We have been having alot of fun lately developing some great new Purim gifts for you to send to family and friends. For those who may not know, Purim is one of the biggest Jewish gift giving holidays of the year. It is a celebratory and festive time when we share Mishloach Manot, gifts of food and drink, with family, friends and the poor. Surely you have seen the triangular cookie, hamentashen. Purim is the holiday at which we enjoy hamentashen and wine (for those over 21!) For the complete Purim story, click here, to Challah Connection. There, you’ll also find our very own hamentashen recipe. Purim is also a big corporate gift giving holiday. We have customers who send Purim gift baskets to all of their customers and clients. As a matter of fact, some don’t send gifts at Hanukkah or Christmas, but on Purim. So if you have Jewish clients or customers, Purim gifts may be perfect for you to “keep in touch” or show your appreciation.

But, back to our fun! Here at Challah Connection we are always developing new products. We typically begin brainstorming approximately 2 months prior to a holiday. At this time, we look at gift giving trends, competition, what we’re selling alot of/little of, new products found at food shows and more. We then put on our creative hats and develop products that we think you’ll want to share with friends and family. Once we have all of the samples pulled together, we photograph them and add them to our site. Sounds easy, right? Not! Just in time for Purim gift giving, here’s what we’ve developed. Happy Shopping! Please order online or call us at 866-242-5524 for questions or to order. Happy Purim!

Purim Royale Gift Basket	Our Favorite Nuts Gift Tower	Kids' Purim Treat Platter	Purim Care Package
Challah Maven French Toast Kit	Purim Bakery Tower	Whole Megillah Purim Gift Basket	Adult Purim Platter
Healthy Snack Basket	Purim Nosh	Royalty Purim Gift Basket	Kosher Italian Delights Gift Basket
Good Morning Sunshine Kosher Breakfast Basket	Peanut Lovers Gift Tower	Healthy Munch Box	Purim Nostalgia Basket

We’ve all been there, and it’s not a fun place to be. It’s that point of desperation on the telephone when you’ve tried—and failed—to navigate an online company phone tree. All you wanted was to order a new pair of sneakers for your child. Something went haywire—you pressed the wrong button?—and now you’re about to get a whole shipment of sneakers. You’re reduced to shouting “operator!” Trouble is, no one is listening.

We know how widespread this customer service crisis is—because you, our Challah Connection customers, thank us profusely for just doing our job. When I tell you that we get emails like this everyday, I am not exaggerating:

“I just want to thank you for your help during this difficult time for my friend and her family. I do a lot of online shopping and I have never had such courteous, thoughtful service. I am truly impressed and will definitely use your site in the future. I just pray that it is for a happy occasion. I hope I can rate your service on the web because it is outstanding.”

I really needed this gift fast ….. I appreciate your help in making it happen.”

I have to confess—we love doing our job! We love talking to you, 9 to 6, every day. But thank you for all the kudos! We’re glowing! Now with Valentine’s Day and Purim this month, I look forward to hearing from many of you as you shop for Shalah Manot and Purim gifts for friends, family, colleagues, college kids and more.

But this is what I don’t understand: How is it that our terrific service is so rare? Doesn’t it make good business sense to practice basic customer service skills such as answering the phone, or returning a call at the promised time, or shipping an order as the customer placed it? I know you’ll say that it’s the recession and that companies have cut back. My response is that we lived through the same recession and as a matter of fact our company grew significantly last year. Why? Because 1) we do what we promise 2) our customers come back to us because they know we will and 3) if we make a mistake (which we do as we are only human) we apologize and quickly make it right. Call me a romantic idealist, but I don’t get why every company doesn’t do as we do. It’s just good business.

Now that my rant is complete, let me remind you that we are here for you. No need to “press one” when you’re mourning a loss, rejoicing at the birth of a baby, honoring a colleague, or reminding your college student how much she is loved. We may never understand why the other online companies treat their customers so shabbily but rest assured, we will pick up the phone.

From Sherry Jonas, Challah Connection Director of Customer Service

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, CA. There is a summer show, held here in New York which, from our global headquarters in Westport, CT, is an easy day trip. But San Francisco is a commitment. People might wonder why we bother going to the West coast when we see so many wonderful vendors in our own backyard here in NYC. We go because we are constantly seeking out new and exciting kosher products that meet our high standards – delicious, the best in their class, and certified kosher by an appropriate Vaad.

