Latkes

I finally figured out how to make these. I went through a lot of raw latkes and zucchini fritters before this. The key is oil. Use a lot of it just like the tradition goes. I used seven tablespoons of canola oil initially and then added more when I started running out.

My latke guests

Rugelah

This is another one of those 'never again' projects. This dough is impossible to work with. Note the patchwork in the second picture.

Napoleon

 Periodically throughout my life something happens that makes me think the same particular three things. This is due to the fact I am lazy and something like this for someone like me is of the same magnitude as becoming the next president or discovering the moon for a regular person in terms of achievement. The three things are:

• I cannot believe I did this 
• I cannot believe it actually worked out as planned 
• I do not think I will ever do this again

These are the thoughts that go thorough my mind when I look at the above photo. This is Napoleon. The king of Russian homemade deserts. My maternal grandmother used to make this. I cannot remember the cake very well in terms of taste although I imagine it was out of this world but what I do remember is the layers. They used to have huge air bubbles on them and seemed somewhat odd to my five-year-old self. What can I say 35 years later, when I made this for the first time my layers looked exactly the same way.

Christmas Ties

Christmas ties at Macy's ... for lack of a better topic

Popovers

I have been planning on making these since I first learned of their existence at my brother's after wedding breakfast in 2007. However I did not have a popover pan. Incidentally I do not own a muffin tin or ramekins so I literally had nothing I could use to recreate this lovely food object. This recipe comes from my brother's father in law Robert Wallack and it's flawless: http://www.food52.com/recipes/8142_popovers I over-mixed the flour and milk until there were no lumps and opened the oven in the beginning. I forgot to remove the upper oven rack and was worried the popovers would crash into it if they were to rise. 

Knitting class notes

Back - complete it, approximately 8 rows. Do one row of the smaller pattern thing.
Front - decrease 6 times from 28 to 22 and then make it so it matches the back.
right side - knit 2 together and slip one, knit one pass one over
left side -  purl last 2 and 1st 2. Do not decrease. Purl each one.
Can connect shoulders if remember.

Mushrooms

Another expedition to the cape