Vanilla Rugelach

I know time machines don't really exist -  but yesterday I really felt like I took a ride in one. As you know by now, I do a weekly baking session for the Torah and Tea ladies that meet at my home on Tuesday night (coming soon...Torah and Tea in Va Beach - email me for details!) and I every week I need to decide what our treat is going to be.

This week I decided to make vanilla rugelach and this is where the trip down memory lane comes in...

As I have mentioned in the past, I attended a Jewish high school in Montreal and lived with my aunt and uncle, Berel and Breindy. My aunt Breindy is an incredible baker!!  (I'll admit it I put on a few pounds living in their house.) Breindy baked and baked and then baked some more. There were always freshly baked babkes and rugelach and cakes and cookies. I always took some of her yummy treats with me to school for snacks - and my friends quickly learned that her treats were incredible - so sharing was a must :)

One of my favorites was her vanilla rugelach - so I set to work on making some yesterday.  After mixing the dough, and filling and rolling up 112 rugelach I can say I was wiped - but tasting the first delicious  pastry quickly transported me to some wonderful times in Montreal.

So...today I will share the recipe for these yummy treats. (The recipe is slightly different than the one my aunt sent me due to a missing ingredient.)

Vanilla Rugelach


Dough


16 cups flour
2 cups sugar
4 oz. yeast
1 1/2 cups oil
2 whole eggs
8 egg yolks
Pinch of salt 
2 cups orange juice
3 cups water


Filling:
Oil for brushing dough
1 cup sugar
1 cup vanilla sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar


Mix all of the dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Divide the dough into smaller pieces to make rugelach (or divide by 8 to make babkes - I actually broke my dough down to 112 pieces.) Roll out dough as thinly as you can (I was lazy and just smushed the pieces of dough down using my hands). 


Mix the sugars together to create the filling.


Brush a small amount of oil onto each rugelah - and then sprinkle filling onto each one.  Roll the rugelach up and place on a greased cookie sheet. Allow to rise for an hour and then bake on until they start to brown very slightly. (Mine only rose for about 25 minutes.) 


Enjoy!!

Coleslaw With Celery Seed

About two weeks ago, my husband and I were walking down the spice aisle in a local grocery store. Looking at the rows and rows of spice bottles and jars I decided it was time to purchase something that didn't already have a home in my spice cabinet.

Generally speaking, the foods I prepare rely on a pretty basic list of seasonings - and I decided it was time to spice things up and purchase some new little bottles to put in my already overstuff cabinet.

That night I decided I was going to try and use a new spice at least once a week for the next couple of weeks. I purchased a bottle of celery seed for the first week and ground mustard for the second week. Sadly, the spices sat patiently waiting for about two weeks before I got to work on the experiment.

Last Thursday I finally got out the bottle of celery seed. (You could it breathe a sigh of relief at finally getting some air!) I decided to give it a try in my regular, basic coleslaw to check out how it would change up the flavor. I got out the bag of shredded cabbage and got right to work on the dressing - and shortly thereafter everyone was trying the "new coleslaw".

After tasting the coleslaw I decided that I liked the new twist on my regular coleslaw dressing. According to my taste buds, the addition of the celery seeds gave a slight tang and taste of bread and butter pickles (which I love). Levi agreed that it tasted great and my two kids happily ate it without comment - which believe me is a sign that they like it.

Up next is the ground mustard....we shall see how that goes.

Coleslaw With Celery Seed

Shredded cabbage
Canola oil
Rice vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
a little sugar or splenda
Celery seed

Place cabbage in a bowl, add seasonings, mix and enjoy!

Spinach Pesto Pasta

Every now and then I make the decision to try to incorporate some dishes into my family's meals. Usually what ends up happening is that I'll sit down with a stack of cookbooks and look for something new to make - but then I just end up falling back on my regular go to foods. 

Last week was one of those "let's eat something new" weeks. On Sunday I looked through two cookbooks and a food magazine and came across a pasta with spinach recipe. 

I made a note to use that for an idea during the week - in the end, things got busy and sure enough we were eating our regular dinner foods. 

This week I decided to roll over last week's pasta with spinach idea to be used this week and what do you know, it actually got done!

I love pasta - and a super fast, healthy and delicious sauce makes it even better!

This sauce can be made in less than five minutes - and I found it to be very tasty.

Spinach Pesto Pasta

Fresh baby spinach (I used a few handfulls)

A few cloves fresh garlic (I used two)

4 big basil leaves

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt to taste

Place spinach (don't forget to check for bugs!) in a food processor and pulse until all of the leaves are finely chopped. Add in basil leaves and garlic. Pulse a few times and then drizzle in the olive oil. Process once  more for just a few seconds and presto - your sauce is all done!

Toss with warm pasta and stir over a high fire for just a few minutes. Enjoy!

Zucchini Cupcakes with Lemon Glaze

While grabbing some salad veggies from my "spare fridge" in the garage - I noticed some lonely zucchinis sitting in the bottom drawer. I checked them out and found that they were still fit for consumption. (Sometimes there are surprises - I am sure this happens to you too!) Wondering what to do with them I decided I would bake some zucchini cupcakes for my Tuesday night Torah and Tea class. (Not really sure if it's a class - more like a girl chat night with the added bonus of Torah study!)

A few years back my friend Linda came by to bake some zucchini bread with me. I'll admit it, at first I was pretty skeptical - zucchini? in my dessert? She assured me it would be delicious...and I was not disappointed - as a matter of fact I loved it!

Yesterday the Torah and Tea ladies were treated to some zucchini bread cupcakes with the addition of a lemon glaze - they were hit! One friend even asked if I was joking when I mentioned there was zucchini hiding in her cupcake:)

I got this recipe from Linda a good number of years ago and have only made  a few tweaks to match my personal tastes.

Here is the recipe - and happy baking!

Zucchini Cupcakes


3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini (I used my food processor for this part.)
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder


Yield: 25 cupcakes


Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs with sugar. Add oil, zucchini and vanilla. Mix well. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Using a small ladle, fill cupcake wrappers in a muffin tin and bake for about 45 minutes. 


When cupcakes are done, use a fork to poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes. Drizzle the glaze over the hot cupcakes and then allow to cool.


Lemon Glaze


3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/8 cup of lemon juice


Mix sugar and lemon juice well.