I Give You Roti And a Big Hug

Today is the International Dentist Day.  I am sure that many of you, Beautiful People, do not count your visits to a dentist among your most pleasant memories. I, on the other hand, vividly remember lines of patients by my father’s door who had preferred to wait (and suffer!) for hours in order to be…

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…

Shlissel Challah – a Key to Wisdom

Controversy is raging around this tradition, dating back to Middle Ages. Since we have laboriously and thoroughly divested our homes of all leavened bread in order to celebrate Passover, as we are commanded, Jewish women are faced with a task of baking the first challahs of the year. So we get creative and insert a…

Eat Your Beer

Beer is liquid bread. They discovered it in Ancient Mesopotamia, when someone was grinding barley (some sources claim it was wheat), and the rain started. That “someone” ran into the house, got busy with other household chores, and forgot about the unfinished job. A few days later, she happened to walk by that place (yes,…

Feeling That Is Danced! Gabriela Galette

Tango alert! Any of you, Beautiful People, who are not inflamed by this most famous Argentinian product, passion transformed into music, feeling that is danced, might as well scroll all the way down to the recipe.  But wait! Give it a try, won’t you? “You can dance love, rage, happiness, pleasure, every mood. The tango is not…

Home Front Recipes from WWII

Originally posted on Pacific Paratrooper:
As most of you know, America experienced rationing for the first time in World War II and with the holidays looming in the wings, food seemed to be a logical subject. Some products  that were rationed during World War II were sugar, meat, coffee, typewriters, fuel oil, gasoline, rubber, and…

Say CHEESE for Shavuos!

Contrary to all other Jewish holidays, when we prepare festive meals that include both fish and meat, signifying rejoicing in His benevolence that grants us abundance, traditional Shavuos table is laden with dairy dishes, from blintzes to cheesecakes, and anything milky delicious you can think of.  One of the reasons for this unique menu is…

Kings, Coconuts, and Blueberry Muffins

I was all set to write a brand new post to celebrate a major benchmark – 2000 followers, when I found out from https://foodimentary.com that today is a National Muffin Day. I am repeating a delicious and healthy muffin recipe, and I promise, Beautiful People, to have a proper celebration tomorrow: via Unfair Trade: Muffins for…

“The Best Is Yet To Come”

While in Rome, my adorable blogofriend The Dippy-Dotty Girl has visited the Jewish Ghetto, billed as the oldest Jewish ghetto in Europe. Judging from her excellent description and gorgeous photos, the tour – and the kosher food! – was very impressive. However, I beg to disagree with the chronology of the tour books. While the…

The Scone of Stone

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 late Sir Terry Pratchett,…

Pyshka – Sweet Roll and a Baby Kitten

Pyshka is a sweet roll, baked or deep-fried, with or without filling, made with yeast or as a quick bread, i.e. yeast-less. Sort of a Russian doughnut with a Polish name (most sources derive the name from Polish pączek  – sweet roll). Another theory attributes the name to Russian pykchat’ which is archaic for deep-frying, but…

Unfair Trade: Muffins for Tobacco

Are muffins bread? Are they cakes? Are they supposed to be eaten for breakfast, lunch, snack, dessert, or all of the above? Are muffins really cupcakes without frosting? Thomas Jefferson thought so, and called muffins “a luxury to us.” Today, you can get a recipe for Monticello Muffins at http://www.monticello.org.  But those are not American…