For years Michael has been telling me about the Easter bread his mother made, and for years I’ve been trying to obtain the recipe. I finally succeeded in getting two recipes: one from his mother, a scan of a page taken from an unknown cook book over 50 years ago; and the other from his [...]
Roasted Ham with Maple Whiskey Glaze
April 18, 2011 By 2 Comments
I grew up on pork, as did both my parents, though by the time my parents met and got married their families were no longer raising pigs. Dad’s family raised pigs when he was younger and did the butchering at Thanksgiving. They would salt the meat down for six weeks and then hang it for [...]
Roast Leg of Lamb with Cracked Peppercorns and Herbs
March 28, 2008 By 6 Comments
Big cuts of meat scare me. No, I don’t have nightmares about them, but for years I have studiously avoided them because I hate to ruin a good piece of meat. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter were the only times of the year when I would break out a big roasting pan and tackle anything bigger [...]
Easter Bunny Cake and a Lesson in Frugality
March 18, 2008 By 20 Comments
When I was a little girl, my mother used to make a bunny cake for us at Easter. She cut the instructions for assembling the cake out of Parade magazine in 1968 (photo below), which showed a finished cake as well as diagrams for cutting two round cakes into the shapes necessary to make two [...]
Butter Lamb for Easter
March 4, 2008 By 7 Comments
[Updated March 22, 2010.] Until Michael and I got married, I had never heard of a butter lamb, a Polish Catholic tradition for Easter. His family always has one on the table on Easter Sunday, and his mother grew up with the same tradition. The lambs are placed on the table but not eaten until [...]
Hot Cross Buns
April 7, 2007 By 5 Comments
Yesterday was Good Friday, and I had many good intentions for what I would accomplish. I wanted to surprise Michael with a few of his favorites—his mother’s hot cross buns with the secret ingredient (this would be my first attempt at making them) and some gourmet mac and cheese for dinner. He has begged me [...]
Grandma’s Coconut Cake
April 15, 2006 By 15 Comments
We love this cake for holidays and birthdays. The nearly 100-year-old recipe was handed down to my mother from my late paternal grandmother, who learned it from my great-aunt Gladys. My mother tried for years to get the recipe right because it’s my father’s favorite cake. When Mom finally made a coconut cake that tasted [...]
Experiment: Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs
April 9, 2006 By 5 Comments
Four years ago my good friend artist Nancy DeJesus offered to pick up some of her father’s filled chocolate Easter eggs for anyone who was interested. She was going to see her family out of state and could bring the eggs back with her. Since her father is a retired chocolatier and confectioner, I just [...]
