Papanashi - for Michele

Image by anaadi+ via Flickr

I've known the writer Michele Hauf through her books first, then I started reading her blogs:
http://dustedbywhimsy.blogspot.com/
and
http://vampchix.blogspot.com/
In the last post of her blog, she writes about dumplings. Well, dumplings are a subject very close to my heart, as my grandmother used to cook us sweet cheese dumplings, or plum dumplings, in Romanian - papanashi, in Hungarian - gombocz.
I continued the tradition and of course, I cook them to my family whenever I have the occasion, but, as Michelle says, dumplings are best eaten in winter, because they will fill you up and warm you. Now, the sweet cheese dumplings can be cooked both ways, you either boil or fry them. Since eating healthy is an issue this days, I boil them. But, of course, they are absolutely delicious if fried.
I'll post here the recipe , of course you can change the quantities, but the result will be the same: a delicious dessert.
Papanashi
Ingredients:* 2 eggs* 2 spoons butter* 300 g sweet cottage cheese (if you don't have sweet cottage chesse, use regular cottage chesse and add sugar, aproximately one cup sugar to four cups cottage chesse)* 3 spoons semolina* 1 spoon flour* salt* bread crumbs
Preparation: Mix well the cheese, eggs, flour, semolina, salt. Make balls as big as a walnut and flatten them between your palms. (or leave them round, I do). If the cheese is too watery, you can add more flour and semolina to the mixture. Place them to boil in a sauce pan with salty boiling water and leave them until they surface. (15 minutes at a small fire). Melt very little the butter in a pan without burning it. Drain the cheese balls, put them into the pan with the melted butter, sprinkle generously bread crumbs and sugar. Serve very hot with jam and sour cream.
If you want to fry them, you have to make dough balls, flatten them and make a hole through them, them fry them in hot oil until they are golden. You can also make smaller bals of dough and fry them and put them on top of the holey ones, as you can see in the picture. Also, you should add some baking powder to the dough, it'll make the dumplings fluffy.
Bon appetite!

In the end, I just want to say; Grandma, where ever you are, I know you watch over me. I love so much and I miss you every moment of my life, and I so sorry I didn't tell you more often how much I loved you.