Chanukah with Lieber's
In a special collaboration, EstherO Design partnered with Lieber's to curate a delightful three-page spread that has been featured in national and local magazines in honor of Chanukah.
Our mission: to turn Chanukah into a canvas of delectable delights, making memories that linger on taste buds and in hearts long after the candles have been extinguished.
As a content creator, different jobs require different sets of skills. Creating content for a magazine grants me the freedom to explore a myriad of products, weaving them seamlessly into the fabric of conceptual visions. On the flip side, collaborating with a company introduces a different dynamic—constraints and guidelines that, paradoxically, can spark the flame of ingenuity. It's important to find creative solutions within the given parameters.
Understanding their vision and aligning creative ideas with their brand message was the key.
Recognizing the global appeal of the content and tailoring it to suit a diverse audience was important, especially when it's intended for publication in national and local magazines around the world.
Developing concepts that are not only fun but also practical and doable for a wide range of ages contributes to the success of the article.
Designing crafts that can be applied throughout the year adds a layer of sustainability and practicality to content, making it valuable beyond the specific holiday season. For example, on the S’mores Board-I love the concept of using a cookie cutter to cut a graham cookie-this can be used with any shape throughout the year, or mosaic cookies can also be made to fit any holiday or occasions.
Dreidel S’mores Board
You will need:
- Lieber’s Graham Crackers- chocolate and honey
- Liebers marshmallows- large and mini
- Liebers Gelt- parve, brown and white dairy
- Liebers Striped Cookies
- Liebers peanut butter filled pretzels
- Liebers wafer rolls
- Wooden board
- Metal dreidel cookie cutters
- Mini tabletop grill or -optional
Directions:
- Place a graham cracker in the microwave for approximately 20 seconds.
- Using your cookie cutter, cut out a dreidel from the center of the graham cracker. Repeat for as many dreidels as you want.
- Remove half of the foil wrappers from the parve(silver) and half from the brown dairy (gold) coins. Remove all the foil wrappers from the dairy white coins (green).
- Arrange all Liebers products on the board, as shown or arrange using your own creativity.
To make Dreidel S’mores:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place half of the dreidel graham crackers on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Place 1-2 chocolate coins on each graham cracker.
- Place in oven for 2-3 min till melted.
- Remove from oven and an add 1-2 marshmallows to each one.
- Turn oven up to broil, return the tray to the oven and roast for 1-2 minutes.
- Remove from oven and place graham cracker cover on top of each one .
Alternatively, you can use a mini tabletop grill. Adult supervision required.
Mosaic Dreidel Cookies
You will need:
- Liebers colored chocolate, melted
- Dreidel sugar cookies
- Icing
Directions:
- Spread melted chocolate in a thin layer on a piece of foil. Place in freezer for approximately 10 minutes. Test to see if you like the thickness of the chocolate and then repeat with each color.
- Spread a little bit of icing on each cookie. Cut “mosaic” pieces of chocolate and stick it to the icing. To make the designs, you can either break off pieces of chocolate or use a sharp knife to make straighter lines. If you are using a knife- the chocolate should be at room temperature so that it is soft and won’t crack while cutting. Tip: This is a great cookie decorating activity for all ages. As you can see, the designs can be done on a juvenile level or on a more sophisticated level.
Wafer Menorah
You will need:
- Liebers Pastry Crisps
- Liebers wafer rolls
- Liebers colored chocolate, melted
- Liebers Fruit Jewels, sour bears or fruit jellies
- Toothpicks
Directions:
- Using a sharp knife, carefully cut four wafer rolls in half.
- Dip one whole and the eight half wafer roll in a different color chocolate. (I threaded each one onto a skewer to make it easier to dip.) Allow to dry on a prepared piece of parchment paper.
- For the base, place about 1-2 Tablespoons of any color chocolate on a piece of parchment paper. Place two pastry crisps next to each other, short sides touching each other, right over the chocolate- the chocolate will connect the two in the middle to create one long base. Allow to dry.
- Drizzle colored chocolate over base. (For a neater job, take two strips of parchment paper and place them on either of the long ends of the base. Drizzle and then carefully remove the parchment paper.) Allow to dry.
- Using some more melted chocolate, glue the candles to the base.
- Using scissors, cut out a flame shape from the candies. Break toothpicks into small pieces and stick them into the candy. Stick candy into the candles.
Tip: To melt the chocolate, I used a hard plastic cup to melt each colored chocolate. The cup was a good shape for dipping the wafer rolls.
Photos by Sina Mizrahi