So this year I made hamantaschen using the exact same recipe I always use - the same one used by my mother for 60 years, by my bubbeh for 80 years and by those ancestors who came before her since goodness only knows when. As always, I made three types - one batch with the traditional poppyseed filling, one batch with blackcurrant jam and one with sweet mincemeat because I adore mince pies at Christmas and don't see why Christians should get all the fun.
However, something has gone wrong. The poppyseed batch are fine, but the mincemeat ones - despite being at the bottom of the oven where, had physics have been paying attention, it would have been cooler - have burnt. They're not inedible, but might be a little crunchier than is usual.
The jam ones, however, really don't look good. The jam has melted and, by the looks of things, reached such a high temperature that the hamantaschen have exploded, melted together and left a baking tray with contents that look not unlike the frankly terrifying "baked jam slice" that was cooked in 3 foot square tins and served up to the unfortunate inmates of my school (with custard - any leftover custard would be saved and used to repair potholes in the school playground). Now that it has cooled, close inspection reveals a burnt-on layer of jam that looks not unlike a geological sedimentary deposit some 1/8th of an inch thick covering the bottom of the oven. We may find fossils - I managed to knock over a tray of potato wedges last week, and I'm sure a few of them have been lurking at the back behind the bit where the gas comes out. Maybe I should leave them so that future palaeontologists can gain valuable insights into the evolution of potato-based convenience foods?
The thing is, I hesitantly picked a corner from the mutated jammy mass and do you know what? It's absolutely delicious - better than any hamantaschen I've ever made. Better, even, than my home-made rugelach and while I don't want to boast I have to admit that I rock when it comes to making rugelach.
We have a bit of a tradition here of adding new memorable dates to the calendar. Just as early Tevet brings "How On Earth Are We Going To Get All That Wax Out Of The Carpet/Off The Cat Day" and Tishrei brings "I'm Sure These Jeans Used To Fit Me - Damn Rugelach! I'd Better Join The Gym Day" (which falls just after Yom Kippur, of course), so Adar will now be shared by Purim and "On Our Hands And Knees Scraping The Inside Of The Oven Day."
Oh well. At least the hamantaschen taste good, even if they look a bit odd. Enjoy yours, too. Gut Yontiff!. :-)
