“Would you like to try some rugelach?”

           I’m sorry.  What did you say?

“Rugelach.”

         Ohhhhh…  Arugula!  No thanks, I already had salad.

And so the story begins…

Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Rugelach.

First, pronunciation:  Pretend you’re from New York.  Eastern European accents work too.  If either of these are unfamiliar, shake your head & let loose a bit.  Do a couple of jumping jacks & just breathe deeply.  This is something that definitely involves the back of the throat.  We’re going to start with another word for carpet – RUG.  The middle part is easy – just a quick ‘uh’.  The last part is a combination of a guttural sound and a cough.  ‘laaacccccchhhhhhhh’.  Feel  free to throw in an optional gargle-like noise.

Repeat after me:  Rug uh laaaccccchhhhhhhh.

Well done!   Keep practicing.

Next, description:   Rugelach is a cookie/pastry, not a salad green.  While there are many variations, we make a cream cheese dough, layer it with apricot jam, sprinkle it with either a cinnamon/currant/nut filling or with a chocolate filling, roll each cookie into a crescent, and then bake until golden.  Cinnamon rugelach are dusted with powdered sugar, and the chocolate rugelach are dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with chocolate.  These divine treats are acceptable at pretty much any time of day or night. Breakfast, morning snack, lunch, tea time, tee-time, after-dinner treat, late night snack, holidays, regular days, when you’re celebrating or when you’re not, our rugelach are THE go-to treat.  Anyone who has ever tasted our rugelach will agree – they are phenomenal.

Artistic Note:  As you can see in the picture, our rugelach each are a bit different in shape, size, thickness, etc.  While some people might find this beyond annoying, I personally think it’s the perfect representation of art in pastry.  Everything here is made by hand, from the dough, to rolling out the circle of dough, to cutting this circle into 12 pieces, and then rolling each odd-shaped triangle into a crescent.  The type-A Karen in me often wishes every single rugelach looked the same.  But then, as I’m dusting a tray of freshly baked rugelach with powdered sugar and inspecting each cookie before it gets packaged, I find myself smiling because the non-type A Karen loves the individuality of each little rugelach.  How can I not laugh at the absurdly huge rugelach lazily lying next to the runt of the litter?  The reality of my business is that it’s not a factory, and that gives me great relief & pride.

So, if you’re ever out & about and happen to see a little bag with a pink sticker and some slightly odd looking crescent like things inside the bag, don’t just keep walking.  Grab a pack, give it a try, and let me know what you think.  Are you on Team Chocolate or Team Cinnamon?