Thanks so much to Aryeh Pelcovitz of Uri L’Tzedek for this great guest post.
In July of 2009, Uri L’Tzedek began a small project in New York to change the way the (Orthodox / Jewish) community approached its food. Modeled after Israel’s Tav Chevrati, the Tav Hayosher, ethical seal, would certify that a kosher eating establishment was meeting legal and ethical standards in the way it treats its employees. Uri L’Tzedek granted the Tav to kosher restaurants and supermarkets after confirming that their employees were paid at least minimum wage, overtime, were granted appropriate breaks, and work in a healthy and safe environment.
Every once in a while I feel sorry for myself because my kids won’t eat my lovingly prepared meals; for comfort, I seek out one of my fellow mom’s, specifically those with teen-agers. Invariably they look at me with a withering ‘well let me get you the violins and a stiff drink fast, your poor thing’ stare, reminding me that I am a mere amateur at kitchen rejection. When I hear their tales of trying to feed their teens, my load somehow seems lighter, more manageable. Snarky, picky, and sometimes downright nasty, it is no easy task to manage teens at the table.
Enter Rozanne Gold and her new book, Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs. I sat down with the author and discovered that the book’s appeal to teens is as organic as its recipes. Gold recently adopted a teen-ager and for the past few years they have been coming together as a family, in and out of the kitchen. Her daughter was one of five teen chefs engaged to prepare and test each recipe. Their collective industry and obvious enjoyment is evidenced throughout the book with hands-on pictures depicting their efforts.
Thanks so much to our friends at Jewcy for sharing this really funny holiday post they put together with Erik of Fancy Fast Food, a super fun new food blog that performs “extreme makeovers of actual fast food items purchased at popular fast food restaurants.”
Hey everybody, it’s Hanukkah! It’s Chanuka! No matter how you spell it, it’s time for the Jewish festival of lights — eight crazy nights of dreidels gone wild, a time when latkes are as abundant as old yentas around a mahjongg table. But you don’t need to be Jewish to partake in Hanukkah traditions, particularly the gastronomic treat of latkes (or lattkes). No matter how you spell it, “latkes” is Yiddish for fried pancakes, typically of the potato variety — making it oddly similar to McDonald’s hash browns. However, Bubbe Wendy has guilted us into using her Fancy Fast Food recipe (“If you just want to use McDonald’s hash browns, then I guess that’s fine by me…”), so here goes. Oy…
The best Jewish food recipe I ever found came to me not at a friends house, or at a cooking seminar, or while leafing through old cookbooks at my Bubbe’s house (which is where all my friends get them). No, I got my best recipe when I was covered in dust and spackle at 10:00 at night, halfway through a project to finish my basement.
Before I provide details (or the recipe), there are a few things about me that I would like to clarify:
Cross-posted on From the Ground—the blog of American Jewish World Service (AJWS)
Back in October, I attended a permaculture workshop at a retreat center in upstate New York. I learned all about food forests, grafting, sheet mulching and many other agro-ecological farming techniques about which I knew little. I was surprised—and delighted!—to learn that many of these techniques are being implemented in the developing world, too.
Calling all New Yorkers! A quick reminder that tomorrow (Sunday 12/13 – 2pm) is Culture in the Cucina – a unique and fun foodie event celebrating Jewish Italian food. Hope to see you there!
CULTURE IN THE CUCINA How Rome’s Jews are Cooking up the Past and Future
While Jews have lived in Italy since the 2nd century BCE and are credited with popularizing staple ingredients like eggplant, fennel and pumpkin, the notion of an “Italian Jewish cuisine” is difficult to define. Still, a handful of traditional dishes – like Carciofi alla Guidia (deep fried artichokes) and Pizza Ebraica (a fruit cake-like dessert) – have managed to endure over time.
We took this last year, looking out through our front window on our front yard under two feet of snow. For all you folks who get snow regularly in winter, this was an epic storm for Portlanders, the most snow we had in the city in 40 years. This year there’s no snow on the first night of Chanukah, but it’s plenty cold. Wherever you are, whatever weather you’ve got, chag sameach!
