Rebecca's New York Cheesecake

A New York classic you can make far from the Big Apple!

My wife loves cheesecake. I'm not sure I would go as far as to say she's a cheesecake fiend, but she's certainly close. I, however, am not as big of a fan (which is not to say I don't like them, just to be clear), so I haven't actually made very many of them in my time learning to bake and exploring historic recipes. I made one for her birthday based on Perfectly Preserved Pies from Fallout (which you can see on my Instagram), and I've made a very historic cheesecake that the Pilgrims might have enjoyed, but I'd never tried my hand at a very basic, classic New York style cheesecake before. 

Well, now I have, and it was a lot easier and more fun than I expected it to be. Some of that might be because I once again turned to American Cake by Anne Byrd, my favorite cookbook of all time, for guidance, but I think between this and my attempt at Perfectly Preserved Pie have encouraged me to try out a few more cheesecakes down the line. Read on to see how it turned out!

Rebecca's Banana Drop Cookies

A perfect way to use up ripe bananas!

Summer is already here in the Mid-Atlantic, which means this month I'm breaking out some appropriately tropics inspired recipes to share with all of you! 

As long time readers know, a lot of my research during my graduate program centered on the tiki bar and tiki culture, the Polynesia inspired craze that swept America in the midcentury and shaped American's perceptions of what life was like in the tropics. You can read some more about my research in last year's post about Crab Rangoon dip. 

But tiki bars weren't the only ways Americans expressed their obsession with Polynesia, as the next several posts on this blog will reveal. Hawaiian inspired recipes were a staple of the 20th Century, from 1960's luau themed parties and countless recipes spotlighting pineapple. This early example of Americans using Hawaii as an inspiration for recipe writing comes from the late 1910's, and results in a fluffy, delicious cookie that's definitely going to be a hit with your friends and family.

Rebecca's Matzo Balls

A hearty meal, perfect for Passover or a rainy spring day!

Springtime for Rebecca and her family meant they would soon be celebrating Passover, the holiday commemorating the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. This year, it begins on April 19 and ends on April 29, which means we're getting a bit of a head start on the holiday with this post. 

Although Passover involves a lot of food history, arguably the most famous food associated with it is matzo, or matzah or matza depending on the spelling, a large, cracker like baked good that symbolizes the unleavened bread the Jews ate when they fled from Egypt. 

During Passover, chametz or leavened foods are forbidden, so matzo is eaten in its stead. Growing up, many of my Jewish friends would complain about being forced to eat matzo over and over again during Passover because it was boring, while others thought it was cool that they were eating a food that had such a long history. Others looked forward to the season because it meant their parents or grandparents would be breaking out recipes like matzo ball soup, a comforting, hearty dish that turns the bread crumbs into thick dumplings. Read on to see how you can make your own tasty matzo balls.

Rebecca's Sweet Noodle Kugel

Wishing everyone a happy new year, a few weeks late!

Turns out the end of grad school and wedding planning hasn’t meant as much time as I’d like to get stuff done over this way. Apologies! Maybe one day I’ll either accept that this is going to be a post when I feel like it sort of place or I’ll finally get myself in gear to find a more consistent schedule. 

I intended on posting this at the beginning of the month for Rosh Hashanah, which would have been appropriate for the beginning of year five considering a Rosh Hashanah dinner was one of the first things I ever posted about here, but alas, no use crying over spilled milk. 

Or broken eggs. There are quite a lot of them to make this tasty treat.

Rebecca's Apricot Filled Hamantaschen

All from scratch this time!

This year, Purim begins at sunset tonight! To celebrate, I decided to revisit a favorite treat, but with a twist. Some of you might remember I’ve made hamantaschen before. One of the great things about them is how versatile they can be. Although the traditional flavors are apricot and prune, you can fill them with just about anything, and even tweak the dough to make chocolate, almond, or orange cookies. 

But whenever I’ve made them in the past, I’ve always gone the lazy route and used a store bought filling. This time, I decided to shake things up and see just how difficult it would be to make my own from scratch! 

Will it be worth it, or proof that going store bought isn’t so bad? Read on to find out!

Refrigerator Pickles with Rebecca

The perfect no fuss snack for a hot summer day!

