The War of the Grandmas' Baklava

Scent of Cedar *

Well-Known Member
I feel like having some, I went to Sam's to get some, but had no luck

http://www.amazon.com/Piece-Collection-Hand-Crafted-Baklava/dp/B00FZ4WWD4

This looks like the exact assortment we got at Sam's but we only paid $10 for it.

If you google Kronos Baklava Assortment, all kinds of things from this company come up including their recipe.

I will have to check that out, now that I am a master baklava grandma myself.

:O)

Here is something else we discovered this holiday season: Woodford Reserve Bourbon Balls. According to our Kentucky neighbor, Woodford Reserve is a top drawer Kentucky bourbon. She claims it is too expensive to actually drink, if you love bourbon.

Which she does.

"She" is an 88 year old retired English teacher from Kentucky. She speaks with that same tough authority you might expect from a retired English teacher. As soon as I finish Old Man & the Sea (which she taught for years), she is going to go through it with me and explain all the symbolism.

But I digress.

The bourbon balls arrive beautifully packaged. The half pound box (which is the size of the box she gave us) is something like $20 plus shipping. This is just enough to have one or two and share one or two and be done.

www.ruthhuntcandy.com

For those who don't want the bourbon, they have other candies, too. There is a chocolate caramel with sea salt we are thinking about sending husband mom next.

That is only $16.

They have sugar free things, too.

I like that idea of sending her something every so often without having to commit to a fruit of the month club. Or having to send something too big for a person in a nursing home.

Cedar

Okay. So, I wasn't sure whether to share this part or not. This is a text from granddaughter when she received the picture of the finished baklava:

"Yay! I am so excited. This is what dreams are made of. Having grandmas that are so good at baking they crush other grandmas dreams!

Woo! Baklava battle"

***

You know? I think that child may have a little Greek in her.
 

Estherfromjerusalem

Well-Known Member
Well done Cedar! You are an amazing grandmother and she is lucky to have you.

Here in Jerusalem you can get baklava more or less anywhere -- and yes, it is delicious. But you are wonderful to have made it yourself.

Love, Esther
 

Scent of Cedar *

Well-Known Member
Hello, Esther.

:O)

So very nice to see you again!

Would this recipe be similar to the way baklava is made, there where you are, Esther?

There was a recipe which contained jasmine in the reviews on the site Lil listed for me, and one which called for rose water. Now that I know how strongly the citrus came through in this one, I am wondering what jasmine baklava would smell and taste like.

It is always so good to know you are safe and well, Esther.

Cedar
 

GuideMe

Active Member
I saw the words Baklava , why did you do this to me Cedar? lol. Thank God there isn't anywhere I can easily get them because now I want some. Like, a lot...
 

GuideMe

Active Member
Oh and by the way, my very old friend makes rum balls. Everyone loves them, REALLY loves them. I told her she could actually use them as bribery and she said she already has Lol. I wonder if the Borbon balls are like her rum balls, just different liquor.
 

Scent of Cedar *

Well-Known Member
The baklava arrived.

We have a winner.

:O)

Thanks to all who participated. It was fun to feel like we were in it together.

I love this site.

Special thanks to Lil for ferreting out the best recipe and telling me to be sure to read the reviews. It was in the reviews that I learned all the little tips that
made the recipe a success.

I appreciate!

Esther, it was very nice to hear from you, and to know you are alright.

Cedar
 

Estherfromjerusalem

Well-Known Member
Hello Cedar!

Quite honestly I don't know whether baklava is made here with rose water or with jasmine (or with both!). I know rose water is used in some baking recipes, but I must admit that I have never tried to make baklava and I think you are very brave (and brilliant, for succeeding!).

You are an amazing grandmother!

Love, Esther
 

Scent of Cedar *

Well-Known Member
I wonder if the Borbon balls are like her rum balls, just different liquor.

I think so. When this same lady receives homemade bourbon balls, one of the ingredients for the inside is crushed graham crackers. The Woodford Reserve bourbon balls were more like candy.

Both were very good!

All the sweet things are gone now and I am so happy.

I love them too much.

:O)

Cedar
 

Scent of Cedar *

Well-Known Member
I am making The War of the Grandmas' Baklava today.

Right now, actually.

