This year is the first time in 40 years that my family will not be joining our friends Duane and Connie for Thanksgiving. Yes, you read that right. We are doing this so as to increase the likelihood that we will be together next year. Connie’s annual feast includes a number of very special, tried and true recipes, and this one for Green Beans and Potatoes is one of the ones that I think about most in the between times. Continue reading
Category Archives: Holidays & Celebrations
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Our recent seasonal recipes have left us with a large amount of pumpkin seeds. This is my favorite recipe for what to do with them. Apropos of nothing, seeds are a great idea for families with nut allergies. But they’re really delicious no matter what. And they’re a great treat for when you’re on the couch watching a movie, or for sprinkling on salad, soup, or even roasted squash. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Vegan Cholent (Crockpot Stew)
Last weekend, I made this recipe for the first day 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 50 degree 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
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Tsimmes
Preparing for the holidays with my mom was a major highlight of my childhood. Like many other special dishes that we ate on dedicated holidays throughout the calendar, we made tsimmes twice a year, in the fall for Rosh Hashanah (it is traditional to eat sweet foods on Rosh Hashanah), and in the spring for Passover. My mom never used recipes, preferring to combine ingredients as her grandmother and mother-in-law did, but, truthfully, tsimmes is one of those dishes that probably doesn’t really need much of a recipe anyway. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Two-Ingredient Fudge (vegan, gf)
If you’d like to try something sweet to calm your mind and nourish yourself from the inside out, both at the same time, you may want to make this two-ingredient fudge. It won’t take more than five minutes, and it will fill your belly with yummy goodness. This fudge is super rich and nourishing, so I really do recommend cutting it into 18 squares. You can still eat as many squares as you like. And you may eat this for breakfast if you’d like, with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Japanese Vegetable Miso Soup
Looking for something warm and nourishing to warm your insides, to help you recover, and to keep you on track on all the mornings, noons, and nights before, after, and in between the excitement and celebrations of the holidays? You’ve come to the right place! Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Stuffed Pumpkin & Braised Onions
My kitchen counter is once again covered with pumpkins and onions, so it must be getting close to November! Here are two unusual and extraordinary recipes to use up your pumpkins and onions. If you have time, try to make the onions the day before, because as good as they are, they taste even better the next day! And they are great recipes for holiday celebrations, too. Continue reading
Sage Advice for a Healthy New Year
Some of the most valuable gifts we receive are the words of wisdom that are passed along from one generation to the next, and the holidays are a meaningful time to think about them. A few years, ago, around these holidays, a few of my friends at work got talking about our grandmothers’ old-fashioned expressions, beliefs, and bits of sage advice. You may think these expressions as quaint and old-fashioned, but they are so much more than that. These sayings are the collective wisdom of our ancestors, the ones who survived to pass along their words of wisdom to the younger generation. Here are a few for which I am most grateful. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Grandma Rosie’s Chopped Eggplant
On this Mother’s Day 2019, here is my present to you: Grandma Rosie’s Chopped Eggplant. This recipe means so much more to me than simply the sum of its ingredients. We used to make it for special holidays, and always in a big wooden bowl with what we reverently called “the chopper,” a utensil whose correct name — I have since learned — is actually “mezzaluna,” which accurately describes its half-moon shape. The bowl and its contents would pass among my grandmother and whomever else was helping out in the kitchen, each of us chopping for as long as we were able, until our chopping arm was aching and it was time for the bowl to be transferred to the next lap. We all chopped, but Grandma Rosie was the only one who decided when the eggplant was ready.
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Haminados (Eggs) for Passover
Haminados are one of my all-time favorite Passover recipes! Simple, sublime and delicious, they have been a staple at the Passover tables of Mediterranean Jewish communities for millennia! Check out this recipe and you’ll see why. Whether you make this dish in your crockpot or oven, it takes just a few minutes to toss it together and get things cooking. Continue reading