Rugelach always reminds me of Christmas. I don’t know why, actually, because they are really Jewish sweets and don’t have anything directly to do with Christmas. But nevertheless, they do.
And thus I have no explanation for why I am making them in June. I felt inspired, I guess. But I did use peach jam and pistachios, so it almost has a bit of a Middle Eastern flavor. A bit of everything, I guess.
And now for something actually good for you [grin]. Ok, so these granola bars so actually have chocolate chips in them (you can skip those if you like; add in more fruit) but on the whole they are pretty darn good for you. Wrap them in parchment paper or plastic wrap and they should stay good for a couple of weeks of lunches as the recipe makes 15 of them. Note that the recipe is versitile when it comes to the fruit and chocolate. On other words, if you like cranberries and dark chocolate chips, swap those in. Cherries and chocolate? Also good. Figs and cinnamon chips and add a bit of maple syrup? Great! Or go with the traditional raisins. Any which way, homemade granola bars are definitely the way to go!
I am “up to Camp”, as one says in New England-ish, this weekend. So I am packing up Ludwig (yes, my car is named Ludwig van Volkswagon) and headed north from the steamy city. New England, after our brutal winter, skipped spring altogether and it’s been summertime hot for the good part of a week. No complaints, though I do have to put in my air conditioners soon, lest I have to stop baking in the heat. And never one to arrive empty handed, here is the pie I made.
This pie title and idea with the “stars” is based on a pie that I saw somewhere on the intertubes called Midnight in Paris Pie. Of course, they don’t really have pies in French desserts (tarts, yes … pies, not so much) and it was just someone using the cut out stars to decorate a “plain” blueberry pie. I went for the berry combo to make it a little “darker” and then added the mint. You don’t actually taste the mint too much but it does have a nice freshening effect.