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jillbcooks 4/16/2009 9:09:00 AM
Learning about different holiday traditions can be fun and can inspire new ways to celebrate at home. When it comes to traditions for the Jewish holidays, especially food traditions, they vary widely based on where people live. One of my favorite holidays is called the Mimouna, and is associated with the Jews of North Africa. As the week of Passover draws to a close at sundown on the last day, the Mimouna begins. The celebration is all about enjoying the leavened foods that are avoided during Passover, where people have open houses featuring buffets of treats. What could be better than harkening spring by eating cakes, cookies and candies?
These would be fan...
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Lemon Bars, Open House, Party Cake, Passover
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jillbcooks 4/15/2009 3:08:00 PM
Don’t get me wrong, meringue cookies can be very good, especially if you make them yourself, but some commercial ones are simultaneously cloying and tasteless. Long associated with Passover because they do not include flour, meringue can be a versatile component of a dessert, serving as a base as in a Pavlova, as a topping as in lemon meringue pie, or, my favorite, as an edible dessert bowl. This twist—making the meringue into a bowl—is not only a smart way to present a substantial dessert that is kosher for Passover, but a show-stopping one as well.
I love chocolate as an ending to any meal, and the ...
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desserts, ice cream, meringues, Passover, Seder
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jillbcooks 4/14/2009 7:56:00 AM
The challenge of cooking during Passover is avoiding food with leavening agents in them, and that category of ingredients is quite large and includes flour. Variety is often sacrificed for the same meals of meat and vegetables. Get out of the rut and try to incorporate variety with this recipe for Asian Lettuce Wraps. Using lettuce rather than bread or tortillas is a fun and chametz-free solution.
Asian Lettuce WrapsServes 4
16 Boston Bibb or Romaine lettuce leaves1 pound ground beef1 large onion, chopped2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced1 cup red and green bell peppers, sl...
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Asian Lettuce Wraps, chametz, Passover, Taco Salad
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jillbcooks 4/13/2009 2:07:00 PM
Passover is also known by another name, Hag ha-Aviv, which means Festival of Spring. The timing of the holiday shifts, as it is based on the vernal equinox and the cycles of the moon and the Hebrew calendar. If the month of the holiday (called Nisan, and Passover begins the 15th of Nisan) arrived and spring had not, an additional month (called an intercalary month) would be added to the calendar to delay the coming of Passover until it was truly springtime.
One way to celebrate Hag ha-Aviv is by eating fresh, seasonal foods. This helps counterbalance the heaviness of some other traditional Passover foods like baked goods without leavening agents. Pass...
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spring, Matzoh, Nectarine Salsa, Passover, Salmon
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jillbcooks 4/10/2009 9:25:00 AM
If you have ever attended a religious school, like parochial school or a Jewish day school, you might know a little something about watching the clock tick during morning prayer. I was a teacher at a Jewish day school, which had a compulsory prayer period every morning. As you can imagine, some students took it very seriously, some were present and indifferent, and some were truly misbehaved. The administration of our school recognized that students might be more engaged if they had some meaningful activity related to Judaism instead of traditional prayer. A fearless young teacher, I volunteered for the program’s pilot and was assigned Jewish Cooking, wi...
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Matzoh, Matzoh Brei, Melon Cucumber Salad, Passover
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jillbcooks 4/9/2009 11:55:00 AM
One of the staples at my house during Passover is crustless Shepherd’s Pie. I love meat pies and have a special fondness for tourtiere, a family favorite that is a nod to our French Canadian heritage. My husband lived in England for a year and quickly became enamored with traditional pasties, dough pockets with meat and vegetables in them. While we love the flaky crust of a chicken pot pie, we also love a simple Shepherd’s Pie, which is a dish of meat, gravy and vegetables, topped with mashed potatoes.
While a dish with a baked potato topping is sometimes called Cottage Pie, the name Shepherd’s Pie is particularly appropriate at Passover because...
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Kosher, Passover, Shepherd's Pie
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jillbcooks 4/8/2009 1:31:00 PM
Much of the Seder is about the bitterness and sorrow of life in Egypt under Pharoh. While charoset looks like the mortar that the Israelites used to build Egyptian cities, it tastes sweet to celebrate being freed from Egypt.
Making charoset is a great activity for children, since it is simple and uncooked. Even small children can help with mashing the apples. Older children can practice measuring and following directions.
When cooking with kids, it is often easier to use gadgets designed for convenience. Peeling and coring apples is made easy with a ...
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apples, Charoset, Gadgets, Haroset, Passover
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jillbcooks 4/7/2009 7:29:00 AM
A long time can go by during Seder before any substantial eating happens, especially if Seder falls on Shabbat. Also, many people work during the day of the first and second Seder meals. When hungry, it can be difficult to pay attention to reading the Haggadah and bringing energy and vitality to retelling the celebratory story of the Israelites’ freedom from bondage. Serving appetizers as guests arrive can take the edge off of hunger.
The challenge with appetizers on Passover are many, especially if your guests are very observant of dietary customs like keeping kosher and keeping kosher for Passover. Most holiday meals include meat, so cheese could not...
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olives, Passover, Seder, tapenade
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jillbcooks 4/2/2009 8:49:00 AM
I am one of those people who ascribes to the belief that “more is more” rather than “less is more” when it comes to celebrating holidays. Decorations, get-togethers, and, of course, the food, are parts of holidays that get my creative energy going. As a teacher of young children, I find that I connect often to my own “inner child” and I think about how to make experiences more fun and maybe even indulgent. Whether or not you have small children, these ideas can be adapted to make your Seder memorable this Passover.
Become a Master Storyteller
The Seder is all about story telling, so amp up your storytelling skills:...
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crafts, gefilte fish, ideas, Passover, Seder
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jillbcooks 3/31/2009 8:00:00 AM
Getting a household ready for Passover can be a hugely complex process and time consuming process, depending on one’s level of observance. With many different guidelines for preparations, most derived from Jewish customs, one must begin by figuring out how strictly you will adhere to the laws.
A quick explanation for non-Jewish readers: there are many different ways to practice Judaism, and they depend on the type of synagogue one attends (for example, Reform, Conservative or Orthodox) and the cultural origins of one’s family (for example, Ashkenazic Jews generally come from Eastern Europe and have different traditions than Sephardic Jews, whose roots are i...
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shopping, chametz, meringues, Passover