San Francisco was typically wintery – gray and damp. But inside the Moscone Center was a completely different story! Produced by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) since 1955, the Fancy Food Shows are North America’s largest specialty food and beverage marketplace. The shows draw 1,300 – 2,500 exhibitors showcasing 250,000 products including confections, cheese, coffee, snacks, spices, ethnic, natural, organic, kosher and more. Eighty-one countries are represented by both the presenters and the 16,000 – 24,000 attendees who make their way (and their stomachs!) to these shows. I was thrilled to be one of them.

I went representing Challah Connection with some very specific goals in mind:
- Find Purim’s “Next Big Thing”!
- Find us delicious, exciting, ethnic AND kosher-certified foods.
Was I successful? Yes and no.

Our Purim gift baskets (shalach manot) will include some new and exciting confections and edibles – check out our website now for current offerings and in the coming weeks to see our new products. We are also working hard to bring you new and exciting reasons to celebrate – kosher breakfast baskets, healthy care packages, and new holiday goods. But one thing we are very excited about is new ethnic-centric baskets. We are pursuing kosher goods to offer you Indian, Italian, and Mediterranean gift baskets (to name but a few). Other items were harder to come by – not a lot of rabbis working in Japan & China, so not a lot of kosher Asian food products to choose from! But we’re working on it, so keep checking back!

Some of my new favorite finds? Creamy salmon pate from the Pacific Northwest, scrumptious stuffed grape leaves from the Mediterranean, soothing masala chai teas from northern California, succulent figs and dates from southern California, fluffy pancake mixes and right-from-the-tree maple syrup from New England, and delectable scones from the Midwest USA. My mouth is watering just thinking about all of the wonderful things we are currently sourcing for you!

Stick around! It pays to be a member of the Challah Connection family, where you’ll always eat well and send the best of the best – because we won’t settle for anything less!

Beginning today, January 20, we will be donating 10% of sales to the American Red Cross to support the people of Haiti who are suffering after last weeks earthquake.

We hope you will support our efforts to send as much aid as possible. Shop NOW at Challah Connection and we will send 10% of your purchase to American Red Cross.

We encourage you to think creatively about gift giving. Is there someone you have been thinking of gifting but haven’t had a chance? Please consider to whom you can send a
kosher gift basket, shiva gift, kosher bakery gift, Jewish book or CD, Judaica, Gluten-free gift basket, Jewish Baby Gift, Kosher College Care Package, Jewish Birthday gift and more.

Shop NOW at Challah Connection.

We appreciate your support at this crucial time. Please tell your friends!

Jane Moritz, Challah Connection Owner

Yesterday’s Dining section of the New York Times featured a story called “For Some, ‘Kosher’ Equals Pure.” I was certainly intrigued with this since as the owner of a kosher gift company, this is my domain–it almost felt like the story had been written with me in mind!

The first interesting aspect of the story was the dominant picture of 2 Muslim women shopping at Pomegranate, the fabulous kosher market in Brooklyn (I use the store as my own kosher food show). This was thrilling to me since we also have been embracing the Muslim market. Why not? Kosher and halal are not far apart.

The gist of the story is that since the 1990s when the Oreo became kosher and Con Agra bought Hebrew National hot dogs, the kosher food market has been increasing exponentially. According to the article, 40% of food sold in grocery stores has a kosher imprint. Further, in this $17 billion market, only 15% of buyers are buying for religious reasons. So, who is buying all of this kosher food? Everyone–Jews and non Jews. They aren’t just buying kosher chicken, they are buying all sorts of foods and beverages. And why are they buying kosher? Quality.

We have definitely seen this in action here at Challah Connection and Kosher Gift Box: about 50% of our sales are from non-Jewish people. While many of our non-Jewish customers are buying for their Jewish friends and colleagues, many of them love our “Jewish” food and like that it’s kosher. I have heard from our customers what the Times stated: many feel that kosher is of a higher quality.

Personally, I am not alway so sure about this, particularly regarding pareve (non dairy) items. I understand the need that some have for pareve, but you can’t convince me that the hydrogenated oil or soy bean oil that is used instead of butter can be good for you. I’m with Julia Child: butter is better.

Just today, I received an email from a happy customer who said “I’m not Jewish but I LOVE all this food and traditions!!! I’m trying to learn about other traditional foods and you guys do a great job with the recipes and all.”

If she’s happy, I’m happy.

My son Harry is a high school senior and is applying to college. He specifically wants to go to art school. Unlike the rest of the family, he is an incredible artist. All but one of the schools he’s applying to require a portfolio of artwork. This one, Parsons School of Design in NY requires what they call, “The Parsons Challenge”. Basically, this exercise asks the applicant to observe some everyday aspect of their lives that has been overlooked and then to interpret it both visually and in written statements.

