Mmm: Rugulah recipe

Can you handle a lot of praise and adoration? If not, do not try this recipe. It's a crazy crowd pleaser! With the Jewish holidays fast approaching, thought it was fitting to share a rugulah recipe that's not only phenomenally yummy, but is also easy to make.

Rugulah by the way is a pastry made with different fillings, often chocolate or preserves like apricot or raspberry. The recipe included below, which my mother-in-law S has been making this for years and was kind enough to share (ha, like she had a choice!), is a chocolate one. Once you make this once, consider switching it up with fruit preserves; all delish.

I promise the final product here is way better than TooJays and a slew of other bakeries. Try it and let us know how it goes.

Ingredients
1 box Pillsbury Ready Made Pie Crust (contains two pie crusts)
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp. baking cocoa (I use Hershey's brand)
1/2 cup sugar
melted butter (or I Can't Believe It's Butter spray)
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (feel free to change it up with your preference: milk, dark, combo, etc).
cinnamon
powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350; put parchment paper on a cookie sheet

Open and lay out both pie crusts

Spray with butter

Mix 1/2 cup sugar with baking cocoa and sprinkle on both crusts

Sprinkle with cinnamon

Cut each crust into twelfths (use a pizza cutter) and sprinkle with chips*

Roll from fat side (the outside) to center and put each rugulah on cookie sheet

Mix egg yolks with a little water and brush each rugulah
Bake for 20 - 22 minutes
When cooled completely sprinkle with powdered sugar
EAT!

*TAGG tip: when sprinkling the chips, don't put too many near the center; it's hard to roll.

Mmm: Oven-baked fries

I don't know about you, but at our house it as soon as it hits 7 p.m. the hubs and I start the same banter (with one of us at the fridge and one by the pantry). "What do you want for dinner?" "I don't know, what do you want??" We don't do take-out too often -- except for the occasional sushi or Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza -- and we don't do frozen meals, so we're often left wondering what to make with what we have at that very moment. Sometimes it's breakfast for dinner -- yum! -- and sometimes it's just a random pasta, protein, veggies concoction that tastes pretty good and gives us leftovers for the next night.

If you're already making chicken, burgers or steaks, here's one of our newest favorite sides: oven-baked fries. It's a different take on a traditional baked potato and healthier than some other carb options. Nice that you can buy some potatoes or sweet potatoes and make when the mood strike... they last for ages. I'm sure some of you reading this -- if you even got this far -- make much more complicated dishes. This is crazy simple, I know. My bro is a great cook, for example, who is constantly glued to the Food Network yet he's never made these so I'm hoping I can add something to your dinner repertoire as well.

Ingredients:

- potatoes or sweet potatoes (look for round, long ones; weird shapes are hard to cut); estimate one per person.

- olive oil

- salt

- pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put potatoes in microwave for two minutes to soften. Slice in half long-wise and then cut half in the shape of long fries. Put on a coated baking sheet and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put in oven for 40 minutes, flipping half way. Done... and yum!

Once you make these once, play around with different seasonings, such as paprika, garlic powder (or salt) and/or chili powder, and cinnamon for sweet potato fries. All delish.

Mmm? Rita's Ice

So before I tell you my thoughts on Rita's, I have to admit I'm already partial to it for a very, very sound reason: My gram's name is Rita! (Told you I had a good reason).

Rita's is a fast-expanding water ice and custard shop with more than 550 locations in 18 states. While I've had it once before (two very fab friends dropped off a few cartons when our daughter was born), I took the opportunity to taste it again this weekend when a new location at CityPlace in West Palm Beach, Fla. was offering free cups. Cha-ching! My hubs and I sampled four flavors, though the shop offers daily about 20 of its more than 40 options. While the creamy smores flavor was too sweet -- we hear it's usually better --- the mint chocolate chip was dee-lish, and complete with mini chips. Alex's Lemonade was perfectly tart, while the Sweedish fish flavor (which comes with Sweedish fish!) tastes just like those gummy treats. Your Average Girl also took a spoonful of her friend's custard concoction (for blog research, right?), which adds a rich creaminess to the light ice.

TAG says this is a perfect treat for a warm summer's day, and more affordable than many ice cream and sweets shops. Just don't get fooled into thinking this cool treat is a guilt-free option; while the water and cream ices have either no or little fat, the calories add up with all that sugar. Be sure to sample some of the shop's sugar free ices and fat free custard. http://www.ritasice.com/

What's your favorite Rita's treat?