I know that nobody really wants to think about the imminent arrival of the Passover holiday, but face it, friends. Passover is coming. The good news is that today I am reviewing a cookbook that aims to make Passover cooking easy. I know, it sounds too good to be true. But this book proves that it can be done! Passover Made Easy is a brand new book, written by the fabulous duo of Leah Schapira (or Fresh & Easy fame) and Victoria Dweck, food editor of a number of top kosher magazines, including the one I write for. The book is a project of CookKosher.Com, and actually features about a third of the recipes by a number of the members, myself included! Leah and Victoria took the recipes, … [Read more...]
Purple and Silver Themed Party {Purim 2013}
Firstly, my apologies for my week long absence. Apparently staying up till 3 am too many nights in a row can cause a person to reach a level of exhaustion that I was previously unaware existed. I slept off my lack-of-sleep hangover, and now I'm back with a recap. Next up: recipes! Believe it or not, I forgot to bring my camera with me to my sister's for her Purim Seuda (party), but I got lots of question about the pictures I posted on Instagram, twitter and Facebook, so I decided to share my iPhone pictures of the party in case any of you want some tips and/or inspiration for future parties! First off, just across from the door, when people walked in, there was the dessert … [Read more...]
Soft Frosted Vanilla Sugar Cookies and a Review and Giveaway of Pure Vanilla
I know it's been a while since I did a book review, but this one is super fun, and I love this recipe for Purim (or pretty much any time. Ever.) The frosting is vanilla flavored, but add in some food coloring to match your color scheme and you're all set. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for a giveaway of this book! Pure Vanilla by Shauna Sever is a super fun and creative book that aims to change your impression of vanilla from a minor side ingredient to a star of the show. Here's what I thought of it. At a First Glance: I never thought of vanilla as such a starring ingredient before. To me, vanilla means no other flavor. But this book spotlights it in the most amazing ways! There's … [Read more...]
Savory Meat Pie Hamantaschen
It's 1:30 am and I am sitting at my computer thinking about hamantashen. But it isn't my fault, really. Blame it on... Oh forget it. It's totally my fault. I can't help myself. Not only do I imagine myself to have hoards of anxious fans waiting for my brilliant purim ideas yeah right but I also need to impress people at my own purim seudah (feast/party). It's hard, let me tell you. No matter how much pressure you might feel at parties, think about what it's like when you are a food writer. Exactly. Well I kinda wish I could invite each and every one of you to my purim party, because I am serving these meat pie hamantaschen as the appetizer and they are seriously delicious. But sadly I … [Read more...]
Purim Recipes and Ideas Roundup
One of the super fun things about being a blogger is reading your search engine traffic hits. Occasionally, however, it reminds me of things. And over the last week I have noticed an increase in traffic from people searching for purim overtimecook or purim 2013 or overtime cook hamantaschen, which serves as a good reminder that I need to start posting some purim recipes and ideas. You will see some fun ideas here over the next few weeks, but first, some ideas that have been featured on OvertimeCook in the past: First off, we have traditional hamantaschen, plus a guide I wrote on CookKosher on shaping beautiful hamantaschen (that stay closed!) Next, I made some delicious savory hamantaschen … [Read more...]
Top Posts of 2012 and a Giveaway!
Giveaway Closed! It's been a fabulous year here at Overtime Cook. There have been loads of highlights...too many to list. But I am going to be a total cliche and list some of my most popular posts. First, starting with plain stats- here goes: Scroll all the way to the bottom for the giveaway! Healthy Oatmeal Pumpkin Pancakes: It's funny how things work out sometimes. I made these on a whim, and happened to take a nice picture of them. Months later and it's still usually the most popular post every day. Also, it's totally my favorite breakfast! And my blog's most popular post! Spicy Baked Zucchini Sticks: These are among my favorite real-life recipes, but they are also the first ever … [Read more...]
Purple Potato Latkes
Tonight was the fifth night of chanukah. Which means that if you are partying hard in true hanukkah fashion, you have had a lot of latkes by now. Are you bored of the typical? I am. I know that the world is full of people making latkes with all kinds of interesting vegetables, spices and sauces. But I decided to go a different direction, because I care more than I should about aesthetics. Which is how this idea was born. Let's make a pretty latke, I thought to myself. So I bought some purple potatoes. I posted a picture on instagram of my latkes frying, and they were totally beautiful: You can't see it clearly, but the purple potatoes and flecks of green courtesy of the scallions really … [Read more...]
Shortcut Cannoli with Chocolate Mousse Filling and a Hanukkah Blog Party!
Giveaway Closed! Remember how I co-hosted a Rosh Hashanah blog party a couple of months ago with my friend Jessie? Well today I bring you another fabulous holiday blog party. This one is co-hosted by the one and only me and my friend Leah from Cook Kosher. I present: A Hanukkah Blog Party! Scroll down past the party info for the most delicious dessert recipe you've ever tasted. No jokes. PS: in honor of Chanukah, I totally deep fried it! Let's get some details, shall we? Welcome to our first ever Hanukkah Blog Party, hosted by Leah of Cook Kosher and Miriam of Overtime Cook. It's traditional on Hanukkah to eat fried treats, most notably donuts and latkes, and we've got a fabulous array … [Read more...]
Baked Peanut Butter or Nutella Donuts
Remember how I recently discussed how hard I find the process of making decisions? Well tonight's post is basically a post script to that one, because if you thought deciding between pecan pie or brownies was hard, imagine trying to decide between chocolate glazed peanut butter donuts or glazed nutella (chocolate hazelnut) donuts! I know, it totally boggles the mind. Well I, for one, don't believe in making such difficult decisions. So I thought to myself...why choose? Yep, that's right. I made both peanut butter donuts and nutella donuts. Which means, if you think about it, that these donuts are super easy to make. Because I started making them late at night, and still had time and … [Read more...]
Holiday Gift Ideas for the Cook or Baker in Your Life
People who know me are super lucky when it comes to buying gifts. I have such specific hobbies that if you want to buy me something, all it takes is a kitchen gadget or a photography "toy" and I am happy. I figured that some of you might be looking for gift ideas for kitchen loving folks in your life, so I put together a list. Most of these items are things I have and love, others are items that I want really badly. (This may or may not be a hint to people in my life. Ahem. Readers, I invite you to forward this link on to people in your life who might otherwise buy you a useless or unwanted gift. Hints are nice, right? Let's start with a big one, in case anyone wants to buy something … [Read more...]