Baba's Honey Cake and Awards

Baba has always been known for her honey cake. She felt the need to bring something to each event and more often than not it was this cake. I'm probably her biggest fan since I'd rather have a plain cake that's flavourful than one that's heavily laden with creams and glazes. Prior to our blogging life, I wanted to capture all of baba's recipes to make sure they stayed in the family and got passed down to Psychgrad and Actor Boy and to their children (G-d only knows when that could happen). This one was indeed the first one I copied down as I watched her make it and I can now officially say that the honey cake has been passed down.

This cake is very traditional forRosh Hashana (New Year's). The honey is symbolic of a sweet life.


Ingredients:

3 eggs (room temperature)
1/2 cup corn or canola oil (I use Mazola)
3/4 c sugar
1 c buckwheat honey (plain honey works too)
3 c sifted flour
1/4 tsp cloves or cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2 tea bags steeped in 1 cup of boiling water

Method

1. Line 9x11 pan with parchment paper
2. Steep 2 tea bags in 1 cut of hot water. Add 1 cup of honey to dark tea. Add baking soda to liquids.
3. Whisk eggs, oil and sugar. Add honey mixture and stir well.
4. Slowly add dry ingredients until incorporated.


5. Pour into prepared pan and dress the top of the cake with almond halves - dark side up.



Dead simple recipe with a no fail result.

It's time to acknowledge some awards.

Many thanks to Ivy at Kopiaste for this wonderful award. I feel like Sally Field accepting the oscar :).

We'd like to pass this award on to the following:

Jude from Apple Pie, Patis and Pate always has something to teach me about both ethnic foods and technique.

Elly at Elly Says Opa Have you participated in Elly's Eat to the Beat event. It's a quarterly event combining food and music. It's really alot of fun and you still have until September 30th to get your entry in.

Ruth from Once Upon a Feast seems to have this tireless energy to bring us the weekly roundup of the finest pasta recipes. 81 Editions of the Presto Pasta Nights roundup is darned impressive, n'est ce pas?

Darius from Everyday Cooking says food is his life and his life is food. His passion for making sure he tries everything is ever present on his blog.

Dharm from Dad Baker and Chef is always a strong presence in our blogging world. He's always a wealth of information and who can resist the charm of someone who calls his wife "the lovely wife".

Rosie from Rosie Bakes a Piece of Cake has bestowed on us the I Love Your Blog award. Thank you Rosie - how special do we feel. Rosie is one half of the duo that brings us Sweet and Simple Bakes , a great place for bakers, rookie and seasoned to hone their skills with uncomplicated recipes. Do check it out.



The rules are as follow:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3) Nominate at least seven other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.So the ones that I am choosing are the ones that I read all of the time and have actually become “friends” with most of them.

In no specific order, here are our picks for this award:

Ivonne Cream Puffs in Venice has one of those "let me tease you with all the fabulous food I create" blogs. Then she drives me crazy by telling me she takes it to work to share with co-workers. What about your poor Toronto cousins?

Lori Lynn from Taste with the Eyes fulfills her blog name every time. The photography is amazing and the recipes -oh the recipes - if you could only see my del.icio.us file.

Jackie from Herbs 'n Oils really does her homework and shares not only fabulous recipes and ideas but also information that always makes me say "I never knew that".

Cakespy always has such interesting material on her blog, not to mention the cupcake art that I absolutely love. I feel like I'm on a road trip every time I visit the blog.

Smitten Kitchen's blog is just a wonderful place to hang out. I mean how did I ever cook anything before .. and what about them blueberry squares that half the world has now made.

Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy has one of those "would ya just look at the pictures" kind of presentations on her blog. Never mind that the recipes are amazing, you're already in heaven and ready to eat even before reading the ingredient list when you see the pix.

Nikki at Nik Snacks just cracks me up with her refreshing honesty. Her blog is such a constant source of entertainment - pay her a visit and get ready to laugh.

WE'VE BEEN TAGGED

Ivy has tagged us for a meme to identify “Six spectacular quirks about us”. Thank goodness you only want 6.

Rules of this tag are:

Link back to the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules on your blog.
Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Giz's Quirks:

1. I'm not great at admitting my quirkiness although I'm sure Psychgrad could give you a list as long as a roll of toilet paper. I think that could qualify as quirk #1.

Psychgrad's note: I protest - this is not a quirk.

2. I have a tendency to obsess. If something isn't working the way I expect it to, I can go on and on about it until it's right.
3. It is entirely not unheard of for me to decide to cook/bake when the rest of the normal world is already sleeping.

Psychgrad's Quirks

4. Growing up, I used to want to be a hairdresser. When going to the mall with my mom, she would drop me off at the salon to watch the hairdressers while she did her shopping. (Giz's comment - sure Psych - have people believe I abandoned you in some beauty salon) People would just assume that I was a customer's daughter.

5. I tend to get in trouble for asking too many questions. What can I say? I'm just a curious person.

6. I am knitting a touque, which is a common word used in Canada to describe a hat for winter. At this point I've restarted it 7 times. Lucky number 7...hopefully.

Whoever is interested in doing this tag, please post it on your blog and link back to us. I'm interested in everybody's quirks :).

Thank you Bunny from Bunny's Warm Oven for deeming us worthy of a Kickass Blogger Award. What a great superlative!

We'd like to share this award with a few of our FFF's (Fabulous Foodie Friends).

Deborah at Taste and Tell just turned the BIG 31 - can you imagine - geez Deb are your bones creaking yet? Her blog rocks and from one September baby to another - it's a great month isn't it?

The Biscuit Pusher always features the most wonderful spice in her baking. Everything looks yummy on her blog and I always feel like I'm having a treat when I visit. She even makes Mocha Mudslides - don't you just love that name.

Rikki from Diet,Dessert and Dogs makes me do research very often. Although we probably live 5 minutes apart, we're world's apart in ingredient knowledge. Boy have I got alot to learn.

Jasmine from Confessions of a Cardamom Addict has a wonderful blog that's both well written and diverse. You feel like Jasmine has been your friend for so long.

Ohio Mom from Cooking in Cleveland has claimed her fame through regional ingredients and just straight up good food. Her blog is always interesting to read.