I’ve been sitting on this post for almost a whole year, which is both embarrassing and an indication of just how busy I’ve been. Which I know, I know, I’ve been complaining about a lot when I do have the time to post, so I’ll try to hush up about it as I keep trying to clear out my backlog of posts from last summer. 

July is apparently National Pickle Month, which made this one a priority to get out to you guys as soon as possible, or at least before the month was over. Although pickling has been around for thousands of years and the Chinese were the first to invent the modern pickling process, in the US, cucumber pickles have become pretty heavily associated with Jewish immigrants in urban centers like New York. Have you ever wondered why that is? 

Well, read on and wonder no more!

Rebecca's Egg Creams

A New York classic loved by Rebecca!

It bums me out that American Girl has never released cookbooks for most of their newer characters. Although it's true we've seen some duds or not entirely historically accurate recipes in the official character cookbooks and cooking studios released by Pleasant Company and Mattel, for the most part, I really love the books. They add a special dimension of being able to experience the world through your favorite Historical/BeForever character's eyes, and open you up to trying new things that might not be part of your family's typical food routine.

That being said, the main book series, mysteries and short stories can still point you in fun directions when it comes to getting a taste of history. One treat that caught my eye the very first time I read Rebecca's books was an Egg Cream, an old fashioned treat that she looks forward to getting every so often at a soda shop. I'd never heard of egg creams before, and therefore I'd obviously never had one, so I've always had this earmarked as something I really wanted to explore on the blog.

Other stuff has evidently caught my attention a tiny bit more, because we're almost three years into running this blog, but hey. Better late than never, right?

Rebecca's Macaroons

A snack that's perfect for Passover, or just about any other occasion you can think of!

I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of all things coconut, and while I can't tell you when I tried my first coconut macaroon, I can promise you I was a very, very happy camper. They're not a cookie anyone in my family makes routinely (or at all...), and I've never seen someone make them before, so their origin and how to make them was always something of a mystery to me.

That all changed when I was watching Food Network's Holiday Baking Championship, when one of the challenges was centered around revamping traditional Hanukkah cookies. One of the cookies featured were coconut macaroons, and I was totally surprised! I had no idea macaroons were Jewish.

It turns out their history is a little more complicated than that, and it's one I decided I had to share with you guys this Passover. This year, Passover began on Friday at sundown, and is going to end the evening of April 30th, so even though I'm a little bit late, we're still safely in the window for the most important holiday in the Jewish faith.

But before we get into that, and find out why macaroons are a popular Passover dessert, I'm going to provide a quick aside about why Rebecca suddenly has a twin sister.

Rebecca's Cholent

A clever answer to the question of what to do for dinner on Shabbat.

Beef stew is one of my favorite things to eat on a cold wintry day, but this is unlike any beef stew I've ever had before. Rich, filling, and definitely tasty, I happened to stumble upon a recipe for this dish while discussing what recipes I should feature for Rebecca next with my best pal Ari. Although I'd never heard of it before, despite it having a long, long history, it definitely sounded delicious, and I was excited to try it out for myself.

We wound up needing to improvise the instructions just a tiny bit, which means this wouldn't be exactly how Rebecca's mom would have made it in 1914, but otherwise, I'm telling you now that this was a fun new discovery for me, and will probably be for you as well, if you've never had it before!

Rebecca's Rugelach

A tasty rolled pastry that just might need to be a staple at my house!

You know me: I love baking, dessert and cookies! And pastries. Whichever. For every savory idea I have for this blog, I've probably got about ten sweet ones to match it, and it's difficult to find a good balance most of the time. Rugelach have been something I've been wanting to try for a long time, and this weekend, I finally decided the wait was over. Nothing was going to get in my way!

No seriously, there's no catch this time. Everything turned out really great! And now I'm left wondering what else this dough can be turned into, because even without the yummy filling, the dough was pretty delicious. I'm definitely on the market for more interesting flaky treats to make with it.

Rebecca's Ambrosia

A decadent, historical fruit salad featuring my favorite fruit!

This is apparently the summer of fruit salads for me, or at least the summer of fruit. It seems like most of the recipes I've made this summer have featured fruit in some way, and this one is no exception.

