A little Hamantashen?

Purim approaches, and we are on the mend from the sicks, so feast preps begin this week in earnest!

Sour Cream-Yeast Dough Hamantaschen - DAIRY OR PAREVE - YIELD: 25 LARGE PASTRIES

Dough
2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm milk (nondairy milk for pareve)
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 cups flour, divided
1/2 cup butter (or margarine)
1/2 cup sour cream for dairy (nondairy sour cream for pareve)
2 large eggs, beaten well
1/4 teaspoon salt
Poppy seed, prune, apricot, cherry, raspberry or Double-Chocolate Filling


Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F, 10 minutes before baking. Line cookie sheets with parchment.
2. Mix yeast, milk (or nondairy milk), 1/4 teaspoon sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Let rest 20 minutes.
3. Cut butter or margarine into flour in large bowl.
4. Add yeast mixture and remaining ingredients. Mix to smooth dough, adding flour until dough is no longer sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
5. Roll out 1/4-inch thick on floured surface, fold into thirds and roll out again. Fold and roll twice more. This makes a very rich, flaky, but not sweet pastry.
6. Roll out, cut with 3 1/2-inch cookie cutter and fill.
7. Fold up sides in a triangle, leaving almost no filling exposed. The cookies will open as they proof and bake. Brush liberally with Egg-Honey Wash. Cover and let rise 30 minutes. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool.
8. Store in airtight container for up to 2 days. May be frozen.

Egg-Honey Wash: Beat 2 large eggs with ½ cup honey and brush tops of unbaked yeast Hamantaschen.

MMMM!

My Vegetarian Stuffing

Night Before:

Boil potatoes, onion and celery; make mashed potatoes, with water, milk, butter, salt, pepper, garlic, parsley and chives. Refrigerate over night.


Day of:

Reheat mashed potatoes, and mix with a half cup of veggie bullion broth, celery seeds, rosemary, tumeric, poultry seasoning and a small portion of creamed chickpeas. (Half can of mushrooms, optional.) Let cool, while covered.

Toast two slices of whole wheat bread, and then crumble and toss in a plastic bag with seasoned oil (rosemary, garlic, etc.). Shake until the bread has absorbed the oil and picked up the seasoning.

Mix potatoes with crumbled bread, and press into lightly greased oven-safe casserole dish. Brush with oil or melted butter, and add a layer of slivered almonds on top.

Bake until brown and crusty. (Layer of shredded cheese on top, optional.)

Serve with mushroom gravy.

Hallowe'en Treats

Caramel Apples

INGREDIENTS
6 apples
1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
2 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS
- Remove the stem from each apple and press a craft stick into the top. Butter a baking sheet.
- Place caramels and milk in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave 2 minutes, stirring once. Allow to cool briefly.
- Roll each apple quickly in caramel sauce until well coated. Place on prepared sheet to set.
(Crushed peanuts on some?)

***

Old Time Popcorn Balls

INGREDIENTS
2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 quarts popped popcorn
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt


DIRECTIONS
- Butter the sides of a large saucepan. In the sauce pan combine the sugar, water, salt, corn syrup and vinegar. Cook over medium heat to the hard ball stage 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Stir in the vanilla and slowly pour the hot mixture over the popped popcorn, stirring just to mix well.
- Butter hands lightly and shape into balls. Mixture will be hot so be careful. Place balls on waxed paper to cool.

Holly's Sick Day Soup

• 5 cups of boiling water
• 2 cubes of 2-cup vegetable bullion
• 1 cup of boiled small pasta shells (or small egg noodles, if preferred)
• 1 boiled potato, diced
• 1/3 fresh stalk of celery
• 1 palmful of shredded fresh red cabbage
• 1 palmful of shredded fresh carrot
• 1/2 cup of frozen mixed veggies (peas, carrots, green beans, lima beans, corn)
• 1/3 cup of frozen corn nibblets
• 1/3 cup of canned chick peas
• 1/3 cup of ground soy (which is a sort of fake hamburger made of tofu)
• 1 tablespoon of iron enriched dehydrated parsley
• salt, black pepper, garlic, sage, and cayenne pepper to taste

Boil water and bullion with spices and parsley, and add the celery, shredded carrot and cabbage, and let simmer for about 5 minutes while you boil the starches. Add boiled pasta and potato, and let simmer until the desired softness. Add chick peas and ground soy, and then the frozen veggies. Spice as needed, and let simmer until flavours are infused. Add water as needed to maintain desired consistency and flavour. For extra body, you can add boiled rolled oats, and for more flavour, you can add diced onion (I just didn't have any). Be creative!

The whole soup shouldn't take much more than an hour to prepare from start to finish, and takes one large soup pot, and a few smaller pots for boiling the side ingredients. It makes about 7 bowls of soup, and can easily be refrigerated and re-heated as needed, and can actually taste better as a leftover. It is perfect for letting you survive over several meals' worth of illness that just won't let you cook anything more labour intensive.

Serve with bread, garlic bread, cubed cheese or grilled cheese (if you feel up to it), and with tea, ginger ale, lemon water, juice or some similar sick-day beverage of your choice. My favourite is grape punch mixed with lemon concentrate. And drink plenty of water! For dessert, I recommend a raw orange or a bowl of lemon sherbet or something similar.

And feel better!