Creative Weekend

Hello world! I was a good girl this weekend and did some productive, crafty things that I wanted to share with everyone.

On Saturday I went to our friend Kimi's house for a crafting party! Molly couldn't make it because she had a mandatory clean-up day at the book art studio. And our dear friend Laura stayed in San Francisco due to the bad weather. But I got to chat with Alicia and see all the amazing felt creations she has in the works! As for me, I finally buckled down and started crocheting some new iPod/phone cozies. Molly and I are collaborating on the design, so she still needs to do her part. But expect something new and exciting up in our shop soon!

On Sunday I was overcome by the urge to bake. I thought of doing plain ol' chocolate chip cookies, but I really wanted to try something new and different. After a little Internet perusal, I came across Ina Garten's rugelach recipe. For those not in the know, rugelach is a crescent roll pastry popular in Jewish cooking. I had had rugelach a few times, but I'd certainly never made it. What a perfect opportunity to try!

You make the dough by mixing cream cheese and butter, then adding flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Then you roll the dough into a ball, quarter it...


...and put the pieces in the refrigerator for about an hour. When the dough is chilled, you take each quarter and roll it flat into a 9" circle. Then you add fruit spread and the dry filling. We didn't have any apricot preserves like Ina calls for, so I used raspberry jam. And since neither Molly nor I is particularly fond of raisins, I used dried cranberries in their place. I used walnuts, cinnamon, and white and brown sugar for the rest of the dry filling.


Like a miniature sweet pizza!
Next you take a pizza cutter and slice the circle into twelve equal pieces. Since I was halving the recipe, I cut each circle into six pieces, but with my lack of geometry skills they weren't what I'd call "equal." Then you roll each piece into a crescent, starting with the wide end.


Fresh baby rugelachs!
You need to chill the rolls for about thirty minutes. Then you brush them with egg wash (beaten egg plus a bit of milk or water) and dust with cinnamon sugar. Then just pop into a 350-degree oven and bake for twenty minutes!


Of course mine didn't come out as beautiful as Ina's...


...but the taste was to die for anyway!