Category Archives: Home Cooking

Tante Dvorah’s Chocolate and Coconut Cake

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Name: Debra Marmor
Class Year: 1980
Country of Residence: United Kingdom

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

We used to visit our relatives in Israel every couple of years when I was little. In honor of our visit, my aunt would make this marvellous chocolate cake – my sister and I would fight my uncle for the last crumb.

We were so enamored of this cake that my mother eventually wrote my uncle (?!) for the recipe. Apparently, my mother and sister had difficulty deciphering what came back, so my sister kept experimenting and eventually came up with a version that seemed to fit her memory.

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Raspberry and Lavender Tiramisù

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Name: Laura Aimone
Class Year: 2004
Country of Residence: Italy

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

In every Italian family there could be only one person with the title of “Tiramisù Master”. In mine, that’s mum. When I was at MHC I was a language fellow and I prepared Tiramisù following mum’s recipe for my students. It was a real success, although I had to drive to Boston to find all the necessary ingredients.

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Cherry Crumble

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Name: Patricia Simon
Class Year: 1968
Country of Residence: Germany

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

When I was just out of college and in Germany, I met this young student who was eventually to become my husband. His father was a master baker, and I wanted to impress him with my (very scanty) baking skills. I made chocolate cookies, the kind you roll a ball of dough in powdered sugar before baking. Father-in-law’s judgment: “They taste very nice. Don’t be upset how they look”!!! So I decided to find a German recipe that would be easy enough for me to manage but still meet his aesthetic standards. Voila!

 I always have the necessary ingredients at home and can whip this cake up in a wink if we have unexpected guests.

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English Muffin Bread Loaf

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Name: Georgia (Smith) Regnault 
Class Year: 1964
Country of Residence: The Netherlands

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

I am FROM the USA, living  IN the Netherlands and IN LOVE with Europe. But ever since I lived here (55 years), I have missed English Muffins, Thomas’ to be exact. Have tried making them a few times when I was a newlywed, but never very successful.  Just recently during this coronavirus lockdown, a friend sent me a recipe for English Muffin Bread Loaf – and this is almost as good, in fact it is excellent. This is for all the English Muffin lovers in Europe!

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Three Dips

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Name: Lynn Meins
Class Year: 1970
Country of Residence: Germany

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

In 1983, a group of 6 of us started a book club.  Not only do we read books, we also cook meals for each other.  For my first evening as hostess, I made dips with vegetables and other finger food.  This was practically unknown here in Germany at the time and was a big hit.  In fact, since then, the other members have insisted that I make dips – whenever I dared try something else, I got the reaction, “That was very good, but next time we want your dips!”  Here are some of the favorites.  (If anyone wants some good book tips, I can provide those, too!)

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Potato Pancakes

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Name: Laila Kienel (Buligina)
Class Year: 2008
Country of Residence: Belgium

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

This is a recipe I learned from my maternal grandmother who passed away this winter at the age of 95. She was an amazing cook and baker and could whip up the most amazing dishes in no time using very few simple ingredients. Even though she was so good at it, she actually did not really enjoy spending time in the kitchen, and preferred reading poetry or playing the piano when she had the time.

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Secret Ingredient Chocolate Pudding

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Name: Victoria Breck*
Class Year: 2008
Country of Residence: Belgium

* Victoria is one of this competition’s judges, so this recipe will not be considered – it’s simply delicious, and needs to be shared!

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

This recipe came from one quarantine afternoon, when my husband and I were scavenging for something sweet, but we hadn’t been shopping in a while and we didn’t have much available. I had one bar of dark chocolate so googled around, and found this recipe. Tweaked it based on the ingredients I had available, and I couldn’t BELIEVE how easy it was. It took so little time I whipped it up while on a conference call, and we were so happy when we tasted it. Since then, we’ve been making it twice a week- guilty pleasure.

And overall… it’s healthy!!

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Shrimp Cocktails à la Claire

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Name: Claire Burgoyne Brouwer
Class Year: 1957
Country of Residence: The Netherlands

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

This recipe started its life in Argentina when I tried to find something to perk up the very large avocados from the tree in my back yard. My 2 Argentine babies received avocado as their first vegetable. Ideal baby food – without the sauce. This shrimp cocktail with sauce has now become a demand item on my family Christmas Menu since we began the custom of everyone contributing a course for the dinner. No matter what the rest of the dinner consists of, Shrimp Cocktails à la Claire must always be the appetizer.

This probably does not deserve a prize for originality, but this should win a prize for the easiest recipe. Typical of my cooking talents.

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Sheet Pan Gochujang Shrimp and Green Beans

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Name: Eleanor Chang
Class Year: 1978
Country of Residence: USA

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

My husband has been the cook since we got married  38 years ago. I am an enthusiastic amateur baker although I usually bake for dinner parties and the holidays only. I call myself a “foodie” not because I cook much, but I like to eat and have a palate that craves and welcomes new and different foods.

Every now and then, when I feel like Asian food, I would try to make something that is totally different than the standard western fare my husband cooks. This recipe is my go-to dish when he is out of town and I need to fend for myself. The dish is wonderful because it is so easy to cook with little to clean up afterwards. The taste is incredibly intense (hot, salty, slightly sweet) as the chili spices in the gochujang wake up your taste buds. Served over rice, you really don’t need anything else for dinner. Well, maybe a dessert afterwards. It is the ultimate recipe for women who don’t like to cook or don’t have time to cook. 

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