Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
For many years we did whole fruit, fruit baskets. They are not expensive and everyone always appreciated them. Find a nice , inexpensive basket (we used to keep our eyes open all year)(approx $1-$1.50), then pick fruit- The key here is a variety of colors: green, red, yellow, brown, orange- They do not have to be exotic or expensive. Some suggestions: apple (1 or 2 colors), pear, kiwi, grapefruit, orange, banana, try to stay away from grapes, even though they are beautiful, they take much more work and end up costing a lot more than you think they will.(we never spent more than $2-$3 depending on the size of the basket). Wrap in clear cellophane and tie with ribbon. Total cost per basket: usually less than $5. We sometimes added sparkling grape juice or wine if there was someone we wanted to spend more on.
The only problem with this is that the baskets really can not be wrapped before Purim as the gasses cause the fruit to over-ripen very quickly. But if you are the type who wraps their Mishloach Manos Purim night anyway or if you are willing to do that then this can be beautiful!
Okay, Here IT is…(sorry it took so long, I wasn’t watching the new threads, thanks SJS for tipping me off)
3/4C marg
1C sugar
2 eggs
1t vanilla
2 1/2C flour
1t baking powder
1t salt
Cream marg and sugar. Add in eggs & vanilla then add remaining ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate dough for at least a few hours and up to a week. You can also freeze the dough.
- A few notes
- when rolling dough (any) use powdered sugar instead of flour, It adds a sweet crust & doesn’t toughen the dough (this allows for limitless rerolling)
- This recipe multiplies well (my 5qt kitchen aid can handle a triple recipe, but not quite a quadruple)
- ask your own LOR, but mine said that if I make a trip or quad recipe I should take Challah without a Brocha
- This dough is very versatile: It makes great hamentashen, but I also use it for Chanukah cookies. It can be colored, shaped by hand, molded, I’ve even frozen rolls of it and then just sliced and baked (with sprinkles, nuts, etc.)
- I like to use the oven-safe fillings from Baker’s Choice, but if you want to use jelly, try mixing it with ground nuts (then it doesn’t leak out). I’m not so into chocolate (& now my daughter is allergic) but from other baking I would try a mixture of:cocoa, sugar, powdered sugar, corn starch & oil. You’ll have to experiment with the ratios but it should work
- just to give proper credit, this recipe originally came from a Big Bird alphabet activity book that we had growing up. The recipe was on one of the first pages and a number of the letters had activities to do with it. I still have the book.
ENJOY!!!! And if anyone has any questions I’ll do my best to answer them
Cherrybim:
- It usually needs about 20 min.
- The bay leaves & peppercorns give the best taste, I did know someone who used pickling spices instead, I didn’t particularly like the taste, but some people did (feel free to try it & let me know what you think).
Hatzlacha & B’taovon!
cherrybim (& anyone else who’s interested):
Slice 1 or 2 onions into rings. Separate rings in the bottom of a large pot (I usually use a 6qt farberware -for 10 to 20 pieces- but last time I tried it in my large fry pan-3in sides & it was great) pour in sugar (or splenda) until the onion is mostly covered (my mother always says it should look like snow covered mountains).Heat on low/med flame until the sugar melts and the onions are soft and translucent (if you are using splenda it will not really melt it just gets stickyish and the onions will not get as soft- that’s fine just continue with the rest). Add 2-3 bay leaves & about 1 tablespoon of whole peppercorns. Add water and white vinegar in a ratio of 2 parts water to 1 part vinegar so that you will have enough to cover your fish. Cook till heated through. Add fish-you can use whitefish slices or salmon steaks but my favorite is 1inch pieces of salmon fillet (with or without skin). Simmer (covered or partially covered, if you can) on low flame until fish is cooked through, try to avoid mixing, as that will cause the fish to break. Cool slightly in the pot (the longer it cools at this point, the less likely it is to break when you put it into a container. Carefully transfer fish to container with onions and spices, cover with liquid and refrigerate.
