I’m thinking of starting a support group for shoppers who buy too much produce. When my husband reports that we have 3 watermelons in the fridge downstairs, I tell him not to worry, I have a plan (?!). Goodbye apples. Hello, cherries, peaches, plums and blueberries. Summer’s bounty beckons enticingly to me in the supermarket. When I noticed the backlog of blueberries hiding in the fridge upstairs, I knew it…
I dipped my spoon into a bowl of creamy, smooth mushroom soup and savored the rich umami flavor as it glided over my tongue. I tore off a small piece of crunchy multigrain bread, a house specialty, and gazed around the room. It was lunchtime and the restaurant was hopping. Friends catching up with each other, businessmen meeting, mothers and daughters laughing over the latest antics of precious children (who…
Blazing hot temperatures have blanketed the Pacific Northwest caused by a heat dome that occurs only once in a thousand years. Public transit has been halted because of melting power cables and asphalt is buckling from the unprecedented extreme heat. So I’m guessing everyone feels like firing up the oven and baking a cake, correct? You’ve come to the right place. A thick slice of this moist, lemony cornmeal pound…
Tucked up safely in our warm beds, we were lulled to sleep by the nightly ululations of … coyotes. Living south of the 49th parallel, my previous encounters with wildlife included squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons and the occasional skunk, but no coyotes, unless you count Wile E. Coyote. Nourished by a steady diet of delectable leftovers from neighborhood organic bins, rodents and an occasional puppy, the coyotes took ownership of the…
With a shiny dime clutched in my hand, I carefully studied the snack bar offerings. As children, we regularly accompanied my father to the curling rink on Sunday afternoons. Dad, probably the only Holocaust survivor who mastered the sport of curling, bribed us with a treat to sit patiently and stay out of trouble while he slid back and forth on the ice rink with his coworkers, sweeping, gliding and…
Last Friday morning I pulled open the freezer door to choose a dessert for Shabbat and stared at the empty shelves in dismay. My inventory of baked goods was very low… in fact non-existent, unless you count half of a donut cake left over from Chanukah. Treasured visits from family members and cookie care packages to loved ones had cleaned out my pastry stash. Making a quick dessert moved to…
Catching up with my sister last week, she described her Sunday brunch menu in mouth-watering detail. But it was her pronouncement that the bagels were “the best that I ever made”, that really gave me pause. “You made your own bagels!”, I sputtered. Slightly warm, with a crispy golden crust and a soft, chewy interior with a schmear of cream cheese, a well-made, fresh bagel is the ultimate comfort food.…
My father was the king of barbecue in our family. Whatever the weather, you could find him contentedly tending to pieces of chicken on the grill, turning them over and moving them around until each piece was a crispy, golden brown on the outside and tender and moist on the inside. A purist, Dad eschewed any type of seasoning on the chicken and turned his nose up at barbecue sauce,…
In recent years, the pre-Shavuot lead-up in Toronto has been accompanied by a city-wide bake sale sponsored by an organization called Small Wonders, committed to helping Jewish couples struggling with infertility challenges. This event is noted for the dedication of its volunteers who assemble a delectable selection of home-baked as well as professionally baked treats and flowers, all packaged and presented in the most enticing way. But even more beautiful…