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Nerd Out On: Holiday Eats with Designerds

Updated: Sep 27, 2022



Fall has arrived. The air is cooling, leaves are changing color, and the holiday season is right around the corner. It's a time of celebration, gatherings and food! If there's one thing almost everyone associates this time of year with it's the dishes of their childhood — warm pies, breaded goodies, and other delectable dishes with a high high calorie count.


What a great time of year.


This edition of the ATOMIC-ME series is a group effort as we gathered our collective recipes, memories and photos (on the special occasions when something delicious lasted long enough to get proof of it snapped), to share below.


Enjoy!

Bon appétit !

Kumain Ka!

Guten Appetit!

Meat Patties

Natasha Price - Jr. Visual Designer


"This is my mom's Patty recipe. She is English and these Jamaican meat patties are popular in England. She usually makes them to snack on throughout the day on or around Christmas.


They are so freaking good, and you can't get them anywhere here, so I really associate them with my mom. You can just hold them and eat them, so kids love them, and you can hold a drink in your other hand (so adults love them too). I've crimped and egg-washed a lot of these as a kid helping her out.


I think what I most love is bringing people over who have never had her cooking, to them it's a new experience. My mom is always very welcoming when I bring people who couldn't be with their families and they love the various pies she makes and popping a Christmas Cracker for the first time."


Find the recipe at the base of this post.



Name of Dish: Pork/Chicken Adobo

Jay Cariaga - Visual Designer


"Adobo is just one of the many filipino dishes that is popular all year around. I like to think my family makes it differently, but it's simply just an easy dish to make that tastes good and versatile.


My grandma would always cook an abundance of adobo because her house was the place all of us grandkids would congregate to always enjoy her cooking. On rare occasions, if there were any sort of leftover, we'd always re-fry it the next morning for breakfast turning it into an Adobo fried rice omelette."



Four Layer Dessert

Mary Myers - Creative Operations Director


The Four Layer Dessert was my grandma's specialty. It is not a party in my family unless Four Layer Dessert is in attendance!



Chocolate Spice Bars

Evan Prince - Jr. Visual Designer


"This is a recipe similar to the one my mom and Grandmother would always make during the holidays. The tradition started when my mom lived in Germany as a kid, and a lot of their neighbors would exchange treats during the winter holidays. This recipe was a little piece of Germany they brought home once they moved back to the States!"




Pumpkin Bread

Kelly Strodl - Digital Marketing


"Pumpkin bread is a commodity in my family. When I was a kid, we'd desperately wait for the time of year when the telltale signs of impending bread in the making arose: old coffee tins pulled out of the dark back corners of our kitchen cabinets, a can of Libby's surfaced from the top shelf of the pantry, and the heavy duty mixer. We'd linger waiting to get ahold of one of the mixer blades to lap up the unused batter, and grab a chair in front of the over to watch it rise — smelling of warm cinnamon, nutmeg and other autumn-rich things.


My siblings and I have now taken this on in our own households, each with our unique variation on the original recipe. Me, I go heavy on the nutmeg!"


Sweet Potato Casserole

Dave Moyer - Creative Director


3 cups sweet potatoes, cooked and peeled

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup of mile

1/2 cup of butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon


Topping:

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup Gluten Free flour

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup mini marshmallows


Blend first 7 ingredients until smooth. Place into a greased 13x9 pan. mixe topping ingredients together in a bowl, then sprinkle over top of sweet potato mixture. Bake in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes until brown. Serves 10-12.



Natasha's Meat Patties - Recipe makes 12 patties


Make flaky pastry:

  • Put 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon turmeric and a pinch of salt into a mixer.

  • Add 1 ½ sticksof cold butter, cut into ½” cubes.

  • Start mixer slowly and immediately add 2/3 cup of ice cold water. Mix just until combined.

  • Take out the mixture and form a rough ball.

  • Roll out to about 5” x 12” and fold the top third down and the bottom third up.

  • Turn pastry over, and turn to 90 degrees and push down with the rolling pin every two inches to help it hold its shape.

  • Repeat the rolling and folding three more times.

  • Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least ½ an hour.

Make 4 cups filling:

  • Finely chop 1 small onion and ½ lb mushrooms.

  • Sauté in 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil, until all the water has evaporated and the mushrooms and onions have browned.

  • Move to a bowl and set aside to cool. In the same pan sauté 1 pound meat (pork loin, beef, chicken etc.) ground or cut into small pieces, with 1/2 teaspoon allspice and 1teaspoon red pepper flakes, ½ pound chopped greens (cabbage, kale, etc.) or vegetables (peppers, etc.).

  • Mix with mushrooms and onions.

  • Allow to cool completely.

  • In a small bowl, beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon cold water.

  • Roll out the pastry to about 17” x 22”. Cut into 12 - 5 1/2” squares.

  • Divide the filling into 12 portions and place in the center of the pastry.

  • Brush the beaten egg along two joining edges and fold along the diagonal to make a triangle.

  • Cut and crimp the edges and then make two slashes across the top.

  • Refrigerate for 1/2 hour.

  • Brush with egg, and bake in a 400o oven for 20 minutes.

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