Hello there my friend,

The joyful festival of Purim starts on Monday evening. One of the special mitzvot of Purim is giving mishloach manot - gifts of food and drink - to friends and family. Each person should give one or more gifts containing at least two ready-to-consume items. This means that there's plenty of scope around what to include and how many gifts to give.

Giving mishloach manot is probably my favourite Purim activity! Each year I choose a theme and create gift bags with an assortment of tasty treats. This year our theme is 'tea and biscuits' and each bag will include a mini bag of shortbread, a box of herbal teas, perhaps some honey for sweetening the tea, and of course a home-baked treat. I'll probably pop in a few extras too - maybe some dried fruits, nuts, or homemade granola. Plus a little note wishing the recipient a Happy Purim!

Below are some of my favourite easy-to-pack homemade goodies that are perfect for popping into a mishloach manot package. Also don't forget to give matanot le'evyonim - gifts to the poor. The easiest way to do this is by supporting a charity or food bank that will distribute items to the needy on your behalf, on the day of Purim.

• ​Donate to Leket, and give matanot le’evyonim in Israel​
• ​Support the L’Chaim kosher foodbank in Manchester​
• ​Give matanot le’evyonim via the United Synagogue​

Finally, if you need a quick refresher on what Purim's all about, y​ou can read my guide to the festival here. Or if you just want the recipes, browse the Purim recipe archive here. ​

Delicious Purim baked goods & treats

There's no obligation to include homemade goodies in your mishloach manot, so if you're short on time, then anything goes! But if you do want to whip something up, why not try one of these?

• ​Classic British hamantaschen buns​
  Soft yeasted dough with a delicious poppy seed filling. Not too sweet, just a gorgeous mouthful of hamantaschen perfection!
• ​Seed and nut brittle​
  Crunchy, munchy, tasty and nutritious! Pack some chunks of this lovely brittle into a box or ribbon-tied bag for an easy treat.
• ​Stuffed monkey kichels​
  Stuffed foods are traditional on Purim, so how about this classic British-Jewish confection?
• ​Hot magen david buns​
  Sweet, fruity buns, embellished with joyful magen davids on their glossy golden tops! Fantastic split and toasted and slathered with butter.
• ​Gingerbread men for Purim - Lebkuchen Hamohns​
  ​Chunky, spicy guys made from thick, slightly chewy gingerbread, sweetened with honey. Scrumptious!
• ​Vegan chocolate fudge
  ​A super easy to make and delicious sweet treat, that comes together from just three simple ingredients.

One final thought about mishloach manot. As you know, I try to eat a healthy diet, choosing more nutritious options and nutrient dense wholefoods wherever possible. But of course on Purim friends and family will gift all sorts of items that I would never usually choose! I used to be torn between feeling guilty for not eating them, or eating them anyway and making myself feel 'bleh' as a result. So nowadays I take a different approach. I sort the contents into 'yes, no and maybe'. Yes includes things like fruits, nuts, herbal teas, etc that I will definitely enjoy. No is for things like gummy candy or sugary drinks - these get gifted on or taken by Kipper to share at school. And the maybes, such as cookies, hamantaschen and snack foods, get shared among the family to enjoy gradually over the next few days and weeks (before Pesach!)

I'm not saying this is the best or only way to deal with food gifts, but it works for me. You're just as welcome to eat everything you're given, or nothing at all! Whatever works for you and makes you feel good about yourself and what you're consuming, that's great!

Shabbat Shalom and Purim Sameach

Before Purim, Shabbat! A moment of calm before the storm of celebration - all the colour, noise, excitement and joyfulness that Purim brings. 🎭🎉

Wishing everyone blessings of peace, health and happiness, and a restful Shabbat, followed by a joyful, uplifting and heartfelt celebration of Purim.

Good Shabbos, Shabbat Shalom, Purim Sameach and Happy Purim!
With much love, Helen x.

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