When I was little, every Christmas my Nana would fly out from the East Coast and stay for two weeks. It was always a magical time, and was always bummed when the every other year would hit and she'd stay at my cousin's house instead of mine when she'd come West for her visit. One thing I'll always remember from her visits was that she'd make Baklava every Christmas. Not sure why an Irish/English woman would make a Greek pastry every Christmas, but she did and it makes me think of Christmas. Of course I'm spoiled, and while I love to eat it - will only eat what I've made. I guess I've gotten picky, as I haven't found a recipe I like quite as much as hers.
NANA'S BAKLAVA
1 lb. filo dough, thawed
2c chopped walnuts
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 lb. melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
Place double layers of filo in an 8x14 pan. Spread with melted butter. Repeat six times. After sixth layer of filo & butter, spread a mixture of nuts, cinnamon & sugar. Follow each layer of nut mixture with a double layer of filo. Repeat until all nut mixture is used. Continue to add layers of butter and filo until all filo is used. Cut into diamond shaped pieces using a sharp knife. Bake at 300' F for about an hour.
SYRUP
grated rind of one orange
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4c honey (as my father grows oranges, we always used orange honey for this but you can use what ever you have on hand - orange honey is not for the faint of heart, it has a very strong flavor)
juice of one orange + enough water to = 1 cup
1/2c sugar
Boil until syrup forms a thread. Pour over baked filo immediately after removing from the oven. Allow to stand overnight.
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