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Celebrate Easter with festive cakes, cookies, and tarts made with the fresh fruits of Spring.

A sweet crust made from gingersnap cookies, brown sugar, and ground cinnamon perfectly foils the tart filling in this citrus dessert. The recipe calls for frozen orange juice concentrate, which adds a burst of bright flavor without extra ingredients. Chill for at least four hours, or overnight, to set.

Ingredients:

1 pk Hershey’s Hugs or Kisses Chocolates (8 oz)
1 c Butter or margarine, softened
1/2 c Powdered sugar
1 ts Vanilla extract
2 1/4 c All-purpose flour
1/4 ts Salt
Additional powdered sugar

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove wrappers from chocolate pieces.

In large mixer bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar amd vanilla until well blended.

Stir together flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Add nuts; blend well.

Mold scant tablespoon dough around each chocolate piece, covering completely.

Shape into balls.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set.

Cool slightly; roll in powdered sugar.

Cool completely.

Before serving, roll again in powdered sugar, if desired.

Jewish Holiday Runs From December 4-12

(Dec. 4) - Hanukkah, also called the “Festival of Lights,” starts on the 25th day of the Jewish calendar month of Kislev and lasts for eight days and nights. This year, Hanukkah begins on the night of December 4.

CorbisHanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, lasts for eight days and nights.

The Story
The story of Hanukkah begins with the Greek conquest of Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, Egypt and Palestine. During the rule of Alexander the Great, the people of these lands were able to practice their own religions and mostly govern themselves. Yet, as time went on, the Hellenistic rule became stronger and restrictions on the Jewish faith were imposed. As the story goes, Antiochus IV, the Greek King of Syria, removed the Jewish rabbi from their holy Temple. He installed his own priest and ordered the Jewish people to worship Zeus. While some Jews obeyed, others, led by Judah Maccabee, resisted. The small army eventually overcame the Greeks and won back their holy Temple. After the victory, the Temple had to be rededicated, but there was only enough purified oil (used to light the menorah) to last for one night. Yet, miraculously, the oil burned for eight days. Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of the oil and the rededication of the Temple. Thus, the holiday is also called the Festival of Rededication.

Traditions
The lighting of the menorah is the most important Hanukkah tradition. The menorah is a candelabrum with nine stands. On each night of Hanukkah, a candle is lit. On the first night of Hanukkah, one candle is lit, on the second night, two and so on. The shammus, the large middle candle, is always used to lite the eight other candles. It always remains lit. The candles are added from right to left, but lit from left to right. Another Hanukkah tradition is playing the dreidel, a gambling game played with a square spinning top. Rather then play for money, the players throw in pennies or play with chocolate coins.

What to Eat
Like most holidays, Hanukkah comes with a few traditional foods. The most common Hanukkah food are latkes, or potato pancakes. Fried donuts filled with jelly are also eaten in many Eastern European countries and in Israel.

Gifts
The exchanging of gifts is a secular Hanukkah tradition that bears little religious significance. Often, parents or grandparents give children a small amount of money, called gelt, or larger Hanukkah gifts, though it is unusual for adults to exchange presents with each other

By HEMAL JHAVERI, AOL RESEARCH AND LEARN

Ingredients:
3-4 loaves of white bread (or 5 if you like leftovers)
water
chicken broth
insides of the turkey
2 bunches of celery
1 or 2 onions
2 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp. sage
oysters (optional)
mushrooms (option)

Directions:
The night before you want to eat the stuffing, break the bread into small pieces (about 1 inch squares) into 2 huge bowls or pots. Let the bread sit overnight to dry out.

The next day, after you remove the insides of turkey, boil them in water in 2/3 qt. sauce pan until cooked (about 20/30 minutes).

Remove insides for later use or discard. Keep water and put aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Chop onion and celery and place into food processor until minced.

Melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter in large saucepan.

Saute onion and celery until heated through. Do not brown! (Saute mushrooms also at this time if wanted). Depending on how much stuffing you want and how much celery and onion you\’ve chopped, you may have to saute the onion and celery in two parts.

Once cooked, pour the onion/celery mixture directly over the dried out bread.

Pour 1/2 tsp. sage over bread/onion/celery mixture.

Then take your reserved water and pour slowly over bread. The bread will shrink as you do this. Be careful not to pour too much water in.

Mixture thoroughly and smell/taste for perfect stuffing.

If you need more liquid, open a can of chicken broth and pour over bread. If you need more spice, add more sage.

If you are using oysters, add them now.

Once stuffing is of a consistency that it will stick together and does not look too dry, do not add more liquid.

Either stuff in turkey to be baked in oven, or put in 9 x 13 pan.

If using oysters, it is recommended that you bake the stuffing in a pan so as to ensure the oysters will be cooked through.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour. You want the stuffing to have a nice brown crust on top.

source: Gina Mathis