By El Portnoy There were many little issues that appeared during the year that my parents died. Little things that you do not realize will cause distress. But for my sister and me, one of these issues was my Mom’s recipes. They were gone. We searched the house and could […]
Cooking
10 posts
Holiday preparations Pesach (Passover) is quite a big deal every year. It takes about a month before the holiday to clean the house, clear away every little crumb of ‘chametz,’ bread, and only then can we start preparing the food. Cleaning for Pesach is hard work but once I start […]
A woman of valor who can find? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts in her, And he has no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. Proverbs 31:10–31 How many of us have […]
Am I a country bumpkinBecause I don’t like pumpkin? A squash that’s now a spice.Sorry, that taste isn’t so nice. The hype begins in early OctoberPumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin over and over. In muffins, coffee, donuts and cakesIt’s everywhere, for goodness sakes! Peanuts’ Linus sits in the patchWaiting for the Great […]
Image: chabad.org My wedding day was September 7, 1970. Rosh Hashanah was September 25th that year. I was truly a new bride (think honeymoon). We were married in New York City. Most people didn’t live together in those days before marriage. We moved to Washington, D.C. where my husband was […]
Honey cake is to Ashkenazi Jews at Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) what fruit cake is to Christians at Christmas. Mention these cakes, and one is sure to see wrinkled noses and some serious eye rolling. Fruit cake is often the butt of comedians’ jokes. “The worst gift is […]
It was the 5th day of Passover. It was also a mitzvah (good deed) day. My stress level was maxed out. Little did I know, however, it was also a mitzvah day. Everyone needs one of these once in awhile to make up for our “naughty” days. Yesterday was a bummer. I’d eaten […]
It didn’t start out as a dark and stormy night. The heavy rains came after my husband and “outdoor chef,” Bruce, stood at the grill, out in the open, grilling our feast of hot dogs, hamburgers and veggie burgers. Since we love grilled food better than cooking it on the […]
Photo: Marlene Wolff Solomon. My little sister, Ellie, sends me a text asking me to make a kugel for her Hanukkah party. Really? She wants me to make something that I must follow a recipe? Does she realize she’s texting Sister #2, not sister #1? “It’s really easy,” the text […]