Inspired by a Blogger Appetizer

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
New dishes make their way to my Shavuos table all the time, as long as they fit the criteria: dairy or pareve, the right colors (if it’s not the white and green combination, it should at least have some white or some green in it), and, of course, the taste. A…

Daikon Salad

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
I am on a deadline here: Shabbos starts in less than an hour, immediately followed by Shavuos. Since my whole motivation for starting this blog was to document and share my Shavuos recipes (please see my post Hello, Beautiful People!), I’ve been cooking up a storm all week. I also took…

Pickled Grape Tomatoes

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
It’s twelve days till Shavuos, and counting. Actually, eleven, because Yom Tov starts Motzei Shabbos, so everything has to be ready Erev Shabbos for a three day Yom Tov. Oy! We’ll eat some of the meals in shul, most probably, but the dairy lunch I am doing at home. As I…

Original Appetizer

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
I have to tell you that I did not invent this name for it! Had I done that, I would’ve come up with something a bit more – ummm… – original.  But this is the name you find in the menus of all Russian restaurants (Original’naya Zakuska), and the reasons it…

Cheese and Raisins Pie

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
I am sure this was more of an afterthought. It was like, hey, we are already making traditional green spicy pies, why not bake something sweet for kids to enjoy! I remember my father, the quintessential kid,  sneaking into my grandmother’s kitchen to snack on the sweet filling while the dough…

Cheese and Scallions Pie

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
Salads are just salads, no matter how unusual and how creative they are. But here we get into the meat of our family tradition for Shavuos, if you can say that about a dairy pie. I don’t even know whether it is correct to translate it as a pie, but you…

Gefilte Fish Heads the Year

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
How do you recognize a Jewish fish? It swims with a carrot in its mouth. I think this joke is older than the gefilte fish itself.  In truth, even though eating fish on Erev Shabbos  (Friday night) and holidays is an ancient custom that had been developed for several reasons, the…

Sweet and Healthy Pull-apart Challah

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
I don’t know why we have pull-apart challahs on Shavuos. There are tons of different recipes, but no explanation. There are also different creative shapes, such as ladder shape challah, Torah study challah, Mount Sinai challah, but the prevalent tradition is still a pull-apart. I can understand two oblong challahs, to…

Purple Cake for a Purple Friend

Although Roman Emperor Aurelian was a great military commander and “Restorer of the World” (Restitutor Orbis), he was far from generous with his wife. Having “restored” the world by conquering vast territories and defeating armies of those who foolishly refused to be conquered,  he still begrudged Lady Ulpia a trifle – Tyrian purple silk shawl….

Meatless Surprise Wrapped in Mystery

Churchill described Russia’s actions as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” Almost fifty years before the brilliant British statesman issued his famous phrase, a Russian artist Sergei Malyutin had a similar idea. Tzar Nicholas II, who ascended the Russian throne in 1894, promoted Russian culture, arts, and crafts. Granted, in a way…

The Train Is Dead – Have a Cookie!

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
The train is dead, the train is dead! Ding Dong! The wicked train is dead! A few months ago I posted an urgent desperate plea to all of you, Beautiful People, to help us save our little island from a wicked corporation and corrupt politicians who had been threatening to destroy…

Light the Bonfire of Love with Chocolate Logs!

Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Lag b’Omer, Beautiful People! Our sages said, “Who is wise? One who learns from every person” (Ethics of Our Fathers, 4:1). The first person in our lives we have a chance to learn from is MOTHER. From her we learn kindness, caring, and most importantly, unconditional love. Sometimes, it’s not…