Magic Curried Mushrooms

Why did people in Ancient Egypt call mushrooms “the plant of immortality”? Did they truly believe that eating mushrooms would make them immune to human frailties, deceases, and ultimately, departing this world? Not really. They never had a chance to see for themselves because the pharaohs loved mushrooms so much that they declared it royal…

Fruit Rainbow: Light, Love, Laugh

A beautiful shimmering symbol of peace, both a natural phenomenon and a Divine promise to protect and preserve the world, the rainbow is a living statement, a map, if you will, of what really transpires in our lives.  A rainbow is formed when pure white light refracts into seven shades. Red is nearest the original…

Ponce de Leon, Diamond Lil, and the Secret of Eternal Youth

There is a quaint little town on the East Coast of Florida called St Augustine. It is considered the oldest continuous European settlement in the continental United States. But that’s not what makes it famous. Tourists flock to St Augustine because they are dying to stay young forever. According to the official Fountain of Youth…

The Clever Suitor and the Dietetic Hamentaschen

You have already met the famous prankster and jester Hershele of Ostropol in some of my previous posts (https://koolkosherkitchen.wordpress.com/2016/09/28/yukh-a-one-eyed-soup, https://koolkosherkitchen.wordpress.com/2016/12/20/summer-latkes-in-december). He is not a fictional character; he actually existed and served as a Shamesh (synagogue attendant) for one of my illustrious ancestors, Rabbi Boruch of Medzhibozh who lived in the second half of 18th –…

Happy New Year to the Trees with More Pickled Veggies!

This is a re-post, Beautiful People. Tomorrow is Tu b’Shvat, the New Year of the Trees in the Hebrew Calendar, and I thought this post was worth repeating. We are celebrating yet another New Year – the New Year of the Trees. In the old times, in ancient Israel, this day, 15th of the month…

Fast Fish Almondine

This is a fast dish, but a long story, going back to ancient Rome. You think that almondine means “made with almonds,” and you are right. But google it, and you’see a different word – amandine. Google that, and it means – surprise! – made with almonds. Scroll down a little, and the Urban Dictionary tells you that…

But Hannah Did Not Have Potatoes! Latkes with a Tropical Twist.

Chanukkah is coming, and kids are looking forward to stuffing their faces with latkes – potato pancakes. When I was growing up, we had all kinds of latkes on Chanukkah, and sometimes my grandmother skipped the deruny (potato latkes) altogether because of the variety of other, more interesting ones: carrots with apples, zucchini with raisins, and my father’s favorite rechene (buckwheat) latkes. When a guest inquired about…

Double Chocolate Avocado Mousse

It’s all Carol’s fault – she made me do it! Lovely Carol of Retired? No one told me! She reminds us about the National Mousse Day and then makes an excellent point about all these “national” food days. You have to read her post to get the brunt of her argument: National Mousse Day…Yet another…

The Golden Soup

Dear Carol of Retired? No one told me! says that today is a National Split Pea Day. Not to be left out of it, I am repeating this simple, yet delicious recipe. King Midas had a daughter called Marigold, and he loved her more than anything, and he wanted to give her the best, the…

Dracula and Klyotzki Dumplings

It looks like my Monster cookies were not scary enough for you, Beautiful People. Let me introduce you to some truly terrible real monsters who have become legendary. Count Dracula really existed. He was born in Transylvania in fifteenth century and ruled the province called Wallachia. His name was Vlad III, and his last name…

Five Thousand Years of History and One-Minute Cucumbers

This was originally published as a guest post on https://renardsworld.wordpress.com. For some reason unbeknown to us humble bloggers, the Reblog button disappeared from several blogs, Renard’s and mine included. As a wonderful gracious host and a great blogger, Renard has suggested that I “do it the old-fashioned way” by offering the title and link to…

Anything You Can Get Away With, Including Quinoa and Kale

When Oscar Wilde, at the age of 36, published his one and only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, society was disturbed and the press was outraged. “Unclean”, “poisonous”, and “heavy with the mephitic odours of moral and spiritual putrefaction,” pontificated The Daily Chronicle. In the midst of the strait-laced Victorian age, Wilde calmly responded,…