Category Archives: Family recipes
Making a Hash of It
I honestly can’t figure out how the expression “making a hash” of something, which has a negative connotation and means to mess things up, is related to that delicious solution to leftover meat (or almost any protein) — the culinary … Continue reading
Not Your Bubbie’s Matzo Brei
Or more correctly I should say this is not my grandmother’s matzo brei. My grandmother was an extraordinarily versatile woman who by the time she left this earth at almost 100 years old, had been a pretty good painter in … Continue reading
Haman’s Ears: A Purim Pastry
Yes — I know that Hammantaschen — or Hamantash, hamentasch, homentash, homentasch, or even (h)umentash — cookies might be named after Haman’s pockets or his three-cornered hat (the explanation I was taught as a child), but I prefer to believe … Continue reading
Baking Not Mourning: Lace Cookies
When people die, I bake. It helps, sort of. In our tradition, you are supposed to bring food to people who are mourning. I think that’s part of almost everyone’s tradition, come to think of it. I’m not feeling a … Continue reading
Secret Cooking Tips Files: Hash It
Clearly, with the newly cool weather, I am feeling very “spudly,” but hash isn’t just for potatoes. I consider the re-frying of leftover turkey and stuffing to be a kind of hash — at least it seems that way to … Continue reading
Late Latkes
It’s the last night of Channukah but I figured, better late than never for the latke recipe. My mother uses a cookbook from the ages called Love & Knishes and it looks exactly like this, faded cover and all. The … Continue reading
The Two-Hour Turkey
This isn’t it. This is a baby in a turkey outfit she will wear once in her life — this Thanksgiving. Next year, she’ll be too big and have to hand it down to some other lucky tot. Apparently, the … Continue reading
Mashed Potatoes Go With Everything
It’s officially fall. I am craving mashed potatoes. I’m really into this new trend where they call them “smashed” potatoes and don’t mash them till they are smooth — just enough to make them chunky. Sometimes they smash them flat … Continue reading
Lactose-free Hungarian Paprikash
Having to give up real sour cream meant no more paprikash — which is probably my favorite way to enjoy meat — with nothing but onion, a decent browning, and a blanket of Hungarian paprika cut with sour cream. Thank … Continue reading
Cream of Whatever Soup (No Lactose)
We are having an unusually cold summer. I always buy more celery than I can use — or maybe they sell celery in clumps that are too large. The older (feline) cooking assistant started stabbing me in the leg for … Continue reading
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