I Have A Dream

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true . . . no wait, that's someone Else's dream!

The dream I just had has to do with the photo we took Christmas day. It involved that same cabin, only this time Betty and her husband had taken up residency nearby in a similar cabin, only smaller because they don't have kids yet?

This is a real dream of mine, to be able to live near my adult children so that when they have children I can spoil those grand kids! I just didn't picture it would be quite so rural!

(Click on the photo to get a better view!)

A Kentucky Christmas

We don't have many family pictures so this is special! Here we are on Christmas day in front of the Saunder Springs cabin which is just a mile from the back gate of Fort Knox. Now if only Pa would be shootin' at some food and hit some black gold instead.

Home For The Holidays

Getting home for the holidays takes on new meaning when you have to travel half-way around the world to get there! But that's just what Ward did. He's here!! From Iraq to Fort Knox in just about 2 days, but at least he's here, bleary eyed, jet lagged and all.

What is going to make this extra sweet is that the entire crew is coming in. Betty and her husband, Alex P. Keaton, will be arriving on Christmas Eve. Wally made it in last night. The Beaver, when not hangin' with his homies, will be at home.

Sigh!

So You Think You Can Stop After Eating Just One? Ha!

I finally decided to make Rugulach for our book club meeting get together. This great cookie has been around for centuries and the name means "little rolled things." But as my title implies they are so delicious it is hard to stop at just one. Here is the recipe:

Walnut and Apricot Rugulach

Pastry:
1 (8-ounce) package light cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Filling:
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and cardamom
1/4 cup apricot marmalade

Topping:
1 large egg
2 tablespoons coarse sugar (Raw or Turbinado sugar)

1. For Pastry: In large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy; beat in sugar. Stir in flour until well combined. Form into a ball; cut into 4 pieces and shape into discs. Wrap individually in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling.

2. For Filling: In small bowl, stir together walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom.

3. Assembly: On lightly floured surface, roll each disc into an 11-inch circle, about 1/4 inch thick. Spread 3 tablespoons marmalade over top; sprinkle with 1/4 of the walnut mixture. Cut into 12 wedges. Starting from the wide end, roll up each wedge to for a crescent roll.

4. Place each crescent 2-inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

5. Beat egg lightly; brush over each crescent and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake in 350 degree oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool on pan 5 minutes before transferring to rack to cool completely.

Makes 48 rugulach. Note: I used a lot more than 1/4 cup marmalade. Also, please be sure to use the parchment paper when baking these as the marmalade bubbles out but won't stick to the parchment. These are yummy, and the title of this post is the Yiddish meaning for the word "rugulach!"

On Reading and Eating, Not Necessarily in That Order

I love my monthly book club meetings.

We've been trying lately to get together with meals that somehow match the theme or setting to time period of the book we've read. Our read this month was The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. Without getting into a critique of the book (that's a whole 'nother post) I have to say that it was still difficult to find a food theme that ran throughout the story.

The story involves an allegory of sorts about the a man's meeting with God in all of his forms, i.e. the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. In the book, the Trinity is represented by three physical beings, a black woman, a Middle-Eastern man, and Far Eastern Asian (oriental) woman. I think the author chose the most PC characters he could think of, but anyway, they did have meals during the course of their meeting, most of which the main character, Mack, couldn't readily identify, making it tough for our book club to figure out our luncheon.

There were some specific items mentioned that I googled to find out what they were. Turns out they were multi-ethnic dishes with some hard to find ingredients. But there were also several items that I could easily whip up if I wanted to. For instance I think I could handle the Sticky Toffee Pudding, which is a British pudding cake that actually sounds pretty good. The shaomai, ugali, nipla, or kori bananje were a bit trickier, though I did find recipes for them.

Anyway, my group has been emailing back and forth to decide what we should do and given the spiritual nature of the story I just naturally sought some proverbs on the subject.

Here are some I found on food:

Laughter is brightest, in the place where the food is. Irish

He who stirs the pot eats first.

A smiling face is half the meal. Latvian

Talk doesn't cook rice. Chinese

The way you cut your meat reflects the way you live. Confucius

Whose bread I eat, his song I sing. German

Here are some I found on reading as our emails got totally focused on food and I sought to redirect us back to books:

Reading books removes sorrows from the heart.

A wise man without a book is like a workman with no tools. Moroccan

We read to know we are not alone. C. S. Lewis

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few are to be chewed and digested. Francis Bacon
And that's how we ended it, back to the gastronomic!