Recipe: Hamantaschen from Jewish Food Society

Don't worry, the green doesn't mean they have gone bad! This was my first time making pistachio-filled hamantaschen. I used a pistachio paste I bought in Italy. Delicious!

I make hamantaschen every year for Purim ever since my grandma stopped making her own. Each year I use a different dough recipe; it seems I can never find the recipe from the previous year! This year I happened to get an email from the Jewish Food Society that included a recipe, so I thought I'd try it. 

Ingredients (for the dough)

• 4 large eggs
• 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup pulp-free orange juice
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 5 ½ cups all-purpose flour (up to ½ cup extra if dough is too wet to roll)
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Preparation

• Step 1

  Preheat the oven to 350°F.

• Step 2

  In a bowl of a stand mixer (or using hand-held beaters), whisk together the eggs, orange juice, oil, and vanilla until well combined. Add the sugar and mix until incorporated. 

• Step 3

  Gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt, mixing until a dough forms. The dough should have a playdough-like consistency. If it's too wet, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until it becomes a stiff, workable dough.

• Step 4

  Divide the dough into two portions, shaping each into a flat disc.

• Step 5

  Place one portion on a sheet of parchment paper on the countertop. Using a rolling pin, roll it out into an even rectangle about ⅛-inch thick. Do the same for the other dough portion.

• Step 6

  Use a 3-inch round cutter or an inverted glass to cut dough circles. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the rounds on it about 2 inches apart to prevent them from touching during baking.

• Step 7

  Spoon about 2 teaspoons of your chosen filling(s) into the center of each round.

• Step 8

  Fold each circle into a triangular shape by pinching one point at the top, then pinching the two bottom corners together to seal. Ensure the edges are secure so they hold their shape while baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden.

• Step 9

  Let them cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes. Enjoy or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one day or in the refrigerator for up to three days.

(Okay, let's start out by saying that Step 9 is ridiculous. The cookies will last MUCH longer than that, even if you don't refrigerate them!) I do like though that this recipe doesn't give you directions on how to make the filling. You are obviously just going to buy it! My friends brought several types of jelly, Nutella, and chocolate (and peanut butter) chips. We had quite the assortment!

(Jewish) Ladies of Umbria Place, unite!

Moving on... I did a few things differently, as usual. For one, I mixed all the dry ingredients together before adding them to the wet mixture. I feel like this is pretty basic baking procedure, so I'm not sure why this recipe doesn't write it out specifically. Also, I NEVER use a rolling pin. Mainly this is because I never had one until I was married, but I also think it's just as easy to take a ball of dough and flatter it with your hands. I did use the mouth of a glass to create perfect circles, but the other ladies in my group just made circle-ish shapes, and the cookies were fine, because who can tell once they are folded?

My group made the recipe three times so that we would have enough for everyone (note: twice would have been plenty!). The first two batches of dough hit a point in which they didn't want to absorb any more of the flour. But each time it was less than half a cup of the flour mixture left, so we just used that on our hands/rolling stations. So that was fine. The third dough mixture was different, and I don't know why. Was it because I used eggs from two different dozens? Did Janine not measure the baking powder accurately? Did I let the wet ingredients sit unmixed together for too long? I don't know, but this dough was much drier and wanted to absorb even less of the flour mixture; it was so dry you didn't even need to flour your hands. And the cookies from this batch did NOT hold their triangular shape. They ended up looking like open-faced hamantaschen (did I just invent something new?). Luckily they taste fine, but the way they look leaves something to be desired...

What a mess! Although I will say I don't usually use regular jams/jellies because this tends to happen.

Speaking of taste: this dough is very cake-like. It's almost like a store-bought sugar cookie! Very soft, not hard or crispy at all. I think they tasted good, but to me it's not traditionally what I expect from a hamantaschen. So I think it's interesting that the recipe calls them "classic," because to me this was very different than what I would typically think of. 

The poppyseed ones came out a little better, but still too flat to represent a hat.

So while not my finest work, we all still had a fun time making these cookies together! I never make hamantaschen alone because they are so time-consuming, and I'm so grateful I have already made such wonderful friends in my new neighborhood that I could continue my friendship baking tradition. Happy Purim, everyone!

