Filed under: Uncategorized
Saved from the August 6, 2009 seattletimes.com article on the overabundance of blueberries this year.
do with them: Berries freeze very well. The Washington Blueberry Commission’s Web site, www.superblues.net, has recipes for cooking with berries.
Blueberry farms in the Seattle area
The Washington Blueberry Commission lists more than a dozen farms in the state for blueberries; here are some in the Seattle area. Call ahead to check crop availability and u-pick hours. For more farms, go to www.superblues.net.
Bybee-Nims Farms, 42930 S.E. 92nd St., North Bend. Phone: 425-888-0821 or 425-888-5745
Country Store and Garden, 20211 Vashon Hwy S.W., Vashon. Phone: 206-463-3655.
Pat & Debby Donnelly’s Riverbank Blueberries, 11827 Reiner Road, Monroe. Phone: 360-793-2114
Henna Blueberry Farm, 1800 Fall City Carnation Road, Fall City. Phone: 425-806-2751 www.hennablueberryfarm.com
Larsen Lake Blueberry Farm, 14812 S.E. Eighth St., Bellevue. Phone: 425-260-2266
Mercer Slough Blueberry Farm, 2380 Bellevue Way S.E., Bellevue. Phone: 425-467-0501
Mountainview Blueberry Farm, 7616 E. Lowell-Larimer Road, Snohomish. Phone: 360-668-3391 www.MountainviewBlueberryFarm.com
Filed under: Travel: Philippines
When I told one of the carpenters on one of my jobs that I was heading to the Batanes Islands in the Philippines, he said, “Wow! I think typhoon season is over”. That kind of describes Batanes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batanes)
If you go to the link above, you’ll see that Batanes is the small group of islands to the farthest north of the Philippines. Some islands are actually closer to Taiwan. Batanes is known for being hit by many typhoons and it’s topography is defined by the wind. Very few trees on the rolling hills, lots of low grassy land with cows and carabaos (water buffalo) and gotas roaming around.
We were on the main island of Batan Island which looks a lot like Hawaii. Green and verdant, waves crashing over rocks. Craggy sea shores. Michelle, her sister Merielle and I flew up early on Saturday morning and arrived around 8:45 am on a tiny airstrip and met our guide, Byron.
Byron essentially showed us all over the island over the course of three days. Most of the Ivatan houses are stone with thatched roofs. It’s a tradition, only in this area of the Philippines. The main crops on the island are purple yams (ube), taro (gabi), coconut (buka) and garlic. Most people own some sort of plot of land and farm the land each day and return back to town (Basco or one of the other small coastal towns) each day. Some of the land is on a very steep slope, but it’s still farmed.
We ate Filipino food mainly – lots of meat, rice and not so many vegetables, but since Batanes is an island region, there is lots of fish and cuttlefish (a type of squid). The Philippines is a VERY tough place for a vegetarian, as even their veggie dishes have meat bits in them.
The second day, we mainly headed to the eastern half of the island – more defined by rolling green hills, with tall grass plot divisions vs. the west half– more of a tropical jungle feel. We saw the entries to the bunker that the Japanese army had built for them as Batanes served as a critical lookout point for the army; and we also saw the old US coast guard LORAN (long range assistance navigation??) station which was abandoned in the 1970s. Byron recalls many of the villagers from nearby would enjoy the movies and ice cream from the US soldiers. Now it sits empty and an open shell.
Batanes is a very relaxing place to be – there’s not much to do at night, so Michelle, Merielle and I played lots of cards, particularly a game called Pasoy Dos (sp??).
The third day, we headed to catch an early ferry to a nearby island, called Sabtang. It was a 45 minute ride on a small motorboat and I nearly lost my non-existent breakfast when we arrived. So I mainly spent the ride around Sabtang holding on to the truck, trying to wake up from the grogginess of the motion sickness medicine. We did however have a nice nap on the beach. The ride back was a wild ride with crazy waves. I’m actually really not sure how I survived not getting sick, but I guess the Bonine works.
