I sat at the kitchen table and watched as my mother carefully cored a cabbage and dropped the pale green leaves, one at a time, into a pot of bubbling water. Cabbage rolls were one of my mother’s signature yom tov dishes. Stuffed cabbage is the ultimate slow-cooked comfort food, in which cabbage leaves are filled with a savory ground meat mixture and simmered in a sweet and sour tomato…
Returning from a beautiful day beside the lake, I glimpsed a sight that made me catch my breath with trepidation… and no, it was not the price of the farmstand corn (a dollar a cob!). I spied maple trees that had started to display their autumn colors. As summer turns into fall it’s time to enjoy the last of the locally available stone fruits, including nectarines.…
In July, farmer’s markets and supermarkets abound with locally grown dusky, sweet-tart blueberries, offered at hard to beat prices. When excitement overcomes my good judgement and I find myself staring down six containers of blueberries in my fridge, I know that it’s time to make blueberry muffins. My ideal muffin is domed, delicately crisp on top with a crust of crunchy sugar, and filled with lots of fruit. Unfortunately, the…
Travel can broaden your culinary horizons allowing you to taste flavors and combinations of food that you never would have tried at home. That includes enjoying Shabbat with your children in an exotic locale such as Jackson, New Jersey. On a recent visit, my daughter-in-law served sushi salad at one of the family meals. I watched as my grandchildren dug in, scooping up generous portions of grilled salmon, sliced Persian…
Fried chicken holds a special place in my heart. Growing up, it was the meal that I chose to celebrate my birthday and my first Shabbat dinner after returning from sleep-away camp. It was also the pièce de résistance served at my engagement party. Yup, my mother fried chicken for one hundred guests to bring joy to the heart of this once blushing bride. So, when I sampled the chicken…
“We aim to please” is the motto in my kitchen. When entertaining, I try to remember the tried-and-true favorites that family and friends enjoy, but at the same time, I like to nudge the dial a little bit and create new special memories. When my friend Menucha mentioned that she went the extra mile and drove to a bakery that wasn’t local, but baked the most scrumptious pretzel challah, the…
My father was a master gardener, growing juicy red tomatoes, crisp, green cucumbers, and super-sized zucchini, in abundance. The summer that I turned twelve years old, my father offered me a small patch in his garden to grow a crop of my own choosing. When I announced that I was going to cultivate strawberries, my father was all on board. I watered and weeded my plants faithfully, but nary a…
Carrots, arise and protest (why not, everybody else is doing it!). Saddled unfairly with a reputation for being bland and boring, this Moroccan carrot salad will make you think of that unjustly maligned root vegetable in an entirely new way. In this preparation, carrots that are just on the firm side of tender, are dressed in lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and date honey, enlivened with the warmth of…
Once upon a time, strawberries, like pussy willows and daffodils, were a sure sign of spring. Now that they are in the market year-round, they are no longer the harbingers of warmer, brighter weather. But put some rhubarb alongside the strawberries, and you know it is not too soon to think about buds on trees and Passover.…
This week we celebrated Rosh Chodesh Adar Bet, and that means only one thing: Purim is fast approaching and Passover is not far behind. But there is no reason to panic. This easy broccoli slaw will guarantee you a seat of honor at whatever Purim seudah you are invited to, provided that you bring along enough salad for everyone to have at least two helpings. And the good news is…