Rebbitzin for a Weekend

[mofic]

I spent Friday through Sunday in Ottawa, Ontario. As recounted elsewhere, my partner is a final year rabbinical student. She has a once-a-month gig as the spiritual leader of the Reconstructionist Congregation there. She usually flies up on Friday and back Sunday night, but this time we went together.

Comments

[stirsmn]

OK - we need a Hamantash off.

[mofic]

Bring it!

[taffimai]

I volunteer to judge!

[knittingwoman]

don't tell my mother but the hamentashen we got from her this year are not very good:( what makes yours so awesome? If you don't feel like sharing your "secret recipe":) can you share some tips??? thank you!!!

[mofic]

I don't have a secret recipe and I'm happy to share. But I tend to cook by feel rather than recipe. The keys, I think, are

[davidfcooper]

What filling(s) do you use? My favorite is Israeli date paste (sold in Sephardi grocery stores on Kings Highway between MacDonald Ave and Ocean Pkwy). Shoshana also uses Israeli chocolate spread, poppy seed filling, and mixed dried fruit pulverized in the food processor. As vegetarians we don't care about milchig/parve, but Shoshana does try to reduce saturated fat by using transfat-free margarine and uses turbinado sugar and whole wheat pastry flour (lighter in texture than regular whole wheat flour).

Glad you had good weekend. You'll make a great rebbitzen (if your relationship continues to blossom and leads to a chuppah)!

[mofic]

I'm much less creative on fillings than you are! With the kids in Ottawa, we did a couple of kinds of homemade jams, a chocolate sauce and a praline. The kid in the host family is a great cook, as is his father, and they made the fillings ahead of time. At home I typically use store bought jam (but a good kind - this year it's Sarabeth's) and chocolate chips. This year I did three kinds - raspberry/strawberry, apricot/peach, and chocolate.

And I'm thoroughly sick of making them! I've had a bunch of other things I've had to do in the evenings, too, so it has made for late nights and chaos in the kitchen. I brought a bunch to work in the Bronx yesterday and will bring another bunch to work in Brooklyn today.

[rpics]

glad you had a good time. are you going to post your hamentaschen recipe or do we need to try to be Ottawa when Amy is there again?

[mofic]

See response above.

BTW

[rpics]

what is hamentasch?

Re: BTW

[mofic]

LOL! I'm sure you'd know them if you saw them. Look at this link: http://tcjewfolk.com/ode-love-knishes-tasty-recipe/

[talktooloose]

Thank you! This post took me out of a dark place and reminded me how much joy there is in the world if I remember to raise my head and look around. I hope I get to meet the rabbi some time!

[mofic]

Oh Sweetie! What's going on? I feel so out of touch with you. I hope you stay in the light but do know I'm here to listen. And I sure hope you'll meet Amy.