This morning, we woke early to catch the flight, only to find that it hadn’t even left Manila! So Michelle asked about some bikes and two airport workers lent us their bikes for us to tool around in. The town is only 1km from the airport, so we biked into town and popped in to see our guide, Byron. Then we were up on the far end of the runway and we biked on to the runway! We thought we could cut through, but had to turn around. But it was a bizarre place to be! I’ll be better able to describe Batanes with the photos. It’s a quiet, unspoiled place to visit, it’s rustic in the sense that it’s not very developed and things work the way they work, you just can’t force the issue.
Back in Manila today, Michelle had a dental appointment, so I tagged along and hung out at the shopping mall adjacent – there are many malls- it mainly had western shops, but the Philippines get shops from Europe (Lush, Mango, La Senza), Australia (some Australian Beauty shop) and America (Gap) plus their own shops. It’s fascinating to be here – it feels like how I feel in Taipei – a little lost, but familiar, but the signs are in roman letters, but written in Tagalog, so I don’t understand it sometimes – directional signs are in english. Most everyone can speak english but Tagalog first. So it’s the reverse of Taipei where I can understand what they are saying, but I can’t read. Here I can read, but can’t understand what they are saying. Does that make sense? Other observation here: people here text like there’s no tomorrow. It is the main form of communication. In some ways, it’s the great equalizer – phones are cheap and plentiful and service is inexpensive, so people mainly text – it’s like their blackberry.
Anyhow, tomorrow, I take an evening bus to the Banaue Rice Terraces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banaue). I will be there by myself so it should be interesting – a few days of not being with a local will make it feel more like a normal vacation where I have to fend for myself.
It’s been a treat to be here in Manila with Michelle and her family. They have been incredibly gracious and generous with their home and time. It’s interesting to see this city not as this scary big entity, but just this place where they exist and it’s their home.
More in a few days when I return from Banaue. Then I meet up with Mel who is currently in Taiwan and our friend Sonali who lives here in Manila with her husband Dale and son, Alex.
Filed under: Travel: Philippines
I’m back in Asia! The messy, muggy, humid zaniness of a large city in Asia. It’s a far jump from Seattle, but I managed to make it to Manila via Seoul on Asiana Airlines. Asiana is a Korean airline and it was an 11 hour flight on a Boeing 777 (LOVE IT!) where I was lucky enough to have no one next to me! Movies: Wall-E and Mamma Mia – plus others I wasn’t interested in – The Mummy version 3? and Ghost Town. The food was decent (because I had the Korean dish, Bibimbap) and the service was great. The flight attendants were all a frighteningly perfect size 2 as well. We crossed the international date line on New Year’s so somehow most of New Year’s Eve was zapped away from my life….I may have slept through it!
Seoul’s new airport, Incheon, is like a high class mall – Chanel, Gucci, Prada, plus everything is new and shiny. Not a bad place to hang out, but alas, my good friend, Susan, kindly sent me Twilight (yes, the teeny bopper gothic romance – like this generations Buffy the Vampire Slayer – only not as hip) to read and I am now totally sucked into it (it pretty much goes with my terrible pop music tastes)
So I’ve only spent one day in Manila and it was basically adjusting to the time zone difference which I think is currently 15 hours ahead of Seattle.
My good friend, Michelle, and her sister Merisse, came to pick me up late at night at Ninoy Aquino International Airport which felt a bit more what I expect Asia to be like – muggy, lots of honking, people smoking. But somehow when I am on vacation, my patience is greater and when I’m in Asia, things that would bother me in Seattle, don’t phase me at all. I should try to have this zen attitude at home.
So Michelle’s family lives south of Manila this morning, she woke with her dad to take a bike ride around her neighborhood (Michelle is training with her pop to ride the Seattle to Vancouver BC bike ride). I snoozed away after staying up late to read more Twilight. When they returned, Michelle’s 93 year old grandma had taken a tumble in the shower so Michelle’s Dad took her to the hospital. The rest of us, Michelle, her sisters, Merisse, Merielle and her mother all had breakfast which included longsilong (pork/garlic sausage)….and the tastiest mango I’ve had in ages.
The rest of the morning was spent trying to figure out how to reserve a seat on a bus up to Banaue (northern Luzon) for next week.
