Rugelach

I've always loved rugelach, but found it too intimidating to attempt myself... until this year, when I decided to make it my main Christmas cookie. I looked up a bunch of recipes and realized it sounded easy -- make a simple cream cheese, butter, and flour dough in the food processor, chill it, then roll it out, sprinkle on toppings, and roll up and cut the cookies.

As they say on the Island of Sodor, "Disaster lay ahead." My dinky food processor couldn't handle the dough. After choking on the first cup of flour, the blade came loose and I ended up with goo on the bottom and flour on top. Then I decided to dump it into a bowl and mash it up like meatloaf. (Why?) I ended up with a buttery, cheesy mess. Finally, I grabbed the pastry blender (again, why? And why did my baking instincts suddenly desert me?) and blended it up into a smooth, unctuous dough, instead of the crumbly ball I was supposed to have. I wrapped it up to put in the fridge and tasted a little that stuck to my hand. It tasted SALTY. I remembered that the store had been out of unsalted butter, and I figured I'd just compensate by omitting some salt when I baked. Oops.

Now I have a sink full of dirty dishes and a salty goo ball in the fridge. But I will persevere.