Southgate Publix. Lakeland, Florida.
I'm a third generation down-home cook. My Grammy made some dang good food. She used to move around the kitchen, preparing local produce from the "curb market" and crooning Hank Williams songs. She was a Southerner and a Jew, so all that fresh produce wasn't weighed down with bacon and ham-hocks like so many traditional southern veggie dishes.
Grammy had her own arsenal of special recipes that she'd perfected over the years. They weren't from a book. Maybe some were shared from relatives on handwritten scraps of paper. Most existed in her mind and were enjoyed on the occasion that you came to visit. For me, her classic is Mandel Bread. It's a traditional Jewish cookie, similar to biscotti and very adaptable. When she passed away, her legacy was distributed via photocopies of some handwritten recipes that someone had coerced her into recording. Her Mandel Bread is part of the collection.
I haven't made the non-vegan version of her mandel bread. After a consultation call was placed to my mom, I attempted veganizing the recipe. I loosely used Isa's V-Con Biscotti recipe for veganization purposes. It seemed an appropriate source, since Isa is my go-to for vegan Jewish cooking.
Bubbie Baby's Mandel Bread
I don't know what my Grammy would say about vegan mandel bread. I won't say mine is as good as hers, but they share an important quality: I can't stop eating them!
i've never had madel bread, so i can say that yours would be the best i've ever tried. it does sort of look like biscotti... will you be posting a recipe?
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