I’m sure that like me, many of you cannot get Hanukah cooking and baking out of your minds! I will be making potato leek latkes, homemade apple sauce and some chewy ginger cookies tonight. As you can tell, I’m in full holiday mode! Anyway, if you are looking for a break from the holiday food maddness I have a great recipe for you!
My birthday was about a month and a half ago. As much as I enjoy eating out I really wanted to cook my birthday dinner at home with my boyfriend this year. We decided our main course would be homemade pizza – something neither of us had ever made. I had heard it was very easy to make but having never made any type of yeast-based bread, I was a bit nervous!
I looked into a few recipes and ended up using one based on a recipe from one of my favorite food bloggers. I will say that this recipe didn’t make quite enough dough for me. I think next time I will try this recipe. The most fun thing about making your own pizza is that you can put anything you want on it (and it can be as healthy or unhealthy as you’d like)! We were especially proud of our pizzas since the vast majority of the ingredients were local and organic. I hope you enjoy making your own pizza. Feel free to leave comments with your favorite topping combination!
Adamahniks helping with the sweet potato harvest at Chubby Bunny Farm in Falls Village, CT. Photo by Julia Gazdag.
As we put the fields to bed here at Adamah, we’re looking ahead to next season. We have several staff positions we are seeking to fill. If you’re looking for farm work that feeds the soil and the soul, Adamah is the place for you!
Field Manager: This is an ideal position for someone with 1-2 years farm experience looking for a manager position in an educational environment. The Field Manager will manage vegetable production on the 5-acre Adamah farm, which grows for a 50-share CSA, for the dining hall at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT, and for our value-added products business (pickles, sauerkraut and jam). For complete job description and info on how to apply contact Anna Hanau at anna@isabellafreedman.org.
FROM THE BAY TO THE GULF – Do you live in the California Bay area, are in your 20′s or 30′s and interested in important food issues? Take your social justice passion down to New Orleans. Join Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ) and the Progressive Jewish Alliance (PJA) for a week of service, learning, and activism.
You will travel to New Orleans from Jan. 13-18, 2010 to work with The School at Blair Grocery. Participants will learn about issues around food and sustainability and explore the connection between local Bay Area concerns and local New Orleans concerns.
It’s latke season, which also means it’s time to buy applesauce, dig out the applesauce you made in the fall, or make some from scratch now. This simple recipe fills up the house with a delicious aroma of cinnamon, and can easily be frozen in plastic or glass freezer containers to enjoy throughout the winter. Add a bit to your buttery sweet potato latkes, parsnip carrot latkes, or spicy potato latkes; or have some plain as a snack – it’s delicious with granola or walnuts mixed it!
Here’s a colorful seasonal alternative to traditional potato latkes:
Take your favorite latke recipe and substitute an equal amount of shredded parsnips and carrots for the potatoes (if you want them to be even more colorful, you can also add shredded zucchini, if you don’t mind that zucchini isn’t seasonal this time of year for most of us). The result is a lighter, more flavorful latke, and the parsnips and carrots make for a sweeter, more complex flavor than traditional potato latkes. Not to mention you can pretend you’re eating healthier because you’re eating veggie latkes instead of all those carbs (just forget about the whole fried in oil part). Chag sameach!
Cross-posted on From the Ground—the blog of American Jewish World Service (AJWS).
“Kitchen gardens in Kenya” is not a phrase we hear often, but for many people, that phrase is the key to survival. In a country of nearly 35 million people, malnutrition and hunger are staggering problems, particularly for Kenyan children, orphans and people living with HIV/AIDS. In the rural, western regions of Kenya, sustaining basic nutrition is a chronic struggle in the face of food insecurity. Too weak to walk long distances or stand in lines waiting for food aid, those who live in rural areas and subsist on less than a dollar a day do not have access to the basics needed to live healthy, dignified lives.
Cross-posted on From the Ground—the blog of American Jewish World Service (AJWS).
We’re still savoring the success of AJWS’s first benefit event for Global Circle—a new program for young professionals committed to global justice—that took place in New York City over two weeks ago. The room was bursting with the energy of more than 350 people gathered together to support AJWS’s work in the fight against hunger.
