Have you ever taken a big bite out of a hamantasch, the traditional three-cornered pastry eaten at Purim time, thinking that it was prune-filled only to realize that it was actually mohn or poppy seed. Although poppy seed continues to be the most popular filling for hamantaschen, my personal preference is for anything but mohn. But these muffins are the exception to that rule. Lemon poppy seed muffins are an…
Lunch dates with my friend Shoshana at our favorite café is one of the many things that I miss these days. At the appointed time, we would meet, hugging one another like long lost relatives, no matter that we already spoke on the phone twice that morning and saw each other three days ago. After having resolved the crucially important issue of where we should sit, we would study the…
Rice pudding, rice and sweetened milk cooked until soft and thick, was a staple in my childhood home. Nestled in its designated white enamel pot with the red rim, cooling on the counter or sitting on the top shelf of the fridge, rice pudding was always a readily available snack. Spooned up late at night, while I talked and my father listened, or eaten in companionable silence, it provided comfort…
For the last few years I have been sending out breakfast-in-a-bag on Purim morning as mishloach manot, the food gift that we send to one another in honor of the holiday. Consisting of a freshly baked muffin or two, yogurt, orange juice and a bag of homemade granola, it can be easily assembled with a minimal amount of advance preparation and lets family and friends know that I’m thinking of…
In this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Beshalach, Pharaoh has second thoughts about the Jewish people leaving Egypt and accompanied by an elite army, he chases them into the Red Sea. As the Jews cross the Sea on dry land, the pursuing Egyptians become mired in mud and drown in the returning waves. To commemorate this miracle, we are making Pharaoh farro with mushrooms, a rich and earthy, savory dish made…
I don’t believe that the term ichthyophobia, or fear of fish accurately describes my husband Stephen’s reluctance to eat fish. He will consume fish as long as it tastes like something that bears no resemblance to the species, such as fish burgers with extra ketchup, pickles and spicy mayo please, tuna fish sandwiches heaped with lettuce and tomatoes, and gefilte fish slathered with a thick layer of chrein, the magenta-colored…
As I read the headline, “French fry fire leaves up to 50 people homeless”, I shuddered. Having witnessed one or two French fry fires growing up, (no Mom, I have no idea why there is soot covering the front of the kitchen cabinets over the stove), I swore off making deep-fried potatoes long ago. Oven fries were a completely different matter. But finding a recipe that produced crisp potatoes with…
Richman’s bakery, located on Bathurst Street in Toronto, was an iconic Jewish bakery known for their delicious cheese buns, rugelach and Boston cream pie. However, it was their incomparable cinnamon buns that drew my car into their parking lot, as if pulled by a giant magnet, whenever I drove past the store. Pillowy soft sweet yeast dough layered with a generous amount of sugar and cinnamon and topped with a…
My Mom made the best tuna sandwiches. What was her secret? It wasn’t the perfectly fresh slices of crusty rye bread, no caraway seeds please, pulled from the middle of the loaf. It wasn’t even the carefully diced little cubes of celery that speckled the tuna salad. It was the mayonnaise. Mom used only full-fat Hellman’s mayonnaise, and a very generous amount of it, (if we’re going to be completely…
Visits to one of my childhood friends always concluded with a snack chosen carefully from the white bakery box tied up with string, sitting temptingly on the kitchen counter. My hand hovered over the selection of fruit tartlets on offer, switching back and forth undecidedly between the mini pastries filled with tangy lemon curd, mounds of glossy, deep purple blueberries or lustrous ruby-red cherries. Inevitably I always picked the cherry…