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Last year's Purim baskets that I made:

"Cheeseburgers"

Bun: Hole-less doughnut, cut into top and bottom halves
Meat: Brownie, squished into a round patty
Lettuce: A swipe of pale green cake frosting
Tomato: Dried apple slice, which I spritzed with a little water with red food coloring, so they turned pink
Mayonnaise and Mustard: Appropriately colored, thin swirls of cake frosting
Cheese: a homemade fruit block, orangey-yellow colored, made of apricot and papaya, cut into thin squares
Onion Rings: Deep-fried apple chips
Served in: styrofoam take-out clamshells, with a cute folded napkin that I got from a (kosher) diner in the neighborhood

And for the family that I had over for a dessert party, I served these in miniature form (doughnut holes instead of a whole big doughnut) along with miniature milkshakes in teeny shot glasses. I also had shoestring fries (from a bag, plain flavored) sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, with raspberry jam substituting for ketchup, instead of the "onion rings." In the home, I served them on little paper baskets like you get at fast food joints.

I don't want to do the same thing again this year, because I'll be making mishloach manot for the same family as before. I could repeat other ideas I've done, because this family haven't seen those others, but... Anyway, help a sista out!

This is genius. Right, ideas. You seem to be taking from different cultures, so can we do Jewish soul food? Gefillter fish spongecake? Tzimmes made out of fruit? Kreplach mini-puddings? Caramel-coated dough-balls for falafel? Schmaltz herrings in a dessert-like fashion (sugar instead of brine?)? I dunno how you'd do baba ghanoush but you're good at that stuff.

That sounds way too sweet for me, by the way, but I'd eat it anyway. smile

Jewish soul food?

pardon me... my head just exploded.

burning_eyes

Maybe it's because I've never had Jewish food cooked by an actual Jew (just me trying really hard) but nothing beats fried chicken, biscuits, red beans, and collard greens in my soul food department. It's a surprise I'm not morbidly obese! xp

1. Soul food is my normal mode of cooking. Or, rather, one of my normal modes of cooking, the others being Middle Eastern, Indian, African, modern Hawai'ian, and a little bit of scattered European. Okay, frankly, I don't have a standard mode, but I'm good at soul food. The only change really needed to make it Jewish, or at least kosher, is the separation of meat and dairy, and the removal of pork and shellfish from the menu. That part's easy, no problem.

2. Tzimmes, at least in my house, always contains fruit as well as meat and vegetables. I make a tajin (Moroccan tzimmes) that involves chicken or lam, carrots, potatoes, prunes, raisins, currants, sultanas, cranberries... Okay, I'm getting hungry.

3. Making traditional Jewish food (which for some reason people equate only with Ashkenazi starch-and-meat heavy stuff, but okay) out of sweet doughs, fruit, and candies instead of savoury doughs and meats? That's right up my alley! I'm putting it on the list.

4. Mock pork: I do this often, but I use turkey or chicken, add a little extra salt and some sausage spices. Sometimes I go vegetarian, using MorningStar Farms products, but only if I'm seriously strapped for time. They do all the work, and I'd just be reheating, not really injecting any proper creativity into it at all.

5. But then again, these are all dinners or desserts that should be served at a sit-down meal. I need ideas I can pack into gift boxes or bags and deliver all over the neighborhood, to people who may not open and eat them for several days because everyone gets so many gift boxes at Purim.

I remmembered something this morning...one time (not for Purim, but that doesn't matter.) my dad came up with the idea for making 'candy sushi' , which are much like you "cheeseburgers."

Nori: Green fruit roll up
Sushi rice: Rice Crispies mixed with a bit of marshmellow fluff
filling: Could be abpout anything. Brownies cut into stips, jelly beans lined up, twislers, anything like that.
Just put all the stuff together as if you were making sushi. The only problem is that its a bit hard to cut through.