Rhubarb Rugelach

One of my hummingbirds that love fuchsia nectar

Today as I am writing this post, it is the first day of Summer 2011!! Yay! I'm so happy it is officially SUMMER! We have a beautiful day here with clear blue skies and a high of 84 expected! Double Yay!! The air conditioning might even turn on today instead of the furnace. I hope that you have a fantastic summer. I will try to post when I have time but I plan to spend as much time outdoors and be as busy as possible this summer, so who knows how often it will actually happen. I have so many things I want to do and places to go before fall arrives. I hope that you enjoy every single day of your summer. 

It has been a long time since I have consistently posted recipes, and this morning I found out just how long it has been. I have had over a dozen titled posts that have been sitting here for over a month. I opened the oldest one called "Mango Madness," that I titled in the middle of May. I couldn't remember what it was about and opened it to see what was in there that would jog my memory. Well, it was empty. Not a word, a picture or a recipe! I am really curious now and am hoping I come across something that jogs my memory. It must have been good if I took the time to title a blog. It sounds good and I want to know what that was!  

I found the recipe for rhubarb rugelach in the Portland magazine, Farmer's Market edition. It was the first time I made rugelach and I was a little disappointed. Actually, quite disappointed! The filling had an amazing texture and was full of flavor. You simmer the rhubarb with whole star anise and vanilla bean. Yummy, it smelled so good while it was simmering. My disappointment was with the dough. It was on the tough side and I was expecting a tender crust. I should have realized it would be though because it was very hard to roll out. I wondered if it should have been almost room temperature first. Hindsight is always 20/20. They looked beautiful and everyone that had some said it was really good but I think they were just being nice. I plan on making this recipe again but not until after I read through another rugelach recipe and get some tips on the best way to handle the crust.

I wish I had taken a picture. I usually take my pictures before I serve and because I didn't purposely serve these, alas, no pictures! They really did look great!

 Enjoy!