Whether or not you celebrate Passover or not, you should try Emily’s Honey Sweet Haroset!

There’s not many ingredients needed so you can try it at home today.

Ingredients

Finely chopped apples

Walnuts

Honey

Cinnamon

Sprinkle of salt

Touch of sweet wine (such as Manischewitz)

Directions

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spread walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven, stirring once or twice, until fragrant and golden-brown at the edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack to cool.

Finely chop the nuts and place in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and toss to coat. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving. Taste and add more honey and cinnamon, if you’d like.

Enjoy with matzo!

For the past 5 years, my family has invited our little bread bunny to Easter brunch.

Not only is the bread itself delicious and easy to make, but this recipe also gives the bunny a cute face with eyes made out of raisins and teeth made out of almonds.

Making this recipe with my family is one of the highlights of Easter. Everyone loves this little guy!

Ingredients

2 loaves (1 pound each) frozen bread dough, thawed

2 raisins

2 sliced almonds

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Dip of your choice

Directions

Cut a fourth off of one loaf of dough; shape into a pear to form head. For body, flatten remaining portion into a 7×6-in. oval; place on a greased baking sheet. Place head above body. Make narrow cuts, about 3/4 in. deep, on each side of head for whiskers.

Cut second loaf into four equal portions. For ears, shape two portions into 16-in. ropes; fold ropes in half. Arrange ears with open ends touching head. Cut a third portion of dough in half; shape each into a 3-1/2-in. oval for back paws. Cut two 1-in. slits on top edge for toes. Position on each side of body.

Divide the fourth portion of dough into three pieces. Shape two pieces into 2-1/2-in. balls for front paws; shape the remaining piece into two 1-in. balls for cheeks and one 1/2-in. ball for nose. Place paws on each side of body; cut two 1-in. slits for toes. Place cheeks and nose on face. Add raisins for eyes and almonds for teeth.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30-45 minutes. Brush dough with egg. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Place bread on a serving tray. Cut a 3-1/2-in. circle in center of body. Hollow out bread, leaving a 1/2-in. shell (discard removed bread or save for another use). Place a 1-cup shallow bowl in the hole and fill with dip

By: Allie Wilson

I joined MEANS as a volunteer in 2015, the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of college that I spent working in a supermarket deli. Frustrated by all of the good food that was being thrown away, a friend recommended I start volunteering with a new nonprofit organization he started collaborating with. Once I learned about MEANS Database and the mission of the organization, I knew I wanted to play a part in helping save food and feed more people.

MEANS Database has grown from our early days as a scrappy group of students volunteering their time to tackle food waste and food insecurity to a nonprofit organization staffed with 3 board members, 8 full time staff, 6 part time staff, as well as a handful of volunteers who dedicate their free time to recovering food. 

In the past 3 years, MEANS has gone through several transformations that have increased our impact and encouraged our team to think outside of the box. From our pivot to the Community Meal Program in 2020, to the creation of our Florida Program in 2021, we’ve seen our network grow and our capacity increase. 

Our biggest change occurred in the second half of 2022, when we were introduced to a whole new world of food recovery: large donation recovery. 

After recovering over 3 million pounds of food in 2022, we started off 2023 with the motto, “New Year, New MEANS”, dreaming of a record breaking year. 

As we amplified our impact by recovering large donations of food, it became clear that we were entering a new chapter in our organization’s history. 

We began donating truckloads of food from warehouses across the country, learning the world of transportation logistics and all of its intricacies along the way. Our fantastic Procurement Manager, William Bell, joined early last year, bringing over 20 years of experience of food recovery with large donations. 

Under his leadership, we were able to donate over 52 million pounds of food and supplies in 2023 alone. To say 2023 was a record breaking year for MEANS would be an understatement!

We decided it was time to pivot towards a fresh look that conveys exactly who we are and what we do.

This is why, in 2024, MEANS Database rebranded as FoodRecovery.org- the same great organization with a clear-cut name describing exactly what we do: Save Food. Feed People. 

We traded in our can logo that represented our original concept which focused on small food donations from restaurants, cafeterias, and events, for a new logo that highlights one of our main features – transportation of recovered food.

We are so excited to continue offering food to communities across the country under this new name and logo. Please continue supporting us as we start this new adventure!