Recipe: Dill Bread

My loaf was...very thin

I have been growing dill in an AeroGarden, and it has gone wild. It is so big! I attempted to make pickles (that did NOT work; I'm trying it a second time, so we'll see how they turn out), but I was trying to find other ways to use a lot of dill at once. I found this recipe on the Savory Moments blog, and since I've never made a savory bread before, I thought I would try it. 

The dill is on the left. Look how tall it is!

Ingredients

• 1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup olive (or vegetable) oil, plus more for greasing
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon dill pickle juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup finely chopped dill pickles
• 2 tablespoons (firmly packed) finely chopped fresh dill weed (or 1 tablespoon dried)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 8"x4" loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour through garlic powder.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil through sour cream. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
4. Fold in the pickles and dill weed until just combined. Spread the batter evenly into the loaf pan.
5. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan to a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing and serving.

I didn't bother with the pickles or pickle juice, since I figured those were more for flavor, and I wanted more of a dill taste than pickle taste anyway. But I knew I was in trouble when the instructions said to spread the batter. My batter was so thick, and I couldn't "pour" it as I was expecting. So when I took it out of the oven, I wasn't surprised that it wasn't quite what I had expected. The bread didn't rise at all. The whole loaf was dense and thin. Can baking powder go bad? Was it the light sour cream that I used? I'm not sure where I went wrong.

Luckily, it still tastes pretty good. I like the savory flavor, and I almost think the recipe would be better if some cheese were melted into the batter. It's a little dry, but nothing a little butter or dip can't fix. It's still edible, so not a complete disaster! But I might need to try another dill bread recipe. Luckily, there are many to explore. 

Tootsie: The Film vs. the Musical

I knew of the movie Tootsie, and while I had never seen it, I understood the premise: Dustin Hoffman is an unemployed actor, but when he dresses as a woman, he is hired and must continue to charade. When I learned that a musical version of Tootsie was coming to the Manatee Performing Arts Center, I invited some friends to see the show with me. And just a few days later, I watched the movie on Amazon Prime so I could compare the two. Here's what I found:

Similarities:

• Lines: Some of the lines are verbatim. When the main character, Michael Dorsey, is auditioning for a role, he's told that he's too tall, too short, that they're looking for something different, that they're looking for someone else. That's the same in both! He also complains to his agent that there shouldn't be as much focus on California because "New York is a coast, too," and his agent is working on a show that "needs a name." The men argue about Dorsey being too obstinate to work with, highlighting a commercial in which he was supposed to play a sitting tomato, and he refused to sit because it wasn't logical for a vegetable to sit. So it was funny to see those definite parallels between the two media. And while not a verbal line, Julie does splash water in his face in both versions (we'll get to Julie later). 
• Sandy: In the play, Melanie Bierweiler is Dorsey's friend who is also an actor, but her nervous energy, low self-esteem, and emotional instability keep her from getting work. Teri Garr, also a pretty blonde, plays the same role in the movie, and both actresses play the role the same way. I liked that the musical was true to the original. (This song from the musical really sums up the character!)

• The set: With a play, the set is usually a backdrop with furniture to make the space come to life. I liked how in this musical, there were big photos blown up to be the background (although they weren't high res...), like outside of a restaurant, etc. And in Dorsey's apartment, the front door was to the left of the kitchen set-up which led into the living room, and that's just how the movie was, too (except of course the space can be bigger in the film). 

Differences:

• Careers: In the musical, Dorsey works at a restaurant with his friend to make money. While we do see one scene with him working in a restaurant in the film, we also see him teaching acting classes, which is not part of the play version. And in the movie Dorsey has gotten a role on a soap opera, while in the musical he's acting in a stage performance.
• Love interests: While Dorsey is in love with Julie in both versions (played by Paige Alter in the musical and Jessica Lange in the film), in the movie she is willingly in a relationship with the director Ron Carlisle (Daniel Pelissier in the play (so good!) and Dabney Coleman in the movie (I guess he was typecast from 9 to 5)), but in the musical she is always pushing away his advances.
• Julie's family: Speaking of Julie, in the film she has a 14-month-old daughter, and she and Dorsey (while he's pretending to be Dorothy Michaels, his female alter-ego) visit her father in upstate New York; her father falls for Dorothy and even asks her (him?) to marry him! But her family never makes an appearance in the musical. 
• Divulging the secret: In the movie, Dorsey tells his agent right away that he has gotten a job as a woman, but in the play, his agent doesn't find out until he comes over to Dorsey's house unannounced. (By the way, Craig Engle, who plays the agent in the play, was the only actor who seemed to forget this lines. Too bad!) 
• Van Horn: In both versions, there is another actor, Van Dorn (George Gaynes in the film, Anthony Hoskins in the musical) who has a crush on Dorothy. But they are played so differently! Gaynes is an older man who needs cue cards to remember his lines, while Hoskins is a much younger man who talks like a Valley girl and goes so far as to get Dorothy's face tattooed on his stomach! I think I like the musical's casting of this character better; he's even more absurd!

