In 2020, during the pandemic and lockdown, my newly married daughter and son-in-law discovered that they could reduce their grocery shopping frequency from once a week to once every other week by thinking of their produce as “first week” items, which were likely to go bad quickly (e.g., berries and spinach) and “second week” items, with a longer shelf life (e.g., cabbage and apples). Continue reading
Category Archives: Holidays & Celebrations
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Lisa’s Date-Nut-Chocolate Bars
My friend, Lisa, brought these date pecan chocolate bars to book club once and OMG they were pretty wonderful. Technically they are intended for dessert, but honestly there is no reason they wouldn’t be great for breakfast, too. Dates, nuts, dark chocolate. Why not? Frankly, they have a lot more nutrition and a lot less sugar than the standard American breakfast. So, yes, I would go for it. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Chicken with Split-Pea Gravy
This recipe inspires an entirely new approach to gravy. It’s extremely flavorful, the texture is spot-on perfect, and it is impossible to mess up. You should consider it when cooking for company, Friday nights or Sunday dinners, Thanksgiving and other holidays, or any time you want something rich, flavorful, creamy, and cozy, with leftovers guaranteed to keep you satisfied. When my children were elementary school age, it was one of their favorite dinners. Continue reading
Old-Fashioned Gratitude
Many years ago, when I was eleven years old, my parents bought a Corning Cooktop stove, a fancy new appliance whose coils remained white even when they were hot. You simply had to take it on faith — or not. No matter how long I stared at that new stovetop, I could not convince myself that the white coils were hot. And that is why I still remember so clearly, this many years later, the perfectly oval burn on the tip of my right index finger. I touched it only once, but that was enough. It was all it took. I couldn’t take anyone else’s word for it. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Delicata Squash in Santa Cruz
The delicata is a small, lovely squash that looks gorgeous and tastes a little bit sweet. One of my favorite features of the delicata is that, unlike most other squash, the skin of the delicata is edible (and delicious)!
The first time I ate this particular dish was while celebrating the wedding of dear friends who live in Santa Cruz. In keeping with an old family custom, and in order to easily identify the affiliation of each guest, the guests of one partner were invited to wear gold while those of the other partner wore cream. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Vegan Cholent (Crockpot Stew)
A happy reprise of my seasonal fall cholent recipe, from when my dad was still here to enjoy it with us:
This past week, I made a version of this recipe for the first night of Sukkot, the fall harvest festival, and we ate it inside our beautiful sukkah that my husband built last week. It warmed us from the inside out in the chilly weather. And then it was gone, I mean really GONE, just a few hours later. Even my father, who said “I don’t like cholent,” ate a huge bowlful and said he changed his mind. Please make a note of that. Continue reading
The Neighborhood, Its Trees, and a Recent Potluck (with Recipe)
I live on a cul-de-sac with a special group of neighbors. I’ve heard it said that ours was the first residential street in the village; attempts to maintain its character have continued for 70 years. Many homes—though not ours—are identifiable by the local stone used to build their original facades. The Neighborhood Lane Association that was formed shortly after people began moving in continues to this day. We have seen members of the last generation grow up, and then return to raise a generation of their own. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Two Brand New Salads
A couple of weeks ago we were making plans to a host dinner for a large group, and I got inspired to come up with a couple of new salads to add to our regular lineup. I sat down, started thinking, and before you knew it, I had come up with recipes for two brand new salads. And with a bonus — not only did they use up some of the contents of our pantry, they added only a few items to the shopping list! Continue reading
The Menu from Bookclub Earlier this Week
This week we had bookclub at my house. I’ve written about bookclub before, and about the incredibly delicious dishes that people bring to share with one other. There’s never a plan, never been a plan, so once in a great while we have ended up with a couple bottles of Prosecco, salad, and two desserts. On the other hand, you are often likely to find grilled salmon, white bean salad, guacamole, green salad, grapefruit, and roasted olives with lemon rind. Everybody shares something. You just never know. Continue reading
Three Kinds of Charoset 2024
At our upcoming Passover seders to be held on Monday and Tuesday nights this coming week, we will be serving a number of different kinds of charoset (kha-ROE-set). In addition to our traditional apples-and-walnuts charoset that I make each and every year, we’ll be serving two other truly extraordinary charoset recipes. I want to share for a moment that my mom and my Grandma Rosie actually taught me to make charoset in a large wooden chopping bowl (such a special memory), a bowl that continued to hold a place of honor in my parents’ house for many, many years after Grandma Rosie was gone. Things go much faster now with the food processor, though I always process each ingredient separately almost to the desired consistency, and then add them all back together for a big stir with a big fork. Otherwise you are likely to get fruit-nut spread, which is a different recipe entirely. Continue reading