Where else but Romania would you find a recipe for something with a prep time of one hour forty-five minutes and a cooking time of one hour, yet, in the actual recipe there is a wait time of 2-3 hours? Gotta love it. Here is the recipe for the famous Romanian Panetone that I have in a book by Nicolae Keppler called, Taste of Romania. If you make it, I hope you enjoy it. My first Christmas in Romania, I ate gobs and gobs of this stuff and even though I thought I might burst, I enjoyed every bite.
5 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 oz. yeast*
1/2 cup milk
8 egg yolks, for the dough
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
8 oz. raisins
grated rind of 1 lemon
7 cups all purpose flour
8 oz. butter, melted
2 tbsp. dark rum
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. cooking oil
2 egg yolks, for glaze
2 tbsp. cold water
2 oz. walnuts, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup powder sugar (optional)
Makes enough for one 9 x 5 x 3 in. loaf pan, and one 9 in. round cake pan.
Preparation time: 1 hour, 45 minutes, not counting standing time., cooking time: 1 hour
• In a small bowl, put 5 tbsp. flour.
• In a small kettle, h eat 3/4 cup milk to boiling. Stir it into the 5 tbsps. Flour, and beat with wooden spoon until the mixture becomes a smooth paste without lumps. Let cool about 10 minutes.
• In the same kettle, heat another 3/4 cup milk until it is just lukewarm. If it gets hot, let it cool down, as hot milk will kill yeast. In a small bowl, pour the lukewarm milk over the yeast. Crumble the yeast with a spoon, and stir until it is completely dissolved.
• Add the yeast mixture to the flour paste, and beat with a fork or wire whisk until large air bubbles appear. Cover the bowl with a cloth and keep near a source of warmth, such as a radiator or on the stove if other food is cooking. Allow the mixture to rise (at least 15 min.)
• In the same kettle, heat the rest of the mild until it is lukewarm. Do not overheat.
• Warm a large bowl to room temperature. Pour lukewarm milk into the bowl. While you start the dough, keep the bowl warm. Add, one by one, in this sequence: first the 8 egg yolks; stir with the wooden spoon; then the superfine sugar, and raisins, followed by lemon rind, the yeast mixture, and finally the rest of the flour. At first, continue to use the wooden spoon to stir, pushing the dough inward from the edges of the bowl. Then start kneading the dough with buttered hands.
• Keep kneading the dough energetically. From time to time, add a bit of melted butter. After kneading about 15-20 minutes, the dough will begin to detach itself from your hands and bowl. Use just enough butter to free the dough completely from your hands and form a moist, pliable ball. It will probably take about 6 oz. Save the rest.
• Wash your hands to remove the rest of any sticky dough. Then add the rum, vanilla, and oil. Continue to knead the dough for another 2-3 minutes. Cover the bowl with a cloth and, if possible, also warm a blanket or towel. Keep in a warm area for 2-3 hours. Yeast grows best at a temperature of 80-85 degrees F. Check after two hours. The dough should rise to double the original size.
• Punch the dough down with your fist, then with your hands dipped in melted butter, knead the dough for another 5-10 minutes.
• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Keep your hands lubricated with butter and butter deep baking tins. It doesn’t really matter what shape they are. Twist big pieces of the dough several times, and place in the baking pans so to fill them not more than one half of their height. Then cover the tins with a cloth and blanket. Keep in a warm place and let stand another 1-1 1/2 hours. The dough will rise to the top of the pans.
• Mix the remaining egg yolks with 2 tbsps. Cold water, and brush the top of the dough with a pastry brush. Sprinkle walnuts and a few raisins on the dough. Bake for one hour, or until a knife plunged through the middle of the cake comes out clean and dry.
• Remove cakes from the pans, cool on wire racks away from drafts. If you wish, while the cakes are still hot, you can sprinkle them with confectioners sugar or walnuts, or both.
My dear friends, Martissa, Mike, Vallen, James, Grace, and Lizzie Spencer, who are visiting Utah from Colorado, came to see me today. We went to lunch at Red Robin. I sat by Grace. She and I are good friends. We had a lovely meal and a nice time together. Here are a few pictures from that outing. Since it's likely to be the only New Year's Eve activity for me, I thank the Spencers for spending part of their day with me.
Hey there my friends..........Greetings and salutations........and....
