Usually when trying out family recipes on my own I'm met with success, or something close enough to it to still taste right, but today was a different story. . .
I couldn't find the recipe in my book. . . which is odd, because I know I had to call Mom last time I made this, in Provo, and I should have written it down. But aparantly I didn't, so I asked her yesterday while we were on the phone. She listed off the ingredients from memory, and some approximate measurements. It was simple enough, so I repeated the ingredients, committed them to memory, and we went on with our conversation.
Today I get home from work, check my email, and decide I'm going to be culinarily ambitious. So I get out my flour and the shortening that's probably been in the cupboard above the stove since the DuPont's established Longwood, and started throwing things together. I thought I was doing pretty good, except I couldn't remember if she'd listed sugar or not. I figured sugar never hurts, tossed some in and started mixing. I came up with a beautiful, sweet dough that tasted an awful lot like pie dough. I don't think the recipe calls for sugar. . .
Not to be discouraged, I told myself "so it'll be sweeter than usual, how bad can that be?", and rolled it out anyway.
I then wrapped up my peach, pinched the seams, smoothed them out, and put it in a pot of boiling water. I had to call again and ask how long to boil it. . . who knew recipes were so important! :)
After about 46 minutes (it's supposed to be 50) of boiling, and boiling, and boiling, I finally gave up on waiting and called it good. Alas. The dough I made was more akin to pie dough than any Czech dumpling dough, and pie dough doesn't boil very well. I ended up with a lovely mash of peach and soggy crust.
It was ok. I'd say a little too rich for me, what with extra sugar and a buttery, flaky crust thing going on. But with enough cottage cheese I managed to finish it off :)
