Celebrating... { Six }

Family Tradition

Great Grandma's Swedish Rye Bread

One of our special family traditions is making Great Grandma Brasks

"Swedish Rye Bread" at Christmas.  This long standing Swedish tradition

is a favorite for us. Jeff makes it every year and we share it

with our family and friends. 

It is delicious toasted with butter on a cold winters day. 

 Our kids have the recipe in their

 Green Family Heirloom Cookbook 

that I made for them as a gift over a year ago.

(psst...kids.... Mom made a typo on this recipe! Change the salt to 1 TABLESPOON, oops)

As the kids were growing up, Jeff and Janelle would often make this bread together.

Janelle now lives with her husband in PA, so she and dad

didn't have that opportunity during the Holidays.

But, since we were visiting, dad decided it would be so fun to make another memory with his sweet girl.

This recipe takes a few hours and I guess I got distracted because

I didn't get any pictures of the finished bread!  

I did find, however, this old picture 

of the bread when they made it together several years ago at our home.

(BEFORE we remodeled our kitchen and I painted the corner cabinets white!)

(Sorry, Janelle, I know you aren't fixed up in this picture, but you are still adorable!
Unlike that awful old kitchen!! ew)

Moms, isn't there something so sweet about watching your husband

cook with your daughter? Heart swelling!

*sigh*

xoxox 

Jodi

Simple & Delicious Pretzel Almond Roca

This is a super simple Pretzel Almond Roca Recipe

you can make ahead and freeze for 

Holiday guests 

or 

to satisfy a salty-sweet attack!

To get started,

 I pulled out my copy of our  Family Heirloom Cookbook. 

I made this cookbook for each of our children last Christmas.

I wanted them to have a little bit of home as they all are out on their own now.

They really loved it!

The original recipe I have does not include pretzels, however, I thought adding them would make a delicious salty- sweet combination.

What you will need:

*Parchment paper or tin foil for cookie sheet

*Minature Pretzels (enough to cover a cookie sheet)

*3 sticks of butter (1 1/2 C.)

*1 1/2 C. Granulated Sugar

*1 1/2 C. Sliced Almonds

*1 Bag of Chocolate Chips 

(either semi-sweet or milk chocolate)

*Sea Salt 

(enough to sprinkle a small amount on top)

********************

Line your cookie sheet with the parchment paper.

Spread out the pretzels in a single layer.

In a heavy 2 Quart saucepan, on medium/medium high heat, 

add butter & allow to melt. Add sugar.

Stir frequently as it comes to a rolling boil.

Take a picture with with a steamy lense.

Continue to boil for 2-3 minutes, then stir in most of the Almonds 

(save about a 1/4 C. for later).

Continue stirring frequently.

The color will start to change slowly to a deeper brown.

It will smell a little like its burning, but I assure you it is not. As you continue to stir, you will notice the consistancy change, keep stirring a little longer.

It will be a dark brown and smell like roasted almonds and

even a little like burnt sugar. Its really important that you cook it long enough. You want it to be crunchy when it cools, not chewy. If you have a candy thermometer it will be done at 300*.

 Quickly & carefully pour over the pretzels.

It will not spread very well on its own, so you will need a rubber spatula to press and spread it. 

Work quickly as it will start to set.

While still hot, sprinkle the chocolate chips on the top and let sit for a few minutes.  Come back and spread the melted chocolate evenly.

Sprinkle the remaining Almonds on the top.

Add a dash of sea salt.

Allow a few hours for it to cool completely.

You may want to put in the freezer to speed up the process.

Once cooled and set, use a heavy knive to break it apart into generous pieces.

 Place in sealed container, using parchment paper in between the layers. Keep in the freezer to avoid melting together.

Share with your friends!

xoxo 

Jodi

The Making of a Family Heirloom Cookbook

Way back in the Early 2000's

when I thought overalls were cool... shabby was 

JUST getting chic...

and I had dried flowers and raffia decorating my the walls leftover from

the 1990's...

Way back when I still had young children in elementary school... 

who didn't cringe with the embarrassment

of mom dropping them off at the bus stop in my pajamas because

we overslept...

(Yes, WAY back then)

I had an idea.

An idea that would make me mom of the year.

Other moms would want to come to my home and sit around the 

dining room table and drink coffee with cream

 and share secret recipes and traditions and stories about their families .

Yes, I was going to make THE most amazing cookbook full of

family recipes, old pictures, and stories of

our very own Green Family Traditions.

Just the five of us.

The family who celebrates EVERYTHING with food.

A little bit of my husbands family...A little bit of my family...

But completely OUR family.

So, 

I woke up in the middle of the night to write down stories that came to me. 

 I daydreamed as I soaked in the bath at night about this

idea that could make me famous.
After all,
shouldn't every home have a cookbook to pass down that includes traditions & history?

My grandma Robbins inspired me.  When she passed away my dad gave me a pile
of her cookbooks. I loved going through them because she always made
a note with the date she made the recipe and who she was with.
It wasn't just a recipe, it was a cherished memory. A family event.
I loved this idea, and I soooo loved her!
(That is an color photo of her original cookbook I have)

 I dug through boxes of old photographs while the kids where at school.

I shopped the scrapbook store and picked out pretty papers.

And I began to TYPE, and SNIP and PASTE and SCAN photo's.

Until about day 5...

That's when I stopped. Just because.

I thought I had a lot of time to get it finished. 

I tucked all my pictures, recipes, stories and famous aspirations into a notebook.

It got pushed aside with the other cookbooks, and moved along with us to 2 new homes. And there it stayed...bits and pieces of my dream to pass onto my children...

until last Fall.

*****

There is something surreal about watching your daughter get married.

The bittersweet realization that she belongs to another family now

as well as her own, and will soon be making

 family traditions with her own husband... and someday children.

I had flashbacks of our family sitting around the dining room

table celebrating Birthdays, Christmas & Thanksgiving and Easter.

I pictured many last days of school and going out for ice cream to celebrate.

Memories of neighborhood traditions on the 4th of July with our friends who were like our family away from home.

Snow days with hot chocolate and toast.

Homemade Raspberry jam with biscuits and sausage gravy breakfasts.

The eager little faces ready to help in the kitchen.

My little helpers were all grown up.

Those moments of catching them with their fingers in the cookie jar had passed....

SO QUICKLY.

****

I knew what I had to do.

Within days of returning from the wedding I dug out that old dusty notebook.

I was determined to make a cookbook for my kids!

Thankfully, there are websites and templates to work from now days.

The thought of all that scrap booking times three books...ugh.

However, in my search for exactly what I needed, 

I noticed there are very few websites that allow you to tell stories, add pictures, 

and add extra pages...and I NEEDED extra pages.

About 70 to be exact.

I finally found a GREAT website that had exactly what I was looking for.

(Totally my own opinion!)

Mixbook.com

My husband joined in, and found all the recipes and I typed them into the template.

I added pictures and stories and traditions from both of our family sides.

It was an honest to goodness work of love!

And the truth is...I'm glad I never finished the book all those years ago.

We weren't done creating family memories of their childhood.

We wrapped them up and gave each child their very own copy of

THE GREEN FAMILY HEIRLOOM COOKBOOK

for Christmas... so that no matter where they go

they will always have a part of their childhood home with them.

xoxo

PS.  In case you were wondering...
Izzy had a great day at the doggy spa!