Just a side note: I didn't know other well-known actors like Bill Murray and Geena Davis were in the movie! 

I liked both! You can rent and stream the film on several platforms (Amazon, Apple TV, etc.), and you can still see the musical in Bradenton! Get your tickets here.

Recipe: Peppermint No-Bake Cheesecake

 

I saw a similar recipe on Instagram and was inspired to make it for the holidays. I ended up finding this recipe on the Cincy Shopper blog, and since we had (most of) the ingredients, my mom and I went with this one.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 22 Oreo Cookies
• 3 tbsp melted Butter
• 1 tbsp Sugar

Filling:

• 16 oz softened Cream Cheese
• 16 oz Heavy Cream
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp Peppermint Extract
• 6 drops Pink Food Coloring

Directions

1. Crush Oreos in food processor and add melted butter and sugar.
2. Press mixture into bottom and partway up sides of springform pan.
3. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to firm.
4. Beat cream cheese and sugar until well mixed. Set aside.
5. Whip heavy cream and powder sugar until stiff peaks form.
6. Fold and blend cream cheese mixture into whipped cream mixture.
7. Add food coloring and peppermint into filling mixture.
8. Pour/spread into pan.
9. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until firm.
10. You can garnish with dollops of whipped topping and crushed peppermints if desired.

My mom made the crust while I was out, and since she didn't have the recipe in front of her, she just put crushed up Oreos in the bottom of a pie plate without any butter. This meant that when we served the dessert, even after being in the freezer for a while, the bottom crust just stayed in the glass; it didn't stick to the filling or vice versa. BUT it still tasted good!

Instead of mint extract we used creme de menthe liqueur (and used more of it since the flavor isn't as concentrated as an extract would be), and we didn't bother with the food coloring. We also included some of the cream from mint Oreos, since my mom had chopped up the cookie part already! This along with the minty liquor gave the cake a pale green color. We did put crushed peppermints on top for a little festive look.

I was making this for a get-together, and I didn't have four hours to let it cool in the refrigerator. So instead I popped it in the freezer for half the time, and that worked! This cheesecake is delicious, and I would definitely make it again. But instead of step #5, I would just use Cool Whip. That way you don't have to clear your mixing bowl for two different steps!

New Year's Resolutions

Image found here.

New year's resolutions seem to be falling out of favor, but I enjoy making them. I like giving myself goals to achieve or creating a guide for myself to live by for the next year. Now that I have started a new chapter in my life as a married woman living in Florida, I feel like a re-set is a great idea for creating the life I want for this new beginning! 

Here are my new year's resolutions in 2025 (in no particular order):

These are some healthy potato nachos I made! You can find the recipe here.

1. Eat healthier. This is a nicer way to say "lose weight." Not that I particularly feel overweight, but I know I could be better to my body and eat foods that are nutritious, not just tasty. This is very difficult when I have SUCH a sweet tooth: I LOVE desserts. I think part of this was instilled in me when I grew up, because my dad always had to have dessert after dinner, whether it was cookies or ice cream. So now I like to have dessert every day, too! Having a sweet or two every now and then is okay, but I've been going overboard lately. My husband is better about it because he doesn't buy sugary things; if treats aren't in the house, he can't eat them. But I like to have sweets available should a craving come over me, but now that means I have two half gallons of ice cream sitting around and any baked goods I make myself (or ones I've bought from Crumbl). 

So first of all, I need to stop buying sweets. I have already started weaning myself off of Crumbl, so that's good. Secondly, if I do want a dessert, I just need to change the portion size. I never feel guilty eating ten M&Ms after lunch at work; that's so small! It's more like when I eat a good-sized piece of pumpkin pie five days in a row after I baked the pie to begin with. Less is more in this case!

