Tu Bishvat which is on Shabbat is the time to pray for a good etrog. An etrog, the citron, the Biblical “fruit of the goodly tree” is one of the four species used during the holiday of Succoth and finding a good one is no simple matter. As there are an almost infinite variety … Continue reading
For years, even decades, I avoided baking bread. Bread baking? Me? Bread has strange ingredients like yeast-now what does one do with that? And even stranger instructions. Proof the yeast. What kind of proof? Is this something legal? Punch down the dough Why? What did the dough do to deserve such violence? Meanwhile, my friends had … Continue reading
As a kid growing up in New York, I admired magazine photographs of Ranch dressing. Maybe it was the color contrast, creamy white over dark green but those pictures always made me salivate. Sadly, I never tasted Ranch dressing because in those days it never seemed to be kosher. Then I moved to Israel where I lived in … Continue reading
Yes, I was a bit confused to learn that there is a recipe called Amalek Kugel. Amalek? Isn’t his evil tribe our greatest historical enemy? Wasn’t the wicked Haman his grandson? Aren’t Hitler, the Hamas terrorists, the Hizbollah, Ahamdinjead said to be his descendents? Naming a kugel after him sounded about as strange as naming … Continue reading
