ABC: Maple-Pecan Medjool Date Rugelach

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The first time I came across Rugelach was at the Epicure Market, a local gourmet market, that has been a staple in Miami Beach for over 65 years.  These crescent pastries are a traditional Jewish food which is eaten any time of the year, but are really popular and traditional during the Hanukkah holiday. Epicure (as the local refer to it), which catered to the large Jewish population in Miami Beach, made sure to have a whole case dedicated to these pastries.  It was the mecca of Rugelach. I can not remember how many types there were but the combination of filling were numerous - raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, chocolate, marzipan, poppy seed, dry fruits even preserves.  I don’t think there was any type of combination that Epicure had not tried.

My favorites were the ones filled with chocolate and marzipan.  When I lived in Miami Beach, I would make sure to get there early on Saturday to fill a bakery box with this sweet treat and then spend the whole weekend munching away at the treat.

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HCB: Chocolate Velvet Fudge Cake

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Rose writes on this recipe that this cake is “wondrously soft, light, and deeply chocolaty.

Check! Check! and Check!

This cake is all that.  Perfect because its easy to make, easy to decorate, easy to served and the most important easy of all? To eat.

Which was perfect for me, since I been sick with a nasty cold since Thursday, compliments of our wonderful temperamental weather here in Florida - for the past 4 days - we had 40, 30 and 80 degree weather all in one day.  Perfect situation to catch a cold and make life just a little bit hard.

So I was not looking forward to complicated baking.  In fact I was not looking forward to being in my kitchen period.

But, when you are sick you crave comfort food and for some inexplicable reason, I craved chocolate cake. So it was my luck that I could actually whipped this up in not time at all.

There is nothing complicated about making it.  I don’t remember if this is in the Quick and Easy section of the book - it may not be, because there is a complicated sidebar of instructions in of how to make the marzipan candle.

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French Toast Casserole

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Another fact about me…I don’t like breakfast.  In fact eating early in the morning – yuck!

Maybe the fact that I’m NOT a morning person has everything to do with this.  I barely can think in the morning hours to get myself from my house to work, so breakfast is not a high point.  The only thing I have to have in the morning is my café con leche (coffee with milk, or café au latte, if we want to get fancy) if I don’t have that every morning, I’m a cranky person the rest of the day – which means no fun for anyone in my immediate vicinity.

But, I do love brunch. Not during the weekdays, only during the weekend, specifically Sunday brunch.

I think every city had that special brunch place that everyone like to go to.  The one that has the perfect Egg Benedict, or that bake egg with that yummy sauce, how about the bagel with lox or the fruit platters? Or if you are bad, like me, you like to skip all that protein and mosey over to the dark side of carbs. The one, with the sweet breads, Danishes, pies, quiches or the loaded pancakes and waffles.

Yep, I’m all about brunch.

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