Along with eating less sugar, I also want to eat more nutritious foods in general. Now that I go into an office every day, I have to get back into meal prep, which I haven't truly done since pre-COVID. And while noodle casseroles are quick and easy for that, pasta drenched in alfredo sauce is not exactly healthy. I want to try new recipes with mainly proteins and veggies, and just natural ingredients in general (maybe I'll use Hello Fresh for inspiration). I don't want to make boring meals of chicken-veg-rice, but healthy versions of food I like, especially Mexican and Indian cuisine. Thank goodness for the endless recipes I have at my fingertips with the internet!

AND I want to drink less. Alcohol is a poison in the end, and is full of empty calories. It's so easy to drink though when you're at a party or out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. I find myself drinking almost every day, and even if it's just one glass/drink, I feel like that's too much. I can also tell myself I'm saving money every time I go out to eat and don't get a drink along with my meal. I won't put a number on it, but I will try to be more conscious about my drinking and just go for seltzer water instead.

Image found here

2. Exercise more. This sort of ties in with #1. Before I moved to Florida, I was working out two times a day regularly, alternating between Pure Barre and Orangetheory (whichever one I didn't take in the morning was the one I took at night). But since I have moved, I spend so much of my time commuting that I have a harder time being able to work out as often as I'd like. I have already bumped down my OTF membership to just eight times a month instead of unlimited, and I frequently find it difficult to make even that happen! And while I do have a gym in my community, most of the classes offered are held during the day when I work, so I only occasionally make it over there to ride the spin bike for 45 minutes. 

So next year, I am going to attempt the Pure Barre Platinum Barre Challenge. I have never tried this before even though I have been a client for years and have now been teaching since August of 2023. The challenge is to take 15 classes every month, so 180 classes for the year. I think I can do it! I already take class about three times a week (i.e. the weekday mornings when I'm not teaching), which means I would only have to take three extra classes on top of that. The past few months I have been trying different gyms, like F45 and Barre3, but for next year I will focus on Pure Barre so I can complete this challenge!

Me with some of my Theta sisters in DC. I miss them!

I grew up with Rachel and Marshall, so they are some of my oldest friends!

3. Keep in touch with friends better. Now that I have moved, I have to make more of an effort to stay in touch with my friends. I can no longer email them about meeting up for dinner or seeing a show together. I actually had a similar resolution many years ago: I spoke with a friend on the phone who didn't live near me once a week. And I did it! So if I did it before, I can do it again. But just like trying to schedule times to meet up, it can be tricky to match up calendars for even a phone call. I have been trying to talk to people when I'm in the car (since it usually takes me almost an hour to get home after work), so maybe I will just lean more into that. Even quick calls are better than letting friendships slip away!

Me with the Ladies of Umbria (i.e. the women who live on my street!)

4. Create lasting friendships with new people. In hand with staying in touch with my friends back in DC and elsewhere, I would love to make true friends down in Florida. My husband and I have been SO lucky to have already met so many wonderful people. Our street is very social, and our neighbors frequently host parties; they always invite us and make us feel welcome. I have also met other people through a local synagogue, the Junior League of Sarasota, and the fitness community.

But most of these friendships are surface-level, which I guess makes sense, since I have only known everyone for a few months. But next year, I hope I can hang out with more people in smaller groups, rather than large parties, to really get to know them. I am going to aim for doing a double-date twice a month (unless a neighborhood party is scheduled and we know we'll see them there), and aim for more ladies' dinners, particularly after my workouts (now I could actually get to know some of the women from Pure Barre instead of just taking class with them!). Friendships are one of those things that you get what you put into them, and I want to put a LOT of effort into making new friends so I feel like I have a full circle of support in my new home of Florida. 

Image found here

5. Less screen time, more reading. This kinda of goes against #6 (see below), but ever since I started my Instagram account, I find myself getting lost in the scrolling, especially before bedtime. I tell myself I'll only look for ten minutes, and then I look at the clock and it's well past my bedtime! So next year, before I even climb into bed, I am going to turn my phone off. That way, when it's time to turn in, if I'm not quite sleepy yet, I will read a book or magazine. It's better not to look at the blue light of a screen before you go to sleep anyway, and I am very embarrassed by the low number of books I have read since moving to Florida six months ago (umm, I think it's two).

