Hello, Kveller folks. Just a friendly reminder that Tu Bishvat, the Birthday of the Trees, starts tonight at sundown. If you need some last minute ideas for food, crafts, and activities, we’ve got you covered.
To Eat
A common way to celebrate Tu Bishvat is to eat foods that contain the seven species from the Bible: figs, dates, pomegranates, olives, grapes, wheat and barley. That means you could make stuffed dates or fig and goat cheese sandwiches. Or you could make this fruity dinner for Tu Bishvat featuring orange and maple baked tofu and persimmon and pistachio cupcakes.
To keep up with the fruit theme, this orange salad is light and refreshing. And what better way to eat fruit then dipped in chocolate? Here comes in the chocolate fondue with fruit. Lastly, a little adult fun can be had with some homemade sangria using any of your favorite fruits.
To Do
Since Tu Bishvat is all about trees, it makes sense to do some environmentally-friendly activities. Many people plant trees around Tu Bishvat, but if you don’t have the space for it, planting some parsley is fun and easy (and the parsley will be full grown in time for your Passover seder).
You can also make a lovely fruit mandala by sticking fruits onto a paper plate in any design you please. And don’t forget about the birds–this pinecone bird feeder proves that’s what’s good for the bird is good for the tree.
To Read
Thanks to PJ Library, we were reminded of the 1956 classic children’s book,
A Tree is Nice
. Another great one all about the holiday is It’s Tu B’shevat. A lot of people also tend to read Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree this time of year, but according to at least one Kveller blogger, its message is not exactly Tu Bishvat (or friendship) friendly. We’ll leave that one up to you.
To Watch
We wouldn’t be called Kveller if we couldn’t kvell over great videos like this one, featuring contributing editor Sarah Tuttle-Singer’s adorable, Hebrew-speaking kids getting into the spirit of Tu Bishvat by singing Tu Bishvat Higiyah (Tu Bishvat is Coming). Enjoy, and chag sameach!