On Saturday I will be 36 years old. A lot has happened in 36 years. I started life backwards. I was in a cast for a congenital hip and subsequently a brace for the better part of my first year of life. I started Kindergarten at the age of 4 in Maryland. I would attend 4 elementary schools, 3 jr. highs, and 2 high schools. I graduated in 1989 from Hillcrest High School. I attended Snow College, received an AA, then headed to Utah State. After getting a BA in History, I went on a mission. I remembered thinking that I had finally gotten to that stage in my life and I couldn't believe it because I had wanted it for so long. Romania was amazing.
Here it is...The Civil War Wall...
I have spot on my white board in which students have a chance to write their comments. I put it up for the first time last year and it's one of the best things I have ever done. Here students take the opportunity to tell me what music they like, about the friends they have, their crushes, and, most importantly to me, they write personal messages to me. It's the greatest feeling in the world to look at that section of my whiteboard and see, "We love you, Miss Abel!" written in big letters for everyone to see. Aside from the love of my own family and friends, there is no better validation! So, to my students I say, "Thanks and I love you, too!"
ath or I'd end up one of "Charlie's Angels." My dad, knowing I wanted to be in law enforcement, suggested forensic science. That way I could be a part of the action and outside of any real danger (no surprise that advice came from my dad). Well, the reality of my junior year Chemistry class ended that dream. Honestly, it was not anything I really imagined myself doing. Now teaching, that was always a different story. I remember always paying attention to how my teachers did things and storing away in my mind the things I would imitate and the things I didn't want to copy from them. Since then, my becoming a teacher has become a way to pay homage to those few teachers I admired growing up. My classroom set-up is simply another way to honor those teachers.
I departed for Lakewood, Colorado on Tuesday, July 17. The eight hour drive added to the 20 I had driven, or been driven, over that weekend. I spent shy of a week with my dear friend, Martissa and her family. Martissa was my first in-field mission companion. We had a marvelous time. Her children had chosen an activity they especially wanted to do with me during my now short time in Colorado. Sadly, I had abbreviated my itinerary and stayed about a week less than I had planned so I could return home for the last week with the all the members of my now split ward. Martissa's eldest child wanted to take me out to Olive Garden for lunch. It was delicious! Her middle child wanted to take me on a hike, it was hot but worth the view. Her third child wanted to cuddle, and of course, I loved every minute of that (she's three and we are little buddies)! Her youngest, only wanted mom but was bravely patient with me when the occassion warrented. Of course, we made sarmale, a lovely Romanian dish, which is becoming a must whenever I visit. I also had the pleasure of meeting a friend I hadn't met face to face.
Meeting new friends is always enjoyable. I had such a wonderful time!
Our Independence Day celebrations were really
a lot of fun. I like nothing more than to get together with family and friends for a BBQ or just talk time. We met at my parents house. Everyone was there except for the Rexburg crew. We missed the Rexburg crew quite a lot. Also in attendance were a few family friends. We ate good food, had good conversation, and played games.The weather was hot so we mostly stayed inside. As hot as it was, many took courage and braved the heat to play. The traditional fireworks fun also made for an enjoyable evening. Here are some picture from the day.
I've been meaning to post something for about a week. It's taken a while.
ht a duvei cover (I call it a plic which is the Romanian word for envelope and duvei cover). Of course if you're going to have a plic, you need also something to go inside so I bought that too. Yay! My brother also helped me assemble the thing (he used to put furniture together for Bombay Company) so it was really fast going up. Now I have (almost) all my books within reach and I couldn't be happier. I keep saying, "I love my bookshelf." I also love my new bed clothes. Ahhh!
Spending time with three of my dearest friends was wonderful. Bidding them farewell was not. Utah welcomed me home with 94 degree heat. Even with no humidity, that's rough. 
So, I'm on vacation in Virginia and visiting my very dear friends, The Browns. As a Civil War buff, this is the place for me! Thursday we headed to Fredericksburg, Chancelorsville, The Wilderness, and Spotsylvania. Lucky for me, I had a young Civil War general with me. He was able to give me the skinny on the battles he fought in. Keep in mind my young general friend is five.
As much as I love the history in this area...the best part is spending time with Julia, Bruce, and Colter. They have been the greatest friends...going on 14 years.
Yesterday we went to The Air and Space Museum Annex for a visit. I'm the daughter of a retired military man so walking through KC-135s, C-17s, and the likes is amazing.
