“THERE BE DRAGONS”, warns the sign over the Sunshine Sanctuary for Sick Dragons, established and ably run by Lady Sybil Ramkin, a wealthy lady of Valkyrian proportions, unstintingly kind to sapiens and animals alike. Lady Sybil and her husband, Commander of the City Watch, His Grace Samuel Vimes could have run a training webinar for…
Tag: weight loss
Of Love and War and Broccoli Salad (reiteration)
Once again, I am reprising a guest post written for the best friend of all bloggers, dear Renard of https://renardsworld.wordpress.com. 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…
Wondering What Life Is For: Broccoslaw (reiteration)
There is much talk in the blogosphere about post-holiday diets and weight loss goals. Here is a reprise of my guest post, published by our gracious host Renard of https://renardsworld.wordpress.com, describing one of the most effective ancient diets, as well as a new recipe. Zeus was in a quandary. The supreme and most powerful of…
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…
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 –…
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…
Stuffed Avocado
When you hear stuffed shirt, you get a mental image of a retrograde, an inflexible old-fashioned conservative, maybe an arrogant poseur with no substance. The latter is probably the closest to the truth, as the idiom was actually born as a literal description of a scarecrow, dressed in real person’s clothes and stuffed with whatever was…
Vinaigrette – a Russian Winter Salad
He is called Father Frost or General Frost. He lives in Russia, and he could be very cruel, especially to those who do not show proper respect to him. He has defeated many invaders, from the khans, to Napoleon, to Nazi Germany. He likes to decorate fields and forests, covering them in pristine snow and…
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…
Placinda – Flaky Pumpkin Pie
A prominent Rabbi picks up an apple, pronounces the appropriate blessing, and bites into it. One of his students also picks up an apple, mutters a blessing, and takes a bite. Then he stops and asks: “Rabbi, what is the difference between you and me eating an apple? We both say the same blessing, yet…
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…
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