Purim From Scratch

On Wednesday night we began the celebration of the Jewish holiday, Purim.

Purim is the joyous celebration of the story of Esther and the resilience of the Jewish people. We dress up in fun costumes, eat triangle-shaped cookies (called Hamantaschen), and throw carnivals with lots of food. It's one big party!

This year I wanted to make everything from scratch. I started my preparations a few days earlier when Veronika and I made paper mache masks.

Supplies

It had been a long time since I did paper mache, but it was easy to pick up again and we had a good time.

Paste 

Template with plastic wrap and Vaseline.

First layers.

Final layer with small design.

At home I made a second mask for Jacob.

The next day I sanded and trimmed the masks, then cut out the eyes, and gave them a coat of white paint.

Then it was time for the fun part: decorating!

Almost done. 

Add some sparkles!

Tad dah!

Mask for Jacob. 

Side detail. 

Drying.

Once the masks were done I started work on the Hamantaschen. Tradition says that we eat these triangular cookies to remember Haman, the bad guy, who wore a triangular hat. But, in Hebrew, these cookies are called "Ozney Haman" which means "ears of Haman." I think I like the idea of eating a hat better...

In any case, I obviously needed a gluten free version and was extremely pleased with results of this recipe. Refrigerating the dough and then freezing the cookies before they were baked really helped to keep the dough together. I found the consistency to be very similar to regular dough.

Roll it out. Cut it out. 

Add some filling. "Pereg," poppy seed filling.

Shape the cookies.

Apricot filling.

Baked, yummm!

Cooling. Apricot and strawberry fillings.

I made a test batch originally, to make sure the dough would hold together. Then, on Wednesday, I made a batch of 50 cookies. That's a lot of cookies, so I amused myself with making pretty arrangements.

Some giant ones.

I used three different fillings: poppy seed, apricot, and strawberry. I had to bit of dough left over, so I made a few with chocolate chips too.

The collection:

A lot.

When the cookies were all cooled, I packaged them into small bags to use in my Mishloach Manot. One of the mitzvot (good deeds) that you are supposed to perform on Purim is to distribute small gifts containing Hamantaschen, dried and fresh fruit, and candies. These are called Mishloach Manot and I made a number of them to give to our friends.

The note says "Happy Purim!" 

Some of the completed packages.

On Wednesday night I went to the synagogue to hear the reading of the Megillah (scroll) of Esther — the story of Purim. This is one of the more exciting holidays with people arriving in costume and a general gaiety. We also held groggers (noise-makers) and made a lot of noise any time the name of Haman was read.

On Thursday, the JCC and Chabad House held a joint Purim party. We started with another reading of the Megillah complete with groggers and banging. This is the scroll that was read:

After the reading we attended the New York City-themed party.

The "Deli."

Oh! And I almost forgot: I broke out the once-a-year clown earrings that I always (and only) wear on Purim. Isn't he sweet?

Such a good time!

Happy Purim, y'all!