Baked Goods
Baking
When I was growing up, my mother never baked cakes, breads or pies. She told stories about her mother, and her mouth-watering apple cakes and challahs. Only once, when we made a family project out of baking an apple pie, did I see my mother bake.
Why should she? We had wonderful Jewish and Kosher bakeries in Oceanside, New York, where I was raised. Five Star Bakery was our favorite. The challahs she bought there were, as my father triumphantly proclaimed each Friday night, like cake. And the other sweets – seven layer cake, cheese and cherry Danish, marble sponge cake, mandel bread – were as good as they get. Why spend time in the kitchen when you could buy quality products?
When I began to bake, it was partially out of interest and mainly out of necessity. Not long after I moved to the upper west side of Manhattan with Yossi and baby Alana, the old time Kosher bakeries closed, one by one. You want a fresh challah? Then you’d better learn to make one!
Recipes
