Purim is very very noisy. Ask any parent. It’s the holiday when the kids are encouraged to yell and laugh and stamp their feet and grog their groggers in the synagogue sanctuary, all in an effort to “stamp out” the sound of the evil name Haman, a man who tried to destroy the Jewish people.

So it’s a lot of family fun. Even if you sometimes want to put on earmuffs or take an aspirin or two.

There’s some pretty good food too. Usually Hamantashen, the triangular cookies (stuffed with prune, apricot or raspberry lekvar or, these days, with chocolate and all sorts of modern fillings). Or kreplach, also triangular, this shape to resemble Haman’s hat.

But after all is said and done and we make merry as we should, one of the best parts of Purim (next Wednesday night, March 7th) is re-connecting with others. Reconnecting with community, friends and family. By offering small gifts of food.

It’s a delightful tradition. Unfortunately, like so much else, over the years it has become sort of commercial and some people feel as if they have to spend a fortune on fancy packages from fancy stores. 

But you can make a little something instead. Banana bread. Lemon scones. Vegetable soup. Guacamole dip or salsa. Homemade jam. Anything small and handy enough to bring over to a neighbor or a friend.

Like these chocolate dipped crystallized chunks of ginger, which would taste really good with coffee or brandy after the kids go to sleep and it’s quiet in the house.

Chocolate Dipped Crystallized Ginger

3 ounces semisweet chocolate

2 tablespoons whipping cream

30-35 pieces crystallized ginger

Melt the chocolate and cream in the top part of a double boiler over barely simmering water. Let the ingredients melt, remove the top part of the pan from the heat and stir to make a smooth, uniform mixture. Dip each piece of crystallized ginger in the chocolate mixture, shake off the excess and place on waxed paper or parchment paper to dry. Makes 30-35 pieces

Chocolate instead of broccoli to stay healthy?

No, not really. But in a recent study the results indicated that eating chocolate might cut a woman’s risk for stroke. Read about it here.

This is not the first time I’ve heard that chocolate is healthy (it has flavanoids, which have anti-oxidant properties, which in turn help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol).

But this is the one of the only times I’ve heard someone caution women not to over-interpret the results. Like, do not substitute chocolate for broccoli. And a cardiologist who was interviewed said that although chocolate may be good for you, maybe the study results would have been similar if they used apple skins or grapes.

I’ve always wondered about some of these studies. I wonder whether you can prove whatever you want depending on how you go about the study.

Well, I am no scientist, so I don’t know.

But I do remember, many years ago, when the information regarding dietary fat was still in its infancy and Nabisco came out with SnackWells, the so-called “healthy” cookies because they were lower fat. And people started eating SnackWells because they thought it was okay. And judging from the number of people I met (and watched at the supermarket) who ate boxes and boxes of those cookies, most didn’t seem to realize that it’s way too many calories and that it might be more harmful than if you ate a butter cookie or two.

So the broccoli warning makes sense.

But if you want to eat something delicious and chocolate-y — for your health — try these truffles. They are amazingly easy to make and you can give them away as gifts so they’re good for the upcoming holiday season.

But don’t eat the whole batch at once.

Chocolate Truffles

1/2 pound semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

3/4 cup heavy cream

4 teaspoons brandy or rum or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 tablespoons butter at room temperature

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sprinkles, toasted coconut, ground nuts, etc. (approximately)

Chop the chocolate in a food processor into small bits. Heat the cream over medium heat until it is hot and bubbles form around the edges of the pan. With the processor on, pour in the cream through the feed tube and process  until well blended (you may have to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice). Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes. Add the brandy or rum and the softened butter and blend them in thoroughly. Spoon the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour or until the mixture has firmed enough to form a soft “dough.” Take small pieces of the dough and shape into small balls. Place the balls on waxed paper or aluminum foil on cookie sheets. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes. Roll the balls in cocoa, sprinkles, etc. Makes about 3 dozen. 

It’s National Taffy Day, which makes me yearn for those long ago days of Bonomo’s Turkish Taffy. Vanilla, of course. The first one, the one and only, that sustained and satisfied before the company thought they had to expand the brand into chocolate, strawberry and, good lord, of all things — banana.

Banana turkish taffy should have been forbidden as a matter of law.

Bonomo Turkish Taffy was the movie treat of my day. My brother Jeff and I would go to the theater on a Saturday morning and see a double feature, usually a Western and a couple of cartoons and probably Movietone news — black and white images of stuff that was going on in the world, anything from the “Korean conflict” to the Miss America pageant.

Our parents gave us money for popcorn and, if they were feeling flush, some extra money for a second treat. Usually Bonomo Turkish Taffy. If I didn’t eat the whole candy bar at the flick, I would take it home and save it for during the week. It got hard as a rock and in order to eat it you had to bang it on the table. It cracked into a few pieces, which were really terrific to chew, somewhat like a burst balloon or a large wad of old used-up gum. Your jaw hurt by the time you were finished and the sugary melty candy seeped into every molar, which made for a terrifying number of cavities.

Wish I had one. There are all sorts of substitutes out there now, but none can come close.

Which was better, Loft’s Butter Crunch or Loft’s Parleys?

For you young ones, those are the two iconic candies once sold by Loft’s, a candy company that went out of business in 1990. I’ve been in mourning ever since.

Their Butter Crunch was always my favorite. My brother insisted that the better choice was the Parley, a giant milk chocolate cigar looking thing with soft nougaty stuff inside.

Parleys were okay but Loft’s Butter Crunch was incomparable. The toffee was thick and brittle. It snapped when you broke it. The chocolate layer wasn’t overly thick so it didn’t detract from the candy part. And the nuts on the outside were tiny and soft, a sensational contrast to the velvety-tender chocolate and the crunchy center.

As well balanced as a dinner straight out of the government’s food pyramid.

I have tried for years to find a Butter Crunch as good as Loft’s, to no avail. There are fancier ones, made with single-estate chocolate or 70% cocoa chocolate. Some really expensive stuff and others from mass producers. Nothing comes close. I will grant you that Loft’s probably didn’t use great chocolate. It wasn’t your most upscale store. It sold modestly priced candies.

It’s just that their Butter Crunch was the best I ever ate.

When I was pregnant with my older daughter I refrained from sweets, to keep my weight at a decent level. But right after she was born I polished off the 2 boxes of Loft’s Butter Crunch that someone brought to me as a gift.

I’ve been experimenting making my own version lately. I made the ones in the photo yesterday to bring as a dinner gift this evening. These are good, so I’m posting the recipe. If you make them with milk chocolate and in a smaller cake pan (8”x8”) they’ll taste like Loft’s. Otherwise use dark chocolate of your choosing and use the larger pan — most people like the crunch part thinner than I do.

Butter Crunch

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 tablespoons water

9 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (1-1/2 cups chocolate chips)

3/4 cup chopped lightly toasted almonds

Lightly butter a 9”x13” sheet cake pan. Place the butter, sugar, salt, corn syrup and water into a deep saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts to bubble. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is golden brown (about 7-8 minutes) or until a candy thermometer reads 280 degrees. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Immediately sprinkle the chocolate on top. Let it melt briefly, then use a spatula or the back of a large spoon to spread the chocolate evenly over the candy. Keep spreading until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Sprinkle the nuts on top and press them in lightly. Let cool until the chocolate is firm and set, about 2 hours. Break into pieces. Makes about 1-1/4 pounds