Moish01: the vinegar and spices are essentially pickling the fish which prevents spoiling for much longer periods of time. Trust me, I’m pretty neurotic about spoiled food!
I made sweet and sour salmon last week. I love doing it because it lasts in the fridge so I make enough for 2 (or even 3) weeks and then I don’t have to woory about fish for a while. BTW if anyone is interested my recipe can be made with Splenda. If you want the recipe (really easy) speak up.
just testing some more
*** !!! *** !!!
*** !!! *** !!!
*** !!! *** !!!
*** !!! *** !!!
*** !!! *** !!!testing
strong
em
blockquote
- ul
- one
- two
- ol
- one
- two
codebacktickare you lookig for speciffically Jewish programs? Are you looking for a structured program, or just a nice place to play where there are other moms & kids?
Ha Ha Ha!
if you can’t save as a ringtone, try sending it to yourself as part of a message, usually , you can save incoming message sounds as ringtones. It’s worked for me a few times. Hatzlacha!
yoyo- go to allrecipes.com and check out their low fat recipes.
intel- I meant 1/2 with app sauce & 1/2 oil. I use unsweetened app sauce & have never found the recipes to be too sweet, but you can often cut down on the sugar without a prob anyway. Most people do not notice a difference in texture or taste, but there is definitely a slight diff, and I’m sure some people like it better with the fat.
‘all recipes’ has some great recipes and many of them are low-fat. Also in many cake/ muffin recipes you can replace most or all of the fat (marg or oil) with applesauce, measure for measure, and the taste & texture will be great. I usually recommend replacing half of the fat first (if it calls for marg, you can replace the other half with oil). If that works (which it usually does) then I’ll try a total replacement.
I do have a great banana oatmeal muffin recipe that I got from ‘all recipes’, and made some changes, if you’re interested I’ll post it after Shabbos.
Hamentashen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Speaking as the one who is in charge of making both in my house (my husband does many things but generally not these two), I think hamentashen are a much more social food. At least for the person who’s making them! The reason there are never enough latkes at a Chanuka party is because the person making them is stuck in the kitchen, away from all the action at the party, until they’re finished. So , unless the chef is antisocial, they stop as soon as they can, not when everyone has fressed their full and is ready to go home. Hamentashen, on the other hand, can be made in advance, even if only by an hour or two (remember I make mine on Purim, we serve them for dessert at the seudah and as a nosh to the people who stop by during the day) and thus allow the baker to join in the fun without worrying about everyone starving. And, by the way, leftovers are never a problem with my hamentashen, there are never more than a few left and everyone fights over who gets to take those home, and I make TONS. (yes I will share my recipe and secrets, if anyone is interested)
So, assuming you like the chef in your house, and enjoy spending time with them at meals, Hamentashen win!
Obviously no-one here has ever had good hamentashen or there would be no debate.
Hamentashen are the perfect food- 1.Easy to nosh (they are finger food that doesn’t get your fingers dirty). 2.They can be eaten fresh (and yes I bake fresh hamentashen ON PURIM DAY), but also store well to be savored when there is no-one available to bake more or when one is away from home (while delivering Mishloach Manos, for example). And 3. Have I mentioned, they are DELICIOUS!
nothing rhymes with ‘purple’
yes, it is a women & the CD says it should only be played for women & children.
make sure you check out some of the other topics in ‘kosher cooking’. there are a few that might be helpful
This is an easy, fairly healthy, and filling supper. I often serve it before a fast.
refried beans- mash drained, canned black beans (or cook fresh then mash), I use an immersion blender. Saute an onion, add beans, salt & pepper and cook till heated thru (add liquid from the cans if it gets to thick & starts to stick). serve on wraps or pita (really any bread can work, but these to seem best) with any/ all of the following: grated cheese, chopped tomatoes, avacado (chopped or mashed with a little salt and lemon, or lime juice), salsa, sour cream, chopped scallions, sliced olives. some people also like hot pepper strips with it. Tonight I also added chopped mango.
serve each topping separately, let everyone build their own, wrap it up & eat it. Make sure you have lots of napkins.