Well, it turns out that Harry is doing something that has to do with me, Challah Connection and baking—I guess. He hasn’t told me exactly what aspect of “me” he is focusing on but needless to say, I’m flattered that he feels I’m something of value that’s been unduly overlooked.

For the Challenge, he needs to take pictures of me baking challah. This past Saturday, was finally the day. However, instead of challah he approved a cinnamon bread recipe that we all really love and is much quicker then challah as it doesn’t require a sponge (45 minutes) or 2 risings and then a third after the braiding. It was a beautiful day and I wanted to go for a long walk in the frigid, but sunny weather. Being stuck in the kitchen all day hadn’t been my plan.

Well, I got the bread started and then my 2 others were beckoning me to make them French toast. It was a perfect moment to teach them how and to give them my favorite French toast recipe (key ingredients: challah, egg, milk, cinnamon, vanilla. Key cooking features: soak the challah REALLY well and saute in combination of butter and canola oil). They did a great job. Sam is now ready to go back to school and cook challah French toast for all of his housemates.

Then, the best laid plans: I took on 2 other cooking projects since I had the ingredients and wanted to use them before they went bad. Roasted root vegetables (just cut them up, place on cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, kosher salt & pepper. Roast till done.) and cabbage and noodles (in Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking) were next on my list. This was a great day of cooking, teaching my boys and a great walk with Sophie, the dog.

What wasn’t planned to be a cooking day turned out to be a great one!

Hanukkah ended last Saturday, December 19th, and what a Hanukkah it was! For those of my friends who celebrated Hanukkah, I hope you enjoy the respite between the Eight Nights and New Year’s Eve. For those of my friends who celebrate Christmas, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! For my friends who celebrate both holidays, which we have fondly dubbed “Chrismukkah,” do check out our Traditions in a Box that honor interfaith families. We even have Red and White Cookie Tin

It seemed that this holiday shopping season started earlier than the year before, and only picked up steam as we got closer to Hanukkah. And once we were into the actual holiday…forget about it! The phone was ringing off the hook! I was glad to see that Challah Connection was up to the challenge of providing terrific gifts to our legions of fans. I’d sooner go out of business than ship a package that I myself wouldn’t be thrilled to receive, and I’m proud to say that despite the excitement of high demand we never sacrificed on the best ingredients.

I was struck by the incredible fact that, despite our country’s recession, people still enjoy observing traditions. Maybe these are what helps us through the hard times. Whether it is a funny T-shirt or a gourmet, deluxe-sized gift basket, our customers came out in full force to bestow tokens of love and good wishes on friends and family. (Thanks to the many of you who emailed–we’ll include these in a future posting.)

As wonderful as Hanukkah was for me personally, celebrations can’t go on forever. It’s now time to clean the wax off our menorahs (anyone have any good tips? please send them in) wrap up the dreidels, and polish off the remaining gelt. Time to enjoy the people we love.

Best,

Jane

This post comes courtesy of Sherry, our Customer Service Director, who was so moved by her mother’s generosity that she decided to contribute a post about it:

Chanukah is my mother’s thing. Okay, maybe not Chanukah, per se, but shopping. She starts her Chanukah shopping the day after Christmas, when things go on sale, and then she squirrels them away in a closet until the following winter. After all, she loves shopping so much (and only sale shopping), she makes it a point to buy 8 Chanukah presents for each of us – my dad, my brother, his wife, his daughter, my husband, each of my daughters, and me. That makes 64 presents in all. While we try to convince her that her largess is unnecessary, my dad says to leave her alone – she’s happy, she’s leaving him alone, and it doesn’t matter what we say – she’s going to do it anyway.

While my mother loves to shop, she is also extremely thoughtful and kind. About six years ago, she had a brilliant idea. One of the presents she gives my girls each year is a poem she wrote called “Tzedakah” (Hebrew for “charity”). The poem reads:

“You have so many things, my dear
While others live in want and fear
So here’s a gift to give away
To brighten someone else’s day.

Please go out and choose a toy
For some poor little girl or boy.
Your loving heart will show you care
When your good fortune you can share.”

Along with the poem, she gives each girl $15 in cash with which to shop for charitable gifts. Since my older daughter Halley was a little girl, we would take her and her $15 to Toys ‘R Us. She would carefully walk through the aisles, searching for the perfect gifts. Halley made a point of looking for things that were on sale so she could buy more than one item. She would also look for things for both boys and girls, and across age ranges. If she found she had change after paying, she would go back into the aisles and buy one more Matchbox car, or whatever she could, so as not to “cheat” the recipient children. Very unlike her little sister Abigail, who always found one item that she thought was really cool and dropped her $15 on that. Over the years, we have begun matching the amount the kids get from Grandma & Grandpa, and now they even take money out of their piggy banks so they have more to spend.