I needed to come up to check the way I did it last year. I already minced the pecans, then toasted them without butter. That was a mistake, I think. There were so many little things I've forgotten about just how I did it last year. It is only two cups of pecans, so I might do that part again, toasting them whole and using butter this time. That is how I did it last year. I think the pecans I did this year seem scorched. When I wrote the recipe down though, I did not write that I did the pecans whole, and in butter, and chopped them later.

I am glad I posted the recipe exactly as I did it, here for us last year.

Yes. I will do the pecans again.

I did not have orange juice, so I used fresh grapefruit juice.

I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla too, to the sauce.

***

The Greek boyfriend is no more.

War of the Grandmas' Baklava lives on. I have boxes from the post office already, and will mail it day after tomorrow. This will be the second year, the year that begins the tradition.

:O)

Cedar

I have been playing Christmas music at home, and in the car, too. I had read that seasonal music keys traditional, joyful thinking in us, and thankfulness and a sense of expectation combined with nostalgia. This has proven to be true. For those who, like I do too, come into the holidays almost with a sense of dread, playing Christmas music exclusively has made a very nice difference for me, and for D H, too.

I heard him humming a Christmas carol the other day.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Esther, I wonder whether we will hear from you this year. I hope we do, and that you and your family are happy, and that everyone is healthy and doing well.

B.
 

Estherfromjerusalem

Well-Known Member
Hello Cedar,

You are just so lovely to think of me. I got a PM that you had written onto this post, and since I wrote on it last year, it PMed me automatically!! Haha! So I just read through the whole post from the beginning -- what a hoot! You almost make me want to make baklawa myself! But I will exert some self-control and NOT do it.

Actually, we have finished with Chanukah already (it was early this year, although sometimes it coincides with Christmas). For the last few years I started to make the special gingerbread biscuits that my mother used to make for Chanukah. I think actually that it is Christmas biscuits in Germany (my parents were from Germany). It's called pfefferkuchen. It's actually soft biscuits (diamond shaped) with ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, with sugar icing on top and sprinkles. For me it is part of Chanukah and I am so happy that my sister knew how to make it and taught me. It has become an integral part of Chanukah for my children and grandchildren now. It is so nice to create a family tradition -- that is what you have done with the baklawa.

My family are all fine, thank heavens. My difficult child is in Australia. He is now 29, and seems to be straightening out. He is completely independent. He was here six weeks ago -- his older brother, my 45-year-old son (and former difficult child) got married, to his partner of several years, and they already have two babies aged 1 and 2. So Oriel came for a visit and we all felt that this time the tension level was very very low, and that there is a real improvement. He is working, and also studying one day a week, to be a locksmith. I know his dream is to be his own boss, so let's hope he can create a locksmith empire!!!!

Horrible things are happening here -- but then, they are going on now all over the world. So I wish you also to be safe, and to be well, and to have a very Happy Christmas with your husband and with whoever of your family you want to have near you.

I "see" you all the time here. I come in to look every single day, I just don't write because I don't feel I have much to contribute these days. But I see how much you write and how supportive you are of so many people, and I admire you for it.

I don't know how to update my signature here. Can you believe I am now 70!!! How ancient is that! And my difficult child is 29. How time flies!

OK, sending you love,

Esther
 

New Leaf

Well-Known Member
Hi Cedar, I read all through your battle of the baklava post, lifted my spirits.
Your granddaughter is precious.
Yay for year two, the tradition year!
leafy
 

Scent of Cedar *

Well-Known Member
Happy Chanukah, Esther. It is so nice to see you, and to know you and all your family are happy and doing well.

We will pray for a locksmith empire for youngest, then. And for all our difficult kids to find their ways.

Actually, we have finished with Chanukah already (it was early this year, although sometimes it coincides with Christmas). For the last few years I started to make the special gingerbread biscuits that my mother used to make for Chanukah. I think actually that it is Christmas biscuits in Germany (my parents were from Germany). It's called pfefferkuchen. It's actually soft biscuits (diamond shaped) with ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, with sugar icing on top and sprinkles. For me it is part of Chanukah and I am so happy that my sister knew how to make it and taught me. It has become an integral part of Chanukah for my children and grandchildren now. It is so nice to create a family tradition -- that is what you have done with the baklawa.

I love that you baked these with your sister, and that this recipe has taken its place at the heart of your family celebration.

Thank you, Esther. It was so nice to hear from you.