My Husband sometimes just puts the beans & toppings on his plate then uses pieces of the pita to ‘dip & scoop’
Enjoy
My really simple baking solution: Cherry Turnovers
Small squares of puff pastry dough (I like Mazor because they are puff pastry, many others are flaky dough.)
a can of pie filling (cherry or lite cherry)
sugar (plain, regular table sugar)
Put a little filling onto each square, fold into triangle, dip one side into sugar (I usually put the sugar on a small plate) and bake at 375 (sugared side up) until starting to brown at the edges. That’s it. They look great on a long narrow platter or on a circle.
I always try to keep the ingredients in my house because they are great for a last minute simcha (think: Shalom zachor when the baby is born Thurs nite or Fri or a l’chaim) but my friends have been known to request them when offered a choice.
The only problem with them is that they are best fresh (within 24 hours of baking) but I have been known to put them together (with or without the sugar) and refreeze them until I need them.
just a side note that might be of interest… often, especially in baked goods, applesauce is a better substitute than oil. It would still be 1/2 cup per stick. I’ve tried in in a number of cookie & bar recipes and it seems to work pretty well. Sometimes you have to use some combination of any 2 or all three (marg, oil, applesauce) to get the right texture while reducing (or eliminating) fat. Hatzlacha!!!
The other way to make more but have fresh is to make the dough, let it rise, shape it, then IMMEDIATELY put it in the freezer. Once they’re frozen solid wrap each in a piece of parchment paper and put them in a big Ziploc. On Friday morning take them out and let them defrost & rise, I was told to let them rise until they are no longer tacky(sticky) to the touch. Bake as usual. BTW this is what Kinneret challah are.
Usually from Rosh Hashana thru Hoshana Rabba, some people use it Shmini Atzeres as well.
We have a Toyota Sienna minivan & we love it:
-It’s available in 7 or 8 passenger models (we have an 8).
-It gets great mileage, better than my husband’s honda accord.
-We bought ours used, it had been leased for 12 months, and I’m told it’s easy to finds certified used ones.
-The rear seats fold into the floor so you always have them with you, but when you don’t need them you can have tremendous, easy to use, cargo space.
-It really drives like a car, not big & boxy, small turn radius, great hadling & control
-I know a number of people who have them & they’re all happy.
Hatzlocha!
We just marinate our chicken cutlets (white or dark) in good italian dressing. (La Holla’s Bravo Italian is our fave). Then grill/ broil till they are just done. Sometimes (especially with the dark cutlets) I add a little duck sauce to the marinade. You can marinate for 5 minutes, if you’re in a rush our leave them sitting (in a ziploc bag, in the fridge) for as long as a day or two. ENJOY!
I’ve been watching this thread carefully. As someone who decided many years ago -long before the avoda zara hulabaloo-to stop wearing shaitlach I wanted to see what people would say. I’ve been quite impressed and was planning to stay out of the discussion, but…
Sarah- I just have to tell you, everything this poster said is true and happens on a regular basis in Lakewood. It has gotten better in the last few years, and perhaps it doesn’t happen during the week as much, but on shabbos (especially at a kiddush) and at simchas (chasunas, bar mitzvahs, even brissim) dirty looks are the norm and nasty comments aren’t unusual. I’ve learned to deal with them, sometimes I respond, sometimes I ignore them, but they are definately there. I’m not saying that it’s everyone, but I have found that it is worse in Lakewood than in other places. In Brooklyn people seem to be more used to diversity, they just think I’m not so frum (it always throws them off when I speak yiddish to my baby) and out of town, they barely blink. So yes, unfortunately ModernLakewoodGuy is telling a story that ring true, I wish it wasn’t so…