Reboot

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
And lea'e us nought but grief an' pain
For promised joy!  - Robert Burns

It's looking like this weekend rather than this evening for baking green velvet cupcakes.  I know I made plans, but as Robert Burns observed, spit happens.  Although he expressed it in a much finer fashion than I did or ever could.  The Week from Hell is playing out even worse than anticipated, with no relief in sight.  It will just have to be a late St. Patrick's Day celebration, which I may try to artfully combine with a slightly late Purim celebration focusing on hamantaschen.  Think of it as my tip of the hat to religious pluralism.  Ecumenical baked goods.

Speaking of hats ...  here in the US, we call the quintessential Purim pastry "hamantaschen" which is Yiddish for "Haman's pockets".  Haman was, in case you don't remember or never knew, the bad guy in the Book of Esther.  It is believed that Haman, who ordered the genocide of all the Jews in the great Persian Empire of that time, wore triangular hats.  In Hebrew, the pastry is called "Oznei Haman" which means Haman's ears.

In Italy, they are also called Haman's ears - Orecchiette di Amman.  I'm sorry I didn't get to try them when we were there in 2004.  The economy being what it is, I don't know if we'll ever get the chance to go back.  I had hoped to someday return to Bologna and Venice, and also get to see Florence and Rome, but ... the best laid plans and all that jazz.