OT: Favorite Holiday Desserts

[JamesinGR]

Greens and ham hock. Meat literally falling off of the bone. Not desserts, but a delicious holiday staple. Our meals were southern, so may I throw in some black eyed peas and tri and/or quad mac and cheese? A big southern style ham? Turkey, sure, but southern fried chicken, green beans, rice or bread pudding? White cake, coconut cake (my fave), chocolate cake? That's the meal I remember.

Nashville hot chicken please!

 

[BroadwayVa]

They have to be light and the filling has to be right, but I'm with you. Great on the go with coffee.

I spent a bit over a year in a hated town. Every morning I purchased an apple turnover to have with coffee; a year later I wondered where the 20 pounds came from.

 

[JordyG]

Yea ya! I say yea ya! About 3 decades ago we got absorbed by a group friends. Each New Years we would take turns hosting. The de facto leader Marge made her family's sweet potato pie. As you say ... end of story. She also initiate us into the joys of greens and ham hock, a tad spicy. After my first mouthful I demanded her recipe and I make to this day. Ah, you bring back wonderful memories.

Sweet potato pie thicker than an inch.

 

[JordyG]

Nashville hot chicken please!

Whoo baby! Delicious and to order sir.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Cabbage and potatoes. And we usually ate black eyed peas at Thanksgiving meal, Christmas meal and for the New Year with Hog's Head's for good luck. Southerner's man.

New Year for my Dad's family was the bigger day. Puerto Rico it was 3 kings day the spouse was on the board of a private orphanage there and Federal Judges, and a General or 2 would come by and be one of the 3 kings. Tough but great.

 

[triaddukefan]

A basketball fan who loves turnovers. Interesting!

Unfortunately watching Duke WCBB I get treated with alot of turnovers

 

[BroadwayVa]

One of the Tennessee visitors perhaps?

Subtle??? I like subtle!

 

[triaddukefan]

They have to be light and the filling has to be right, but I'm with you. Great on the go with coffee.

Quick story. Their is a Central NC Chain called Biscuitville. Only open from 5:30am to 2pm. Anyway... years ago they had a fried apple pie/turnover and they were covered with a cinnamon sugar mix. They had them right on the counter in a glass cabinent along with honey buns. They were amazing...... probably the best fast food dessert item Ive eaten in my years on this earth. One day I walked it to get some breakfast and a turnover......placed my order... but the owner/manager informed me that they no longer served them. The pic below is an accurate representation of the look on my face when he told me the news. He could sense my disappointment.......... so he suggested that I write the corporate headquarters about the possibility of them putting it back on the menu. That was probably 8 years ago... and of course I didnt get around to writing them. To this day... every time I go into Biscuitville I always glance at the counter to see if they put them back on the menu.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Unfortunately watching Duke WCBB I get treated with alot of turnovers

And if they get shut out for a full quarter, I guess it would be a donut or a bagel.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Cabbage and potatoes. And we usually ate black eyed peas at Thanksgiving meal, Christmas meal and for the New Year with Hog's Head's for good luck. Southerner's man.

Are you from SOUTH Brooklyn?

 

[JordyG]

Are you from SOUTH Brooklyn?

Hah! No man. Both of my parents and their families were from N.C. Jacksonville and Hamlet. Small towns man. Hamlet's population is still under 7,000. Me? I'm a city boy, through and through. But, yeah. I'm from South Brooklyn. Still.

 

[JordyG]

Unfortunately watching Duke WCBB I get treated with alot of turnovers

I guess you've had your fill then.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Whoo baby! Delicious and to order sir.

View attachment 37350

I've figured out that had I lived down south I'd be dead by now! Happy, but dead nonetheless.

 

[JordyG]

I've figured out that had I lived down south I'd be dead by now! Happy, but dead nonetheless.

Live fast, die young. Leave a fat corpse.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Greens and ham hock. Meat literally falling off of the bone. Not desserts, but a delicious holiday staple. Our meals were southern, so may I throw in some black eyed peas and tri and/or quad mac and cheese? A big southern style ham? Turkey, sure, but southern fried chicken, green beans, rice or bread pudding? White cake, coconut cake (my fave), chocolate cake? That's the meal I remember.

Yeah, Marge insisted on black eyed peas on New Years for luck and money. Never had better fried chicken than hers. One summer we as a caravan invaded her mother's in Asheville, NC. She fed us soooooo well. We all retire to a sitting room and passed out ... literally. Southern hospitality at its best!

