On Saturday, Purim will begin at sundown. In order to honor this holiday, I decided to try making Hamentaschen, the filled cookie made by Jewish people for Purim. After received a few recipes I decided to reach out to my husband’s Aunt Carol who graciously shared a recipe passed down to her by her grandfather after her grandmother’s passing. It comes from the book, Love and Knishes. Grandma Jeannie received this book as a gift in the early 1960s and has been in the family since.

Since apricot and poppy seed are the most traditional, I started with those two fillings. Then, since the book had a recipe for cheese, I made a few as well. And, for fun, I put nutella in the last batch. Because, although not at all traditional, nutella just makes everything better.

So, this weekend, whether you are Jewish or not, channel your inner Bubbe and make a few.

Jewish, From Nonna's KitchenAnna GassMarch 10, 2017Hamentaschen, Purim, jewish cooking, Jewish Desserts

Sweet Tooth Friday: Time To Make The (Israeli) Donuts

Wednesday we talked about latkes and what they mean to the Chanukah celebration. Today, I’m still frying for Chanukah but this time, it's Sufganiyot - try and say that three times fast! Sufganiyot is a deep fried jelly donut and made all over Israel to celebrate this time of year. Once again, it symbolizes the miracle of the burning oil and , boy, are they good.

From Nonna's Kitchen: Mimi Jo's Crispy Potato Latkes

For Christmas, there are a host of foods I make as an Italian and also as a Catholic that represent and honor our traditions of celebration. For Chanukah, Jewish people serve a number of dishes. One very popular side dish is potato latkes. My amazingly talented website designer, Jen was generous enough to offer up her mom JoAnn as a great resource. JoAnn was a caterer for many years on Long Island. A true entrepreneur, she started a baking business with her friend and grew a full scale catering company from her home kitchen. As JoAnn explained, Chanukah is a time to honor the oil that burned for eight days. So, traditionally, Jewish people will serve foods cooked in oil. Potato latkes are a small cake of potato and onion fried in oil and served with sour cream and apple sauce. Since I have never met a potato I didn’t like, I knew I was in for a treat.

Special Edition Sweet Tooth Friday: Grandma Harriet's Rugelach

This week, I decided to roll my Nonna recipe and Sweet Tooth Friday all into one sweet rugelach; I mean, blog post. This recipe is extra special to me because it was given to me by one of the best Nonnas I know, Harriet Marks-Nelson - my husband’s wonderful grandmother.

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