Happy New Year!

Originally posted on koolkosherkitchen:
Happy New Year, Beautiful People!  We just came back after watching the fireworks on Ocean Drive among a huge crowd of happy people. I am repeating my Fireworks on the Beach post (originally done on 4th of July) and wishing everybody a very happy year full of joy and special blessings!…

The Inevitability of Change: Sambar.

This story starts with a song so well known around the world that even Cynthia Lennon, John Lennon’s first wife, made a recording of it. Very few people know, however, that it was written in 1926 for a famous Russian emigre artist Alexander Vertinsky, “the Black Pierrot,” as his stage persona was known, a melancholy…

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The Real Treasure of the Caribbean: Haiti, Part 3. Liberty Soup.

The final and the most important installment of this set of recipes (for Part 1, click here; for Part 2, click here) is unique – where else do you see a dish that symbolizes liberty? On January 1st, Haitians celebrate not only the beginning of a new year, but first and foremost, the beginning of…

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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…