We then headed to the mall for Michelle to get some of her visa paperwork sorted and out and to get ironically a facial and to look for a cell phone for me (since it was agreed that I should not head up to Banaue without some method of transportation). So, off we went. The facial was ridiculously cheap – $5 (or 250 Philippine Peso). While in the mall (there are so many in Manila) I observed many tragic english translations, worst of which might have been Mushy Balls – a stand that sold fish balls, potato balls, other odd things in a ball form. I’ll leave it at that.
The next day we headed out early for a flight to Basco, Batanes. Read more in the next post!
Filed under: Food
From America’s Test Kitchen again:
By adjusting key ingredients, you can change the texture of any cookie recipe.
- If you want chewy cookies, add melted butter. Butter is 20 percent water. Melting helps water in butter mix with flour to form gluten.
- If you want thin, candy-like cookies, add more sugar. Sugar becomes fluid in the oven and helps cookies spread.
- If you want cakey cookies, add more eggs. Yolks make cookies rich, and whites cause cookies to puff and dry out.
- If you want an open, coarse crumb and craggy top, add baking soda. Baking soda reacts quickly with acidic ingredients (such as brown sugar) to create lots of gas bubbles.
- If you want a fine, tight crumb and smooth top, add baking powder. Baking powder works slowly and allows for an even rise.
Filed under: Food
An interesting tip from America’s Test Kitchen:
Pineapples do not ripen once they’re picked, so to ensure you choose a ripe pineapple at the grocery store, try this trick: With one hand, gently tug at a leaf in the center of the fruit. If the leaf releases with little effort, the pineapple is ripe. Avoid pineapples with dried-out leaves and a fermented aroma—the fruit may be overripe.
Interesting! I never knew and always used to sniff the pineapples. I shall have to try next time.
I just got back from a lovely weekend in San Francisco visiting my brother, college and graduate school friends. Thanks to all who hosted, drove and fed me. You all make San Francisco such a lovely place to visit and every time I think I could move there…..alas, the house…and well, I’d have to find a job and then it just wouldn’t be as much fun….
So the title of this post is My Multicultural Belly. It goes like this: I arrived in San Francisco late Friday evening and my brother took me to his favorite tacqueria near the corner of 29th and Mission where we split a quesadilla and I had a fresa (strawberry drink).
The next morning (after a late evening round of Wii tennis – Ernie crushed me, it wasn’t even fun for him) we went to Tartine Bakery and had lovely french pastries early in the morning. We barely avoided the big crowd that lines up each day. My favorite moment was when the toddler next to us two-handed his chocolate croissant and took a big (little) bite out of it and left his cute teeth marks!
Later that day, I met my girlfriends at Lovejoy’s Tea Room in Noe Valley where we had High Tea chock full of tea sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, jam and shortbread. And tea too, but quite British! A few of us headed to Richmond to walk off the food and after short walk around Clement Street, Emily (our expectant mother who is very agile on her feet!) and I stopped into Good Luck Dim Sum (where you order at the counter and you eat in back – no rolling carts here!) and we had tasty green chive dumplings. As my friend, Melody, once pointed out, the soy sauce is for some reason thick and sweet….
We then went over to Susan and Wen’s where I made Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Martha Stewart’s Chocolate Chip Cookies and Wen bbq’ed some steak and Korean Kalbi Style Ribs. The next morning, Melody and I headed to brunch at Suppenkuche in Hayes Valley where we had german breakfast – mine was called Semmelknödel mit zwei Ei und Bratwürst (Bread Dumpling with two Eggs and Bratwurst). A simple explanation, the bread dumplings smushed into a dough pancake and pan fried, served with an over easy egg, potatoes and small bratwurst – yum. A little damage to the credit card, some coffee at Blue Bottle (smooth decaf mocha). A trip to see Shanon, Sean and little Finn and it all ended with a quick stop into Bay Bread on Fillmore for some tasty canneles for a repeat French Patisserie ending.
Then a quick flight home on Virgin America, which rocks and their lighting is pink and purple and you can watch TV.
What fun. My very multicultural belly is quite full.
