No photo of the guys this week, but this is one of my Great-Grandmother's plates, which I am very fortunate to have in my possession. Her name was Florence Ohl, she was my Grandfather's mother. She died in 1963, when I was 8, but I remember her well, the plates always bringing back lovely memories of her. After she died, the dishes all went to her daughter Peggy, my Godmother, and from there they came to me. So, I inherited her dishes which have beautiful flowers on them, and more importantly, her green eyes, as very few of us got the green eyes! This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, from the cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, is Rugelach, can be found on pages 150-152, and was chosen by Grace of Piggy's Cooking Journal. I joined this group so I could learn how to bake. I cook, but I don't bake. This is supposed to prove that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. I have, however, made Rugelach before as it is one of my favorite cookies. I was very excited to see it on the list, immediately thinking, "Okay...a week without chocolate! Yeah!" Ha! As I was examining the recipe, checking for ingredients for which I might need a run to the market, I came upon it...yep...CHOCOLATE! Chocolate in Rugelach??? Not in my house, not on my watch anyway. I thought about just telling you that I had accidentally left out one of the ingredients, but I figured you would be on to me in a second and that would never fly, so I won't even bother. I left it out. On purpose. I usually try to be a player here with the chocolate and all, but I was really thinking maybe I deserved a Rugelach this week. It's one of those filling cookies that you can just have one and feel like you are satisfied. Okay, I have never actually tried this, but I am thinking it might be. A portion of two is really quite appropriate, and manageable if you quickly load the rest up on the guys' plates and leave the kitchen without looking back. They are that good. My altered recipe features peach preserves because Mark is not a big fan of raspberry (yes, I know, I considered divorce over this many years ago, but the guy has so many other wonderful qualities that I have just let that slide over the years), with walnuts, and those little tiny baking raisins. The recipe was wonderful, and the only thing I really questioned was heating the jam to spread it...even after letting it cool a bit (I am not long on patience in this department and figured if I let it cool completely to cold, what was the purpose of heating it in the first place?), it made the dough a little soggy, and I would not do that again...I would do my standard way of just spooning on the jam and spreading it a bit like that. I also made only 12 cookies out of each of the circles as at 16 cookies, they just seemed too small, and while that might work for Dorie, I have GUYS over here and even at 12, these are considered "a one-bite cookie" at best by them. Raising boys says a lot about husbands...it is much easier to be patient with husbands when you have raised boys and see where these things actually originate. If you have a husband, and not a son, I recommend you get a son as soon as possible. Like I said, it explains a WHOLE lot. Thumbs up on Dorie's recipe, definitely a keeper. Next week's recipe was chosen by Yolanda of The All-Purpose Girl, is Kuglehopf, and can be found on pages 61-63.
Click here and then click on individual bakers' blogs at the site if you would like to see more of this week's recipe and the various ways people interpreted their quest. It is too late to join the online TWD baking blog, but you can always join us in spirit as the recipes for upcoming weeks are posted on the site and you can bake along in your own kitchen. See you there!