Easy Homemade Pozole

The first time I had pozole was in my childhood best friend’s kitchen. Her mom would leave the large aluminum stock pot on the stove top for everyone to feel at home ladling a huge portion in their bowl.   Every winter I would look forward to the rich, delicious southwestern soup. Being from an Armenian […]

Manti

Little dough dumplings filed with meat One of my favorite childhood memories is making manti with Grandma. I would watch her as she rolled the dough into a large, very thin sheet, and cut it into tiny precise squares, placing a dab of the meat mixture in the center of each one. She would methodically […]

Quick and Easy Cold Brine Pickles- Don’t toss the brine!

Green Tomato Pickles Cold brine leftovers My dad once told me a story about the grocery owner who used to throw old vegetables into the pickle barrel to cure-and sell. I’m sure this was common during the depression era, and It is something I like to do myself when I am leaving for a few […]

Banana Bread

Banana Bread Recipe

One of our family favorites is  Banana Bread.  I have been making the same banana bread recipe for almost 40 years. My favorite recipe is the Kona Inn Banana Bread on page 551 of Marion Cunningham’s Fanny Farmer Baking Book I purchased when it was first published in 1984. It is a no-fail recipe, although […]

Pickled Peppers-Toorshi

I recently asked my brother to purchase a “lug” of yellow Armenian Peppers so I could make one of our mom’s specialties- Toorshi/Armenian pickled peppers. These peppers are available during the summer months. The variety he found at the Fresno Farmer’s market the day he ordered them was Armenian peppers long.. Because I was planning […]

My Journey to the Perfect Khourabia Recipe

I have been testing various Khourabia recipes  Although I have tested various Khourabia recipes over the last 30 years, I began seriously searching for the perfect combination of ingredients and methods more recently. I have tried and tested it all! With egg, without egg, egg white, egg yolk. Unsalted butter, clarified butter. Sifted flour, and […]

Clarified Butter aka Rendered Butter

I was given the recipe for khourabia (shakar lama) by a true confections pro, who’s specialties included this pure white melt in your mouth cookie. In the notes I had written down for her khourabia recipe, she mentioned the importance of using bulgur to make clarified butter aka rendered butter, with the typical explanation of my […]