Filed under: Uncategorized
So, a few weeks ago, a Wellesley 2005 graduate wrote me through the alumnae network and asked about my path to the Architecture profession and my thoughts about the profession since she was a law student and here’s what I wrote:
Hi V,
Hope you are well. I’ll try to be fairly brief, but if you have more specific questions about architecture and architecture school, please feel free to ask. Your questions are fairly broad, so this may come across a bit stream of consciousness.
Architecture is one of the fields that, like law, is continually evolving, new projects, new circumstances and new technologies, but people who do well in this field are good communicators, whether that is graphically or verbally. We are asked to present to clients, the public and officials, but it’s a matter of trying to get someone to believe in your concept and ideas and convince them. Your argument is supplemented by graphics and good design. Having those tools (which some are inherent in people who draw and sketch well, while others learn in school to use the modern tools) are helpful.
In architecture, we wear many hats of being able to manage a client, your boss, the budget, the drawings and also time. Some architecture is more specialized and you can work for yourself or a large company. You can go from architecture and work for a contractor or serve as an Owner’s representative who acts as a client. I think it’s a little like other professions where it requires you to think critically and also prepare your arguments reasonably.
As for schooling, I was fairly direct and went from Wellesley straight to the University of Washington for graduate school. Architecture schools are usually offering a 2 year program for students who have an undergraduate degree in Architecture and a 3 year program for students who did not study architecture. With a degree from Wellesley, that is the typical route for us, unless you got the dual degree from MIT. I did not so I spent the three years. School is dominated by design studio courses and other supplemental courses like history, stuctures, and mechanical systems. Design studio is where you draw, design and defend your work.
As for participating in architecture outside of the field, you can easily volunteer on a public board or keep abreast of different city developments. Most large cities have some sort of design review board that is comprised of architects, business owners and general public. Our commissions in Seattle are always looking for general public volunteers. These people review new projects in various neighborhoods and try to enforce the design guidelines set forth by the cities. Almost all public buildings in Seattle have a public hearing and those are always open to the public. Does your city?
From your standpoint, being in the Legal profession, are you interested in land use law? Land use greatly affects how land is developed and how buildings are built. We rely on attorneys to help us shepard projects through various tricky jurisdictions and wade the various environmental laws.
Lastly, there are sometimes historic architecture tours offered in Seattle. Both architects and fans of architecture help to lead tours for the general public.
I hope some of this helps. Architecture is a rewarding profession, a little tiresome and sometimes we feel underpaid in relation to other professions, but it’s one of those things that you can do until you don’t want to do anything else.
Let me know if you have other specific questions about architecture.
Take care, hope this helped!
Marlene
I’m actually surprised I think I kind of sounded like I knew what I was talking about….
So the following is the email I sent to a friend at work who asked if I had any good food experience over the weekend when I visited my friend, Sunny, in New York City. I just wanted to save it somewhere (and delete the email)
By the end, we had to go simple cause the food was too good.On Friday night, we went to Allen and Delancey http://www.allenanddelancey.net/menu.html which is on the Lower East side, not surprisingly at the corner of Allen Street and Delancey Street. It was a superb meal. I think every one of us (there were eight of us) had a fantastic dish and their menu is slightly different than the one online, but they had about 7 appetizers and 7 entrees and that was it. Which was really nice, esp. because all of the eaters had no food issues, all were carnivores or fish people and ate all sorts of assorted foods.For appetizer I had a fantastic rabbit terrine which was excellent and a super large portion. I tried some of my friends seared bone marrow (which I had no idea was so rich and fatty, but oh, you didn’t have to scoop it out of the bone) and another friend had the oysters. And other friends said the sea scallops were wonderfully prepared. For entrees, we were all over the place, but two friends shared the cote de boeuf, another friend had cod and I had a trout, which was a pink fish and deliciously prepared with a crispy seared skin. I tasted some of my friends’ “Cabbage beef and onion” dish which was block of beef, some cabbage stuffed with braised beef, an onion side and sliced potatoes which were seared in bacon oil/fat. Delicious. The bread! The bread was wonderful and warm. A small personal baguette and a brioche/egg type roll with bacon and sage and a sprinkling of sea salt.Desserts were excellent too, I had French toast with oatmeal ice cream and caramel sauce made with bacon (that’s a big trend I guess in New York). And other friends had a delicious molten chocolate peanut butter tart with a whiskey vanilla milkshake. That was excellent because the peanut butter really stood out. They had an assortment of housemade gelato – yogurt, buttermilk, ginger, etc…
According to friends, the cocktails were wonderful as well and the sommelier was personable and recommended excellent whites and reds. Other friends also enjoyed dessert wines (one was a white and one was a red), the white was almost light enough for me to enjoy.
