Kids don’t think their parents need comfort or comfort foods. Kids, especially really teeny ones don’t think their parents need anything at all–not food or sleep or privacy. But they do. As a battle scarred veteran with 23 years on the front lines of motherhood, I know that Moms sometimes need to scarf down a meal returns … Continue reading
On the fifth day of Sivan there was a great commotion in the Heavens. Hashem was preparing to give the Torah to the Jews but the angels were unhappy. ‘We don’t want You to give the Torah to the Jewish people, ” the angels said. “We want to keep the Torah here in heaven for … Continue reading
I suspect that the custom of eating turkey on Purim to commemorate King Ahashverosh’s reign (Mi Hodu Ve’ad Kush) as well as his limited intelligence (a turkey brain) is based on a mistaken word play. In modern Hebrew the bird is called a Tarnegol Hodu, literally an Indian chicken referring to the now outmoded name for the … Continue reading
One of the nice things about doing this blog is that I get to learn so many new and wonderful things. Take this week, Shabbat Shira. I’m a day school grad–12 years, plus sem courses , plus hours and hours of listening to Torah lectures on CD and MP3. Never until this week did I … Continue reading
It is mind-blowing to consider the ways that Torah teachings show up in Jewish cooking.This week is Shabbat Shira, when we read the Song of the Sea, Moses’s poetic prayer uttered after the sea split. This is one of the peak moments in Jewish history when, our people achieved a perfect faith and the simplest maid servant … Continue reading
Look at all those great greens! I don’t know which green eggs it was that Dr. Suess’s notoriously finicky Sam didn’t like, but I bet it wasn’t Kookoo Sabzi. Kookoo Sabzi is a very yummy and very healthy Iranian frittata like dish which happens to be green . If the name Kookoo Sabzi will inspire … Continue reading
When I sat down to write about stuffed cabbage I imagined the paean I’d compose to this East European Jewish classic. First I would explain the deep mystical meaning behind this delicacy alternatively known as holopches, galupches, tutued kaposta or kruv memuleh depending on where in the Ashkenazi Jewish world one traces one’s roots. After … Continue reading
