My Shavuos Menu

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 explained in…

My Shavuos Menu

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 explained in…

Cheese and Raisins Pie

I am sure this was more of an afterthought. It was like, hey, we are already making traditional green savory pies, why not bake something sweet for kids to enjoy! I remember my father, the quintessential kid, sneaking into my grandmother’s kitchen to snack on the sweet filling while the dough was being rolled and…

Cheese and Scallions Pie

The holiday of Shavuos is starting in two days, and I have been volunteered by The Boss (my husband) to make our traditional cheese and scallions flaky pies for the entire congregation. I have just finished baking them and will deliver the baking sheet with four huge pies to the synagogue tomorrow, to be shoved…

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…

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…

Cheese Shlishkes (Lazy Kreplach)

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 them. Think about it:…

My Shavuos Menu

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 is labeled and links…

Sweet and Healthy Pull-apart Challah

I don’t know why we have pull-apart challahs on Shavuos. There are tons of different recipes, but no explanation. There are also different creative shapes, such as ladder shape challah, Torah study challah, Mount Sinai challah, but the prevalent tradition is still a pull-apart. I can understand two oblong challahs, to represent the Tablets of…

Dates and Nuts Desserts

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  from The Song of…

Fried Flounder with New Potatoes

A man comes to a Rabbi for an advice. He describes the situation, then relates his wife’s opinion. Next, he reports his father-in-law’s point of view, his brother-in-law’s outlook on the issue, his mother-in-law’s judgement, his best friend’s sage estimation of the matter… “Wait, Reb Yid, – interrupts the Rabbi,- don’t you have your own…

Traditional Cheese Blintzes

Where did blintzes come from and what made them into a Shavuos tradition? The first and obvious idea that comes to one’s mind is Russian blini, thin pancakes essential to Maslenitza, the Butter-Week, an ancient pagan worship retained and transformed with the conversion of Kievan Rus to Christianity in 10th century and still celebrated today….