These cookies are as simple to make as they are beautiful.
Use any flavor of preserves you’d like in these…. I happen to really love the amber glow of the apricot preserves. A thicker jam or fruit preserve is key to having a uniform color puddle in your cookies. Sprinkle with a touch of confectioners sugar for the ultimate eye-popper.
Every single year, for as far back as I can remember, my mother makes a rugelach type cookie which she (and what I presume every member of her extended family) calls simply a “nut roll”. I haven’t had her rugelach in quite some time because it has all kinds of things in it that I just don’t do; but every year around this time, I start to crave it like nobody’s business.
So, starting in Autumn I begin to make a bunch of cookies of this “rugelach” type… pretty much all the way until January (when I start cursing winter and planning my move to the tropics). This version is not overly sweet and they are kinda big. You could share one… if you were really desperate to be a nice person. But this recipe makes quite a few cookies, so there’s no need to get all crazy…
The apricots in this risotto turn from sweet to elegantly savory with the slow addition of vegetable broth. The whole process of making risotto is pretty repetitive (add liquid, stir, add liquid, stir) so I have included some exciting photos of my newly acquired Frigidaire Flair Oven, c. 1960. ( I know, shameless bragging)
We found it desperately needing a new home on Craigslist, and just couldn’t resist the urge to drive almost two hours and pick it up (during a crazy wind/rain storm). Luckily, since it weighed 325 pounds, we were told that we could just open up the patio door and wheel the oven out through the backyard. We would also avoid a bunch of stairs this way… thank goodness.
The backyard was nice and flat. It was also atop the steepest hill in Ohio, and we needed to get it into the truck that was parked all the way at the bottom. That was a lot of fun. But, after we heaved it into my hubby’s old truck and strapped it down, we were home free.
Although, once we got it home, my husband had to install a 220 volt outlet where our gas range once stood. That took about three days. And, apparently the attic in our house is a pretty horrible place to be crawling around.
This was all completely my idea. I was smitten, what can I say?
The oven is an absolute dream come true, and I can’t wait to give her a proper coat of pale cerulean blue paint… which would coordinate well with practically everything in my life.
Swoon…
Okay, back to the risotto:
Yum… don’t you just love cookies that don’t need “cooked”? Like most raw cookies, these little gems are ridiculously easy to make and good for you… holiday bonus! They are not overly sweet, like many of the awesome raw cookies that contain dates. They are actually a little bit tart. But, they are oh so scrumptious. Definitely a nice change of pace for the ol’ holiday cookie tray.