Weekending: Purim with Family

Believe it or not, this post is going to have something to do with celebrating Purim over the weekend. Who doesn’t like a holiday where we bake special cookies and celebrate with food and drink and family. My in-laws visited with us bringing my mother’s delicious, prune and raisin hamantashen and lots of entertainment for Sophia.

Here’s Dr. Sophia taking care of Clowdie, the doggie. You could say that Sophia is quite smitten with her canine family member. My mother-in-law generously shared her kiddie doctor set with us so that Sophia can measure everyone’s blood pressure, listen to our heartbeats, and of course administer shots. While she practiced medicine, we practiced the art of baked custards in the form of vanilla challah bread pudding. Drizzled with maple syrup, it is perfect for a leisurely weekend breakfast or a snack.

I am reading Little Failure and the descriptions of my former USSR life have made me a bit nostalgic. That and treating our visitors to unique culinary delights had Evan and I turn to Georgia (the country) for a Khatchapuri Adjaruli recipe. It turned out better than I expected though was a quite a treat as far as healthfulness is concerned.

We served it with a very tangy arugula and cucumber salad to help cut through the richness of this bread.

I also made a batch of blintzes, one of my father-in-law’s favorite dishes, with farmer’s cheese using a new crepe batter. The dough was nicer than the previous one I’ve used, but I had a few blintzes bust at the seams during pan searing. Can’t have these previous pillows of heaven bust, can we? I’ll be investigating causes which may include a too-thin crepe or too much filling (sigh). Lastly, this is Purim, yes? I made hamantashen with apricot and cream cheese/chocolate fillings. I’d never had the chocolate filled ones and was surprised at how good they turned out. We are ready to tackle yet another and dare I hope last snow storm with so many delicious treats socked away in the fridge.