Baking soda cleaning

One of my favorite cleaning supplies isn't found in the detergent aisle of the store. It's in the baking department--and it has the word baking in it's name--yes it's Baking Soda. The chemical name is sodium bicarbonate. Apply some to a damp sponge or cloth and rub to remove tea stains from tea cups or tea pots. And I like to use it to clean refrigerator shelves and the inside of the fridge. For this chore I choose a brand new sponge or a clean rag. I dampen the sponge and sprinkle on some baking soda, and wipe the surfaces. Then I rinse with plain water. I even find that baking soda is helpful for cleaning Corning Ware. That's only the beginning of all the uses of sodium bicarbonate. And don't forget that it is handy for many recipes that call for baking soda, such as cakes and cookies.

Spring cleaning starts, recycle paper for notepad

Spring is here! And we all know what that means--it's time for spring cleaning. One thing I like to do is a bit of recycling. I select pages from my junk mail that have no personal information on them, just ads and "Dear Friend" letters that have a blank back. I cut those pages crosswise. And I made a little stack of them. I have a clip magnet and I fasten the pages to the side of the refrigerator. I use the papers for shopping lists and chore lists. I just pull off a page as needed and with another magnet, I fasten it to the fridge for a shopping list. Or you might be one of those organized folks who has a bulletin board in the kitchen. Every time something is getting a bit low in supply in the house, I write it on the shopping list. If necessary, you can put a paper and pen in your pocket as you go about your chores, and make a note. The note can be a reminder to yourself to do something later, or to remember to purchase some cleaning supply that you are running out of. For instance, you are doing the laundry, and you notice that you will be needing more borax or powdered bleach. You can jot that down.

Rosalyn's Jiffy Hamantashen

In honor of the holiday of Purim, a fun holiday if there ever was one!

Rosalyn's Jiffy Hamantashen (Parve) The word Parve indicates: pure vegetable, no milk products or meat products

A note to anyone unfamiliar with Hamantashen--they are filled cookies made in the shape of a three-cornered hat. Just think of Napoleon's hat and you get the idea.
I wanted to make a Hamantashen without the bother of rolling the dough with a rolling pin or cooking a filling. And here they are! They are sweeter than the classic Hamantashen, more like a cookie than a pastry. These Hamantashen can be made ahead of time and frozen.

About 20 pitted prunes, cut in quarters
1 cup margarine
2 cups dark brown sugar (packed)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
Grease cookie sheets or spray with non-stick coating. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Stir in salt, baking soda and vanilla. Gradually add flour. Take dough the size of a walnut and form into a ball. Flatten in your palm and place a piece of prune in the center. Fold dough up around prune into a triangle. Place on cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 11 minutes or until browned. Cool on racks. Makes 5 to 6 dozen.

Easy Kosher Cooking

I'm opening up this blog in anticipation of my book, Easy Kosher Cooking, becoming a Google ebook. My book was originally published by Jason Aronson Publishing, and is available from them at www.jasonaronson.com.