Purim is Coming!

Baking hamantaschen is one of my favorite yearly traditions.
We started a little early this year (maybe?) but I have plans, as usual, to make many.
We started with some of the usual kinds...chocolate, date, apricot...
And we started with some of the usual helpers...

Homemade apricot filling created by Bubbie using recipe found in this post.

Are you looking for some Hamantaschen Tips and Tricks?

Last year I posted some of my favorites! 

People have been posting their Mishloach Manot themes...very creative!

This is one of those times when I tend to be very...boring.

I like to give hamantaschen.

I can't help it!

They're so yummy.

If I didn't give them away...

I would just eat them all myself.

I have some ideas for creative hamantaschen up my sleeve so stay tuned....

Haveil Havalim #349 - Happy Adar Edition!

What's going on here today?
Founded by Soccer Dad, Haveil Havalim is a carnival of Jewish blogs -- a weekly collection of Jewish & Israeli blog highlights, tidbits and points of interest collected from blogs all around the world. It's hosted by different bloggers each week and coordinated through our Facebook group. The term 'Haveil Havalim,' which means "Vanity of Vanities," is from Qoheleth, (Ecclesiastes) which was written by King Solomon. King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other 'excesses' and realized that it was nothing but 'hevel,' or in English, 'vanity.'

Please please please publicize HH on your own blog/facebook/twitter and share the news about it!

 J-Pix, the Jewish photo blog carnival is always looking for submissions. 
Go to this link: http://www.leoraw.com/blog/jpix/ to get involved.

Israel

Northern Lights muses on her experiences in the Northern part of Israel and her own personal transformation.
Batya wants to talk about Obama and tells young people to be sensible and study in Israel!

One of my personal faves, The Real Jerusalem Streets, offers this photo montage of the Mamilla Mall. 
Is Batya a typical Israeli? Typical of what?
Yoel Meltzer asks, Will Netanyahu Err Again?
Tomer Devorah thinks there is a freight train coming...and maybe these are the signs.
Joel Katz gives his regular round up of posts on Religion and State in Israel - part 1 and part 2. 

Ruti Mizrachi is undertaking a personal project "of seeking out Arabs/Muslims who say nice things about Israel, and who oppose the propaganda war against Israel. I need to find these people, to keep myself from being prejudiced against an entire nation, that seems far too silent on the topic. These individuals give me hope." Keep up the great work! Here's today's post:  "Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth."



Personal

RickisMom has an Unwanted Script in her head. 
Trip'n Mommy is back to blogging, so toss her some love, okay? 
Steve shares a fable that he wrote.
Chaviva didn't know she was part of a trend.

Judaism and Torah

Rae offers a meditation on Awareness of God.
Batya considers Torah and Uppity Servants.
Getting ready for Purim? Check out my Purim Pins. 

Culture

Esser Agaroth tells us about the NachlaOr Jewish Songwriter Showcase. Sounds like fun!
Rabbi Jason has something to say about NASCAR and the Jews.
FrumeSarah joined Hadassah!

In honor of Purim, Mara@Kosher on a Budget is matching your donations! 

That's all for this week. Join our Facebook group to see where the next Haveil Havalim is going to be hosted and feel free to invite your friends!

Chodesh Adar Tov! (a teensy bit late)

Birthday Soiree: A Fancy Nancy Party

Ooh la la...I thought it would be fun to have a Fancy Nancy party for Yael's 5th birthday...and I was right!

Here's what we did:

Everyone arrived and "got fancy." It ended up with only girls (even though we had invited one boy) and all of them came in their fancy dresses. We gave each girl a crown and necklace.

Yael and her first guest waiting for the rest to arrive...

Then we did "fancy calisthenics." At all of our parties, Michael leads the kids in some kind of "exercise" related to the topic. He is so creative and funny - it's always great. (He's done spy calisthenics, superhero calisthenics, etc...) He put on a goofy English accent and led the girls in twirling and bowing exercises. It was roll-on-the-floor funny for the grownups. The kids ate. it. up.

The video stops when it does because I literally fell off the couch laughing.

Then we decorated butterfly wings (which I bought here). I decided to make it very easy for cleanup, so I put out only stickers. Michael helped by announcing all the different kinds of stickers and doling them out, but the kids were totally engrossed in this project. We probably could have done it for hours.

We played Hot Potato with a "fancy object"...thanks, Solly.

There was the ubiquitous "pin the tail" game which we have at all of our parties.

Sam took a turn

We did a "race" that involved feather boas and sunglasses....(and everyone won!)

Even David had a good time!

Parfaits are much fancier than cake so this is what we did:

And finally, there was a story...

Happy birthday, Yael!

Fancy Rainbow Cake

Although we had parfaits at the Fancy Nancy party (post coming soon)...I wanted to try one of these cakes that I have seen on Pinterest (yes, Pinterest strikes again. I wonder how many blog posts across the wide internets have started with that sentence!)

I thought it would be super fancy!

And it was.

The cake wasn't complicated but it still felt like a challenge.

Two cake mixes, six layers, two batches of frosting...and a whole lotta food coloring. I like gel colors to get the Rainbow Brite effect...

It looked so cool just like this....

 But we frosted it and it looked good too....I had some helpers with the decoration....

 She was so excited for the big reveal...I loved having a big secret....

 Wow!

I know I say this almost every time I make a cake, but I think this one might be the coolest I've ever done. It was completely worth all the work - a smashing success! (which is a fancy way of saying: go me!)

Can she really be 5?

My baby girl...

...seems so grown-up.

Five years old.

Opinionated about how things should be.

Likes her ponytail "low" not "on top of my head."

Believes in the power of accessories.

Carries around a large purse. Contents: crayons, coloring book, miscellaneous toys.

Intensely social.

Adores her brothers.

Loves "salad eggs" (spinach omelette) but won't drink a spinach-banana smoothie.

Did a little dance when peas were on the menu last week.

Favorite song: the Alef-Bet Song by Debbie Friedman

Favorite TV show: Dora the Explorer

Favorite game: playing "school" 

I can only imagine how much better this is going to get....

The $4 cookie

This is a $4 cookie.

You might think it's just an ordinary Girl Scout cookie but...it's not.

I bought a whole box of these puppies.

And I only ate ONE.

Just one.

It's all I wanted. Just a taste. To have that reminder of the yearly cookie fix.

It was worth every penny.

Birthday Menu

Someone had a birthday today.
That same someone has been talking about her upcoming birthday for....well....months.
And planning.
We've regularly read Henry and Mudge and the Best Day of All - and each time, Yael has reminded me that she wants a birthday breakfast "just like that."

So this morning, she reminded me again.

As we prepared to make the pancakes, she said, "wait! I have to go get the MENU!"

She ran to get the book....
I checked to make sure that, although not in the picture, coffee was an acceptable part of the breakfast menu (phew, it was) and then I set out to make the pancakes.

I used this recipe, since it is quick and easy. Thanks to my pal FrumeSarah for introducing it to me!

One Cup Pancakes (adapted from Jamie Oliver)
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
glug of vanilla

Mix it all together, let it rest for a little bit, and then cook like pancakes.

Serve, according to The Best Day of All, with butter, syrup, and strawberries.
It causes happy sticky faces.

 

Happy birthday to my girl!
Other birthday posts coming soon...