Greek Orange and Honey Cake
Me fleeing the Dead Sea! Uncle Rich, Elisabeth, Cousin Sara, and Aunt Lisa in the background. Israel, 1977.
Elisabeth floating in the Dead Sea. 1977
Me, Cousin Sara, and Elisabeth rocking our matching sweatsuits in Israel, 1977.
Us in front of the “Gold Top” (The Dome of the Rock). Israel, 1977.
I’ll bet this is from before or after brunch at Ridgefields Country Club in Kingsport, TN sometime in the 1970s. Dad wore guayabera shirts before they were hip. Some old guy in Chapel Hill died and Dad bought all of his shirts! Mom looking chic in white. Elisabeth on the left and Uncle Rich on the right.
No photos from summer camp, alas, but this is the same era. I’m in the red with Dad and Mom in our back yard on Mallette St. Chapel Hill, NC. Maybe 1979 or 1980?
Me and my sister, Elisabeth. Not sure what lake this is. That doesn’t look like our boat. Early 1980s.
Cousin Sara, Elisabeth, and me at Conesus Lake, NY. 1979.
Skipping stones at the family reunion. What could go wrong? I’m in the red socks on the right. Conesus Lake, NY. 1979.
Elisabeth gets her FACE mended. Yikes. (Story below.)
Dad and wounded Elisabeth relax at the family reunion. Conesus Lake, NY. 1979.
Mom looking concerned at Niagara Falls. We did an excursion to the falls during our 1979 family reunion. Mom had a fear of heights so she was not thrilled with all of this. She kept a TIGHT GRIP on our hoodies the whole time!
Greetings from the desert of West Texas. It’s been a wild couple of weeks and I’m glad to finally be able to settle down and write. Summer is upon us and, with that, it’s officially mosquito season. I’m super allergic to the pests and, while I try to have restraint during the day, I can’t help myself at night. I often scratch myself raw. This has been going on for years and I still have no decent solution. I guess maybe moving to a place with no mosquitos would solve it!
I’ve mentioned that we lived in Israel when I was a baby. Sadly, I have no memory of that. But, we did go back to visit for a month when I was five and I actually have a pretty good recollection of that trip, probably because it was so exotic. My sister, cousin Sara and I all had super cool Adidas sweatsuits. We rented a VW van and careened around the country singing songs that annoyed our parents. We stayed at a kibbutz that had wandering peacocks. We visited The Dome of the Rock or, as it was known in our house, the “Gold Top”. I have lots of fun memories. One memory I have that was NOT so fun was visiting the Dead Sea. That should have been super cool, the salt content of the water makes you float! But, alas, I was covered in dreaded mosquito bites. I enthusiastically went running into the sea only to have the salt water hit my open wounds and – YIKES! – I immediately went running out!
One time at summer camp I was also plagued with bug bites. They were so bad that the management noticed and said “put her in the BACK of the group on Parents’ Weekend”. ha ha. Oh, the 70s. I remember Mom and Dad showing up and Mom doing a loud wolf whistle to get my attention. She could do that. I’ve tried but never succeeded. My parents weren’t unnerved by the mosquito bites, I guess they were used to them by then, or they were just happy to see me. That was my first time at sleepaway camp. Mom had spent weeks getting us ready: endless shopping, labeling, planning. When it came time for my own kid to go to camp years later I found a new appreciation for all that my mother had done. Unlike Mom’s diligent efforts, I half-heartedly tried to label my kid’s stuff but ultimately just sent her off and hoped for the best.
And camp in the 1970s. Whoa. So many weird memories. They found a freaking water moccasin in the lake where we swam, so they pulled it out and put it in an aquarium in the office for us to visit. If you didn’t eat your vegetables (canned peas. Barf.) they would get out a GIANT spoon and force feed you in front of the whole camp. And, my friend and I were allowed to leave the cabin during rest period to visit our “friend”, the Land Activity Director. He was an older dude who had AC, a double bed, and a TV in his room. We would sit on his bed, watch soap operas, and eat candy. Nothing untoward happened but that’s creepy as hell, right?!
So many summers ….. so many bodies of water. When I was seven we drove for two whole days to a Greene family reunion (my Reed grandma and her sisters) on Conesus Lake in upstate New York. I swear our car didn’t have AC and my father was still a smoker. We are going to Maine this summer and taking our dogs, so we have to drive. My daughter just told me (not asked!) that she is planning to stay with some friends for a few days and then will fly up to meet us (in lieu of making the trek). Um, excuse me, what?! Miserable travel is part of childhood, is it not? Anyway, the reunion in 1979 was a great one. There were something like 70 of us there for two weeks. I won the “Most Advanced Swimmer” award and I don’t remember there being that many mosquitos. I DO remember my father skipping stones in the water while we were swimming near him. (What the actual hell?!) He hit my sister in the face just centimeters from one of her eyes. This could have ended so badly! Fortunately, basically everyone on that side of the family is a doctor so there was no shortage of medical attention. A cousin cleaned Elisabeth up and she got one of the first butterfly bandaids we’d ever seen (they had just been invented and weren’t being sold yet). This experience gave her good fodder for future therapy and I got to feel smug about Dad being an idiot. That is until … wait for it … I hit a friend’s kid in the head with a rock when I was skipping stones a few years ago. To be fair, he was on land and not swimming in the water in front of me. He was standing next to me and I accidentally released the rock too soon and – THUMP! – tears and screaming. Still, it was pretty terrible and I am no longer as smug.
I was in North Carolina a few weeks ago and was able to go through some more of our family photos. The Israel ones made me nostalgic for exotics foods. I found this Greek Orange & Honey Cake in Mom’s recipes and it sounds delicious! I’m totally going to make this one. It was in metric and a little vague so I’ve done my best to convert it!
GREEK ORANGE & HONEY CAKE
2 whole oranges, chunked and seeded, then processed till pureed
Mix all together in electric mixer, maybe 1 ½ - 2 minutes, till well mixed
12 Tbsp well softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 whole eggs
1 1/8 cup Semolina flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
4 ½ tsp baking powder
Fold in orange puree
10” round cake tin or 9” square
Butter and line with “silicone paper”
Cook at 350 for 40-45 min
Meanwhile make syrup
1 cup Honey
5 Tbsp water
1 cinnamon stick
Simmer 5 minutes and turn off
add 5 tbsp Orange juice and 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
Pierce cake all over with skewer. Pour syrup over slowly until all is absorbed.
Serves with full fat greek yogurt on top, sprinkled with pistachios and drizzled with honey.
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