Purim Projects, Part 2: Final Preparations & A Quick Kvetch Before Getting Back to the Festivies!

We're at the final countdown before Shabbat starts and then Purim begins! I had hoped to get a lot more done in the way of projects, preparing mishloach manot, baking, crafting, and blogging. However, as the saying goes, we make plans and God laughs! I've been under the weather--most likely a result of not getting enough sleep while adjusting to night-life on C-PAP therapy--and reminding myself that this is the month of Adar and I, too, should be laughing. I am, of course, joyful at knowing the probable cause behind years of struggling with unexplainable health problems. I am also realizing that while my energy reserves are still limited, I need to move with my natural rhythms and not try so hard to push against them. I have been collecting my thoughts on this journey toward wellness in writing and will likely be blogging about that in the near future. For now, it is more important to focus on the upcoming festivities, and I will do just that after this brief, yet pointed message:

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I was seeking a way to come up with a decent recipe for gluten-free hamentaschen. I had planned to doctor up a gluten-free pie crust mix for the dough as I have not yet found a pre-mixed gluten free flour that I like for baking cookies. Most of the mixes I've bought all have a rather distinctive flavor from the garbanzo bean flour used as a protein. I have a great recipe from a dear friend to mix my own flour using peanut flour as the protein, but alas, I had no peanut flour, no rice or potato flours either, and no time or energy to start shopping around at that point. While I was at the supermarket, I came across a sale on a gluten free cookie mix put out by King Arthur Flour, which I'd never seen before. I figured I might as well give it a shot.
*This mix is Kosher and pareve, so you could substitute margarine if you'd prefer to not have dairy cookies
It's a basic cookie mix and the box listed 5 recipes on the back for various types of cookies that could be made. They were all drop cookies and I was about to attempt a roll/cut cookie. I added an egg, 1/2 cup butter*, 3 tbsp of vegetable shortening and 1 teaspoon of almond extract to the mix. Now, I never taste raw cookie dough...but, in case I did this was actually really yummy! Usually gluten free cookie doughs taste like, well, gluten free flour. This tasted like cookie dough! It was a bit too soft to work with as a rolled dough as is, so I dusted my cutting board and rolling pin with a bit of powdered sugar, and added a few spoonfuls of gluten-free flour mix, which successfully stiffened the dough without affecting the flavor.
I used apricot and almond preserves for filling. I used an egg wash to seal the corners, as the dough was a bit more prone to not sticking than my old recipe. They baked up quite nicely, and aside from being a bit more crumbly than regular hamentaschen, they are delicious!
Gluten free Hamentaschen seem to be a bit more prone to falling apart, but I suppose that's just the way the cookie crumbles!


Although a bit later than I'd planned, I did get a couple of my mishloach manot out via mail today. The mitzvah of mishloach manot is to give a gift of (at least) 2 types of prepared food (meaning the foods each receive a different type of blessing before eating them--i.e. a fruit and a grain) to at least one person. My goal was to send out some home-baked goodies, but I did not quite get around to baking more than one batch of gluten-free hamentaschen and decided to stick with prepared goodies instead. Because the recipients have not yet received their goodies, mum's the word on what's in there! But here are some cute and budget-friendly ideas for mishloach manot should you have the urge to put together your own:

• Breakfast Basket: include a box of cereal, oatmeal, or pancake/waffle mix, and a couple fruits or a bottle of fruit juice. A fun way to present this is inside a large cereal bowl with a spoon (can be purchased at a discount store or dollar store).
  
• Coffee/Tea lovers Basket: include a bag of coffee beans or box of tea, sugar packets, creamer, and some biscotti or tea biscuits. It can be cute to present this along with a couple of mugs or tea cups & saucers. Again, these items can be purchased at a discount store or even a thrift store.
• Local Delicacies: for friends and family who do not live nearby, sending a gift of foods indigenous to your location can be thoughtful. Since I live in Spokane, I might send a gift of huckleberry flavored items or prepared foods made by local producers.
• Ethnic Food Theme: For your Italian food loving friends and family, a gift of pasta, jarred sauce and perhaps a bottle of wine could be a wonderful idea. Similar baskets could be made with a Mexican food theme, Jewish food theme, or any other type of ethnic food.
• Night at the movies: Why not gift some popcorn and candy to a movie lover? I've seen large, reusable, popcorn buckets sold at my local dollar store and thought this would be such a cute way to deliver this!

Although many people do go all out and spend a great deal of time and money on mishloach manot, you don't need to do that. You can keep it simple, inexpensive, and still thoughtful and fun by making use of discount stores, dollar stores, and even thrift stores. They do not need to be wrapped up in fancy, expensive baskets. You can quite tastefully deliver your goodies on paper plates, boxes, or even make your own gift containers using recycled materials, like the ones shown here.

One other important part of Purim is listening to the Megillah (story of Purim). During the reading of the Megillah, noisemakers called graggers are used by children and adults alike to blot out the sound of the name of the Purim story villain, Haman. Many people purchase graggers from Judaica shops and I even have a wooden one I've had from the time I was a child that, I believe, was a gift from family in Israel. However, graggers can be made at home, too, and this is a great way to get the kids crafting.

• Fill an empty coffee tin, plastic bottle, or other recycled container with dried beans or rice
• Glue/staple two small paper plates together and attach a wooden craft stick. Punch two holes, one on either side of the craft stick about midway to the top. Tie a short piece of yarn through each hole and attach a large wooden bead to each piece of yarn. Make sure not to make the yarn too long or you will have a rather dangerous situation on your hands! This creates a sort of hand-held drum that works with *gentle* twirling/shaking.
• I loved this idea over at challahcrumbs.com : to help prevent boredom-induced, unintended noise during the Megillah reading, fill a small tin or container with candy (or you could opt for raisins and other small dried fruit). Have the kids decorate the container. Shaking it will make a satisfactory amount of noise AND the kiddos will have something to munch on between noise-making opportunities!
• Experiment with different types of containers, fillers, and methods of creating sound. This is a great opportunity to experiment, learn, and make a lot of noise!

Finally, as we enjoy delicious meals with family and friends, sharing goodies, parading in costumes and festivity all around, it is important and a mitzvah to remember those less fortunate during this joyful time. We are commanded to give extra tzedakah (charity) on this holiday to ensure that everyone can participate in the celebration of Purim. There are many worthy causes, especially now in the wake of such incredible disaster and destruction over in Japan. If finances do not allow for monetary donation, I think there is great value in donating time and talents even in your own community. May everyone have a joyful weekend and to my Jewish friends & family, a Chag Purim Sameach!