Palm Springs with Mom & Dad

For Memorial Day weekend, since Ry is gone and I have a day off, my parents and I decided to make a little trip to Palm Desert for the weekend. We drove up Saturday morning and checked into our hotel... we stayed at The Viceroy in downtown Palm Springs. We had a delicious lunch at the hotel on their sunny patio and then enjoyed relaxing pool-side. It was warm and beautiful. For dinner we went to Augusta's and sat on their outside patio... the perfect Palm Springs atmosphere!

On Sunday we had a spa day and even took a yoga class, it was so nice to relax from my busy weeks at work. However being places like this makes me miss Ry even more, I know how much we would enjoy this together! The rest of our time we hit up the shops on Paseo and soaked up our pool time... it was a great weekend get-a-way! Now I am counting down days until Ry comes home... I can hardly wait.

Kynute Knedliky (Raised Fruit Dumplings)

Another weekend spent learning my mom's baking techniques... this time we made one of my most favorite Czech recipes from childhood called Kynute Knedliky- a traditional sweet treat that we make as a main course, since it's so much work! Growing up, this was the dinner I would look forward to most and as we made these recently, I found out that I looked forward to having them just as much! Some thing's never change...

Kynute Knedliky (Raised Dumplings) are wrapped pieces of fruit (such as peaches, pears, plums, apricots) in a yeast-dough. The dumplings are then steamed and topped with melted butter and either sweetened cocoa, a cottage cheese mix, or a fruit sauce. There are quite a few steps involved in making Kynute Knedliky, which is why it's known as a special occasion type of meal. Nevertheless, it is completely worth it and there is nothing like biting into a freshly steamed peach dumpling topped with warm butter and sweet cocoa- definitely my favorite combination.

Kynute Knedliky
*2 cups all-purpose flour
*3/4 cups skim milk (lukewarm)
*4 tablespoons sugar
*1 self-rising yeast packet
*1 egg
*1 teaspoon salt
*2 tablespoons vegetable oil
*16 pieces of halved fruit of your choice

In a small bowl, pour yeast packet into lukewarm milk and mix well. Add in sugar and 2 tablespoons of the flour and mix. Cover bowl and place in a 150-degree heated oven for about 10 minutes. Mixture should begin to bubble. In a Kitchen Aid, mix remaining flour, egg, salt, and oil. Now add the bubbly mixture and mix until dough forms. Cover dough and place back into the heated oven for 1 hour, until dough rises and doubles in size.
Once dough has risen, cut off tablespoon-sized portions of dough. Spread each dough ball out, place fruit filling of choice, wrap fruit with dough, and pinch all sides to seal completely. Steam prepared dumplings for about 15 to 20 minutes. Top with melted butter and sweetened cocoa powder, cottage cheese mixture (mix cottage cheese with rum, raisins, and lemon rind) or a sweetened fruit sauce of your choice. Enjoy!