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Tu B'Av (Hag HaAhava) Recipes and Crafts

Tu B'Av - Hag HaAhava

Tu B'Av ט"ו באב (the fifteenth of the month of Av) is a holiday that was renewed in the modern-day Israel. It is celebrated as a holiday of love חג האהבה‎ (Hag HaAhava) and as such is a very sought after date for romantic dates and Jewish weddings.
The kibbutzim celebrate the grape harvest festival as Hag Hakeramim. It was celebrated in the Temple in Jerusalem when unmarried girls would dress in white and dance in the vineyards at the beginning of the grape harvest in the hope of finding a husband.

Tu B'Av (Hag HaAhava) Recipes

Cooking Measurement Equivalents

Onion Soup

Ingredients: (for 6-8)
2 carrots
1/2 celery root
Small bunch of fresh parsley
6 medium onions
100 gram (3.5 oz) of yellow cheese
Croutons
1 teaspoon of sugar
50 gram (1.75 oz) butter
3 cups of flour
4 teaspoons of instant soup powder
1 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoon of oil
6 cups of water
Preparation:
  1. Clean and peel the vegetables.
  2. Make soup from the water, celery root, parsley, and instant soup powder and cook for half an hour.
  3. Cut the onions to thin slices and fry them in oil and butter for 10 minutes.
  4. Add salt and sugar and cook for 10 minutes more.
  5. Add flour and fry while mixing for 3 minutes.
  6. Take out the vegetables from the soup.
  7. Add the fried onions and cook for half an hour more on medium heat.
  8. Serve the soup with grated cheese and/or croutons on top.

Tuna Casserole

Ingredients: (for 6)
2 cups of uncooked elbow macaroni
1 can of peas
1 cup of grated Mozzarella cheese
Italian bread crumbs for topping
12 ounces of drained Tuna in water
2 cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup of milk
A little bit of butter to grease the casserole pan
Preparation:
  1. Cook the noodles in salt water "al dente" - until tender but not too soft.
  2. Drain the noodles. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl except the bread crumbs.
  3. Grease the casserole pan. Pour the mix into a casserole pan.
  4. Top with Italian bread crumbs. Bake for half an hour in 350°F oven until golden brown.
Stuffed Peppers
The instructions are for meat and rice filling, but you can prepare it with meat only by skipping the rice and water.
Ingredients: (serves 4)
8 red, green, and yellow peppers
Ingredients for filling:
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
250 gram (9 oz) of ground meat
1 cup of rice
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of grated tomatoes
1 small fresh parsley bunch
a pinch of salt
a pinch of pepper
1/4 cup of oil to fry
Ingredients for the sauce:
2 cans of tomato sauce
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of sugar
a pinch of salt
a pinch of pepper
Preparation:
  1. Wash the peppers, cut the top-wide base where the stem is, and put the tops aside. Clean the peppers from pits.
preparation of the filling:
  1. Chop the onion and fry it in 2 tablespoons of oil until golden brown.
  2. Crush the garlic and chop the parsley.
  3. Fry the parsley, garlic, meat, grated tomato, and the pinch of salt and pepper for 5 minutes.
  4. Add the rice, mashed fresh tomatoes, parsley, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of boiling water.
  5. Boil the water with the rice and cook in low heat for about 20 minutes until the rice is half cooked and the water evaporated.
  6. Mix the meat filling and the rice.
Preparation:
  1. Mix in a bowl the tomato sauce, salt, pepper, sugar and two cups of water.
  2. Fill each pepper to 3/4 of its height with the rice and meat filling and cover each pepper with the top part that you cut at the beginning.
  3. Do not press the filling since the rice will swell during cooking.
  4. Arrange the peppers upright and close together so they won't fall to their side and spill their filling.
  5. Pour a little of the sauce in each pepper. Cover the pot and bring to boil.
  6. Cook for an hour while from time to time adding a little sauce into the pepper so the filling will not dry up.

Blackberry Cheese Cake

Ingredients:
Readymade pie crust
500 gr (16 oz) soft cream cheese
500 gr (16 oz) sour cream
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 can blackberry pie filling
Preparation:
  1. Mix in a bowl the cream cheese and 1 cup of sugar.
  2. Add the eggs and mix well.
  3. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla.
  4. Pour the mixture into the pie crust.
  5. Bake for 40 minutes at 350°F.
  6. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
  7. Mix the sour cream, 3/4 cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
  8. Pour over the cheesecake.
  9. Bake for another 15 minutes at 350°.
  10. Cool and top with the blackberry pie filling.
Beteavon! (Hebrew for bon appétit!)
Tu B'Av Sameach! - Happy Tu B'Av!

Tu B'Av (Hag HaAhava) Kids Crafts

Heart Pocket Mail Holder

Materials:
3 same-size, large rectangular pieces of felt (10x12 inches)
13 inch long wood stick or two chop sticks
Yarn
Scissors
Glue
Preparation:
  1. Fold the short side of one of the felt piece and sew it wide enough for the stick to go inside.
  2. Cut the second felt into an 8x6-inch rectangle for the pocket.
  3. Cut a heart shape out of the third felt piece.
  4. Decorate the heart with decorations such as buttons, feathers, pom-poms, beads, stickers, glitter, crafts gems, etc. sewn or glued on.
  5. Sew the heart onto the piece of felt that will become the pocket with the yarn. The pocket will be placed horizontally, so make sure to sew the heart on keeping this in mind.
  6. Sew the rectangle pocket onto the large felt piece about half an inch from each side of the bottom.
  7. Slide the stick inside the fold of the felt. You can tape two chop sticks to make a long stick.
  8. Tie the yarn to the edges of the stick so you can hang it.

Love Rocks

Materials:
Flat smooth small rocks
Acrylic paint
Decoration: buttons, feathers, pom-poms, beads, stickers, glitter, or crafts gems
Preparation:
  1. Clean the rocks and dry them.
  2. Paint the rocks with hearts.
  3. Decorate the rocks with heart shapes. You can use buttons, feathers, pom-poms, beads, stickers, glitter, crafts gems, and more.
  4. Write "I Love You" on three rocks, one word on each rock.
  5. Arrange the rocks in the garden, on a counter, or on a table. The rocks can also be used as paperweights.