Happy Purim

Today is Purim or what I like to call the Jewish Mardi Gras. Here is a link to how the holiday came to be and the history of if you would like to know more about it. As a kid I remember going to Purim carnivals and having a lot of fun. Purim is also like Halloween for Jewish kids because they get to dress up in costumes to help celebrate it. A traditional food people eat for Purim is called Hamantaschen. Hamantashen are said to resemble Haman's tri cornered hat. Their triangular shape is also said to represent the three patriarchs of Judaism. One thing I know for sure is they taste great! In honor of Purim Emilia and I decided to make some. I thought it would also be fun to come up with some cool packaging for them too.

I made the cookie bag from a plain white catalog envelope. You can see a tutorial for how to make the bag here. I ended up changing a few things though. I cut out a window in the bag with a rectangle Coluzzle and attached a piece of acetate so you can see what is in the bag. I also added a piece of folded CTMH Hydrangea cardstock to the top as a way to close the bag instead of using ribbon. I decorated the envelope by stamping the Flower of Life stamp from the Mazel Tov set with Versamark ink then embossed the images with lots of different bright colors in honor of the celebration. For the tag on the top I used a Nestabilities ribbon tag and embossed Happy Purim on it. The lime green ribbon is from American Crafts. I used scalloped scissors to make the upper and lower borders. I think this is a great way to make custom packaging for baked goods and I can see myself making more bags like this in the future.

Here is the recipe if any of you would like to try it.
1/2 cup margarine. You can use butter if you are eating dairy with them.
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups white flour
Filling of your choice. We used Apricot jelly and chocolate chips. Traditionally they are filled with Poppy Seed Filling. If you want the recipe for that email me.

Cream margarine,sugar and honey together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla until blended. Mix in the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Place the dough on a sheet of waxed paper and form into a think circle. Cover with another piece of waxed paper and refrigerate until firm or up to 3 days.
When you are ready to bake them roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface until it ia about 1/8" thick. Cut out circles using a 3" cookie cutter. Fill each circle with the filling you desire. Fold up the edges of each circle in thirds to form a triangle and pinch the edges together tightly leaving a small opening in the center of the cookie where the filling can be seen. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 mins or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

If you decide to give them a try let me know what you think of them.

I am off to finish watching Idol now. My favorite this year is Danny but there are a lot of other great singers this year too. As always thanks for stopping by and I will be back soon with more things to share. Until then Have a great night!