I made wheat-free homentashen

Never Done: I made wheat-free homentashen (with help)
Tshuve: I made homentashen

With the magic of antibiotics, I started feeling better, and I thought I had the energy to do a baking project. Purim had come and gone, and I hadn't yet eaten a homentash, and I adore them. Well, I adore them if they're mon (poppy) and if they're good. I love them best if they're the yeasted, bready kind my father made when I was growing up, but I knew I didn't have any yeast, so I checked to see if I had enough poppy seed to make a batch of the cookie kind, and I did. Even to make them with oat flour instead of wheat.

It started out great. I washed my hands. I made the mon filling. My mom's recipe:

Homentashen Mon Filling


1/2 c. poppy seed 


1/2 c. orange juice 


1 T. margarine 
(I didn't have any; I used butter.)

1 T. honey 


1/4 c. chopped nuts 


Grated rind of 1/4 lemon 


2 T. seedless raisins 


1 T. sugar 


1/2 tart apple, grated 


2 T. jam or preserves, any fruit 


Combine poppy seed, orange juice, margarine, honey, nuts, lemon rind, raisins and sugar into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until mixture is thick.

Stir in grated apple and desired jam or preserves. Makes enough filling for 2-3 dozen.

I made the cookie dough (replacing the wheat flour with oat flour.) I was careful not to lick any spoons. But when it was time to roll out the dough, cut it into circles, fill it with mon, and pinch them into tri-cornered hats, just the thought of all that exertion sent me straight back to bed. Josh had gone out for the evening, or else I could have cajoled him into doing the next part. So I texted Mich to see if she was interested, thinking it might be a pretty tough sell. "Hi, I'm sick, but I made cookie dough and then got tired. Want to come over and finish making homentashen for me?" But you know what happened? She said yes! Not only did she say yes, but loved the idea. I guess one person's pathetic is another person's opportunity.

So Mich came over, and she rolled out the dough and cut out circles, and together we spooned the mon on and pinched them into triangles, and she told me all about the Purim party I missed, and baking cookies was a far less daunting task with a friend, and I even did all the dishes. And when they baked up, they were perfect -- truly the best I have ever made, and I'm pretty sure the best I have ever eaten. I'm not sure there's a deep lesson here -- except that by being able to both notice that I am getting better and also that I wasn't all the way healed, I got time with -- and help from -- a friend, when I would have otherwise spent the evening alone. And I got really good cookies.