Fun fruit ideas and the best linen tip

Hi ,

A few people sent this adorable video, obviously produced by a school who gets it. Watch for chizzuk and smiles (video credit to Nechama Toporowitz).

Enjoy!

JUST IN TIME

Five fun ways to enjoy your fruit this Tu Bshvat

🍊 CANDIED CITRUS CIRCLES

Slice an orange or lemon into circles, remove the seeds. 

Cook for 5-6 minutes in water on the stovetop. 

Remove slices and place in ice water. 

Add 1.5 cups of sugar to the water in your pan, heat, and add the slices. Cook for 30 mins on a low flame. Remove, let dry (ideally overnight), coat in  sugar and enjoy.

🍇 GRAPE HEARTS

Slice grapes in half on a diagonal and slide onto skewers to form hearts.

🍓 FRUIT SKEWERS

Set out a variety of fruit, and let everyone build their own skewer. Yum! 

🍌 FRUIT FACES

Have your kids build smiley faces out of fruit (think: citrus circles for the face; apple, banana or strawberry slices for ears and mouth; blueberries for the eyes, etc).

🍏 FRUIT CAVIAR: GREEN APPLE PEARLS

If you want something next-level cool, try green-apple "caviar." (Full disclosure: too cool to not share, but too cool for us to try this year. Please send pics if you do!)

Start by filling a tall container or jar with vegetable oil, and put it in the freezer. Super cold oil is crucial to this technique. 

Slice an apple, remove the seeds. Either juice the apple, or blend it with a little bit of water and strain. 

Measure the liquid so you know how much you're working with. Add the juice to a pot and add one cinnamon stick and some lemon juice (you can play around with this, to taste). 

Bring to a boil and mix in 1 gram of agar powder for every 100ml of liquid. 

Cook for 2 minutes. Strain well. 

Add a few drops of green food coloring if you want your spheres to have a nice color. 

Place the mixture in a squeeze bottle (like this one). Remove your oil from the freezer, squeeze the apple juice mixture directly into the oil, in small droplets and watch your pearls form. Pour the mixture into the strainer to drain the oil and rinse with cold water. 

Serve on top of yogurt, fresh fruit, or ice cream.

(You can try this technique with any fruit of your choice.)

💓 REMEMBER,

The serving doesn't have to be fancy, but the experience can be meaningful! Have each family member give a bracha or compliment to another, tying it into a fruit you have on the table.

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JUST THINGS FOR YOU

🍍 REC: Take five minutes to learn about the power inherent in Tu Bshvat. 

🛌 HACK: Keep your linen organized by storing each set folded inside the matching pillowcase. Never topple your neat piles digging for a missing pillowcase again!

🥤PRODUCT: This scent-infused water bottle looks super cool — it’s on sale now! — and we’re tempted to try it. It’s the healthiest way to sweeten your drinks, that’s for sure. Will report back if we do! (If you have first-hand reviews, please reply!)

MOTHERHOOD MUSING

JUST FOR LAUGHS

JUST A Q

How do you care for your little boys’ tzitzis? JAM readers are looking for proven ways to clean tzitzis and prevent fraying. Please share!

That’s all for today!

See you next Tuesday!💜☕

The JAM Fam