Ambrosia might be best known to people as either the food of the Greek gods, or a fruity, creamy dessert that's a stable of Southern get togethers, but this isn't quite that. If you're familiar with what most people think of as traditional Southern ambrosia, you might be surprised at how simple and light its earlier ancestor was.

Rebecca's Charoset

A tasty, sweet fruit and nut spread that's perfect for Passover!

I've been sitting on this recipe for a long time. A year, actually! Last spring I just didn't do much at all for the blog. I wanted to, but I just couldn't work up the motivation for it, so a lot of ideas got tabled, and some of them got forgotten about entirely. This one, however, did not, because it definitely sounded intriguing, easy and tasty, which is a pretty winning combination and a great way to keep me thinking about it a year down the line.

This year, Passover begins at sundown today, April 3 and ends the evening of April 11. For those not in the know, Passover is a festival celebrating the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. Because they fled Egypt so quickly, the story goes that the Jews didn't even have time to wait for bread dough to rise, so eating unleavened bread - known as matzo or matzah - has become one of the best known culinary and cultural traditions associated with the holiday. While this recipe does involve matzo, it's not going to be what we're focusing on. Instead, we're going to be talking about charoset!

Rebecca's Mandelbrodt

A twice baked cookie that's perfect for dunking!

I faced a major problem in figuring out what to do for Hanukkah this year. While last year's latkes and applesauce turned out pretty darn tasty, the mess they caused in our kitchen (the day before Thanksgiving...) made my mom put her foot down pretty quickly about any Hanukkah adventures we did this year: no frying anything in oil.

Unfortunately, that's a pretty big part of the Hanukkah story. Like, the part, so a lot of Hanukkah recipes involve things being fried in oil, whether they be doughnuts or potato pancakes. I was pretty stumped on what to do, and was resigned to spending a lot of time ferreting around on the internet trying to find something that was both period accurate and didn't involve frying anything.

But then Food Network saved me during the first episode of their Holiday Baking Championship, where one of the bakers made a Jewish cookie called mandelbrodt, and I knew I had found my feature for this week.

Rebecca's Heath Bars

Thus proving I really will try anything once in the name of the blog.

When my parents moved my sister back into college, they stopped by the Wilbur Chocolate Factory in Lititz, Pennsylvania and stumbled upon an interesting cookbook. As people often do since I started this blog, they brought it home with them to give me as potential inspiration for a future blog post, and considering this one is all about how to make your very own versions of popular candy bars, I knew Halloween was the perfect holiday to break it out.

Now I know it's technically November now, and Halloween was yesterday, but considering this was how I spent my Halloween, I'm not going to apologize for posting it off season. I'm also putting this out there right away: this was a lot of effort for a tasty treat, and I'm not sorry I made it... but if you want a heath bar, it's probably easiest if you just go out and buy one at the store. I'm not sure how much sense it actually made to try recreating a candy bar you can just go out and purchase!

Still, it was an interesting thing to make, and I'm excited to share the experience with you all.

Rebecca's Pretzels

Bringing one of my personal favorite snacks off the streets and into your kitchen!

While street food is definitely something that can be enjoyed year round, I don't think I'm alone in thinking it's during the summer and spring when wandering around outside cramming food in your face is a lot easier than say, in the middle of a snowstorm, or just bitterly cold weather in general. That being said, pretzels are kind of a year round treat in my book, and I'll eat them pretty much wherever they're available. It's hard not to think of them as sporting event or theme park food though, and so when I was trying to think of a good recipe for Rebecca to do in the summer time, this was kind of a no brainer.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about and research into Coney Island lately (Marvel Cinematic Universe enthusiasts can probably guess why) and fantasizing about being able to head down to a theme park like I usually manage at least once during the summer, and where I'd be eating at least one soft pretzel during my visit, so that pretty much sealed the deal that this was something I definitely wanted to make before summer ended.

(I'm having a really hard time wrapping my mind around that. It seems like it just got here, and now we're almost done!)

Rebecca's Hamantaschen

Happy Purim, everyone!

As a kid, I used to love being invited over to my friend Sarah and Allison's houses, especially when a Jewish holiday was coming up. Their moms were both really passionate about making sure their kids didn't feel strange for practicing a different faith from the majority of their classmates, and loved educating their non Jewish friends about different customs and stories that went along with being Jewish. I loved hearing different stories and learning about foods and traditions I'd never experienced before, and really appreciate being given the opportunity to learn so much about a culture different from the one I grew up with.

