The Real Treasure of the Caribbean: Haiti, Part 2. Fried Accra.

Slavery started in Haiti with the arrival of Columbus. Met with friendliness, welcoming gifts, and delicious local fritters called Accra or Akra, he described the native Arawak Taino people as “tractable, and easily led; they could be made to grow crops and build cities” (Mellzer, Slavery: A World History, 1971). And the gentle, helpful natives…

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The Real Treasure of the Caribbean: Haiti, Part 1. Baked Fish.

I love my Haitian students. Make no mistake – I love all my students, and I reveal in having “the United Nations” environment in my classroom. However, students who come from this tiny, much-suffered, but proud little country have a special place in my heart. No matter the topic of conversation, if there is even…

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A Bunch of Awards, a Bunch of Radishes, and the Italian Flag

People collect different things. For instance, my purple friend Melinda of https://purpleslobinrecovery.wordpress.com collects good feelings – the best sort of collection imaginable! Lately, this humble blog of mine seemed to be collecting awards. This is a bunch that has accumulated in three months. I am totally overwhelmed, greatly honored, and most sincerely thankful to the following amazing…

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Dairy Free Shlishkes

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
Eureka! Following a short experimentation stage, I came up with a recipe for Dairy Free Shlishkes. A while ago, I posted a traditional Cheese Shlishkes recipe – please click here.  I received quite a few positive comments, but I couldn’t stop thinking about lots of people (like myself,for instance!) who would…

Cheese Shlishkes (Lazy Kreplach)

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
If you recognize them as cheese gnocchi, I won’t argue. But I grew up knowing them as Farmer Cheese Shilshkes in Yiddish or Galushki in Ukrainian. I also knew them as Lazy Kreplach  – lenivye vareniki (Kreplach is a Yiddish word for ravioli).  I thought it was just my grandmother’s name for…

My Shavuos Menu

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
I am now taking you on a virtual tour of my Shavuos table. As I couldn’t – for obvious reasons! – take pictures of the actual table with food on it and guests around the table, I did the next best thing, rounding up collages of all five courses. Each dish…

Dates and Nuts Desserts

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
Duality inspired by two beautiful people, or, to be more precise, two beautiful ladies who’ve never met, caused the appearance of this dessert on my Shavuos table. Dates have a dual meaning for this holiday. First of all, one of the explanations for a dairy menu on Shavuos is the verse…

Fried Flounder with New Potatoes

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
A man comes to a Rabbi for an advice. He describes the situation, then relates his wife’s opinion. Next, he reports his father-in-law’s point of view, his brother-in-law’s outlook on the issue, his mother-in-law’s judgement, his best friend’s sage estimation of the matter… “Wait, Reb Yid, – interrupts the Rabbi,- don’t…

Whole Wheat Blueberry Blintzes

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
I’ve been trying different recipes for healthier, no fat, low cholesterol, and – dare I say it? – non-dairy blintzes for quite some time, but somehow it wasn’t happening. None of them had that Shavuosdike tam – the taste of holiday.   Until suddenly, about two weeks before Yom Tov, my…

Traditional Cheese Blintzes

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
Where did blintzes come from and what made them into a Shavuos tradition? The first and obvious idea that comes to one’s mind is Russian blini, thin pancakes essential to Maslenitza, the Butter-Week, an ancient pagan worship retained and transformed with the conversion of Kievan Rus to Christianity in 10th century…