So after that meal, we couldn’t stop raving about it as almost everyone had a superb dish. The atmosphere was great and not overly quiet such that our table of 8 women were overwhelming and we also had plenty of room to maneuver despite being in the middle of the room. I highly recommend it.
So then the next morning, in typical new york brunch time (actually a little early), we (my best friend from college, Sunny) and I went and had lox and bagels and babka (where I first tasted it!) at a friend’s place and then trekked over to Williamsburg to get our hair cut at my friends’ hilarious dutch artist hair stylist guy (complete with concrete loft and huge canvas paintings) and then ate at Egg http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/egg/ which was again excellent, but by far the best dish was the fried chicken. Crispy and light, I don’t really know how else to say it, but definitely share cause who can eat that much fried chicken. We also had an entrée with duck and dirty rice and shared a scallop and pork belly appetizer that was good. No liquor license, so it’s byo.We had made reservations at Bar Boulud, for very late http://www.danielnyc.com/barboulud/barboulud.html but were too full, so we just made our way back to Upper West Side and got gelato at Grom http://www.grom.it/eng/pages/dove_NY.htm which is the only US outpost of this Italian shop. The Chocolate extra noir was amazingly flavorful as was the Yogurt Gelato.Also on our list, but we just couldn’t take another meal was Dovetail http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/dovetail/ http://dovetailnyc.com/ which is getting good reviews, but has a similar menu as allen and delancey, so we passed. Evidently similar chefs (both English).So much food, that the next morning we changed dim sum plans (too much pork) to just pancakes at the hole in the wall chain, Jackson Hole. Just good solid breakfast. Blueberry waffle and bacon (ok a little more pork).Um, enough info for you??
Oh wait, on Friday afternoon, before I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, I had an excellent French Onion Soup and Merguez Sausage brochette at a little French Bar with another friend and we went to this cookie place next door, called One Girl Cookie http://www.onegirlcookies.com/ I have a little box for Ming so hit her up for some cookies after I give them to her.Ha ha, bet you’ll never ask me again for a food weekend summary….. 
Marlene
The following is excerpted from an email newsletter (The Baker’s Chronicle) from Lynne Rosetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table on NPR
World Peace Cookies
Excerpted from Baking: From My Home to Yours. Copyright 2006 by Dorie Greenspan. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company, New York. All rights reserved.
Makes about 36 cookies
I once said I thought these cookies, the brainchild of the Parisian pastry chef Pierre Hermé, were as important a culinary breakthrough as Toll House cookies, and I’ve never thought better of the statement. These butter-rich, sandy-textured slice-and-bake cookies are members of the sablé family. But, unlike classic sablés, they are midnight dark — there’s cocoa in the dough — and packed with chunks of hand-chopped bittersweet chocolate. Perhaps most memorably, they’re salty. Not just a little salty, but remarkably and sensationally salty. It’s the salt — Pierre uses fleur de sel, a moist, off-white sea salt — that surprises, delights and makes the chocolate flavors in the cookies seem preternaturally profound.
When I included these in Paris Sweets, they were called Korova Cookies and they instantly won fans, among them my neighbor Richard Gold, who gave them their new name. Richard is convinced that a daily dose of Pierre’s cookies is all that is needed to ensure planetary peace and happiness.
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
1. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.
2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.
3. Turn off the mixer. Pour in the dry ingredients, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.
4. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)
Getting Ready to Bake:
5. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
6. Using a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.
7. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.
Lora Brody’s Rugelach
Excerpted from Rose’s Christmas Cookies by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Copyright 1990 by Cordon Rose Incorporated. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
Makes 4 dozen 2 1/2-inch cookies
These are, without a doubt, the best rugelach I’ve ever tasted, and, to my mind, there is no point whatsoever in improving on perfection. From my friend Lora’s wonderful book Cooking with Memories, this recipe was passed down to her from her mother.
