Haroset (and haroset pie!)

What is haroset? Haroset is a mixture of chopped apples and nuts that plays a part in the traditional Jewish seder meal at Passover. By March, it’s hard to get the kids excited about more apples, but they love making and eating haroset. Ashkenazi or Sephardic? Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe, like my Lithuanian ancestors, …

Cranberry sauce

Homemade cranberry sauce versus The Mold At our house, some people like homemade cranberry sauce, but for other people it’s not Thanksgiving without the kind of cranberry sauce that dumps out of the can in one piece and stands up in the bowl in one quivering glistening cylinder. So we always have both on the …

Bread stuffing

The only use for Wonder Bread? My mother made this sweet bread stuffing with a loaf of Wonder Bread, because it becomes so soft when it gets wet. Sometimes I still use regular store-bought white bread to make this stuffing, but you can also do it perfectly well with whole-wheat bread, or with bread you baked yourself. …

Oatmeal in seconds

Better than my mother’s oatmeal My mother was a good mother and she made us good hot bowls of oatmeal every winter morning and we hated it. Her oatmeal was terrible: gloppy stuff like jello. Then I got married, and my husband made oatmeal, and it was nothing like hers at all – this oatmeal …

Squash with fennel

A more sophisticated taste for squash Most squash recipes end up being pretty sweet, close to pumpkin pie. This is a more savory recipe, and it’s also gluten-free and vegan. It looks dramatic on a platter, and can take the place of a roast for a vegan holiday dinner. How to make squash with fennel: …

Noodle soufflé

Fancier Noodle Kugel My mother always made this noodle souffle on Christmas, as a brunch to keep us going until Christmas dinner, and get us away from the chocolate. It’s essentially a noodle kugel with beaten egg whites to make it a souffle, and a bunch of dairy added,s but it’s more exciting to eat …