Coconut Cookies for Passover

It's Matzah Week! At least for some of us. My congregation just started observing the calendar that Torah to the Tribes uses so we are celebrating a little earlier than most this year. I wanted to share this cookie recipe today for those of you who are craving something sweet for this Feast but don't know what to make. Or if your Passover is still coming up I think this would be a great addition to the menu.

(Menorah lattes. An ongoing project in my life.)

I don't know if you've had a Passover cookie before, but often other than the name and the shape they bear no similarities to real cookies. They tend to be dry, crumbly, and not very good. These however are nice and chewy with a little bit of toasted coconut crispness on the edges. Since they contain no refined sugar or flour they fit with the GAPS diet and are Paleo friendly, so this should be a winner even for those on restricted diets. They don't taste like a diet cookie though; if you like coconut, this is the Passover cookie of your dreams!

You know how the best part of a coconut macaroon is the edge that got toasted? Flattening before baking makes the entire cookie that good!

You will need:
1 egg
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup finely shredded coconut flakes (unsweetened)
3 tablespoons almond meal or almond flour
2 tablespoons chocolate chips (I used 100% cacao but feel free to use whatever kind  you like)

Preheat your oven to 350°.
Mix together the egg, honey, and salt until smooth. Then add in the remaining ingredients. You will end up with a sticky mixture that is not as together as a typical cookie dough. This is what you want.
Since it is so sticky you'll want to line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Scoop about two tablespoons of your dough per cookie. I ended up with 9 cookies. Then using a clean, wet hand pat your cookies until they are flat. Since they have no leavening they will stay whatever shape they are.
Bake for 14-16 minutes. Your cookies are done once the coconut is nicely toasted and golden brown. When your house starts smelling heavenly of toasted coconut it's time to take them out.
Let cool before eating.

I really like that these aren't cloyingly sweet but if that's more your thing you could add an extra tablespoon of honey.

I know the food restrictions can be a little confusing during this week. If you need a little clarity or inspiration check out these posts for more meal ideas.

Happy Feast of Unleavened Bread!

Scratch Off Omer Counter

I'm excited to share with you a new way to count the omer...with scratch offs!

Why count the omer? This is actually something we are instructed to do in Leviticus 23:15-16. The fifty days we are to count link the Feast of Unleavened Bread to Shavuot or Pentecost. This is the time period that the Messiah spent still on earth after being resurrected from the dead. What is an omer? Omer is the Hebrew word for sheaf - which is a bundle of grain. First Fruits during Matzah Week is when part of the barley harvest would be waved to YHWH, and then at Shavuot the same would be done with sheaves of wheat.

This is an easy DIY to put together since it's really just two things, a print and stickers. There is also some flexibility with how you use it. I liked the large size of this, but there's no reason you couldn't print this as an 8" x 11" in a normal printer if you would prefer. If you don't have time to order the scratch off stickers, using regular stickers to cover up the days as they go by would work. Or even just cross them off with a pen. It's up to you!

You will need:
Printable omer calendar
One inch scratch off stickers (I used gold ones from here)

Directions:
Print off the omer calendar. I got an 18" x 24" engineer print at Staples, which at $2.99 was the most cost effective option I found. The paper is thin, so it's not ideal for photographs, but works just fine for our purposes.
I used scotch tape to place my counter on the wall. You could also glue it to a foam board or attach to canvas if you prefer.
Then place your scratch off stickers above the numbers and you are set to go! Each day scratch off another sticker until we get to Shavuot.

Update: A friend told me she is going to take hers to an office supply store to get it laminated. Her plan is to mark the days with dry erase markers and use it each year!

The past couple of years of counting have brought me more than a few days where I'm not sure if I already did my omer count or not. I remember doing it, but maybe that was yesterday? Anyone else with me? So I decided to put seven days in each row to make it easier to double check. Just make note of what day you started counting on and things will add up. You could also make a habit of counting at a certain time each day or even saying the traditional blessing of, "Blessed are You, YHWH Eloheinu, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with your commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the omer."

