A Thanksgiving Tip From My Mom
11/20/11

We are hosting our very first Thanksgiving this year and while most young couples are typically intimidated by this fete I think us observant/shabbat keepers are a little less intimidated.  I mean, heck, let’s keep it real—not 6 weeks ago I was cooking up 5 meals in 2 days for anywhere from 2 to 8 people to be served over 2 day when electricity can’t be used so a turkey in the mix is really not all that intimidating.  What is intimidating is trying to replicate my mom’s stuffing.  Oh sweet heaven, I love my mom’s stuffing.  It’s a perfect combination of 3-day old challah and sautéed onions, mushrooms and celery and shoved into a turkey’s hiney.  I don’t know how she does it but I hope to do it right.  First things first, I know I need to start drying out the challah NOW.  I have so many memories of mom’s kitchen being taken over by slices of drying challah.  If only I would have been paying attention to the process at the time instead of watching the Macy’s Day Parade (I love that parade).  But truly, as soon as you saw heaps of challah drying in the kitchen you knew magic was about to happen.  So now this Thanksgiving, I gotta bring the magic. Ok, so the stuffing has a few days to be posted but in the meantime, I wanted to post another delicious mom recipe that is perfect for your kosher Thanksgiving–garlic asparagus.  Easy though it sounds, there is a science to getting that asparagus just the right amount of garlic and, not to brag, but I think my mom’s got it down pat.

Cut Asparagus

Anyone can get the perfect garlicky asparagus once you understand the theory behind it, which is basically all about the soak.  Just soak those bad boys in ice-cold water and garlic for several hours.  First, cut the asparagus ends off at a diagonal.  Next, submerge the stalks in a deep dish that allows the stalks to soak evenly while lying flat.  Finally, add several chunks of garlic and shake a healthy portion of garlic powder in there as well.  You’ll hopefully start this process at least 6 hours before you plan on eating so that your stalks have a nice long garlic soak.  Once it’s time to cook, preheat the oven to 400, lay the asparagus out evenly on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and some kosher salt and roast for 25 minutes.  Enjoy!

A Nice Garlic Soak

So now I ask you, dear reader who is hopefully someone else other than my mom, do you have a tip before I take on my first Thanksgiving?

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two for one
10/30/11

I owe this blog a recipe AND a conversion question.  Today?  I’m giving you both.  How does that sound?  Try to contain yourself.  We’re running out of really juicy questions, so I’m going to have to go with a pretty easy one.

If you were filling out a form today, which asked you to fill in your religion, what would you write in?

Seriously?  This is a conversion question?  I mean I guess I get having to pause for a second?  Listen, I’ve been saying I was Jewish since before I really even knew what that meant.  My Facebook profile, for instance, has said that I’m Jewish pretty much since my profile went up.  It’s kinda a non-issue.  The thing I’ve been wondering lately is the exact opposite.  When do other people start seeing me as Jewish?  Maybe that’s a weird question. I feel like I’m becoming more and more sensitive about my Jewish identity.  I’m not worried if I’m Jewish enough, I’m more concerned that people think converting is somehow fake or inauthentic.  I’m not going to temple just because I’m converting, I’m not celebrating Jewish holidays to put on a big Jewish show.  I just wonder lately if the folks around me understand that.  I’m definitely going to temple more often now, than I was before the conversion process began.  I don’t know.  I’m not going to come to some sort of solution in this blog post.  I guess it’s an ongoing process for everyone in my life, not just me.  It’s a growth process?  I guess this is where I get to practice patience.

Can we talk about food now?  I finished reading Eating Animals this weekend.  In the last week?  I haven’t really been eating animals, y’all.  The book really changed me.  Maybe the word change is going to get me into trouble.  The book really forced me to think a little more about my food choices.  I’m not saying that I’ll never eat meat again.  Meat is delicious.  I’m just not going to eat it every time I sit down for a meal.  I had a turkey burger last night. I hadn’t eaten meat in about a week.  I wasn’t even really trying to do avoid meat.  In fact, I didn’t even realize that I hadn’t eaten meat all week until Friday night when we sat down for a little pre-Shabbat dinner.

How on Earth could I possibly not realize that I hadn’t been eating meat?  Well, I was inspired by my friend Julie to make a pot of vegetarian chilli.  When I say a pot of chilli, what I really mean to say is a GIANT pot of vegetarian chilli.  We’ve been eating it all week.  The recipe that I found is crazy simple.  Like it takes only about an hour to cook, which is sorta out of character for making chilli.  Once we were at the end of the chilli I realized that I hadn’t really missed meat.  How could I with stories of factory farming running through my head.

I don’t know what your connection to meat is or how you feel about giving it up.  I’m not judging you and I’m certainly not here to try to convert you to vegetarianism.  But…what about a vegetarian challenge.  Could you do it?  Could you even make it a week?  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  Eating Kosher style really asks me to think about the food that I’m eating.  It forces me to be cognizant.  So, I ask you.  Are you aware?  After my turkey burger last night?  I think I’ve decided that I don’t really miss meat.  It has only been a week and who knows what I’ll want to eat for lunch tomorrow, but for now?  I think I’m not that interested.

Want to have a vegetarian moment?  Here’s a quick and easy vegetarian chilli for you.  The best part about this chilli is that it’s sorta fall themed.

WHAT?

1 large butternut squash
1 (12 oz.) bag frozen onions and peppers
2 (15 oz.) cans stewed tomatoes, Mexican style
1 can black beans, drained
1 can red beans, drained
2 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil

HOW?

In large soup pot sauté chopped onions in olive oil until tender.  Stir in chili powder and cumin. Chop your butternut squash into half-inch or inch size pieces.  Add butternut squash and vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes or until squash is tender but not mushy.  Add tomatoes and drained beans and simmer and simmer for 5 minutes.

It’s seriously amazing.  I think the best part might be that it’s so fast.  I let my chilli simmer for about 20 minutes, because my husband wasn’t home yet…

 

 

 

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Oh, Lord.
10/19/11

What is the hardest thing that you are giving up from your prior religion?

Oy va voy.  Here we go.  Wow.  How do you write an introduction to that question?  This one is particularly sensitive.  It’s almost too sensitive to answer.  I mean, I guess.  I’m over thinking I have to cry the blues when talking about religion or switching religions.  I’ve got to tell you I don’t feel any great loss.  I don’t associate finding a path to Gd, or choosing one religion over another with loss.  I believe that there are many paths to Gd.  If Jesus is your way, good for you.  If you’re into Buddha, awesome.  I’ve never thought that there is one way to get there.  I’m choosing to go down a Jewish path.  Mazel Tov to me.  Mazel Tov to you if you’re doing it a different way.  The goal is to be cognisant.  The goal is to be mindful and not blindly follow a choice that you were spoon fed at 3.

Though, I think I’m supposed to answer this with something big like Jesus or Christmas.  I’ve got no beef with Jesus.  He was a good man.  He’s a great example.  I just don’t think of him as divine.  AND…so what.  You might have noticed that a lot of folks don’t.  Then there’s Christmas.  Well, Christmas?  To me?  That’s a time of year that celebrates family.  Being Jewish doesn’t mean that I don’t get to celebrate my love for my family at any point in the year.  If my mom wants me home for Christmas, you can bet your ass I’m going.

I’d rather celebrate the things that I’m gaining.  How about how I get to argue about the meaning of the Bible?  How about how now I’m part of the conversation?  How about how I have to take time out each year and review who I am and how I’m relating to people in my world?  I could go on and on.  I’m going to choose to celebrate the things that I’m gaining, rather that what I may or may not have lost.  So, take that.

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