Kitchen Encounters

~ Toasted Pistachio Pillows (Russian Tea Cakes) ~

The people of Russia have a passion for Russian tea, and the Russian tea-sharing ceremony. Tea in Russia is traditionally served after a meal (unlike the mid-afternoon "tea time" break in Britain or "high tea" in Britain if it gets served in place of the evening meal). Tea was introduced to Russia by the Chinese in the mid-1600's. The Russian people, who for the most part lived in a harsh environment, quickly embraced it because it was storable, soothing and warm, and like most Russian beverages (and foods), they created their own strong, hearty, dark brew, which they sweetened with...... View full recipe for "~ Toasted Pistachio Pillows (Russian Tea Cakes) ~"

~ Mexican Chocolate Cinnamon-Orange Brownies ~

If you love chocolate brownies but have never tasted Mexican chocolate or used pure Mexican vanilla extract, you are in for a treat! I won't lie to you, when my chocoholic son Jess was growing up, I did more than my part to keep the Duncan Hines company in business. A couple of boxes of their "chocolate lovers" brownie mix was always in my pantry. I even mastered the art of doctoring them up so they tasted really made-from-scratch, my favorite trick being to add some ground cinnamon and orange extract to the mix. So many people (kids and adults)...... View full recipe for "~ Mexican Chocolate Cinnamon-Orange Brownies ~"

~ Oatmeal & Savory Dried Sour Cherry Sensations ~

I was either born loving oatmeal cookies or all of the oatmeal cookies I was initially introduced to as a child were spectacular. Our neighbor Ruth Yacobenis always had small crunchy ones in the apothecary-shaped cookie jar in her kitchen. Our other neighbor Agnes Starosta made small chewy ones which she used to decoratively arrange on top of a pretty little dish containing one scoop of vanilla ice cream. My Tettie (my great Aunt Mary) made large flat ones that were crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle and had dark raisins throughout them. All of the above were...... View full recipe for "~ Oatmeal & Savory Dried Sour Cherry Sensations ~"

~ Mrs. Prizzi's Cookies (Italian Celebration Cookies) ~

It was the Christmas of 1981. Joe and I were newlyweds and this was my first holiday with Joe's family. Joe's mother and her brother Stan, lived in Jessup, PA (very close to Scranton). "Aunt" Theresa (Uncle Stan's fiancee of 25+ years) served her mother's cookies for dessert. I can only describe these sublime 3"-round confections as: subtly vanilla-flavored, puffy, soft-centered "cookie-cakes", drizzled with a silky-smooth pink-colored vanilla-flavored sugar glaze and topped with a sprinkling of crunchy sugar crystals. I had never tasted anything like them, and after eating at least six, I was disappointed to learn that no formal...... View full recipe for "~ Mrs. Prizzi's Cookies (Italian Celebration Cookies) ~"