Rugelach Revelation

Until about 4 p.m. Sunday 16 December 2012 I never had much taste for rugelach. It always seems to me a bit flat. The dough in particular. Pleasant and tasty but also weighty, so that it never has risen above a mid-level option at best when searching for a treat. Then I pulled a batch of these dainties out of the oven. It was my first attempt. I had marked the page for this recipe from Nancy Silverton's Pastries from the La Brea Bakery ages ago, and I have always found her a trustworthy guide. Plus I happened to have cream cheese and butter and raspberry jam and a loaf of sour dough bread all at once on hand. A conspiracy of convenience.

I waited a few minutes for them to cool enough to taste, and when I took my first bite, the sensation was -- revelation. The dough has weight, for sure, but also is genuinely flaky. The tang of the cream cheese in the pastry matches beautifully the tang of the sour dough breadcrumbs in the filling matches beautifully the tartness of the raspberry jam.

I hesitate to make the claim, since I believe it is human nature to love that which is one's own creation, for no other reason than because it is one's own creation. But honestly, I think these are the best rugelach....

Starting Small -- Size 5,

Since I got my sewing machine over six months ago, I've been thinking I should try doing some...what do you call it...sewing!  Doggy and other quilts are well and good, but somehow seem a slender foundation for any claim to the title sewist.  I decided to start small. Literally. With a size 5 dress for my youngest niece.  I used a pattern from McCalls.  The fabric is cotton. The front of the dress is pleated. The back of the dress is gathered with an elastic band at the waist. For the bottom edge I sewed all around with an overcast stitch. Then folded it up into a narrow hem and top stitched all the way around with a twin needle. The side seams I also pressed and then stitched flat. If an initial response from my neighbor is any guide, some slight messiness in the slipstitching on the facing of the upper front and back and other minor irregularities of construction are more than compensated by the cuteness factor.

A Variation on a Maple Leaf Quilt

I finished this quilt last June, which is when I enlisted a couple of friends to help me take a picture one evening outside a bar on a desolate block west and south of the loop.  I like the quilt a lot, but wasn't sure I liked the picture. All summer I was thinking I might find another time to take some more pictures and have more choices for a posting. But now it is early November, and the quilt is already in heavy use on my sofa keeping my toes covered every night while I watch my movies, I realize the moment for making pictures is  gone. The detail in the center of each maple leaf is a fabric yoyo gathered tight until it is more a fabric button, then slip-stiched flat to the top layer of the quilt.

Hummingbird

Big Yellow Hyacinth

Getting in touch with my inner Japanese home-maker!

A Bounteous Harvest

At the end of August some friends were headed to Japan to visit family. About a week before their departure I wrote and asked if they would purchase for me some origami publications.

It was an onerous thing to ask of anyone, not something I would have enjoyed doing for myself, let alone for someone else. I acknowledged as much in my email. So it was with forked tongue that I urged them not to take any trouble fulfilling my request, even as I was making it!

Last week they showed up at a potluck BBQ bearing eight -- count them -- eight!!! -- not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven -- but eight prized titles!

These are heavy books, expensive too, and they had toted them to Chicago all the way from Tokyo! Truly a bounteous harvest and among the kindest acts of friendship!

Watermelon Pear Ginger Juice: Two Views

Two Dahlias and a Daisy

Two Dahlias and a Daisy.

Later that same day (with a little help from Photoshop).

Three Pansies

First Drafts of Origami Flowers

Dang Excellent Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week, just as the news that everyone already knew became official, i.e. that July was really really really hot, the seemingly endless summer heat wave finally ended. For eight weeks my oven had remained off-limits, and to celebrate its grand re-opening, I made a batch of these celebrated chocolate chip cookies. When the recipe first circulated about four years ago, it got a lot of press, most of it so fantastic I was skeptical. It must have made some kind of impression though, since I eventually printed out a copy and added it to the pile of papers in my acrylic recipe holder on my kitchen counter, where it has been gathering grease stains for a couple of years.

Now I have finally put the recipe to the test, I can add my own enthusiastic affirmation:  this is a dang excellent chocolate chip cookie! Often chocolate chip cookie recipes are divided into the categories:  thin and crispy, flat and chewy, and thick and gooey. These cookies however deserve I think their own category:  substantial. (My first choice adjective was actually "meaty," but I decided it has complicated connotations that I best avoid.)

Just a few kitchen notes:  I measured all my ingredients by weight, and made three modifications to the recipe.  First, I used regular chocolate chips. (Those recommended disks are expensive!) Second, I sized the cookies with a Zeroll #50 scoop. Third, I baked them at 325. Most of my dough I froze in portions, so the next big test is to see how it performs out of the freezer.

# 1000

Six Giraffes, A Lion, An Elephant

A.  Engel, Origami from Angelfish to Zen, 10 inch kami.
B.  Montroll, African Animals in Origami, 10 inch kami.
C.  Lang and Weiss, Origami Zoo, 8 inch lokta, back coated.
D.  Lang and Weiss, Origami Zoo, 10 inch kami.
E.  Montroll, Animal Origami for the Enthusiast, 10 inch duo-color crepe.
F.  Lionel Albertino, Safari Origami, 10 inch foil backed paper.
G.  Diaz, Origami for the Interpreter, 35 inch duo-color kami
H.  Lang and Weiss, Origami Zoo, 10 inch tant.

An Aerial View of the Wreckage at 957

Several persons have asked me recently, what am I doing with all the origami models I make. The answer looks something like this:

A Brief Reminiscence Inspired by Artur Biernacki's Dachshund

The paper is double-sided crepe, 24 cm.