 

[Bigboote]

I'm not much of a dessert guy. My wife and daughter love it all. But one thing I love making is pumpkin pie made from a pumpkin I cooked myself. It's so much lighter than what you make with the stuff out of a can. I also have a pumpkin bread recipe I make from the same. Even the bread is almost like custard, just an absolute delight.

I'm also a fan of beauty in simplicity. Shortbread: flour, butter, sugar, and a dash of salt. Maybe a 1/4 tsp of baking soda if you want to get fancy. I've made a recipe with an egg yolk, but that doesn't improve it, plus you have ONE egg white left over.

I'm not a fan of greens, but never met a ham hock I didn't like (I find greens tolerable cooked with one, but would rather have cabbage, black-eyed peas, red beans, etc. with it. They're tough to find in the burbs.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Last few years Ive taken a Five Flavor Pound Cake from local dessertery Maxie B's to christmas dinner. The Five Flavors are Vanilla, Lemon, Almond, Rum, and Brandy. You can either get it glazed or with icing... I prefer with Icing. I think its more of a Southern Cake.

So, exactly how many pounds does that pound cake weigh?

 

[JordyG]

Yeah, Marge insisted on black eyed peas on New Years for luck and money. Never had better fried chicken than hers. One summer we as a caravan invaded her mother's in Asheville, NC. She fed us soooooo well. We all retire to a sitting room and passed out ... literally. Southern hospitality at its best!

There is decorum, there is hospitality and then there is southern hospitality.

 

[Plebe]

I associate the holidays with my grandma's black bottom pie, a very Southern dessert. Nothing like it.

 

[Bronxjeff]

Pannetone. When I was a kid, I might get one slice a year. Some aunt would bring one over, and being the youngest - if we got one, I might get a slice. Nothing tastes better than a rare treat from childhood!

Now I will probably have a whole loaf leftover after the holidays and have it with coffee for breakfast a couple of times. Luckily it stays fresh forever. I actually stuffed our Thanksgiving bird with a loaf left from last Christmas.

 

[JordyG]

I associate the holidays with my grandma's black bottom pie, a very Southern dessert. Nothing like it.

Never had it. Black bottom was a deeper south dish. Deeper than NC, that's for sure. Sounds great though.

 

[jimazee]

Ooh! Mrs. SVC's Polish nut roll is righteous. Her hairdresser with her husband immigrated from Poland. They are serial entrepreneurs. She says Mrs. SVC's nut roll is just like her Mother's. I suspect not exactly since Mrs. SVC uses her Polish Aunt's recipe and altered it by a adding some almond paste to the walnut mixture. Yum! Also her cream cheese braids are wonderful. I probably gain at least 8-10 pounds this time of year. I know the mail lady and recycle and trash guys look forward to coming to our house this time of year. She gives everyone these treats even the folks at the local Burger King! Actually she feeds all them pastries year round. Thus our recycle bin is placed next to our garage door and literally anything placed at the end of our driveway is thrown into the trash truck. (Don't get excited we are responsible) No more missing mail and getting others' mail as well. She is not completely altruistic.

The Eastern European old fashioned nut roll was what I thought of but kept to myself, thinking I'd be the only fan of something so humble. They're not really just a post meal feast sweet dessert, but also often sliced and placed on platters set out all day with cookies and other delicacies including poppy seed or apricot filled rolls. Many are gifted and consumed in EE communities at the holidays.

Today, they're often baked by the hundreds (as fundraisers) by 'Babas' in church kitchens (...rather than home coal stove ovens) where pierogies and cabbage rolls (...uh, not desserts ) are also made.

 

[Bigboote]

I associate the holidays with my grandma's black bottom pie, a very Southern dessert. Nothing like it.

Wow! I looked up a recipe and it looks fantastic! I just showed it to my wife, and we agreed I'm making a couple on Christmas Eve. It actually looks pretty light, which suits us all, and has chocolate, which suits the wife and daughter and father in law.

 

[Plebe]

Wow! I looked up a recipe and it looks fantastic! I just showed it to my wife, and we agreed I'm making a couple on Christmas Eve. It actually looks pretty light, which suits us all, and has chocolate, which suits the wife and daughter and father in law.

I've noticed that the recipes vary quite a bit. My grandma's used egg yolks in the "black bottom" filling, essentially a chocolate custard, which to my mind is far and away the star of the pie. I've seen that some recipes don't call for eggs in the filling, but I'm not sure how I feel about that.

 

[Bama fan]

Wow! I looked up a recipe and it looks fantastic! I just showed it to my wife, and we agreed I'm making a couple on Christmas Eve. It actually looks pretty light, which suits us all, and has chocolate, which suits the wife and daughter and father in law.

It has rum in it so everyone is happy!