Pickling Time and Chunking Kale

A distressed mother barges into a Rabbi’s study: “Rabbi, my son has gone meshuge (crazy)!” “Calm down, lady, have you taken him to a specialist? What makes you think that?” “Specialist-shmeshalist! Who needs specialists? I am a mother, I know!” “But, dear lady, what does he do?” “Oy, Rabbi, he eats pigs and dances with girls!” “Listen,”…

Kugel: Where East Met West

At first, Jews had it good in the Roman-administered land which is now France. Having lost their own homeland, they have dispersed throughout immense Roman Empire, settling mostly along trade routes. Even though they were still not allowed to own land, nor practice law or hold any administrative positions (restrictions are nothing new to us!),…

Shlissel Challah – a Key to Wisdom

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
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…

Light the Bonfire of Love with Chocolate Logs!

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
Happy Mother’s Day, 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 a…

Hello, Beautiful People!

Today, when I transitioned from the kitchen to my computer (this is a Covid 19 jargon, Beautiful People; we don’t move – we transition), I found this: Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com! You registered on WordPress.com 4 years ago. Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging. It took me back to this day four years…

Of Love and War and Broccoli Salad

Originally posted on Renard's World:
Contrary to George Bush, we love broccoli. Thus we are sincerely grateful to the Etruscans, the famed horticultural geniuses of the ancient world, who “engineered” this “flowering crest of cabbage” – broccolo in Italian – almost 3 millennia ago (https://www.thespruceeats.com). https://youtu.be/n29bwowM6ek Peaceful and creative people, they developed a thriving…

Chinese Cabbage, Japanese Cat, and a “Frenly” Family Store

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
Contrary to a popular belief, the ubiquitous Chinese fortune cat is actually Japanese. There are several legends about it, but most agree that it first made its friendly appearance around 17th – 18th century, when Tokyo was called Edo. A samurai was once caught in a rainstorm. Finding shelter under a…

Hello, Ovid! Я вам не скажу про всю Одессу…

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
I am only doing a bi-lingual post twice: as they say in Odessa, “the first time which is already the last.” I am only doing it because of a phenomenal blogger and a wonderful blogofriend Brigitta Moro who magically blogs in Russian and Ukrainian and who has shared very thorough, research-based…

Lightly Touch Your Heart with Spring Rolls

Originally posted on Renard's World:
Way back around fourth century, many battles were fought in China, some of them won and some lost. With that many battles, you’d have to have a whole lot of generals. Is it any wonder, then, that the names of some army commanders got – ummm – lost? That’s…

Distress? No, De-stress!

During these trying times of global distress, it is great to be reminded that March 20 is an International Happiness Day. I am grateful to a great blogger Renard of https://renardsworld.wordpress.com and his fabulous contributor Dr Sridhar for a wonderful post reminding all of us, Beautiful People, to celebrate this day with joy and laughter…

Tweaked Green Papaya Salad and Carol’s Naughty Corner

South Florida is a crazy patchwork of little cities, towns, and villages, each boasting tropical flavor and colorful history. However, only one bears an official title City Beautiful, the City of Coral Gables. One of the seven cities in the United States influenced by the City Beautiful North American architectural movement which promoted “beautification and…

Classics Also Quarrel: Russian Pot Pie

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
The rich also cry, as we all know. It is less known, however, that the classics also quarrel. We tend to perceive them as larger than life, rather not susceptible to flaws and frailties  of us, ordinary humans.  Take, for example, Leo Tolstoy, “the greatest apostle of non-violence that the present…