Kitchen Traditions

Sophomore Sydney Jones said she has been making and eating lemon bars during the holidays since childhood. Her family received the recipe when they traded their recipe for artichoke dip for their family friends’ lemon bar recipe. According to Jones, they’ve made them every year since. Because her family doesn’t have time to bake much so the lemon bars are a special treat and tradition during the holidays.

Base:

2 cups flour

1 cup butter, softened

½ cup powdered sugar

Filling:

4 eggs, beaten

¼ cup plus 2 T. lemon juice

2 cups sugar

¼ cup flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. For base, combine fjour butter, and powedered sugar. Press mixture into bottom of a greased 9”x13” pan.
2. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 min. Or until crust is lightly browned. Cool slightly, about 5 min.
3. For filling, combine beaten eggs, lemon juice (bottled is fine), sugar, and flour; pour over crust.
4. For filling, combine beaten eggs, lemon juice (bottled is fine), sugar, and flour; pour over crust.
5. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 35 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cool on rack. Store tightly covered in pan.

Having immigrated from Italy through Ellis Island in the WWll mass exodus, senior Mirabella “Mira” Largura’s family passed down many European baking recipes to their descendants.

“I had an obsession with Julia Child in elementary school (and) started baking in first grade,” Largura said. “By fourth grade, I was making chocolate soufflés and doing intense baking.”

She is a second generation citizen with Italian, French, German and Polish ancestry. With this background, she bakes recipes from all over Europe, mostly focusing on Italian and French cuisine styles.

Here, she is making brown and white crystal gingersnap cookies, a specialty around the holidays.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Ginger Spice Cookies

1 tsp. Cinnamon

½ tsp. Soda

¼ tsp. Salt

1 stick (½ cup) of butter, room temp

⅔ cup golden brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp, ginger

2 T. molasses

White sugar or Swedish parlsocker (large white sugar crystals that can be found at IKEA)

Candied cherries

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses. Beat in dry ingredients. Cover the soft dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for one hour. Butter 2 baking sheets. Place sugar in shallow dish. Form dough into 1 ½ inch balls and roll in sugar or parlsocker. Place on cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Press a glass into each ball to make rounds. Bake about 12 min. Cool on rack. Add cherries for decoration if desired.