It's funny how certain things work out at times. Take writing for example. Honestly, it's always come very easily to me. My 12th grade English teacher once commented that I'm lucky she enjoys reading my essays so much, or she would probably fail me for turning them all in two weeks late. When I started this blog, I put a lot of thought into the food and recipes (obviously!) and of course, as you know, I thought a lot about the photography. But the writing? It was always an afterthought, just something I did in the last few minutes of my posting. And I guess it worked. Because suddenly in the last few weeks I've gotten a ton of comments from readers, both of my magazine column and my blog, … [Read more...]
Yemenite Beef Soup and a Review and Giveaway of Kosher By Design Cooking Coach
Giveaway Closed! I've been getting a lot of questions lately about my thoughts on the new cookbook by Susie Fishbein, Kosher By Design Cooking Coach, and I am excited to finally share my thoughts on this fabulous cookbook with you. I should start by mentioning that if you aren't a kosher cook, don't stop reading. Susie's ideas are amazing, and you don't have to keep kosher to appreciate them! At a first glance: As is the case with all of Susie's previous books, this is a visually beautiful book. I opened it up and marveled at the absolute wealth of information. The book promises to be more than just a list of recipes, and it certainly delivered. Each chapter starts with a "game … [Read more...]
Healthy Oatmeal Pumpkin Pancakes
***Before we start – have you signed up for my email newsletters? You’ll get new recipes, cooking tips, menu suggestions, kitchen deals – and more! Click here to signup.*** Firstly, thank you all for your lovely and supportive comments on my last post! My power is back on and I'm back in the kitchen and appreciating and loving every single minute of it. Now let's talk about elections. I'm totally not political. I found this on Pinterest and it completely describes my feelings about today: So. I didn't vote, but I did make pancakes. Not just any pancakes, but healthy pancakes. With pumpkin and all kinds of awesome spices and things. Oh and there's oatmeal in them, so they have … [Read more...]
Golden Crunch Pudding Cookies
I am sitting here trying to think of something to say about these cookies, but I can't think of anything other than "Sandy." No, these cookies aren't sandy thankyouverymuch but there's this monster hurricane AKA Frankenstorm heading right towards the east coast. Her name is Sandy. And I have to say, if we are gonna get hit by a monster storm that'll turn our lives upside down for a bit, I feel like she should have had a more dramatic name. Hortensia, for example. But either way, Sandy is headed here, and my prep involves charging my new iPhone (oh, did I forget to tell you guys that I finally got my iPhone 5? Yeah. It's awesome.), charging my new lap top, charging my camera batteries, my … [Read more...]
Chicken, Vegetable and Barley Soup and a review of The Bais Yaakov Cookbook
I'm super excited to be reviewing another cookbook today. I've got a bunch of books on my shelf, waiting to be written about, but this one is extra exciting because I heard so much about this book lately! I'm sure that all of my Kosher readers have heard about the Bais Yaakov Cookbook. There's been a lot of hype in the kosher world about it. I couldn't help wondering: was that earned? I finally got a chance to find out! At first glance: This cookbook looks really impressive. It's a large, hardcover book with pictures that are breathtakingly beautiful. There's a wide variety of recipes, all arranged clearly and intuitively. My first thought as I flipped through this book the first … [Read more...]
Homemade Cinnamon Buns with Cream Cheese Frosting
Who wants to talk about my favorite thing in the world? Wait, let's back up. Y'know how I'm always talking about how I bake all these insanely delicious treats without tasting them, because my life is basically one crazy long diet? Well. I always says that I can totally resist eating my treats when dieting. I also say that there's one treat that I just can't resist. Which brings us right back to my favorite thing in the entire world. So when I took a little dieting break for the holidays, it suddenly occurred to me. Duh. I can make my favorite treat in the world without torturing myself by not eating any. So I made them. Cinnamon Buns. With cream cheese frosting frosting slathered … [Read more...]
Pesto Potato Pinwheels
Let me preface this post by telling you that I'm typing it up on my (barely functional and very old) iPhone 4 (because my iPhone 5 isn't expected for another two weeks- boo!) on the bus, headed home from work. And by "work" I don't mean my usual "very tame" 9 hour work day. I mean an Advil-sustained, coffee and diet-coke guzzling absolutely intense ten and a half hour work-athon. Yeah. Cause that's what happens when your company closes ten days straight in celebration of a holiday. Not fun. Wait. I should clarify. Vacation is fun. Coming back isn't. Wait, was that obvious? Also, I'm probably not coherent. Consider yourselves warned. Oh, and I'm not finished complaining about my work day. … [Read more...]
Confetti Cookies
Why am I always writing blog posts at 2:30 in the morning? Oh, right. It's because I'm always cooking until about then. Anywho. Let's talk Yankees. I know, there was a political debate of sorts last night (tonight? This gets so confusing.) but I wasn't paying much attention because hello! The Yankees won the eastern division! Finally, right? Who's ready for post season baseball? I know I am. Wait. I think I meant to discuss cookies. Must be the hour, I guess. Well, let's get to it. This post is in honor of my friend from work, R. She loved these cookies the first time I brought them to work, and has been talking about them ever since. I hadn't written the recipe down at that point, so I … [Read more...]
Pastrami Stuffed Chicken (Capons)
Every now and then, one of my recipes puts me in a weird position. A while ago, I made a delicious meat dish. I carefully measured the ingredients so I could post it here, and then, before I posted it, I thought of googling the cut of meat I was using. The cut was, as called in kosher butcher shops, minute steak. Kosher cooks will be very familiar with this type of steak. However, according to google (and I assume most of my non-kosher readers), minute steak is a thin cut of steak that can be grilled in a minute or less. It's a logical term, I must admit, but the minute steak I know usually involves about 200 minutes of cooking at a low temperature. Needless to say, I didn't post the recipe. … [Read more...]
Sukkos Recipe Roundup
Here's what I was supposed to do yesterday. I was supposed to photograph this amazing appetizer recipe and post it for you folks. But then I got home from work at 7:30. You read that right. Work. On a Sunday. I don't recommend it. I got cooking right away, and at 2 in the morning I was wise enough to realize that posting the recipe at that point would have been a really bad idea. So I went to sleep for like, four whole hours. Anyhoo. Here's a handy dandy list of stuff you should totally be making for Sukkot. They are a sampling of recipes from the archives, so feel free to dig around for even more! New recipes are a'comin, I promise. Wait, I don't. I have so much left to do! But I really do … [Read more...]