Meyer Lansky, better known as the “Mob’s Accountant”, was a regular patron of Ratner’s, a Jewish dairy restaurant in New York City. It was there that Lansky, along with fellow mobsters Charlie “Lucky” Luciano and Bugsy Siegel, enjoyed their favorite item on the menu, cheese blintzes. Fortunately, pursuing a life of crime is not a necessary prerequisite for indulging in this ethereal comfort food. Crispy crêpes filled with just the…
I was recalled to work two weeks ago after being away because of Covid closures for just over a year. Delighted to be back at the library and using my cataloging smarts again, my new schedule did require some meal prep scheduling adjustments. When I saw this recipe for sheet pan chow mein by Hetty McKinnon, published in her latest cookbook, To Asia with Love, featured on Deb Perelman’s incomparable…
I settled in comfortably at the kitchen table with a steaming mug of coffee at my elbow for my Sunday morning catch-up call with my daughter. As we reviewed the last few days’ events, I overheard her giving some gentle direction to my granddaughter Avigail, aged nine. Avigail was baking chocolate breakfast muffins, a deep, dark, chocolate muffin studded with chocolate chips and topped with a crunchy lid of turbinado…
When my sister-in-law called me and asked if I had my mother’s recipe for Spanish rice, regrettably, I had to answer in the negative. Spanish rice holds very fond memories for our family. Consisting of long grain rice sautéed with onions, celery, and peppers and cooked with tomato sauce, this often requested side dish made regular appearances at Friday night dinners and other special occasion gatherings. I’m quite certain that…
One year during the lead-up to Passover, I came across my friend Renee carefully studying the boxes of Passover cake mixes in the grocery aisle of our local supermarket . Renee was a bit nervous. She had a new son-in-law who was joining them for the holidays for the first time. Her son-in-law followed the custom of not eating cakes baked with any matzoh products and Renee was anxious to…
My mother was way ahead of her time when it came to vegetables. Sitting on a chair in the kitchen, watching her clean and trim a head of cauliflower, I knew that if I waited patiently I would be offered a treat: a freshly sliced chunk of the core of the cauliflower, also known as the heart. Nutty and mildly sweet tasting with a satisfying crunch, the fact that it…
My mother diligently prepared hot porridge for our breakfast, day in and day out, until I was seven years old. At that point, I crossed my little arms in protest and told her that I wanted to eat cold cereal from a box just like everyone else I knew. Mom gave up the hot breakfast fight with nary a whimper. She was probably just as sick of making the cooked…
Have you noticed that the days are starting to get a little longer and the quality of light is just a little bit brighter? I’m feeling the imminent departure of winter, not that you’d know it from the temperature outside. This week I was very pleasantly surprised to find a kabocha squash, my favorite winter squash, at my local supermarket, despite the lateness of the season. I pounced on it…
Attending to the myriad of details that accompany a shalom zachar, the gathering celebrating the arrival of a Jewish baby boy on the first Friday night after his birth, is very exciting. Tables and chairs are dragged into the dining room from their hidden storage places, older siblings very generously offer to test the candy platters purchased for the event, and neighbors and friends drop by with plates of homemade…
With the clock ticking and the dinner hour approaching quickly, I pulled out a package of boneless chicken breasts to make grilled lemon chicken. Thankfully, the few simple ingredients called for were readily at hand in my pantry or refrigerator. As the grill pan heated up, I paused when I realized that the directions called for marinating the chicken for at least one hour. With apologies to Julie Albert and…