Tag Archives: family

Breakfast in Bed – Date Nut Bread

Date Nut Bread

Post by Alison Hein.

My grandma used to bake Date Nut Bread in an old coffee can. It was common practice to clean and generously grease a coffee tin with shortening, then fill it with batter, place it in a hot oven, and bake a dense, round loaf. As kids, we would anxiously gather around the stove, inhaling the baking bread’s sweet aroma, eagerly awaiting its completion.

While you still see many round bread loaves (Boston Brown Bread as well as Date Nut and Raisin Nut), it is becoming ever more difficult to locate tin, oven-proof coffee containers. Check carefully in the grocery store before purchasing, as many modern containers are made of paper, plastic or cardboard – none of which work well in the oven!

Date Nut Bread

My ongoing frustration with food history compelled me to skip it for this post (so many claim to be the originators of Date Nut Bread!), with one important exception. In the 1950s and ‘60s, when Chock Full o’Nuts lunch counters were wildly prolific, Date Nut Sandwiches – two thick slices of Date Nut Bread slathered with cream cheese – were a star of the menu.

Chock Full o’Nuts tried to make a recent comeback with mixed results. The company still makes and sells its popular coffee (anyone remember the famous “heavenly coffee” jingle?). Why not go buy some? Make a giant pot of coffee, then use the canister to whip up a loaf of Date Nut Bread. Bake. Cool. Slice. Slather with cream cheese. Pour yourself a steaming cup and reminisce over a heavenly breakfast in bed.

Equipment

1 tin coffee can, with top removed

Date Nut Bread

Ingredients

½ cup butter
½ cup light brown sugar
1 cup white flour
¼ cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup chopped walnuts
Cooking spray, or other shortening, for greasing coffee can

Date Nut Bread

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. In a separate bowl, mix together white flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add dry ingredients all at once to butter mixture, stirring to combine. Add eggs, honey and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in dates and walnuts. Spoon batter into a well-greased coffee can. Bake at 350° for about 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on rack at least 20 minutes. Remove from coffee can and slice.

Makes one loaf.

Date Nut Bread

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Breakfast in Bed – Soul Cakes

Soul Cakes

Post by: Alison Hein.

It is my joy to create an annual Halloween recipe. In 2011 (when I began writing for Charles P. Rogers) it was the fun and popular Crêpe Dracula – a little chocolate crêpe dressed up like the count himself. Following that, I shared my secrets for baking individual Smoky Pumpkin, Egg and Bacon Cauldrons, and last year, we enjoyed rich and colorful Pumpkin Cream Crêpes.

This time, I chose to explore an ancient and somewhat confusing tradition of Soul Cakes, which are linked to the Gaelic harvest festival of Samhain, the forbear of Halloween. It was a time of year when spirits and fairies could enter more easily into our world, and celebratory, seasonal foods were served. Soul Cakes were baked with exotic saffron, perhaps to represent the great harvest sun. Much later, Samhain evolved into a Christian holiday, and Soul Cakes were made to honor the dead. Many bakers pressed currants in the tops of their cakes in the shape of a cross.

Soul Cakes

Soul Cake recipes abound, ranging from quick breads to yeast breads, tiny muffins to giant cakes. They are sweetened and spiced, glazed and decorated. I decided to make sweet, individual golden orbs, swapping out currants for plump golden raisins – tiny little suns within the great harvest sun. Fall spices add a pie-like feel, and become mysterious and aromatic when warmed. Wrap one in a colorful napkin and give it as a gift, or hoard them and share with a special someone for a soulful breakfast in bed.

Ingredients

10 – 12 threads of saffron
1 tablespoon hot water
¼ pound (1 stick) butter, softened, plus an additional teaspoon for greasing pans
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1½ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon allspice
½ cup golden raisins

Soul Cakes

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°.  Generously grease two 4×2-inch round cake pans and set aside.

Place the saffron threads in a mortar and crush with the pestle until powdery. Cover with 1 tablespoon hot water and let sit for at least 20 minutes.

Add butter and sugar to a large bowl, and cream together until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, until batter is light and smooth. Pour milk into a measuring cup and stir in saffron “tea”. In a separate small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Alternately add milk mixture and flour mixture into batter, stirring thoroughly after each addition. Gently stir in golden raisins.

Soul Cakes

Spoon batter equally into the prepared pans, smoothing the surface with a spatula. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until cake is golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool on rack for 30 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and serve warm, if you like.

Makes 2 4×2-inch cakes.

NOTE: If you are as fascinated as I am by convoluted food history, I recommend reading this engaging article and recipe from T. Susan Chang.

Soul Cakes

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Breakfast in Bed – Grilled Flatbread Breakfast Pizza

Grilled Breakfast Pizza 9

by Alison Hein.

This past summer, I learned the neat trick of placing homemade pizza directly on the grill from Matty Matarazzo of Four Sisters Winery in Belvidere, New Jersey. Thanks to Matty, my husband and I have been impressing friends and family with delicious variations of bubbling hot, crispy pizza. (Read more about Matty’s Grilled Flatbread Pizza and Four Sisters Winery.)

Because the cooking time is super fast, Kevin and I work as a team – I shape the pizza and brush the surface with olive oil. While he is grilling the first side, I am preparing whatever toppings are needed for the final product. Meats and vegetables need to be sautéed in advance. Kevin brings the half-cooked pizza back to me, and I place the ingredients on the grill-marked surface. He oils up the grill again, and cooks the pizza to a crisp, melted finish. When you swap out some of the more traditional choices with bacon and eggs – voila! You’ve got an impressive pizza breakfast in bed.

