phyllo is a bitch!

i bought a package of phyllo dough months ago with the good intention of making something with it for the first time soon after. well..forward a few months to today. for the past couple of days i've had a hankering for that flaky goodness called phyllo and decided to tackle it. for those of you who may not know, phyllo dough is kinda tough to work with because you have to work fast or else the dough will dry out and crack. also, each sheet is thinner than paper and can easily tear if you're not careful. i have a new respect for those old women who make the shatila baklawa..or the little arab elves..whoever is back there--they're awesome.

i ended up making mushroom phyllo purses. i just put everything together without a recipe or measuring..it was pretty easy. i sauteed some chopped shallots and threw in a few handfuls of chopped cremini and baby portobello mushrooms. i added salt and pepper and let them cook together for a few minutes then turned off the heat. i transferred the mushroom mixture to a bowl and added some tofutti vegan cream cheese. i mixed everything together until the cream cheese melted into the mushrooms. then i laid out my phyllo, sheet by sheet, buttering each sheet (with vegan spread.) so after 5 or 6 layers (i lost count) i took a pizza cutter and made 3 cuts to make 6 large squares. i put a tablespoonful of mushrooms in each center:

i then took each opposite corner and brought them together and pinched them a little so they looked like this: 

i popped them into a preheated 350ºF oven and baked them for about 15 minutes until golden brown:

and guess what? they're delicious. i ate two already and i'm trying to convince myself not to eat a third one.