Bob and Big Lou - Livin' the Dream

Cartoon Maddie, The Amazing Barking Dog, a new addition to this blog, is giving out her famous five-woof salute this week, on account of Valentine's Day, and for Ashley and Andrew, in honor of the birth of their beautiful daughter, Audrey, born last Wednesday morning - 9 pounds, 2 ounces. Congratulations!

What's the Good Word? The good word this week is "spiffy." The President recently announced, that "Air Force One is one spiffy ride." I like this word. I also like to say "all spiffed-up," but I do not believe spiffed is actually a word - although spiffiness is. So, I might say I was all puffed up with my spiffiness. Webster's says spiffy means: Fine looking - smart.

This squirrel lives in Miami and is said to be the world's best dressed squirrel. I realize we're treading on crazy ferret territory here, but you do have to admit, she looks good. Spiffy, in fact. I'd say she's all puffed up with her squirrely spiffiness.

At my creme brulee/baklava class last Tuesday night, I learned that apparently people have a fear of phyllo, which I didn't know. I always suspected they were afraid of pie crusts, and at the pie baking class last fall, I posed that very question, but they all said "no, they were not afraid of pie crusts."

"Hmmm, okay, good," I said. But in my head I was thinking "Then why ain't you makin' pies and why are you here?"

So, Tuesday, I find out they ARE afraid of phyllo, and they appreciated being able to overcome this hurdle. You can manhandle the phyllo, well, a little, and you have some time before it starts drying out. You can just fold over the sheet if it doesn't exactly fit in your pan, and don't worry about any little tears. Remember, slathering on enough butter can fix anything. You do need to keep the sheets covered with a moist kitchen towel most of the time, when you're working with it. Anyway, baklava is the

recipe of the week. This is not my baklava, as I forgot to take a picture of it, but I do want you to see how it should be cut.

Baklava

4 cups walnuts, finely chopped

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 pound phyllo dough

1 cup butter, melted

1 - 12 ounce jar honey

Grease a 9 X 13 inch baking dish. In large bowl, combine nuts, sugar and cinnamon. Cut phyllo into 9 X 13 inch rectangles. (They have changed the packaging, and it's very close to this size now, anyway) In baking dish, place 1 sheet of phyllo and brush with butter. Repeat to make 5 more layers. Sprinkle with one cup of the nut mixture.

Place one sheet of phyllo over the nut mixture and brush with butter. Repeat to make at least 6 layers, overlapping any small strips of phyllo to make rectangles. Repeat the process. Place remaining phyllo on top of last cup of nut mixture. With a sharp knife, cut just halfway through the layers in triangle patterns to make 24 servings. Bake in 300 degree oven for 1 hour and 25 minutes or until top is golden brown.

In small saucepan, over medium heat, heat honey until just hot, but not boiling. Remove baklava from the oven and spoon honey over the top. Cool. Cover at room temperature.