This year, with the economy as challenging as it is, we thought we should spend our Tzedakah money on food for the local food pantry. Abigail, now eight, said, “After all, Mom, food is a necessity. Toys are not.” And while Halley agrees, she still thinks it is very important to bring smiles to children’s faces. So I think this year we will be doing some of each – food to nourish the body, and toys to nourish the joyous souls of children.

One of my favorite tenets of Judaism is the concept of Tikkun Olam, or “Repairing the World.” This concept states that it is the responsibility of every Jew to help make the world a better place. While I’m not sure my mother ever considered her Tzedakah gift an act of Tikkun Olam, I certainly do. My girls, through the generosity of their grandparents and themselves, are making the world a better place – one child, one gift, and one Chanukah at a time. And nothing makes me prouder.

In that spirit, I wish you a Chanukah that will not only bring you all the goodness you deserve but will also restore some goodness to the world. Best, Sherry

NPR reported that holiday traffic deaths are down from last year. Yes, that’s good news. But any sentence with holiday and death together gives me the heebie-jeebies. You see, I am the parent of a college-aged kid. And every parent of a college-aged kid has what I call the “nervous wreck” days.

The nervous wreck day is when you are going about your business–doing down dogs in yoga, getting to the office, checking your email, etc.–but all the while you have one, all-consuming thought. That bedeviling, anxiety-provoking thought:

“____(fill in the blank with your child’s name) is _____(driving home, flying home, taking the bus/train home) today, just in time for ____(Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas). I hope (he, she) will have a safe trip!

You get used to your child being hundreds or thousands of miles away, going to college, and you try not to think too hard about how you spent some of your college days (me: sound asleep and drooling on my Biology textbook during a 7:30 a.m. lecture).

What I think you don’t get used to are the travel days.

Take my son, Sam, for example. Sometimes he flies. That’s okay, although I breathe a sigh of relief when I know he’s on the ground again. Sometimes he drives with a friend. It’s an eight hour drive from his liberal arts college in western Pennsylvania. During that entire 8 hour journey, I’m not exactly throwing up with anxiety, but I’m not relaxed.

What I’m warming up to saying is this: Sam came home last night for the fifth night of Hanukkah. Every hour leading up to his bursting through the door, dragging a duffel bag full of dirty laundry, I thought of him and sent out a Mom’s heartfelt wish for his safe return.

Enough oil to light a lamp for eight days–it’s a wonderful miracle.

But I’ll take the ordinary miracles, too. Sam’s grinning face as I sling him a blue and white cookie, as he peels back the gold foil on the gelt, and, alas, as the doorbell rings–it’s his high school friends come a calling. There they go, driving off into the night.

Soon after that, my son Harry is standing before me, jingling the car keys.  He has just gotten his night-driving permit.  Great.  ”You’ll be home by eleven, right?  You’ll drive carefully, right?”

Harry smiles; he nods.  Then he, too, is gone.

On this sixth night of Hanukkah, I wish you all ordinary and extraordinary miracles and many happy homecomings.

Best,

Jane

Jewish Christmas Treats.  Yes, you heard right.   You purists out there…allow me to explain.

My friend Grace grew up in Idaho* and returns home there most Christmases.  In tow are her Jewish husband and children.  This family travels to the mill town of Lewiston with a menorah, dreidel, and other holiday items when Chanukah and Christmas overlap.

Grace’s family–dyed-in-the-wool Lutherans who live on the banks of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers–look forward each year to Grace’s homecoming not only because they miss her, but also because she brings loads of Challah Connection Jewish treats with her…the kind of treats, like babkas, rugelach, black and white cookies, savory treats, chocolates, and other fun goodies–that they were first introduced to when my friend married her husband.  The older relatives love to eat cinnamon babka warmed (and with margarine, my friend tells me!) while the young kids love gelt.   No offense to the good people who run commerce in Lewiston, Idaho, but it’s just not the kind of thing my friend’s relatives are likely to find in the local stores.

It turns out that Jews are not the only ones who welcome and enjoy “Jewish” baked goods at this time of year.  With small towns becoming increasingly international, it’s a welcome change of pace for noshers to receive something tasty, outside their usual comfort zone

I find it thrilling…another example of a world where we are allowed exquisite freedom to share in each other’s rituals, each other’s customs, each other’s foods, each other’s sweet holiday delights.  It makes for a far more delicious world! 

Happy noshing, Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!

Jane

*fun fact: Idaho’s Moses Alexander was the first Jewish governor in the United States