Recipes for the 2020-21 Gingerbread Boy:
In the 1980s. our family lived in Cambridge, England, for a year. During the holidays, it was too expensive to send packages back to friends and family in the states. So we made these little recipe booklets, called the Gingerbread Boy. When we came back home, we continued the tradition. After a few years the booklets became letters, and email, when it came, made things even easier. Some years, the winter holiday “Gingerbread Boy” was sent out as a Valentine. This helped keep the holidays less stressful. This year I am sending it out during Christmas and Chanukah due to extra time on our hands from being in quarantine.
Danny‘s Kalamata Olive Pasta
For four servings - Ingredients:
Half a cup of pitted, drained ,and chopped kalamata olives
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
About one cup of chopped fresh tomatoes - little grape or
cherry tomatoes are good in the winter
3 Tablespoons olive oil
Seasonings - a pinch of salt (olives already provide
some salt); pepper to taste. If you like heat you can add crushed red pepper, or a jalapeño which you can sauté
with the tomatoes.
Herbs - a teaspoon dry or Tablespoon fresh - you can
use basil, oregano, thyme , or herb of
your choice
8 ounces pasta - linguini type works well
Optional - freshly chopped parsley
Procedure
1. Sauté garlic in olive oil-but don’t brown the garlic. Add the
tomatoes, and seasonings and herbs. Sauté for about ten minutes while
cooking the pasta.
2. Drain pasta and add to olive-tomato mixture. Can mix in
some fresh chopped parsley if desired.
I bring the frying pan to the table and serve from there - it's easy,
fast, and yummy with a green salad.
Something Sweet - Blondies
These blondies are a great hit with our grandchildren, and
also their parents.
Fast, easy and they freeze well. Do not need a mixer!
Ingredients:
8oz. Butter(2 sticks), melted. I use unsalted for baking.
1 and 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed lightly
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs and one egg yolk - large size eggs
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder.
Instructions
1.prepare a 9” by 13” baking pan by buttering or lining with parchment paper.
Preheat
oven to 350 degrees.
2.Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder in bowl.
3. In another bowl combine and stir well the melted butter, brown sugar, and
granulated
sugar and stir well. Add the eggs and egg yolk and stir
until smooth.
4. Gradually add dry ingredients to the butter-egg mixture until completely
combined.
If you want add-ons, this is the time. Possibilities: 2/3 cup chocolate
chips-dark or white chocolate, a cup of chopped pecans or walnuts. Alas,
our grandchildren like them without add-ons - one of them likes them
plain, the others likes the simple icing i put on once they have
cooled. Recipe at end.
5. Mix in add-ons if using them.
6. Spread batter in prepared pan and put in oven-middle rack.
7. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes-until toothpick placed in center of pan comes out
clean.
8. Cut after blondies have cooled on a rack.
When cool and before cutting, you can add a
simple icing - I melt 4 oz. of butter and dark chocolate (chips or
cut small) melted, cooled for about 5 minutes and spread on the cooled
blondies. I usually frost only half the pan, for those who prefer
the blondies without icing.
