May 24, 2001

Cooking Corner

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Q: Why do we all love Shavuot?

A: It's the cheese!

Bella Greenfield's Rugelach

I loved my mother's cheesecake and blintzes. But, most of all, I loved her rugelach. Here is the recipe for you to make with the help of an adult:

Dough

1 cup cream cheese

1 cup butter

2 cups flour

Pinch of salt

Filling

You can use any chocolate spread. My personal favorite is Nutella.

You can make cinnamon sugar by mixing equal parts of sugar and cinnamon. My mother always added crushed walnuts to the mix. That was my favorite filling.

Mix dough ingredients. You may have to chill it for 20 minutes or so to make it easier to handle.

Separate the dough into 3-inch balls. Roll out each ball to form round pizza-like circles about 1/4 inch thick. Now, use a knife to cut the circle into triangles, the way you would cut a pizza. You'll get anywhere from eight to 16 triangles, depending on how large the circle is.

Spread the filling all over the circle.

Roll each triangle up separately, from the widest to the narrowest part of the triangle. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 350° F for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Homemade Butter

Did you know you can make your own butter? All you need is some heavy (whipping) cream and a glass jar. Pour the cream into the jar and shake, shake, shake. At some point, the cream will separate into butter and liquid. Pour out the liquid and you've got butter!

Torah Blintzes

If your mom and dad are planning on making or buying blintzes for Shavuot, why not try this appropriate presentation:

Place two blintzes on a plate, about 3 inches apart. These will be the two sides of the Torah scroll. Fill in the middle with whipped cream from a spray can to create the effect of the open Torah scroll. To top it off, place a baby carrot above and below each blintz to make the Torah scroll handles.

B'teiavon! Bon Appetit!