If you look closely in the photos you may notice something is amiss. Funny story about assembling my counter: I expected to be left with one of my fifty stickers when I got done, but there were strangely two left. How could this be? Every row has seven numbers...with the exception of the second row which somehow has only six. Upon closer inspection of the photos I discovered that I had inadvertently left off day 13! I have no idea how that happened, but it is corrected in the downloadable version. Ha! 

Other ideas for counting the omer:
DIY Flair Calendar
Making a paper chain
Printable Cards from Torah Sisters Magazine
Kids Counter
Kosher on A Budget's Omer Counter
Writing the count in your planner

DIY Clay Matzah Jewelry

Here's an easy craft you can make to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

You will need:
air dry clay
paint - I used brown, white, and yellow acrylic
rolling pin
knife
fork
hot glue gun
plain pin back, barrettes, and ring

Step one: roll out your clay. How much depends on how many matzah pieces you'd like to end up with. I used about a golf ball sized piece of clay and wound up with 15 matzos. Roll to about quarter-inch thickness.

Step two: decide what size you'd like to your matzahs to be. I cut mine into roughly one inch squares, with a few bigger ones for pins. Use your knife to cut out squares. A pizza cutter might also work well. You can be as perfectionist or not as you'd like.

Step three: this is a fun part! Lightly press your fork onto each piece several times to give it that matzah texture. The holes need not go all the way through the clay and the end product will be sturdier if they don't. 

If you'd like to use your matzahs to make a necklace with, now would be a good time to poke a hole so you can string it up later.

Step four: let your matzah squares dry out. Mine were good to go the next day, but yours may vary depending on thickness and the type of clay you use. Just wait for them to be completely dry before the next step. It shouldn't take more than a few days!

Step five: when your squares are dry, it's time to paint. I mixed brown and white paint to make a shade of tan, and then used yellow and more of the dark brown, going for the golden brown look of matzah.

I started off with painting the squares tan, then adding small specks of the dark brown and splotches of yellow. This helps to mimic the speckled look of traditional matzah. If you're not happy with how one looks, just paint over it and try again!

Step six: I'm sorry but you'll have to wait one more time for these to dry. Mine were okay after a couple hours.

Once they are dry, congratulate yourself. You just made clay matzahs!

Step seven: grab your jewelry backs and hot glue gun. I painted the barrettes cream before hot gluing on the matzah, but other than that, just decide which direction you'd like your pieces to go and hot glue them into place.

Now you have matzah jewelry! Pretty easy, wasn't it?

There are many other things you can do with with these matzah pieces too. Instead of gluing to a ring or barrette you could attach them to magnets. Leave them as is for Lego sized matzah. Put pushpins on the back for your Count the Omer Flair Calendar. I'm planning on getting a picture frame and gluing these matzos around the edges for a cute decoration for the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

20 Fun Ideas for the Fall Feasts

October is going to be a busy time for those of us celebrating the Feasts of YHWH. Whether you are new to the festivals or seasoned Methuselah I'm sharing some great ideas to make them extra special this year.

If you're staying at home you'll want to make a sukkah, like this one from Chai and Life.

Or you could go camping...

Sukkot foliage like palm leaves make a great table runner.
From Sugar & Cloth.

You could set this pretty table. From Sugar & Cloth.

You'll be outside a lot so be prepared for the weather with this DIY lemon (or etrog!) umbrella.

From Studio DIY.

Wear this shirt.

From Mt. Tabor Tees.

Order these cookies or get cutters to make your own version.

Make DIY stained 'glass' with your kids to teach them about the feasts.

From The Climbing Tree.

Make these easy palm leaf sticks to stir your Sukkot drinks.

From The Merry Thought.

Have friends over for a potluck dinner in your sukkah.

From Chai and Home.

How good does this apple stuffed challah look?

From Torah Sisters Magazine.

Stay warm with this DIY constellation scarf.
From A Beautiful Mess.

Share this Yom Teruah printable with a friend.

