How. to make a yummy
Queen Esther
(and even a tasy Haman).

G oo

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

1 #1) Purim, A-Z: Fill your mishloach
manot basket with foods and treats
whose first letter spells something spe-
cial. Purim is an obvious choice, for
example:
P - a pear
U - a tiny umbrella
R - rosewater
1 I - ice cream
M - macadamia nuts
You also could include items that
spell out FRIEND, or BOSS, or
QUEEN ESTHER.
Or, you could be really imaginative
and spell out a message, like, "I love
you; will you marry me?"
I Be sure to include a card challeng-
ing the recipient to figure out what the
first letters of each treat are supposed
to spell.

#2) No Sour Grapes: It's a lot of
fun, and easy, to make your own
grape juice, which you can put in
mishloach manot baskets. Here's what
to do:
Place iwo cups washed and
stemmed Concord grapes and one
cup of sugar in a clean, sterilized
quart jar. Add boiling water to top of
jar. Seal at once. Juice will be ready
to drink in about one month, though it
will need to be strained first.
(It's nice to make your own family
juice labels, too, by decorating large,
white mailing labels available at
office-supply stores.)

#3) Thanks For The Memories:
Have a child make his own megilla
(literally, scroll) to record all the events
I of this and future Purims.

You can easily make the scroll from
white typing paper, taped together
and wound about two, cardboard
paper-towel holders. Begin the scroll
with pictures and stories from this
year's holiday: What did you have
for the seuda (meal)? What costumes
did the children wear? What were
the best treats you got in mishloach
manot? Include photos, and perhaps
bits of ribbon from mishloach manot,
or a recipe or two. Each year you
can add on, creating a long and
wonderful scroll telling the story of
every Purim you enjoy. Be sure to ask
your child to create a safe container
for the scroll, perhaps a shoe box that
he or she decorates.

#4) Let's Face It: Your children
will love making and decorating
these cookies with faces from the
Purim story:

Dough recipe:
1 c. softened margarine
2 eggs
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. baking soda
3 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
Food coloring

When done making colors, wrap
dough in wax or plastic paper and
refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, use dough to make
face cookies of Queen Esther,
Mordechai and the King. (The colors
will remain after being baked). For
even more fun, use a garlic press to
create tiny hairs, or see how you can
use cooking tools around the house
for interesting textures.
Bake on ungreased cookie sheet
for 7-10 minutes (time depends on
thickness of cookie) at 375 degrees.

#5) It's In The Cards: If you're in
the mood for a quick-and-easy and
not-at-all messy project, try making
your own cards to send with
mishloach manot. Make them in
holiday-appropriate shapes, like a
hamantash, and color with markers
and crayons.

Mix margarine, vanilla, eggs and
#6) Table The Issue: It's traditional
sugar. In another bowl, combine flour,
on Purim to have a seuda, or spe-
baking soda and salt, then add to
cial meal. You can have a lot of fun
vanilla mixture. Divide dough into
parts, depending on how many col- - decorating your table with these
easy projects:
ors you want. Then add food coloring
a) Have children make place
to each part. You can stick with the
cards.
Not only will they enjoy dec-
basic red, blue, yellow and green, or
orating these, it eliminates that
go a little crazy by creating purple
awkward moment of, "Where am
(though red and blue food coloring
I supposed to sit?"
often turns up looking more like
b) Leave a blank, white paper
brown) or lime green, for example.
plate (with spots cut out for eyes

and mouth) and markers for each
guest. Invite everyone to make a
mask showing what he looked like
as a child, or picturing his Jewish
hero or anyone Jewish from history,
or a popular figure in American life
today.
You can have everyone hold his
mask up when he's done or for
more fun, put all the masks in one

pile and try to guess who is who.
c) Let each guest make his own
Purim Kiddush cup. Permanent mark-
ers color easily (and last awhile) on
glass cups.

#7) Design The Flag: Imagine you
are responsible for creating the flag
of Shushan. What would it look
like? What about King Ahasueu-
rus' castle? What about Queen
Esther's throne?

#8) Picture This! You can make
great Purim cards, or just have a
lot of fun, by decorating color pho-
tocopied pictures of your family.
Add tiny rhinestones to make a
crown, or cut out a dark moustache
from construction paper, and
instantly you become Mordechai
or Queen Esther.

#9) Haman Goes Pop: Buy a
bag of balloons and use
markers (but be patient; it will take a

3/17
2000

