My Grandmother’s Recipes: Part 8, Quinoa Pomegranate Salad.

This post takes us to the last two of the four holidays: Sukkot (Sukkos) and Simchat Torah (Simhas Torah). It also concludes my story with the celebration of Simhas Torah in Moscow Synagogue. *20. Leader of All Peoples – one of the multitude of epithets Stalin constructed to refer to himself. *21. The Big Brother of All Workers – see *20. *22. Expert of All…

Going Nuts Over Coffee Chocolate Cake and a Nomination

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
The Book of Prophet Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) mentions a Babylonian chief officer, one Nebo-Sarsekim who served as king Nebuchadnezzar’s right hand during the siege of Jerusalem (Ch.39).  In 2007,  historian M. Jursa found proof of this, including the officer’s name, on a small clay tablet, while working at the British Museum (http://www.britishmuseum.org). …

My Grandmother’s Recipes: Part 7, Strudel.

Last Sunday we have started celebrating a series of holidays commonly called The High Holidays. In Yiddish, we simply say Yontoivim – The Holidays,  and everybody understands which holidays are meant. That’s because there are four holidays that follow each other not only on the calendar, but also in meaning and significance. In this chapter, you will see…

My Grandmother’s Recipes: Part 6, Main Course.

The story of Odessa synagogue and the unsavory characters who ran it continues in this chapter (click for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 7). *Top of this page was included in Part 5 * 16. Alexander Matrosov – a World War II military hero who sacrificed his life by putting his body in front of the embrasure…

My Grandmother’s Recipes: Part 5, Soup

My grandparents’ teenage romance continues in this chapter (click for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 6, Part 7). *This is not an error; I included the top of the next page in order to finish a paragraph and to leave you, Beautiful People, in suspense.  The synagogue story will continue next week. 11.  Mazel Tov – Congratulations (lit. Good Luck)…

My Grandmother’s Recipes: Part 4, Gefilte Fish.

Which teenage love story has become proverbial, portrayed on stage and on the movie screen, rendered into an opera and a ballet? Romeo and Juliet, you say? You’ve seen too much of Leonardo di Caprio, Beautiful People! Those kids have got nothing on my grandparents,  whose love story that lasted for 60 years starts in…

My Grandmother’s Recipes: Part 3, Appetizers.

We are up to holiday appetizers and Part 3 of my story, Beautiful People (click for Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7). 3. Hassidic Jews – from Hassidism, a religious movement originated in Southern Poland in 18th century 4. Reds – supporters of the Red (Bolshevik, later Communist) Army 5. Whites – supporters of the…

My Grandmother’s Recipes: Part 2, Leikach.

We continue to delve into my grandmother’s holiday menu, as well as my story, with Part 2. If you missed Part 1, please go here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here. Part 5 is here. Part 6 is here. Part 7 is here. 2. Tzaddik – a righteous person, outstanding for his faith and piety. This part comes with…

My Grandmother’s Recipes: Part 1, Round Challah.

Years ago, when my grandmother was still around, it has occurred to me that only my mother and I knew her recipes, and we knew them by heart; they were not written anywhere. I decided to write them down, organizing them by Jewish holidays. Then my memories took over, plunging me into family stories, and…

Elephants in War, Opera, and Instant Pot

Don’t worry, Beautiful People, I am not cooking elephants! Ancient Greece is famous for great art, great culture, great poets and philosophers, and last but definitely not least, Alexander the Great. There are many sculptural portraits of Alexander III of Macedonia, some of them idealized as was the prevalent style in the Golden Age of…

The Scone of Stone

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
The Scone of Stone was stolen! It was stolen from the most unexpected and the best guarded place, The Dwarf Bread Museum. Of course, dwarf breads were substantially different from our breads; that is, different in substance. In fact, they included gravel as one of the main ingredients. According to the…

Pyshka – Sweet Roll and a Baby Kitten

Calling all cats and their humans: HAPPY INTERNATIONAL CAT DAY! To celebrate, I am repeating a post I wrote four years ago, when little Pyshka was about four weeks old. Now she is a big and beautiful four-year old kitty girl, heavier than Auntie Beba, who is 12, but still playful and mischievous like a…