I brought so many novels and non-fiction books with me in the move, so I better start reading them! I have nature books, lots of (auto)biographies, and just brainless fun books. After a month or two into the beginning of COVID, when we all realized the pandemic was going to last longer than we ever imagined, I told myself to read more, and I did. I only read books by female authors, and I really liked setting this mini-challenge for myself. I truly love reading, and I just need to carve out more time for it. Just like with exercise: if it's important to you, you'll make the time. I think my first book of the new year will be Amy Poehler's Yes Please. I lugged it all around Italy with me and never opened it up, so I'm going to read it for real this time!

Gotta fill up my Instagram profile!

6. Continue to build my Instagram presence. While I want to stop staring at my phone right before I go to bed, I do want to stay active on my newest platform. I started my Instagram account before I moved so that my friends at home could stay in touch and see what I'm up to. And it's been working! I love seeing all the little hearts from people liking my photos or their comments on my posts. But as a Millennial, I'm in between an older generation that doesn't care about social media and a younger one who LIVES online. I don't naturally think about taking a photo wherever I am, but I want to get better about that. This is especially true when I do social things: I have been to SO many parties and yet didn't take any pictures! So in 2025, I want to work on recording my shenanigans through photos and posting them online. Similar to this blog, Instagram can act as an online diary for me to remember all the fun things I've done and the wonderful times I've spent with many amazing people. 

There are other things I'm tempted to add here, like going to Shabbat services once a month. But I want to set myself up for success, and this list is already somewhat daunting. Hopefully I can make all this happen!

Recipe: Cranberry Orange Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

 

My mom found this recipe on Pinterest (originally from the Lynseylous blog) and wanted to make it while we were together for the holidays. The recipe was pretty easy, and it was delicious!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup + 1 tbsp sugar, divided
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups fresh cranberries, washed and dried

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8x8” or 9x9” pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Toss cranberries with 1 tablespoon of flour and set aside.
3. Combine remaining flour, salt, and baking powder to a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
4. Place butter in a bowl and beat until smooth. Add 1 cup of sugar and lemon zest and beat until light and fluffy.
5. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until just combined.
6. Alternate between adding some of the flour mixture and some of the buttermilk to the batter until all mixed together.
7. Add the cranberries and gently fold in using a spatula.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Place in the preheated oven and bake about 35 minutes, increasing time as needed.

We didn't have buttermilk, and while we could have added vinegar to the milk to make our own buttermilk, we didn't bother. But plain milk worked fine! We liked how moist the cake was, and the fruit flavors are just right. My mom liked the recipe so much she said she'd definitely make it again!

Recipe: Cottage Cheese Brownies

I have been seeing lots of healthy recipes on Instagram featuring cottage cheese. I don't really like cottage cheese on its own, but I figured it can't taste too bad if it's main into a dessert, right? I couldn't find the exact video I saw online, but I googled "cottage cheese brownies" and found this recipe from Matt's Fit Chef. With only four main ingredients, I figured it had to be pretty easy!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup cottage cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 scant cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup and 1 tbsp granular sweetener (I just used regular white sugar)

Optional Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp coffee powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Chocolate chips chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and fold a 7-inch x 7-inch brownie pan with parchment paper.
2. Add to a blender cottage cheese, egg, cocoa powder and granular sweetener. Optionally, add baking powder, coffee powder, and a pinch of salt. Blend until all ingredients are combined into a smooth brownie batter.
3. Transfer cottage cheese brownie batter to the prepared pan, and optionally sprinkle with chocolate chips on top. Bake in hot oven for 22 to 30 minutes – mine took 25 minutes. Let cool completely at room temperature before slicing.
4. Once cooled, seal and store in the fridge for a maximum of 4 days.

I think I did include all of the optional ingredients except the coffee powder (What is coffee powder? Ground-up coffee?), and I don't think the chocolate chips are optional. While they make the brownies less healthy, they taste MUCH better with the chocolate chips (and look cuter, too). And they last WAY longer than just four days in the fridge; I made mine weeks ago and only just recently finished the last one (and it tasted fine!).

Are these the yummiest brownies you've ever had? Absolutely not. They are not fudgy or fluffy; they actually are kind of grainy. BUT the fact that each normal-sized brownie is only about 100 calories is really nice. I never felt guilty about eating one, and they still satisfied my sweet tooth. I don't think I'd make these for a party or share them with others to show off my baking skills, but I might make them for myself again.