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…

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…

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)…

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…

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…

Deconstructed Honey Cake

Sadly, my attitude also went sort of sideways resulting in absence of photos. Fortunately, you can only see both the process and the product in the video featured in https://lastingjoyclub.wordpress.com/2018/09/21/explore-yourself/. As you have seen in the video, it’s the easiest funky dessert you’ve ever made: crumble a piece of cake into a wine glass, add finely…

Gefilte Fish Heads the Year

Coming up on our holiday table, following the appetizers, is the most famous of all traditional Jewish dishes, Gefilte Fish. How do you recognize a Jewish fish? It swims with a carrot in its mouth. I think this joke is older than the gefilte fish itself.  In truth, even though eating fish on Erev Shabbos  (Friday night)…

Tzimmes mit Fasoles – Red Beans with Honey

One of my family legends (every family has at least one, doesn’t it?) places the origins of my grandmother’s side in Cadiz, Spain, up until the year 1478, when part of the family managed to escape in the nick of time, before the Expulsion Edict and the fires of Inquisition. Whether this claim has any…

Not Your Bubbe’s Honey Cake

This post starts my Rosh Hashana series, repeated every year, since the menu, as well as the recipes, has existed in my family for many generations. I use this opportunity to share with you, Beautiful People, an invitation to participate in dear Esme’s Senior Salon and linkup. Please visit Esme’s fabulous blog and find a…

Not Your Bubbe’s Honey Cake

Originally posted on Shmoozing With the Word Mavens:
Are you thinking about Rosh Hashanah and what to cook? We were –and we got thinking about why Jewish apple cake is so much more popular than the spicy, dry loaves of honey cake. We did some reporting and interviewed two Jewish bakers who have delicious versions…

Plum Prune Strudel

The only kind of strudel I’ve seen in the U.S. is the Viennese apple strudel. In fact, when Americans say “strudel,” they mean “apple strudel.” However, the word strudel means whirlpool in German, and describes any rolled flaky pastry with any filling, meet, cheese, fruit, or vegetables. There is actually a sauerkraut strudel! The first one,…