Category Archives: recipes

So I know I’m late to the game, but I’ll admit my blogging has been taken over by my instagramming. If you’ve read this blog at all since I started it in 2008, you know that I love taking photos almost as much as I love writing and eating…from tabletops to heaping desserts and perfect salads. That is why I’ve taken to instagram because I can make said food shots look even better then they tasted. But if you follow me (elizabites_Chi) you will see all kinds of shots, like this one of an old-school recipe from my grandma for “good” Passover Cake. I framed this as a gift for my mom, and we marveled at how in the hell you go through almost a dozen eggs to pull this off…(but she did and I remember it being awesome). Passover is long past, but I love stumbling upon this card, stains, typos and all..

Retro Passover Cake

Who calls a refrigerator a damn ice box anymore? No one, really, but my family, who still loves whipping up a retro delicacy known as ice box cake (aka refrigerator roll). Less complicated than a gingerbread house, but just as tasty, ice box cake is ridiculously easy to make, and kind of reminds me of Show Biz Pizza Place/Chuck E. Cheese birthday cakes (think whipped cream frosting and Oreo cookie-esque cake). The presentation isn’t the greatest, but I promise an instant hit if you show up to a holiday party with one in tow. And if you’re looking to make any other holiday goodies today, don’t forget about the award-winning pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe previously posted. Whatever you gorge yourself on, have a safe and happy holiday..I’ll be taking a short break from posting, but will be back in full force in 2009, with more features, coverage of my impending January travel adventures and more!
Ingredients:
1 box Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers (look for the yellow box)
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups heavy cream, whipped or 1 container frozen whipped topping, thawed.
Method:
1. Stir vanilla into whipped cream or topping
2. Spread 1/2 tablespoon whipped cream on each wafer.
3. Begin stacking wafers together and stand on edge on serving platter to make 14-inch log.
4. Frost with remaining whipped cream.
5. Use toothpicks to cover cake with plastic wrap and chill for 4 to 6 hours.
6. Garnish with chocolate curls, slice on a diagonal and serve.

Layer whipped topping in between wafers

Cover log with whipped cream topping

Use toothpicks to hold up plastic wrap and chill 4-6 hours.

Deliciously messy after being chilled, be sure to slice on a diagonal

Aside from apple pie, my sister and I also like to whip up some mean pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in the fall. These are ridiculously easy to make, are totally addictive and originally came from a “Best Cook on the Block from Bay View” cookbook snagged from our Ma. The original baker, Mrs. Johanna Chars, suggested doubling the recipe as 1 pint of pumpkin contains 2 cups (plus they freeze well and there’ll be more for you to down in one sitting).
INGREDIENTS
1 cup cooked mashed pumpkin (commercial or home-canned)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 egg
2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp milk
1 cup chocolate pieces
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
METHOD
In mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, oil and egg. Stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In small bowl dissolve baking soda in milk, stir in batter. Mix batter well. Stir in chocolate pieces, nuts and vanilla. With spoon drop on lightly greased cookie sheet. Cookies will not spread much during baking. Bake at 375 degrees F 10-12 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen cookies, 2 inches in diameter. Delish.

You may think that elizabites is all about stuffing your face, but from time to time, it’s about cooking or baking something, and then stuffing your face. On the tails of revealing my family’s sugar-coated eating habits in my last post, I wanted to take this opportunity to demonstrate how they are capable of using sugar in much more productive ways. Every Thanksgiving my dad whips up the most amazing apple pies (almost) from scratch, and I felt it was time to reveal the surprisingly simple recipe. He’s partial to store bought pie crusts, but feel free to use your own crust recipe. Just add a glass pie pan, Jonathan or Granny Smith apples (a tart variety is key), lemon, butter, cinnamon, sugar. Amounts, method and photos below.

For one pie, use 4-6 apples (Jonathan, Granny Smith or another tart variety will work), and 3 lemons.

Peel, core and thinly slice apples. This speedy hand-cranked corer takes care of all three at once.

Unroll defrosted pie crust and lay on bottom of pie pan. Add first layer of sugar (3 TBS), butter (3 tsp), cinnamon (2 TBS), a squeeze of half a lemon.

Add layer of sliced apples. Proceed to build up 4 layers of butter, sugar, cinnamon and lemon followed by a layer of apple slices until a round mound forms. Note: Ingredient amounts are approximations, add more sugar if you want a sweeter pie, more lemon for more tartness. Make sure final layer is topped with sugar, butter, cinnamon, lemon combo.

Cover pie with top crust layer and cover again with butter, sugar, cinnamon and lemon. Slice 4-5 holes in the top.
Bake at 425 degrees F for 45 min.

Let cool, slice and enjoy. Lasts 2-3 days.
Next up, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies..stay tuned.