Every Spring we celebrate a fun Jewish holiday called, Purim.
If you were to compare it to an American holiday, I would say it’s a mash up of Halloween and Easter.
We dress up in costume and give baskets to our friends.
After a theme is picked I buy costumes and basket items that correspond.
In 2025 our theme was the Dodgers. We love the Los Angeles Dodgers so Jacob mentioned we should all dress up like baseball players. Unfortunately I got a pretty horrible sinus infection so I ordered a bunch of stuff on Amazon and the kids put our basket together. No group pic this year so here is an old picture of us at the Dodgers Stadium.
In 2024 our theme was Israel.
We dressed as IDF soldiers and our basket were filled with Israeli snacks.
In 2023 our theme was The Super Mario Bros.
Super Nintendo World opened at Universal Studios in February, and with the movie released in April, we were completely immersed in the world of those lovable green and red brothers!
For the baskets, I found Lugi and Mario bags and filled them with Princess Peach drinks, gold coins, mustache noisemakers, Nintendo fruit snacks, and Lemon Up granola bars.
In 2022 our theme was Harry Potter.
Our Mishloach Manot was a fun one. I found Harry Potter robe bags on Amazon. Then for the wands we used breadsticks, for frogs we used a package of gummy frogs, and for Butterbeer we used root beer, but put Butterbeer labels. I also included butterscotch candy and Harry Potter themed jelly beans. Finally we included our homemade Hamentashen cookies (recipe below).
In 2021 our theme was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Our Mishloach Manot was a lot of fun to put together! I used the Ninja Turtles favorite food, pizza as our theme. There was pizza flavored Bissli, pizza crust, sauce, Parmesan cheese, mints, pizza brewing co beer, and hamentashen.
In 2020 our theme was Cops and Robbers.
Hubby and I even dressed up and went to an adult only Purim party.
In 2019 our theme was Under the Sea.
In 2018 our theme was Jake and Nederland Pirates.
In 2017 our theme was Incredibles.
In 2016 our theme was Superheroes.
In 2015 our theme was Native American.
In 2014 our theme was Despicable Me.
In 2013 our theme was Sesame Street.
Come back for next years theme!
Since my favorite hamentashen recipe is tucked away in a very old post I thought it would be best to repost it here.
Traditional Hamentashen
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups flour
In a large mixer, beat together the eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla and almond extract. Add baking powder and flour until you get a workable dough. If dough is too wet, add more flour.
Divide dough into quarters. Roll to ¼-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 3-inch rounds. Re-roll scraps. Place filling in center of each dough round. Fold three sides up to form a triangle, leaving some filling exposed in the center.
Place cookies 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheets. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush with egg wash if desired (see yeast dough recipe). Bake for 15 – 17 minutes or until crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Happy Purim!
