The Rugelach of our Memories

Waaaay back in September, I decided I wanted to attempt to reproduce the rugelach A and I had in NYC for our Yom Kippur break-fast. For those who don't know, rugelach is Jewish pastry typically filled with raspberry jam, raisins, and walnuts.

A was skeptical, since the deliciousness we had in NYC was from a Jewish grandma whose bakery we happened to stumble into during a do-it-yourself walking tour of some of the ethnic neighborhoods. She forced us to buy a whole pound of rugelach, which was way too much for two people, so we decided to save some for S & D, A's sister and her husband. Unfortunately for them, we managed to finish it off by the time we caught the train to New Jersey. Whoops.

This particular rugelach has been held in high esteem in our memories for the past three years. I was under intense pressure to make something even half as tasty. Thankfully this recipe blew past our expectations! A gave it a perfect 10 (the second time around - we remembered to add walnuts). I made it a second time for dinner guests, and they also said it was quite delicious!

And... it's easy! Really! To get two foot-long rolls, here's what you do...

Combine 1 cup of flour and 1/4 tsp salt. Separately, beat together 1/2 cup of softened butter and 4 ounces of softened cream cheese. Add the flour mixture to the butter/cream cheese and stir until a soft dough forms. Press the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, then push down to flatten it. Chill in the fridge until firm. (I left it overnight.)

Preheat your oven to 350*. Get the dough out of the fridge and divide it in half. Unwrap the dough and roll it out on a floured surface. It'll be tough to work with at first, but keep rolling. I made mine around 1/4 inch thick.

Now it's time for filling! You can do whatever you think tastes best, but for a traditional rugelach: Sprinkle 1/4 cup raisins, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (I put them in the food processor), and 1 tablespoon each of cinnamon and sugar over the dough. Or whatever proportions you want. :) I also did one roll with all the above, but substituted chocolate chips for the raisins. Yum!

Roll up the dough into a log and place it seam-side down on a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet. Pinch the ends closed. Brush the top with milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Make 3/4-inch deep cuts crosswise in the dough (not all the way through) at 1-inch intervals. Chill the dough for a few minutes if it's too soft to cut.

Bake until golden on top - around 45 minutes. (Check out our antique oven!)

Cool the logs by placing the pan on a wire rack.

Slice up the cookies and eat them! :)

Empty Streets

Back when it was warmer (AKA the first weekend of October), Chicago held an event called "Open Street State Street" where they closed down State Street for about eight blocks in the Loop. Families were encouraged to do the opposite of what your mom always told you - come play outside in the street!

They had a mini skateboarding park. We saw some little kids pulling some pretty cool tricks.

It was weird being able to walk in the street! State Street is one of the busiest in the city.

They tried to teach kids how to break-dance... I'd say they were getting the hang of it.

Classic field day activity - sack potato races! I hated those... never good at them.

One of the Roller Derby teams demonstrated how the game works. (We still don't understand it.)

They had a couple of these "Chill Zones" at certain intersections. Fake turf and lawn chairs look pretty amusing on asphalt.

Sidewalk chalk was readily available and we made good use of it!

Another favorite outdoor game - foursquare! They had kid squares and adult squares.

Another popular activity was yoga.

The Puppet Bike is a (moving) Chicago landmark. I've seen it so many times, but never when the show was actually playing. This time we got lucky!

From Chinatown to Comedy

This post has been a long time coming - apologies! A's parents visited us at the end of September for a few days. They also visited us during the same time in 2010, and it was crazy to see how different the weather was. 2010 = Hot and sunny. 2011 = Cold and rainy. 

We headed down to Chinatown to eat lunch and walk around. It rained off and on.

 

I love all the Buddhas.

We could have picked out our lunch. If we were willing to cook it.. we're not that brave yet!

Instead we opted to eat prepared food at a highly rated restaurant down a side street. Delicious!

A found out Goose Island Brewery - local to Chicago - does tours and tastings. We took the train uptown to one of their breweries.

One of their brewmasters showed us the business side of beer brewing, then walked us through a tasting.

A took a look at the amount of beer on the table and remarked that he would be quite inebriated at the end of the tasting because he'd be drinking mine as well as his. I'm not a fan of beer. Keep trying it, but don't particularly like it. Our tour guide asked if I liked wine. When I said yes, he said I would like the 4th beer we were going to try.

 

He was right! I liked a brew they call Matilda - a Belgian Pale Ale. 

A still got to finish mine off. :)

Empty glasses!

After the tasting, we headed to Michigan Avenue to stroll among the shoppers. We came across these cool ads for Chicago Ideas Week.

I really like this one.

That evening we headed down to Navy Pier to check out Octoberfest.

There was a gymnastics group there who let people take a spin in their hoops. A was the bravest of our group!

We headed into the food and drink tent where we tried some bratwurst and listened to a live band. The music was okay - traditional Octoberfest type music - it just got repetitive after about three songs. Oh yes, and no dancing on the tables.

A and I had wanted to try out one of the popular Ethiopian restaurants in Chicago, but we knew we needed to go with more people (family style dining) and they had to be adventurous. His parents fit the bill, especially since they've already been to Africa.

This is one of the "traditional" style tables.

Our dinner platter - three main courses and three sides you pick up with injera - a flat spongy bread.

A wasn't sure about the bread.

It was yummy! Definitely different, but in a good way!

One morning we headed out to the suburb of Oak Park to take a Frank Lloyd Wright tour. He built multiple homes in Oak Park, and had a family home and studio there. We had headsets with MP3 players to listen to the tour as we walked around the neighborhood.

This is his home and studio.

Some of the houses he designed.

Some of his famous glass windows.

These aren't Wright houses, but this is what Oak Park looks like. Just beautiful streets, tall trees, cute houses.

This is actually a church. Pretty modern design.

I love the windows!

After we worked up an appetite in Oak Park, A decided to take his parents to his favorite "fast food" restaurant in Hyde Park. He used to get food at The Nile all the time when he lived in Hyde Park.

He loves the lentil soup.

And the chicken schawarma.

After lunch, we took a walk out to the Osaka Garden. It was built on a small island in a large pond near the World's Fair area.

That's the Museum of Science and Industry in the background. (The only standing World's Fair building.)

That night we ate at the Red Rooster. Very tasty French food in a small, one-room restaurant. There was one waiter, and one busboy/water server/bread server.

After dinner, we caught a comedy show at our favorite venue, the iO Theater. It was an interesting show. This guy (below) would come out and do a monologue based on one audience suggestion, telling stories from his life (they seemed believable). Then the rest of the group would do improv based on his stories. Very different, but very funny!

All in all, another great visit with A's parents!