Grilled Breakfast Pizza 1

Ingredients

½ pound pizza dough
Flour, for shaping dough
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
3 eggs, scrambled
½ cup grated cheddar (or other) cheese
2 slices bacon, cooked and broken into small pieces
Fresh herbs (parsley, basil, or oregano) for garnish
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

Preheat the grill to high. Shape the pizza dough by flattening with your hands on a lightly floured surface. Use your fingers to stretch the dough out, or hold up the edges of the dough, letting the dough hang and stretch, while working around the edges of the dough. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then push out the edges with your fingers again, until you have a nice round shape, about 6 to 7 inches in diameter. Keep the dough flat (no raised rim) for easy grilling.

Grilled Breakfast Pizza 2

When the grill is hot (you can hold your hands an inch over the grates for no more than 2 seconds), dip a tightly folded up paper towel in olive oil and use tongs to wipe the grill grates. Place shaped dough on a lightly floured (or use cornmeal) rimless cookie sheet or pizza peel. Gently let the dough slide onto the hot grill grates. Close the lid and cook for 2 minutes. Open the grill and check the bottom of the dough to see if it is getting browned. If it is evenly browned, let it cook for another minute. If not, rotate the dough so it gets an even browning for the last minute. If it is not beginning to brown, cover the grill and continue to cook a minute at a time until the bottom has begun to brown. Your dough is ready when the top of the pizza begins to bubble. Do not overcook as this will be the pizza top.

Remove the pizza from the grill using your cookie sheet or pizza peel. Use a spatula to flip the dough over onto a work surface so that the grilled side is now up. Keep the grill covered so it retains heat. Paint the grilled surface of the pizza with a little olive oil, then cover with sauce. Arrange scrambled eggs evenly on surface. Cover with cheese and bacon pieces.

Grilled Breakfast Pizza 5

Slide the pizza back onto the grill. If you’re using a gas grill, reduce the heat. If working with a charcoal grill, close the vents on the cover almost all the way. Close the lid and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, or until the bottom begins to char and the cheese is bubbly. Remove with a spatula onto a cutting board or other flat surface. Top with fresh herbs, salt and pepper. Let rest for a couple of minutes before slicing.

Makes 1 6-inch pizza, or 2 servings.

NOTE: Double the recipe for a larger, 12-inch pizza.

Grilled Breakfast Pizza 7

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Bedtime Stories: Scary and Awesome Pumpkin Carving Ideas!

Post by Mark T. Locker.

extreme pumpkinExtreme Pumpkins: Diabolical Do-it-yourself Designs to Amuse your Friends and Scare your Neighbors by Tom Nardone

We are less than two weeks from Halloween now! We picked out our pumpkins a couple weeks ago and my son has been rarin’ to cut into his ever since. For my part, I’m always hurting for inspiration when it comes to most crafty concepts. I came across this out-of-box book at the library. It’s full of amusing and sometimes a little disturbing ideas. On the cover is a mean pumpkin face chewing an understandably surprised-looking littler pumpkin. On the back is a pumpkin who has vomited its insides all over the table. Yuck! Unless you are a six-year-old boy, in which case: awesome!

Have you ever wanted to make a Darth Vader helmet pumpkin? How about using toothpicks as scary sharp teeth? What about a pumpkin puking guacamole? Whatever your weird desires, this book probably has some ideas for you.

Note: I did not do any of the pumpkins in this book in the end. I probably should have, as mine looks like a disaster. My kid’s looks extremely abstract and my wife’s is a fantastic nerd reference.

a-well-done-pumpkin-2

the-territorial-pumpkin-on-my-lawn-2

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Breakfast in Bed – Butternut Hash

Butternut Hash

Post by Alison Hein.

The bad news is that summer is completely and entirely over. The good news is that autumn harvest vegetables are completely and entirely at their peak. Butternut squash, with its rich, buttery sweetness, is one of my all-time favorites.

You can dish a little bit of October flavor onto your breakfast plate with this Butternut Hash recipe. Best results come from fresh, not frozen, squash. Either steal a few pieces of a whole butternut when making soup (try my recipe for Butternut Squash Soup!), or use a handful of pre-cut pieces you can find in most groceries these days.

Butternut Hash

Broiling the butternut squash first makes finishing this hash a snap – do it the day before if you like to speed things even more. I like to roast the squash with a generous sprinkling of hot cayenne, infusing some heat as a counterpoint to its naturally sweet flavor. Stop here, if you like, and serve up the roasted butternut as a side dish for any meal of the day.

If you keep going, you will love the colorful array of vegetables tossed in the pan – deep orangey-gold squash, sprightly green celery, burnt auburn bacon, and rich red onion make this hash as pretty and autumnal as a mountainside of Eastern trees decked out in peak foliage.

Cook up some eggs as a go-with, if you like. Fried or scrambled are good alongside; perching some poached atop the hash is also lovely. A bite of tender yolk completely and entirely enhances the rich, crispy, flavorful bed of vegetables beneath, for a delectable harvest breakfast in bed.

Butternut Hash

Ingredients

1 cup butternut squash, chopped finely into 1/8-inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
Dash of cayenne pepper
2 slices bacon, chopped into small pieces
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh thyme, for garnish

Butternut Hash

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°. Toss butternut squash with 1 tablespoon olive oil and cayenne and spread out onto baking sheet. Bake until cooked through and lightly browned, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add bacon, celery, red onion and butternut squash to pan. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until bacon is crisped and vegetables are cooked through, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add garlic and sauté. for 1 to 2 minutes longer, or until garlic is golden but not yet browned. Season with salt and pepper, garnish with fresh thyme.

Serve hot, with a side of eggs of your choice.

Makes 2 servings.

Butternut Hash

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