Delicious Breakfast Recipes Filled with Memories

When Debbie Kornberg was growing up in West LA, she would often spend the weekend at her grandparents’ home in Sherman Oaks.

“My cousins and I would call it the Nana and Papa Inn,” Kornberg, founder of Spice + Leaf, told the Journal. “One of my meaningful memories is standing on my grandmother’s avocado green step stool, so I could reach the countertop and cook with her.”

Kornberg still makes many of her grandmothers’ recipes. For instance, she adds milk to eggs and then cooks them in a double boiler to make delicious scrambled eggs. “They were always so light and fluffy; I could never get enough of them,” she said.

Today, Kornberg tries to foster those same kinds of food memories when cooking with family and friends.

“Creating food memories can anchor us in ritual and tradition,” she said. “Food experiences, like making a Sunday brunch French Toast Soufflé, help us remember our past and hold onto those special moments in time while paving a road for new memories.”

Spiced Challah French Toast Soufflé with Maple Syrup
by Debbie Kornberg

1 Loaf challah, torn into medium size pieces (a dense challah, like the one from Trader Joes, works great)
6 Eggs
1 cup milk (can substitute almond milk)
1 cup heavy cream (can substitute hazelnut milk)
1 cup maple syrup (pick a high quality one), divided
1/4 cup for base of Pyrex dish
1/2 cup for egg mixture
1/4 cup to drizzle on top after baking
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp SPICE + LEAF Essential Oatmeal Spice Blend, divided
-1 tsp. for egg mixture
-½ tsp. for powdered sugar mixture
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbsp powdered sugar
cooking spray

Coat a baking dish with cooking spray. Then put 1/4 cup of maple syrup on the bottom of the dish. Tear apart challah into pieces and place into the baking dish.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, heavy cream, 1/2 cup maple syrup, vanilla, Oatmeal Blend, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Blend well. Pour over challah and let sit for at least two hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes. It should be crispy brown on top. Remove from the oven and baste soufflé with melted butter. Then drizzle remaining 1/4 cup syrup on top. In a small bowl, combine remaining spices with powdered sugar. Sprinkle on top of French toast soufflé. Enjoy!

“Nanny Fela was the quintessential Yiddishe Bubbe to my children, Lawrence and Sally, who are now grown and married with children of their own,” Judy Elbaum, founder of Leave it to Bubbe, told the Journal. “They have the fondest memories of Nanny Fela’s Bubbeleh, which they always requested for breakfast when they visited her in her bungalow in the Catskills.”

Elbaum’s son describes the bubbeleh as a pancake-omelet hybrid, reminiscent of a fluffy omelet. Although Nanny Fela first made them for Passover, they quickly became a year-round family favorite.

“They’re light and fluffy with a melt in your mouth quality,” Elbaum said. “Bubbeleh in Yiddish means ‘little one’ or ‘sweetie.’”

Nanny Fela’s Bubbeleh

Makes 1 serving
2 eggs, separated
salt, pepper
1 heaping Tbsp matzah meal
1 Tbps butter, margarine or vegetable spray
berries of choice, optional
confectioner’s sugar, optional

With a fork or whisk, beat the egg yolks. Add salt and pepper to taste. With a whisk or electric hand beater, beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the egg yolks along with the matzah meal.
Heat the butter, margarine or vegetable spray in a non-stick skillet. When the butter starts to sizzle, carefully add the batter into the skillet.
Cook for a couple of minutes, or until the bottom of the bubbeleh is golden, then gently flip and cook for another minute or two. Slide the bubbeleh onto a plate and serve immediately or it will deflate.
If desired, garnish with some berries and confectioner’s sugar. You can double, triple or quadruple this recipe. Nanny Fela made these one at a time.

Stephanie Jeret’s family used to spend Rosh Hashanah at a friend’s house, who would always bake a great tasting apple “kugel,” or cake.

“My mother, dubbed the ‘Cake Doctor,'” tasted this kugel and decided to use this recipe for muffins,” Jeret told the Journal. This quickly became a family favorite for years.

“While my children will never meet her, at least they can taste some of her great desserts.” – Stephanie Jeret

She passed away in 2016 and never got a chance to meet my husband and any of her grandchildren,” Jeret said. “While my children will never meet her, at least they can taste some of her great desserts.” Ima’s Famous Apple Muffins can be enjoyed for breakfast or as a dessert or snack.

“As a speech-language pathologist, I often use this recipe during sessions for clients who have executive functioning challenges or receptive language challenges because it does not take long to make and it is so tasty,” she said.
Jeret adds, “If you don’t like apples, have no fear. You can swap out the apples for strawberries or blueberries.”

Ima’s Famous Apple Muffins Yield: 8 pancakes or muffins

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla sugar
2 eggs
1 stick margarine
4 large apples
2 Tbsp brown sugar

TOPPING
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick margarine
1/3 Tbsp of vanilla sugar
2/3 cup of flour

To make the dough, mix flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, eggs and margarine. Surround the dough inside of the muffin tin, making sure not to thin out the dough on the tin.
Next, cut apples into small square pieces. In a frying pan, saute them with brown sugar until soft.
Place the apples inside the muffin tins.
To make the topping, mix the brown sugar, stick of margarine, vanilla sugar and flour. Then place the topping on the muffins.
Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.