams. I did, however, get the music. After that, I was hooked. It was Beatles, Beatles, Beatles on the stereo when I came home from school. But the soundtrack to Imagine, the biopic on Lennon, became a favorite. I loved the mix of both Beatles hits and Lennon solo tracks.
When I was young, the 60s and 70s seemed like a scary and turbulent time to live through. But today’s no different, really. It’s just that no one seems to notice or care. Yoko’s right. We do need John Lennon now more than ever. We need someone who both inspires and challenges us. Nowadays, with people like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift ruling the charts, it's easy to forget that music can mean something, that it can extend beyond our own teenage longings or failed romances. Say what you will about him, but the only person I can think of that comes even close to igniting that kind of debate is Kanye. Sure, he has an enormous ego, but also the talent to back it up. Likewise, he’s not afraid to speak his mind and take risks, both in his public life and his music. The man has so much power that his remark, "George Bush doesn't care about black people", was ranked as the worst moment of Bush’s presidency. Whether you agree with him or not, we need that kind of honesty. It’s easy to say “Well, he’s just a rapper. Who cares?” But, we live and have been living in a celebrity-driven culture for decades now. So yes, he does matter. They all do. And the more attention, however mindless it may be, we give to people like Kim Kardashian the less time we spend on those who are really trying to say something.
The importance of John Lennon is that we still talk about him—that we remember what he stood for--perhaps even more so than his music. But, it's his music that gives us a reason to listen.
...besides buy more silly bandz (obvs). I'm heading there this weekend to spend time with one of my BFFs, Elizabeth. I'm sure she has plenty planned, but I'm curious to hear your suggestions on places to eat, drink, play, and shop.
Last week I was reading thisarticle on my girl crush, Christina Hendricks, and her love of fine scotch when she mentioned some dishes her husbandlikes to prepare. First up: Nutella loaf. I had to read the sentence a couple of times just to make sure my eyes hadn't deceived me (Apparently I sometimes invent foods that don't exist--though I still maintain that macaroni pancakes can be made!) However, after a quick google search I found that yes, such a thing was real and reasonably easy to make. I mean if Joseph Gordon-Levitt's dorky friend in 500 Days of Summer can pull it off, how hard can it be? Right? Right?
Admittedly, this is really more of a butter pound cake with a Nutella swirl, which is slightly more boring than what I had originally imagined: A decadent, chocolatey hazelnut confection. Though I suppose one could simply melt the Nutella, then pour it into a loaf pan and refrigerate until cool...If one were to want such a thing...
Anyways, I found this recipe from Food & Wine magazine.
And here's some Do's and Don'ts they should have included...
Don't worry if the butter and sugar takes a while to cream. You didn't measure wrong. The batter needs those three minutes.
Do be patient when spreading the Nutella layers. It's a little difficult, since Nutella isn't terribly spreadable on top of batter. Go slowly and use small strokes (heh).
Don't bake for more than an hour without checking it, lest you enjoy your loaves a little crispy. The recipe's bake time is listed as 1 hour and 15 mins, but this was around the 1 hour and 8 mins mark and it had already started to burn (and stick to the bottom of the pan)
And lastly...
Dobring it to a holiday party or, for instance, your last Saturday ESL class. Otherwise, be prepared to eat the whole thing yourself.
No, really. How much? I saw this while walking home this evening and tried to get a look at the tag through the window, since the store was closed. I was almost able to make it out by pressing my face up against the glass, but I didn't want to be mistaken as a burglar. That is the last thing I need right now. Anyways, can't you see Peggy wearing something like this? In fact, I think she may have last season. Oh if only I could spend my dollars on vintage clothing instead of food and shelter...oh, and presents :)
On that note, enjoy what will probably be my last non-holiday related post for the next few weeks.
