Searching for a fresh head of cauliflower, I was disappointed at what was available in my local grocery store and had to go a little further afield. I stopped in at a small, independent fruit and vegetable store and caught my breath at the heaped pyramids of fresh, snowy white, deep amethyst purple, and cheddar orange, locally grown cauliflowers. This recipe for roasted cauliflower steaks with chickpeas, by the inspired…
Last Thursday morning we woke at 5:00 a.m. ready to head to the airport and were greeted with the disheartening news that our early flight to a family wedding had been cancelled. After missing all kinds of celebrations for the last two and a half years, I refused to accept that reversal lying down. We raced to Pearson in the predawn hours, whispering quiet prayers for success. With the assistance…
I stared at my motionless dryer in disbelief. Undoubtedly my fifteen-year-old clothes dryer had glimpsed the mountains of post-holiday used linens and towels heaped on every surface of my laundry room and decided that it was as good a time as any to bid me “sayonara”. After placing an emergency order for a new dryer, I headed to the local laundromat, lugging baskets (and baskets…) of wet laundry. In between…
You can hear it in a tent, you can hear it from a vent. You can hear it on a corner, you can hear it from a foreigner. You can hear it in an ark, you can hear it in a park. I have listened to the blasts of the shofar in almost all of these locations over the past two years. This Rosh Hashana, I was overjoyed to reunite…
The arrival of Rosh Hashana next week has caught me flat-footed. It’s been a wonderful summer. Almost unfailingly warm and sunny, it was a perfect time to visit with family and friends, smell the roses, and read my way through the stack of books beckoning from my bedside table. Regrettably (not really), none of these pursuits was conducive to filling my freezer with family holiday favorites, such as, split pea…
I was struck dumb last Thursday evening when I learned of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. And then the tears came. When my sister called and invited me to join her in singing “G’d save the Queen” one last time, I squeaked out a couple of notes and more tears followed. The Queen was a constant figure in my life from the time that I started elementary school. Our…
As we traversed the streets of the Geulah neighborhood of Jerusalem at 9:30 in the evening, the sidewalks teemed with shoppers accompanied by excited children and sleeping babies, everyone enjoying the cooler evening air. Welcome back Israel after a two-year Covid hiatus. With my cell phone clutched tightly to my ear, I listened attentively as my son gave me careful and detailed instructions directing me to his favorite bookstore in…
My ability to predict the gender of a baby is exceptional. After making a careful study of the expectant mother’s tummy and other anecdotal evidence, I make my pronouncement with great confidence and certainty. I have never guessed correctly. My consistency is unmatched. Whenever I have an inexplicable urge to cook up a big pot of arbes, the seasoned chickpea snack traditionally served at a shalom zachar, the party celebrating…
August is a dream month for anyone who enjoys freshly picked local produce. In Toronto, where winter begins early and ends late, the selection of locally grown produce is limited during the colder months. However, with the arrival of summer, open-air markets and corner supermarkets abound with produce grown by nearby farmers, including both green and yellow zucchini, juicy, ripe tomatoes and slender, purple eggplant. This recipe for a tian,…
My mother made the most plush, tender sour cream coffee cake. It was moist and buttery, with the slightest sour cream tang and decked with a generous sweet, nutty cinnamon-sugar topping. Mysteriously, my mother stopped making my favorite cake around the same time that she began to harbor secret hopes of me wearing her wedding dress to my own nuptials. You didn’t have to be Hercule Poirot to solve that…