It's time for Hamentaschen!

The snow, ice or cold couldn't keep us away.  Matthew's basketball games couldn't keep us away.  Jeff's crazy schedule of conference calls over the weekend couldn't keep us away.  And, House of Cards streaming season 3 on Netflix couldn't keep us away.  Nope, nothing, nada, zilch, zip, zero was going to stop this crew.

It was time to come together and honor a very important Toppall tradition....baking Hamentaschen!

Since Elaine was 2 years old, baking those awesome triangle shaped cookies has been an annual event with Jeff's family.  I married into it and Sam & Ian were born into the tradition.

Each year, the group gets better and better at baking.  It's crazy how we all take our places and within an hour, we've churned out over 130 cookies.  This year we mixed it up a bit and in addition to the fruit fillings (apple, pineapple, raspberry,and strawberry), we also made chocolate filled hamentaschen.   The chocolate was inspired by Ian who made a special call to Grandma to ask her. 

We had a special guest join us this year.  Sam's friend was spending the night and it just made sense to bring her to Baltimore with us.  She had never made Hamentaschen before, but caught on quickly.  By the time we were done, Ruby was an expert too. 

I do think chocolate was the favorite!  As soon as they came out of the oven, everyone grabbed the chocolate ones first.  We will have to make even more next year.  Between neighbors, friends, and ourselves, the cookies go fast!  It's a good thing we can count on making these each year.  It's a fun day that everyone looks forward to.