One of the reasons these rugelach are so special is that the dough itself contains a little sugar, making it softer and more cozy and buttery than the usual. Then there is the extra zing of tartness from the apricot preserves and the sweet, sharp sting of lots of plump golden raisins. As I mentioned, perfection! As Lora warns: “Beware, you can’t eat just one!”
Dough:
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 cups (sift into the cup and level off) bleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
Filling:
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (firmly packed) light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup golden raisins
- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup apricot preserves, well stirred
Topping:
- 1/4 liquid cup milk
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Food Processor Method:
1. Into a food processor with the metal blade, place the cream cheese. Cut the butter into a few pieces and add it with the motor running. Process until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and process until incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the flour and the optional salt and pulse in just until the dough starts to clump together.
Electric Mixer Method:
1. Soften the cream cheese and butter. In a mixing bowl, cream the cream cheese and butter until blended. Beat in the sugar and vanilla extract. On low speed, beat in the flour and the optional salt until incorporated.
For Both Methods:
1. Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and press it together to form a ball. Divide the dough into 4 portions and cover each with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
Filling:
1. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts and stir with a spatula or fork until well mixed.
2. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to sit on the counter for about 15 minutes or until it is malleable enough to roll.
3. Place 2 oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
4. Using a floured rolling pin, on a lightly floured board, roll out each dough portion, one at a time, into a 9-inch circle to a 1/8-inch thickness, rotating the dough often to be sure that it isn’t sticking. Using the back of a tablespoon, spread the dough evenly with 2 tablespoons of the apricot preserves. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of the raisin-walnut filling over the preserves. Press the filling firmly and evenly over the dough. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough circle into 12 triangles or pieces of “pie.”
5. Use a thin knife, if necessary, to loosen the triangles from the board. Starting at the wide end, roll up the triangle and bend the ends around to form a slight crescent shape. Place the rugelach, point underneath, about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, for at least 30 minutes or until firm.
6. Clean the work surface of excess filling before rolling out each batch.
7. For the topping, brush the rugelach with milk. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle the rugelach with it.
8. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned. For even baking, rotate the cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking period.
9. Use a small, angled metal spatula or pancake turner to transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
10. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer. Keeps 5 days at room temperature, 3 months frozen.
Christmas Vanilla Sugar Cookies
Excerpted from At Home with Magnolia. Copyright 2006 by Allysa Torey. Used by permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies
I love this Christmas cookie recipe because the dough is very easy to handle and roll out, and the cookies look really pretty and festive with the cream-colored icing and white sugar without having to do any fancy decorating. I like to use a snowflake-shaped cookie cutter, but a regular round cutter is fine too.
Cookies:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Icing:
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
White decorating sugar, for garnish
To Make the Cookies:
In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and beat well. Add the dry ingredients, in three parts, and mix until just combined. Shape the dough into three flat disks, wrap each disk tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Working with one disk at a time, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2-inch fluted cutter, cut out the cookies and place on baking sheets lined with waxed paper. Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator and chill for an additional 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degree F and grease two baking sheets.
Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and arrange on the greased baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until lightly golden around the edges. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
To Make the Icing:
In the top of a double boiler, over simmering water, combine all of the ingredients. Stir for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth. Remove from the heat, transfer to a glass measuring cup, and allow to cool to lukewarm before using.
To Ice the Cookies:
Using a pastry brush, spread a light coating of icing on each cookie and then sprinkle the decorating sugar over the icing. (Let the icing set for a few hours before stacking the cookies.)
Filed under: Food
So, KMJ went to Philly for a conference and the following was her post about the food she had there. Sounds delicious!
Sunday night:
non-descript Viet-Thai restaurant in Chinatown. It was good, but nothing extraordinary.
Monday lunch:
Reading Terminal Market, aka Pike Place with twice as many counter eateries, is conveniently right across the street. This is also the home to Delilah’s, featured on Oprah as having the best Mac & Cheese in the country. She has clearly taken this endorsement to heart and planned to profit from it as the small side of Mac & Cheese, about 1 cup, is $4.50! I ordered a combo plate with a piece of chicken, cornbread and Mac & Cheese for $7.75. I don’t know if it’s the best in the country but it was yummy. What I appreciated was that it was cheesy without being super saucy – I’ll have to check out the recipe. The cornbread was also yummy – sweet and not dry.
