My pug, Jelly, hates it when I travel. A couple of weeks ago, as my buddy Cas was wrapping up his stay with us, Jelly spotted me wheeling his carry-on bag out the door. She scrambled up (as best she could given her hip dysplasia) and hurried over, barking as if to say: “Whoa! Where the hell do you think YOU’RE going?!”. A false alarm and she was greatly relieved and downright excited to see me walk back through in.
This morning, as I was packing up for this Toronto business trip and last minute Montreal detour, she was looking worried. Akemi claims I’m simply seeing what I want to see – but I ask you: Is this not the look of an anxious pug?
Bubba, meanwhile, bewildered –
And Lulu accusatory –
Am I right?
So, an early blog entry today as I’ll be spending much of the day in flight. We touch down in T.O. at around 7:30 p.m. after which we’ll check in and then meet two of our former Toronto cohorts, Tara and Trevor, for drinks – and whatever gifts they’ll surprise us with.
Before flying out of Vancouver, Akemi and I did manage to test DP Cobbler’s recipe. The results –
I should have used a wider, shallower bowl. This one was too deep and resulted in the strawberries (our fruit of choice) sinking. Regardless of how it looked, it was pretty damn delicious – with vanilla ice cream of course. I gave it my own twist, adding white chocolate chips that mingled and melted in the batter, and sliced almonds for a nice little textural pop.
Next up = Mark’s great grandmother’s kifli recipe! What’s a kifli? Well, according to Mark, it’s a delicious pastry filled with jam (or walnut) – a traditional East European dessert. He offers the recipe with handy diagrams here: http://192.197.62.35/staff/mcsele/recipe.htm#Kifli
The recipe…
Mix together the following three ingredients and set aside. Ensure it does not clump.
1/4 CUP MILK (Warmed) 1 TBSP YEAST 1 tsp SUGAR
Using a pastry knife, Mix the following three ingredients in a bowl:
3 CUPS FLOUR 1/2 lb. BUTTER (1 CUP) Pinch of Salt
Add the following two dry ingredients to the above:
3-1/2 TBSP SUGAR 1/2 tsp BAKING POWDER
In a separate bowl, mix the following:
3 EGG YOLKS (SEPARATE FROM WHITES), Beaten
The add the yeast mixture from above (by now it has frothed) and add:
1/2 CUP SOUR CREAM 1/2 tsp VANILLA
Mix these ‘wet’ ingredients together with the dry ingredients. Should have the consistency of peanut butter cookie dough. Add flour if sticky. Knead well and let stand 2 hours in a warm place. To allow the dough to rise, we place the bowl with the dough (covered with a tea towel) onto the top rack of our oven and place a bowl of hot water on the lower rack. Leave the oven off and it will gently warm and allow the dough to rise.
Divide the dough into 5 equal sized balls. Sprinkle sugar on a board, put a dough ball on the board, and roll out into a circle about 12 inches across. Flip the dough over and put more sugar on the board. Cut like a pizza into wedges about 1-1/2 inches at widest. Put Lecvar plum jam on each wedge (about 1 tsp each) and roll in sugar. Bake on a cookie sheet at 325 F for 15 min until golden brown.
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Hmmmmm. Seems a little more involved than previous entires. Who’s up for the challenge?!
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