Mishloach Manot delivery day is one of my favorite times of the year. I love both the making and delivering of the Mishloach Manot, as well as the part where I come home and find lots of surprises on my doorstep. It’s so exciting to see the creativity that comes from our community during this time of the year and especially how excited my daughter gets about both the giving and receiving.

Last year, I spent several days in the kitchen baking mini loaves of Challah to include in our gift baskets. I can’t claim the idea for myself because I found it somewhere on the Internet so thanks to the smart, creative person who came up with it in the first place. I’m not sure I’ll use the same idea again this year, but I wanted to share it with you because I think it’s a keeper. And best of all, the recepient of your gift gets a few items that will definitely come in handy for Shabbos if needed.

I start with the bread-machine Challah recipe from Susie Fishbien’s Kosher by Design Picture Perfect Food for the Holidays, which in my house is known as simple “Susie’s Green Cookbook.” And instead of making 2 big Challot, I divide the dough into 8 balls to make 8 mini loaves. Then Zoe gets involved with the decorating, which can be a simple as Sesame Seeds or as fancy as rainbow colored sugar sprinkles or even candy flower sprinkles. It does take a bit of time to make several rounds of the dough/Challot so anything you can do to make it more fun is always welcomed.

Once, the Challah is completed and cooled, I add the following items to a plastic basket/container purchased at the dollar store:

• Place the Challah in a pretty plastic bag (I purchased the confetti treat bags at WalMart in the Party section) and tie the top to seal and keep the bread fresh
• Mini bottle of grape juice because, well, one can’t really have Challah without grape juice right?
• Mini container of peanut butter. Last year I included a single serving size of Sabra Hummus but I haven’t been able to find them this year.
• Bag of large pretzels
• Plasticware and napkin in case someone wants to eat their food on the spot
• A pretty notecard decorated by the one and only Zoe … also one of her favorite parts about Mishloach Manot
• I usually also throw in a few pieces of candy for added color and fun

Happy Purim and Happy Kosher Treif Cooking!

The Kosher Connection, an informal group of creative kosher food bloggers from all around the world, proudly present our monthly kosher recipe challenge.  Each month we will present you with recipes on a different theme from all the kosher food bloggers.

This month is Purim! Since today is Rosh Chodesh Adar, we are sharing all our favorite purim recipes that will be perfect for your mishloach manot this year.

Follow our recipes on Twitter with #KosherRecipes.

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