OT: Favorite Holiday Desserts | Page 2 | The Boneyard

OT: Favorite Holiday Desserts

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.

crest.jpg
 
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? ;)
 
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.
 
.-.
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!
 
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.
 
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?
 
.-.
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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. ;):rolleyes:

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.
 
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.
 
.-.
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.
 
Last edited:
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!
 
It is quite common now for people to joke about how terrible it is to be gifted a fruitcake. When I was young my mother made fruitcakes every year. She started soon after Thanksgiving and it took her a couple days to get them all done. They were full of nuts and dried fruit. The batter was dark, thick, sweet, and very heavy. After mixing everything together and spooning it into pans of various shapes and sizes, she would bake all day. When they were done and removed from the pans ,she would wrap them in white cloth and soak them with rum and/or brandy. Then they were put into several boxes and taken to the old coal cellar. About twice a week she would go down and soak the cloth with more liquor. Then on Christmas Eve she would have us bring them upstairs, unwrap them, and rewrap them in foil. She gave some away , but always kept a few for us. I loved those things! She is gone now, and I miss her and the fruitcakes each and every Christmas. My sister, the only surviving sibling, always disliked them and did not save the recipes when they packed up the old house. Posting this makes me both happy and sad at once. But mostly happy to have known the pleasure of Mom and her cakes. Merry Christmas to all, and I hope you eat all the things you love. :D
 
Many people really dislike fruitcakes. I, on the other hand, enjoy them, at least certain types. Any cake with pecans can't be too bad. There's a bakery in Texas that ships all kinds of goodies. Here's their Pineapple Pecan Cake. Yum!

801-Regular-Blonde-2018-WEB.jpg
 
.-.
As an Italian-American arriving by boat (yes boats at that time) in 1959, our traditional Christmas dessert is this fried cookie "rosette" topped with honey, chopped walnuts and some colored shots. In our hometown of Vieste, in the Puglia region, we called them Colustros (dialect to our hometown). Google search for that name comes up empty, however it seems the true name for them in Puglia are called Cartellate Pugliese. (photo of various stages of dressing the fried "rosette")

P1010136_1.jpg
 
When the British member of the household can be persuaded to get all culinary, we enjoy trifle.

image.jpeg


Left to my own devices, I make a salad containing
Fresh mango slices
Fresh papaya slices
Two or three orange varieties, sectioned and chopped
Two or more kinds of pears
Red and green and black cherries, cut in half
Green apple, chopped
Red apple, chopped
Guava, from a can
Raspberries, frozen, from our garden, if possible. Otherwise store bought.
 
When the British member of the household can be persuaded to get all culinary, we enjoy trifle.

View attachment 37380

Left to my own devices, I make a salad containing
Fresh mango slices
Fresh papaya slices
Two or three orange varieties, sectioned and chopped
Two or more kinds of pears
Red and green and black cherries, cut in half
Green apple, chopped
Red apple, chopped
Guava, from a can
Raspberries, frozen, from our garden, if possible. Otherwise store bought.
Used to get my wife to make trifle. It was really good. But now it is not healthy enough, in her opinion. :(
 
As an Italian-American arriving by boat (yes boats at that time) in 1959, our traditional Christmas dessert is this fried cookie "rosette" topped with honey, chopped walnuts and some colored shots. In our hometown of Vieste, in the Puglia region, we called them Colustros (dialect to our hometown). Google search for that name comes up empty, however it seems the true name for them in Puglia are called Cartellate Pugliese. (photo of various stages of dressing the fried "rosette")

View attachment 37379
Those look very good. My dad had a friend who was an Italian immigrant. His wife could barely speak English, and they were so nice. We would visit them at Christmas during the fifties when I was very young. She baked many traditional desserts, and made a cookie with anise flavoring. They were delicious. I still remember them like it was yesterday. Unfortunately, I can't remember what I did on the actual yesterday! Buon Natale mbr33ct.
 
As an Italian-American arriving by boat (yes boats at that time) in 1959, our traditional Christmas dessert is this fried cookie "rosette" topped with honey, chopped walnuts and some colored shots. In our hometown of Vieste, in the Puglia region, we called them Colustros (dialect to our hometown). Google search for that name comes up empty, however it seems the true name for them in Puglia are called Cartellate Pugliese. (photo of various stages of dressing the fried "rosette")

View attachment 37379

Oh, yeah!!!!! Beyond delicious!
 
.-.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,034
Messages
4,550,429
Members
10,430
Latest member
Books&Ball


Top Bottom