Reading Terminal Market: http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/
Delilah’s: http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/merchants/view/54
Monday dinner:
Morimoto, restaurant of the same named Iron Chef. Very cool decor, with plasticy booths lit from within that changed color periodically. As a group we each hit our per diem limit for the day. We ordered a lot of food and drink: fancy drinks, assorted apps, entrees and sushi. Favorite app was the rock shrimp. The tempura veggies were very Morimoto as they were served with a gorgonzola sauce – this however, while tasty separately, were an odd combination together. Oh, and the King Crab legs – those were Tachi’s recommendation. They were good. For dinner I had Barramundi, fried whole, served with an asian pear salad and brown butter – miso sauce. mmmm….
Morimoto: http://www.morimotorestaurant.com/
Tuesday lunch:
Back to Reading terminal – I had a ham, spinach & feta crepe. The for dessert, a chocolate mint brownie from the Flying Monkey Patisserie, which was almost as good as the ones my mom makes – very similar in style to hers.
Flying Monkey Patisserie: http://www.flyingmonkeyphilly.com/
Tonight’s dinner is at Tangerine. I’ll keep you posted! I’m off to the gym so I can keep eating!
KJ
Tuesday dinner:
Tangerine, a fusion of modern mediterranean/moroccan. This actually turned out to be my favorite dinner. It started out with a grown-up creamsicle drink, appropriately named the Tangerine. The decor of the restaurant provided a really good atmosphere and all the food was amazing: crab & feta phyllo, crispy calamari, grilled octopus salad, shrimp & scallops with ravioli, pomegranate pork with chorizo-corn fritter, lamb (perfectly cooked according to Anastasia). Dessert was baklava, with pistachios and a side of vanilla ice cream and balsamic strawberries. Mmmmm.
Tangerine: http://www.tangerinerestaurant.com/
Wednesday lunch:
El Vez – mexican, very cool decor with a big circular bar in the middle of the room, where I sat reading my entertainment weekly and enjoying the lunch special (where you chose two items plus a drink for $12.99). I got tortilla soup which came in a nice earthen-ware clay bowl and chipotle chicken tacos: three small tacos presented three in a row, flat & piled high on a rectangle plate. Really nice.
El Vez: http://www.elvezrestaurant.com/
Wednesday afternoon snack:
Something called a Nudo, from the Naked Chocolate cafe. Chocolate chip flavor, a pyramid shaped cupcake I guess. Weird, but really good. I also bought a mini belgian waffle that I haven’t eaten yet – it is apparently filled with caramel and covered in chocolate and toffee chips. Naked Chocolate Cafe: http://www.nakedchocolatecafe.com/
Wednesday dinner:
Buddakan – modern asian. We had a 7:45 reservation but didn’t get seated until after 8:00pm, so they brought us a free plate of edemame ravioli which were surprisingly yummy. Then we ordered a lot of food: king crab tempura, lobster egg roll, shrimp & scallop spring rolls, chicken & ginger dumplings, crispy jumbo shrimp, ponzu chicken, sesame tuna, lamb. The lobster egg roll had surprisingly large chunks inside and a tasty mustard sauce on the side. The crispy jump shrimp were a grown-up version of those honey-walnut prawns I love at all the Chinatown restaurants. The ponzu sauce on the chicken was really good, and that dish came with asparagus and two stuffed buns as well. Despite the gorging, we still had room for dessert: Dip Sum doughnuts, like the ones Tom Douglas does, only with a tinge of five-spice powder and served with blackberry jam, a sweet cream cheese and a chocolate sauce. And also a madagascar vanilla creme brulee with ginger infused fortune cookies. Ohh my drink! the Geisha: smirnoff orange vodka, pomegranate juice, passion fruit juice. I had two 
Buddakan: http://www.buddakan.com/
I think lunch today will be at someplace appropriately named Jones. Then I’m home tonight – see ya!
Sounds like it was a tasty trip!
