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
Category Archives: Holidays & Celebrations
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
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
What Happens in December Stays in December
This month, a lot of people weigh more than they did in October. The problem is so widespread that, especially in people who are working to lose, I make it a point to applaud their efforts even if they have simply maintained their weight at the same number over the last few months. That’s because December is the time of year when people eat the most entertainment [read: sugar and white flour]. Continue reading
Laurel Gallucci’s Insanely Wonderful Chocolate Cake That Changed Everything
From time to time I post a dessert recipe, but it’s usually something tame, like apple slices. Just kidding. But seriously, I don’t post a lot of dessert recipes.
This recipe, on the other hand, breaks the mold. It is, by far, the most decadent thing I’ve ever posted on YHIOYP. Even if you never make it yourself, you have to appreciate the talent and passion of a woman who figured out how to make a cake like this. I thought it would be the perfect thing for anyone who is inspired to make something spectacular for the holidays. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Cranberry-Ginger Relish After Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving 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 when they were hot. You just 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 clearly, so many years later, the perfectly oval burn on the tip of my right index finger. I only touched it once, but that was all it took. I couldn’t take anyone else’s word for it. I needed to see for myself. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Sweet New Year Soup
Tonight, as the sun slips below the horizon, we will begin our celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. Traditional Rosh Hashanah foods tend toward the sweet and the circular: sweet for a sweet new year, and circular to represent the seasons that run one into the next, year after year, around and around. Instead of the usual braid, we even twist our challah (egg bread) into a round this time of year. Continue reading