***

The baklava is crispy and delicious, everyone. It is very easy to make, if you follow instructions exactly. I did do the pecans over, cooking them with butter and spices as noted in the recipe and then, pounding them to mince them. The flavors will blend and intensify over the next few days. Next year, I will add lemon zest instead of lemon extract. I meant to do that this year but forgot. The blend of almond, lemon, and vanilla is very nice, and then the flavors of honey and cinnamon and the buttery flakiness of the filo kicks in. If you make it, freeze the baklava for twenty minutes before baking. Cut into triangle shapes half-way through before baking. Freezing makes it easier to cut through the filo, and cutting half-way through the unbaked baklava will enable the juice we will pour on after the baklava is baked to permeate all the layers but not puddle in the bottom of the pan.

The juice must be room temperature or cooler, and the baklava piping hot from the oven when you pour the juice over the baked baklava or the baklava will be mushy.

That is the secret there. I read that on allrecipes.com in one of the reviews. My baklava has been light and cripsy both times, so remember to do that if you make baklava.

And that is the story of the now-traditional War of the Grandmas' Baklava.

Merry Christmas, everyone, and a belated Happy Chanukah.

Cedar

It will go into the mail it this afternoon.

:O)
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Oh Cedar, I love that you made it again, even with the disappearance of the Greek boyfriend. lol! I find it incredibly amusing that I'm the one that steered you to that recipe, there are literally no people on earth I think, who love baklava as much as Jabber and I do, and yet I've never made it! And I bake! I bake quite a lot during the holidays...well usually. It's just too funny!

I may have to break down and make it after the holidays. :)
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Why AFTER? Just wondering.

Because either Jabber and I are working overtime every day - him for extra $$$ and me to get ahead on my work, Saturday is his family Christmas, so we'll be gone all day. Sunday's are usually kind of hectic after church - that ends up being laundry day :) - Then we're taking Difficult Child and girlfriend out for Christmas Tuesday and I still have to shop for their gifts. Wednesday we'll be packing and doing last-minute stuff. Thursday off to the big city where we'll visit a few relatives and stay in an airport hotel, then VEGAS BABY! Get back on the 29th, pick dogs up on the 30's and our little girl dog is having surgery on the 28th, so she may need extra care. Boom - New Year's Eve! :D

So yeah - I'll be doing no baking, easy or not, before January. :p
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
I have been playing Christmas music at home, and in the car, too. I had read that seasonal music keys traditional, joyful thinking in us
I know that everybody else already knows this, but I am slow.

There is a reason that music fills our lives and has for ions. It touches the soul in a way nothing else can.

I think the deliberate choice to do such a thing for oneself and one's environment, in itself is an affirmation that one deserves goodness and bounty and cheer.

Wishing everybody a great holiday season and all the best for the new year.

COPA
 

Scent of Cedar *

Well-Known Member
I have read that music and mathematics are the same thing ~ that both can heal. That music is math, personified.

This is a mystery to me, but they say there are those who understand it. Taking it on faith, I took that online algebra review and, to this day, pay very close attention to music of all kinds. And to the music in our speech, which we can only hear through the strange accents and rhythms in the speech and writing patterns of those different from us. Remember I used to post about the Latina on the motorcycle, with the sun shining so hot on her?

I have never forgotten seeing her that day.

Just lately, I have a fascination with theme songs, and conductors.

Seeing those mazes you posted for us is like that, Copa.

Cedar

At Christmas, there is a War of the Nutcrackers on Saturday afternoons. I watched every episode one year and was so pleased to have found it this year. As it turned out, I was not able to watch any episodes. But the finale will involve hours and hours of The Nutcracker. It is an incredible experience to see those multiple interpretations.

Just to understand there are that many ways to see, and that how it was seen and presented tells us something about conductors, and the choices they make.

See what I mean? I am fascinated with conductors lately, and with how they see and hear and flow.
 

Jabberwockey

Well-Known Member
This is a mystery to me, but they say there are those who understand it.

Had never thought about that before but it makes perfect sense. A proper musical note is as precise as a mathematical formula, and music itself is all about rhythm and timing which are both mathematical in nature. Proper math and good music are both about following the proper formula, step by step. Yes, there are those who "feel" music and are able to create new music just by singing it or playing the instrument but its still about the rhythm and timing.

There is a reason that music fills our lives and has for ions.

So music charges our lives with atoms?? Sorry Copa but I have to geek pick on you right now!! Hey, Star Wars came out today and I can let you disrespect the TIE fighters!!! Eon, not Ion.
 
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