One of my favorite memories of visiting with Sarah's mom was when she had Sarah and I help her make hamantaschen, a treat traditionally eaten on Purim. Since Purim is today - March 15th - this year, I have been eagerly awaiting sharing this tasty cookie with all of you guys! It's a little time consuming to make, but it is absolutely worth it. They've been some of my favorite kinds of cookies ever since Sarah's mom let me steal some of the dough, something that was strictly forbidden at my house during my childhood!

Rebecca's Steak and Mushroom Stroganoff

A hearty staple of Russian cuisine!

I would imagine that pretty much everyone with access to a television knows that the opening ceremonies of the Sochi Winter Olympics were tonight, and while I've said I'm not that interested in sports, I think it takes a special kind of grump to not at least vaguely enjoy the concept of the Olympics. I can't remember specifically when I first became aware of their existence, but I do remember thinking Picabo Street was the coolest person alive when I first learned how to ski, and I've always tried to tune in to at least the Opening Ceremonies, if nothing else.

So despite all the controversy and lingering tensions about the Sochi games, I was still excited to tune in tonight and see what Russia was bringing to the table. And because I can't pass up an opportunity to try out a new recipe to feature with you guys, I pulled out a recipe I've been eager to try since first brainstorming what recipes I could feature with Rebecca after her very first post because I enjoy stroganoff, and am always happy to have an excuse to have some.

Rebecca's Borscht

Even if you're not sure about beets, give this soup a try!

I am bad at eating vegetables. There are maybe four I actually enjoy eating, maybe ten or so if you really press me, but I'm one of those people who would much rather eat a cookie than celery sticks for a snack, and venturing outside of my vegetable comfort zone isn't something I do very often.

So basically, I was pretty content to not eat beets, just walk right by them at salad bars and such because they weren't something I'd tried or really wanted to try, just like how most kids assume they're going to hate brussel sprouts before they give them a fighting chance. (Which, yes, I don't like brussel sprouts either.) When my mom suggested making borscht for a Rebecca themed dinner this week, I was skeptical at best, and prepared to hate it at worst, but figured hey, might as well give it a shot. I mean, it doesn't get more Russian cuisine than borscht, right?

I am pleased to report that while I'm still probably going to be avoiding the beets at the salad bar, this soup was actually really tasty! It's sweet and sour, can be served hot or cold, and while I think I prefer it warm, it definitely tastes good chilled, too. Don't let the beets scare you! I promise this is actually a deceptively simple soup to make and might even convince you that this weird root vegetable isn't such a bad thing after all.

Rebecca's Latkes and Applesauce

Happy Hanukkah!

I survived Black Friday! Thanks to everyone for their well wishes, it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. That said, I'm pretty sure I've confirmed that running a cash register is not my calling in life, and I'm (semi) patiently waiting for something better to come up.

Anyway, as I'm sure all of you know thanks to the increased publicity this year, Thanksgiving was also the first night of Hanukkah! There was absolutely no way I was letting this holiday pass me by, no matter how busy I was at work, so I made sure to set aside some time this week to do a feature about one of my favorite holidays. Enjoy!

Rebecca's Chicken Soup

A cure for a cold, and a gloomy November day!

It's getting to be that time of year where everything is getting cold and gray and decidedly less festive than September and October, unless you're in any major retailer right now, considering according to them, Christmas apparently started before Halloween this year. November isn't really my favorite month, and I'm actually not a big fan of Thanksgiving, either, but since I didn't get to do a lot of my more fall-themed recipe ideas, I'm looking forward to trying to fit a few in that I didn't get to in October.

And while this isn't necessarily a uniquely fall recipe, it's something I've been wanting to do on the blog for a while, and I don't think anyone will try and make the argument that chicken soup isn't the perfect thing for a chilly fall day. Chicken soup has become something of a joke between me and my best friend (she knows why), and when I asked her if she had a family recipe she'd be up for sharing with me, she was happy to oblige! It's one that her mom learned from her grandma, and I was really excited to try making a dish that's been passed down through a family for so many years.