Last Thursday night I settled into my favorite position on the couch for my pre-Shabbat catch-up phone call with my daughter-in-law: feet up and two throw cushions tucked under my head. Two of her boys, my grandsons Aaron and Shimon, aged eleven and nine respectively, often contribute a special dish to the Shabbat meals. They bring the same steady, methodical application to their cooking and baking as they do to…
I gazed in wonder around the crowded auditorium at the Leah Posluns Theatre. A sell-out crowd had gathered to hear Adeena Sussman, noted recipe developer and cookbook author, speak about her newest cookbook, Shabbat. But it was an evening about so much more than food. Every single person in the room was carrying a very heavy load. Our grief over the 1,400 hundred Israelis murdered by Hamas and the unknown…
On a tour of the vegetable garden in the backyard, my grandchildren peered in wonder through the thick canopy of leaves that camouflaged sunny, yellow, summer squash. Eyes rounded, they turned to me and asked if I was growing bananas. Their confusion was understandable. The ripening, golden, summer squash looked remarkably like their favorite tropical fruit. This year we have been blessed with a steady supply of homegrown squash, jewel-toned…
Traditionally, after the Passover dishes are packed away and the countertop covers scoured and stored for the next year, I happily relinquish my apron and my son cooks up a large pot of creamy, cheesy macaroni that family members eagerly anticipate. This year, wiser counsel prevailed and the over-forty crowd contentedly spooned up heaping bowls of crunchy Raisin Bran, while my teenage grandsons inhaled a large pizza. The times they…
I scanned the kosher Chinese food menu that appeared in my inbox. Sweet and sour flavor combinations with just-cooked stir fried vegetables added to the mix were all very tempting but when I saw the listed price for Asian fried rice, I pressed delete. Chinese fried rice is the ultimate comfort food. A bowl of steaming white rice cooked to just the right consistency, filled with bits of meat and…
I’m not a coconut enthusiast and give most recipes that include coconut a quick pass. So how did I wind up with 4 cans of coconut milk in my pantry? I’m not really sure. However this recipe for coconut rice published by Tejal Rao in the New York Times makes milky, white, fluffy rice with just a hint of sweetness and no discernible coconut flavor. It’s as easy to make…
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…
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…
Dining out in one of the late, lamented kosher Chinese food establishments in Toronto was a treat that my husband Stephen and I enjoyed with family and friends over the years. We craved the combination of sweet, salty and spicy flavors that characterize Oriental cuisine. The two of us always gravitated to the “all-you-can eat” buffet table, no matter that we usually couldn’t eat more than a single, small, helping…
“Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat”! Remember that popular advertising jingle, or am I dating myself? In spite of my stomping around the house and singing at the top of my lungs, my mother refused to take the bait and stuck to her tried-and- true side dishes such as paprikás krumpli (a.k.a red potatoes) and mashed potatoes with fried onions. Did I lose you yet? Rice-A-Roni owes its existence to a…