A Recipe From Mom

The Holidays + Mom + Oven = Nirvana

Holidays just seem to bring out the best in us. And a recipe from mom along with a sampling of her cooking doesn't only put on the rose colored glasses, everyone just gosh, darn starts looking like angels. Holidays and home cooking produce some of the most heart warming and satisfying memories that a man or woman could ever want.

Mention some recipe from your mom's kitchen among a crowd of friends and family and instantly you'll have people chatting about ¡°the time they were making something with mom and this or that happened all the while jockeying for top spot in storytelling. Rolled eyes, belly laughs and sighs of remembrances, combined with the passing of time sweeten each story every time it's told. Smells of baked goods, peeled apples, cookies hot from the oven and thoughts of kitchens filled with love, songs and merriment conquer the pressures of bills, deadlines and child rearing.

For a few brief moments, trips are taken to homes long ago and to worlds now seeming almost prehistoric. The power of that one recipe from mom can do what hours of counseling never could hope to. It can solve all of the worlds' problems, bring peace on earth and good will toward men, stop wars, famine, aging and whatever might plague the hearts of men and women.

So what is a favorite recipe from mom around here? Well, it's the traditional Swedish Coffee Cake. I have no idea if it has anything at all to do with Sweden, but, it's cake and goes darn well with coffee and that's enough for me. This is made every year and ONLY at the holidays. I guess that's the tradition part of it. Christmas and New Years mornings wouldn't exist without it and now we've started getting family from around the country asking if we'll make it and ship it. Go figure.

So from our house to yours:

Swedish Coffee Cake.

Ingredients for the cake:

(tsp = teaspoon)

1/2 cup of butter

1 cup of sugar

2 eggs

1 cup of heavy sour cream

1 tsp of vanilla

2 cups of flour

1 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of baking powder

1/4 tsp of salt

1 apple, peeled and chopped

Ingredients for the topping:

(mix ahead of time)

1/2 cup of chopped nuts

1/4 cup of sugar

1 tsp of cinnamon

Now the fun. Cream the butter and sugar. Then add the eggs, sour cream and vanilla and beat well. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Lastly, add chopped apple and mix. Pour half of the batter into a greased tube pan or round 9x4 pan.

Then sprinkle half of the topping on and then the rest of the batter and finish by sprinkling with the remaining topping.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes and then for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

So there's our recipe from mom. Happy Holidays and may you have many more.

Tags & Keywords : recipe from,recipe,tradition,holiday,christmas