My Rose Among Thorns

Monday Munchies...

Saturday night began the very joyous holiday of Purim.  "Purim is  a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther."  There's a lot of joyous celebration and it's  tradition to dress up.  A simple explanation as to why we dress up is that we are disguising ourselves-much like the miracle of this holiday.  The miracle took place through what appeared at the time, to be regular, day to day events.  Ultimately, it was a miracle.  

This year, our theme was Where the Wild Things Are.  Moshe was King Max, and Dovy was a monster.  Their costumes are from Pottery Barn, found on-sale, post Halloween!  Although I had been eyeing them for weeks...

How cute are my monsters?  I should have gotten a picture of the back of the costumes, but they have the cutest tails!

Another tradition of Purim is to hand out bags called Shaloch Manos.  It translates to sending portions, and the idea is to give at least two blessings (all of our food is broken into different groups and each group has it's own blessing). Each food item has to be ready to eat.  The requirement is to pass along some food items to at least two people, but many people enjoy creating a package that goes along with their theme.  

Here are some of my inspirations and final results:

This is the original from pinterest...

Here's is my creation:

I glued one to each side of a small brown bag

The bags were filled with red lentil soup, a roll, and some hamantaschen (which will be discussed shortly...)  

These adorable paper cutouts were a digital file created by Paper Cupcake Designs on Etsy.  I have to tell you that I have worked with her now on a couple of my events, and her service is outstanding!  She has such a quick turnaround, is incredibly reliable, and really cares about her customers.  Previously, I gave her wrong measurements for one of my cutters-this was the night before a huge event!  She got back to me within the hour with an adjustment.  I really cannot thank her enough for her quick and outstanding service and quality of work.  She comes highly recommended!!!

When I was searching for ideas, I came across this pin

When I went to the website, I was connected to Nikki's blog, and came across this fabulous beauty...wait for it.....

It gets me every time....

Thank my lucky stars because I read the comments and saw that she was going to put the printable on her Etsy site, so I contacted her A-SAP, and got back to me with in the day!  How awesome sauce is it that I found this incredible idea on Pinterest and within a day I was printing it out on my own computer for a minimal fee?  Seriously doesn't get any better than that! 

Here's my own version

Again, sorry for the lack of flippage 

along with a poem I created that hopefully summarized the story enough for those who are not familiar with it (yes, I did come across some blank stares when I said we were Where the Wild Things Are).  

Sorry I  can't seem to flip it...

Overall, I'm thrilled with how they turned out!

Now, onto the munchie part...

Bubby's Hamantaschen

1 cup margarine

2 cups sugar

6 eggs

6 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder]

1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream margarine and sugar together.

Add in eggs, mix, gradually add in flour.  Add in baking powder and vanilla.  

It is better to refrigerate to allow the dough to harden and not be as sticky.  Flour your surface, and roll out over a large area.  You can use whatever size circular cutout you want-they will increase in size upon baking.  

Here are the photos to demonstrate how to make a hamantaschen...keep in mind that the reason they will open up, is likely due to too much filling, or not good enough corner closer.  I specifically limited the filling, and used water to seal my edges.  

Bake at 350 for 11 minutes (My Bubby says 15-20, they'll just be harder then).

Just pinch the top and two sides, and voila!!!

Here's our last year's Purim

All paper goods and costumes are from Etsy...If you need specific info let me know!

On another note...I want to congratulate Jess on winning the Rhea bracelet giveaway!  Jess, I do not have any contact info, please comment with your e-mail by Wednesday at midnight, or unfortunately I will have to choose another winner!

Thanks to all those who participated!