Cream cheese rugelach are my friend Mrs. S’s signature pastry. After dropping by for a visit, family and friends (and even the plumber) inevitably leave with a carefully prepared package of these flaky cream cheese treats swirled with apricot or raspberry jam, nuts, sugar and cinnamon. Mrs. S’s cardiologist beamed with delight when she presented him with a neatly wrapped box of these homemade delicacies on her last visit. After…
My husband approaches eating fish with caution, unless it’s of the gefilte variety. Recognizing its heart-healthy omega-3 properties, from time to time he makes yet another honest attempt to make our finny friends a regular part of his diet. To no avail. Inevitably, his portion of fish meets an ignominious end, drowning in a sea of ketchup or salad dressing (and sometimes both). However, with this recipe for Cajun fried…
This past Saturday, May 06, Charles, the heir to the throne for the last seven decades, was crowned king of England. King Charles is the oldest ever British monarch to be crowned. This coronation was notable because the rites and rituals mostly unchanged in a thousand years also melded with the new. During one of the most ancient and moving parts of the investiture, the King was anointed with oil…
My fridge and freezer are still neatly organized and clutter free since my pre-Passover purge and cleaning. However, the temptation to save small containers of perfectly edible odds and ends still lingers and repurposing or upcycling food really sparks joy in me. This baked rice kugel uses leftover cooked rice that was just waiting for an opportunity to shine again. Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarborough, the authors of the culinary…
On the last days of Passover we were blessed with unusually warm, bright, sunny weather. When I peered at the thermostat through the rivulets of sweat dripping into my eyes (because what sane person turns on the air conditioning in anticipation of record-breaking heat in Toronto at this time of the year?!), it was a tropical 83 F. It felt like the holiday of Shavuot had arrived six weeks early.…
My son stared at the plate of chocolate chip cookies in front of him with a suspicious gaze. After sampling a cookie, he smiled and pronounced it “scary”. These Passover chocolate chip cookies by Melissa Kaye @lilmisscakes are so authentic looking and tasting, they have almost fooled great cookie connoisseurs into believing they are the real deal i.e., my year-round recipe. Moist and chewy with a hint of vanilla, and…
You might think that the only thing that Peruvian chicken shares with the holiday of Passover is the letter “P”. Surprisingly, all the components of this vibrant and intensely flavored one-pan chicken dinner can be found with kosher for Passover supervision. When it comes to the holidays, we’re all traditionalists at heart and treasure the memories that accompany the foods we love. But a recipe for an easy sheet pan…
I am in the midst of my annual pre-Passover purge. The nether regions of my deep freezer are surrendering mysterious snowy packages and neatly labelled single serving containers of leftovers that nobody wanted to eat in the first place. After I suddenly realized that I forgot to prepare anything for supper one night, Hubby and I made short work of the neglected pan of cabbage rolls that had been languishing…
If you feel nostalgic about the days when you sent a package of wafers and an orange as mishloach manot, the gifts of food exchanged on Purim, you’re out of luck today. When I spotted a bottle of sangria, a fruity wine beverage, in the wine store, the wheels in my head started to turn and this year’s mishloach manot began to take shape. I knew that this crunchy, sweet-salty-spicy…
Twelve 9-year-old-boys let out a deafening cheer when they learned that school was cancelled for the rest of the afternoon because of the thickly falling snow that blanketed the roads and sidewalks. My husband was born in February. Growing up, his birthday was celebrated at home with a quick lunch time gathering of his classmates and friends. Party sandwiches were passed around, washed down with tall glasses of cherry Kool-Aid.…