Many years ago in New York City I roomed for a period with a miniature dachshund named Rose. She was sleek and vivacious, petite and curvy at just over eight pounds, and was always turning heads on the streets of Brooklyn and East Harlem and Chelsea. Men adored her. Women envied her. Children wanted to eat her. Despite all the attention, her tastes were simple. She was never very interested in fancy clothes or expensive jewelry, preferring the simple pleasures of a hard red rubber ball -- just one -- and likewise given the choice would always prefer the comfort of  staying in and burrowing under the pillows on a Friday night over the opera or theater or drinks in the East Village. It was no surprise therefore, even if a disappointment to so many city folk, that she eventually decided to move to Rockville Center, where she soon stopped minding so carefully her figure and grew decidedly plump all around her middle from too many table scraps. Occasional weekend and holiday afternoons she returned to the Big Apple -- it was barely a thirty minute ride on the Long Island Rail Road -- but mostly she enjoyed her suburban quiet. Her golden years she lived in Saratoga Springs, in order to be closer to family. The cold however she despised. Every December to March she spent in a rented apartment in Delray Beach walking distance from the ocean. I was reminded of Rose when I found this charming model by the brilliant Polish designer Artur Biernacki, and inspired to offer this brief reminiscence in her honor.

Two Horned Owls (Model by Hideo Komatsu)

Here's another model I recently cribbed off YouTube. The paper is double sided kami. The tutorial is in two parts. One. Two.

Pandamonium

A Pair of Fishes with Scales

Taken with a 50mm prime lens reverse mounted.

The origami count is now 862, and in an effort to continue to produce new models I have begun exploring the many tutorials posted on YouTube. This pair of of fishes with scales is from the video instructions by Jo Nakashima.

A standard view with the kit 18-55 lens.

Each of the fishes is folded from a sheet of Tant, proportions 1:2. So a 30.5 cm. square produces two nicely matched fishes. 

Another reverse mounted image with the 50mm lens.

The scales are actually pretty quick to fold, assuming one is familiar with the basic techniques detailed by Eric Gjerde in his book Origami Tesselations.

Taken with the same 50mm lens, this time reverse mounted on the front of an 18-55 lens.

The eyeball is a closed sink on a corner, then another closed sink of the same corner in the opposite direction. Very cool stuff!

Peacock (Extended Version) by Maekawa

The paper is tant. The sheet is 30.5 cm. The pattern is from Genuine Origami.

Turtle Bars

A serious contender for most popular bar cookie.

This past Tuesday was summer inaugural potluck bbq at Promontory Point. In addition to my organizational skills, some paper goods, a package of beef bratwurst, and a box of Little Debbie Swiss Rolls, I contributed this batch of Turtle Bars. (From Nancy Baggett's All American Cookie Book.) These consistently rate among the most very popularest treats out of everything I ever make. Even with a homemade caramel layer, they are quick to put together. Here's how it goes:

We were here.

For the shortbread crust. Line a 9x13 pan with quick release foil. Combine 1 1/4 cups flour, 3 tbs sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, and 1 1/2 tbs milk and pat evenly into pan, pressing it well into the corners and against the edges. Chill thirty minutes then bake at 350 until browned at edges and firm in center, about 25 minutes.

For caramel layer:  heat 1 cup heavy cream, 1/3 cup light corn syrup, 1/4 cup unsalted butter, 2/3 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until it reaches 246 degrees. Stir in 2 tsps vanilla extract and 1 3/4 cups chopped toasted and salted pecans. Then immediately pour pecan-caramel mixture over shortbread, spreading it evenly. Take 12 ounces of chocolate chips and scatter over caramel layer. Let sit a couple of minutes to melt, then smooth with a knife. Finally, scatter another 1/4 cup of finely chopped pecans over the chocolate while still warm. Slice in bars when cool. Freezes fine.

One note:  In this batch I used a mixture of leftover chocolates, milk and semisweet, coarsely chopped.

American Lobster and Still Image of the Roc by Diaz

In my house lobster is forever off the menu (not kosher). This bright blushing fellow however seems to have figured out a way to bend the rules, and seems quite carefree and content to soak up some of the afternoon sun streaming across my cutting mat.

From a 35cm square of kami. The model is by Montroll, in Origami Sea Life.

On a different note, I realize 800 models in that I haven't been sharing much of the paper details. For the remainder I will attempt to do better. Also here is a still image (airbrushed in Photoshop to enhance the silhouette) of the Roc by Roman Diaz.

Per the recommendation of Diaz, the model is folded from a 50cm square of elephant hide, then finished with some wet modeling. 

Roc (Mythological Eagle) by Roman Diaz

Yesterday I reached 800 in the slow trek towards 1000 giraffes and other origami creations. All week long I've been working on this model of a mythological eagle by Roman Diaz. I got a bit stymied right at the end by some of the details in the feet. My modeling also of the wing and tail feathers is not so great. Eventually I will give this another try. 

Hereford Steer, Owl, and Singing Cardinal from from Roman Diaz's Origami Essence

Lemon Butter Cookies and Three Owls

The base for these cookies is the recipe for Key Lime Frosties in Nancy Baggett's All-American Cookie Book. An uncredited version of the recipe is available online here. For this batch I used lemon instead of lime. Also I added a few drops of yellow food coloring to the glaze, and omitted the zest.

The cookies have a pillow texture, very tender and melting. The lemon flavor actually develops over a few days. And they are quite delicious right out of the freezer.

First Attempts at Donkey, Mockingbird, Owl, and Unicorn from Roman Diaz's Origami Essence

A Doggy Quilt for Mei Mei

The original Mei Mei showing off her quilt

Panda by Yoshizawa

This model is constructed from two pieces of kami, one for the head, another for the body. The total height is 3.5"