Keep the kiddos entertained with finger puppets, especially handy on Yom Kippur.

Spend time under the stars.
From The Climbing Tree.

 Get a better idea what you're looking at with this constellation map.

From Mr. Printables.

Decorate with letter balloons.

Transform any dessert with this Chag Sameach topper.
From Chai and Home.

Take a virtual tour of the Sukkah PDX exhibit from the Oregon Jewish Museum.

Take notes from this gorgeous party. Can you say #sukkahgoals?

From Love Sarah Schneider.

How will you be celebrating?

PS - I'm posting late this week so Shabbat shalom!

Elegant Feast of Trumpets Party Idea: Music and Moonlight

Here is a fantastic theme for a Feast of Trumpets or Yom Teruah celebration: music and moonlight! Scripture tells us that for this Biblical holiday, festivities call for not working, lots of music and shofar blasts, and that it happens under the light of the Biblical calendar's seventh new moon. That's what we're going with to throw a beautiful and elegant party, complete with DIY decorations like signage and place settings that utilize old sheet music!

Music and moonlight. We are taking what Scripture says and going with it. The foundation of this table setting is super simple. I picked up a book of sheet music at a thrift store, cut the pages out, and taped them together until I had a runner that was long enough for my table. It took only a few minutes and cost pennies, making it a very inexpensive table setting for the Feast of Trumpets.

Why not have an evening under the stars and take advantage of the nice fall weather? Traditionally, to confirm the right day and hour for Yom Teruah, the new moon was searched for, so it makes sense to be outside. Lovely music is always a happy addition to any of the feasts, but it is never more appropriate than for the holiday that is literally known as Trumpets and is about the power of sound. What an opportunity we have for worship!

I used my sheet music again. This time I stuck it in a regular printer, and captured the theme of the evening, music and moonlight. You could also print things like:

Welcome to the Feast of Trumpets
Happy Yom Teruah!

Make a joyful noise
Shout to God with a voice of joy. -Psalm 47:1
Sound the trumpets.
Guest's names

The thirty cent piano songbook was put to use again to make a custom Yom Teruah bunting sign or banner. This makes for such an easy DIY project but looks quite lovely as you can see! It can be done in a printer or entirely by hand.

Here's how to make a DIY Yom Teruah sign.

You will need:
Sheet music pages
String
Glue or tape
Printer or markers or paint

What you do for the printer version:

Put pieces of sheet music where your regular paper goes. It will need to be of similar size to the paper you regularly print on.

Select a font you like and individually print letters to spell out the message you'd like your banner to say. I went with Yom Teruah, but you could certainly do Happy Yom Teruah or Happy Trumpets, or whatever else you'd like.

After you've printed the letters, cut the paper into triangles.

Tape or glue your letters onto string.

To do this by hand:

Simply cut your sheet music into triangles and write or paint on the letters. Once they are dry, tape or glue the letter signs on the string.

Flowers for the Yom Teruah table. Look for wildflowers that are in season in your area! The yellow flower on the table is goldenrod and it makes for lovely decoration. You could also gift your guests with a small vase of it if you'd like.

What's a lovelier way to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets than with a candlelit alfresco dinner with string music? If your family or congregation has musicians, you can ask them to take turns playing. A group hymn sign would also be beautiful. Not musically inclined? Play worship music in the background.

This celebration theme of music and moonlight is a beautiful way to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets, and can be done very inexpensively. In addition to shofar sounding and any live music, create a playlist of background music to play during dinner. Good violin or piano is very elegant and I like to play string versions of my favorite songs.

These ideas go to show that it can be quite simple to put together an elegant celebration to honor God during the Feast of Trumpets. Make decorations out of inexpensive sheet music, use instruments and wildflowers as part of your decor, and play festive music. If you have a menorah it will look stunning lit around dusk!

More ideas for the fall feasts:
Swoon Worthy Yom Teruah Party
Easy Stargazing Sukkot Party
The Beginner's Guide to the Feast of Trumpets