Hamantashen Time @ Sharon & Joel's

"As matzos are to Passover, hamantashen is to Purim.
Purim, which falls this Sunday March 20, celebrates the biblical story of the Jews' deliverance from a plot to kill them by Haman, minister to the Persian king, is a special time when people drink, dance and play jokes.
Gifts of food called shalah manot are distributed, which include fruit, cookies and, of course, hamantashen" NY Times, March 16, 2011.
It is now a yearly tradition that Sandy & I visit our family friends Sharon and Joel (last name left out in order to protect the innocent) in their home on Long Island to bake hamantashen for the whole family.
Sharon taught us how to make them and, in her grace, insists I take all of them home for distribution to my family. By this time she has already conquered one batch and will be making another batch for her whole mishpukah...ie...family.
This time Sharon let me use my Apricot preserves. Because of the more liquid consistency of preserves, they flatten out a bit, but that's a quirk I just seem to favor for the sake of my taste buds...taking nothing away from the traditional filling, which is made with a thicker consistency. There are many kinds of fillings one can use to make hamantashen, and Sharon chooses to use Raspberry, Apricot, Dried Plum (prune) and Poppy Seed. According to today's NY Times article, the poppy seeds are the ultimate stuffing. I prefer, however, the apricot and prune. I'm not sure why, but to me there was something traditional about prune. For some reason, as a kid, I thought they were made only that way...or maybe it was poppy seed that looked like prune. Either way, love that Dried Plum!

Enjoy...and for more info and recipes, click "control" and the link below.

Remember...comments and your input are always appreciated....
thankyou for saying posted...
c u again soon...
Bert 

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/03/16/dining/20110316-PURIM.html?ref=dining