Tamar Fox
Jews Bring Food: Tips for Feeding Grieving Friends
I’m an avid cook, but I think in the past three months I’ve probably made a total of four meals. Menu planning, grocery shopping, and cooking elaborate meals—all activities I love—have been out of the question since March, when my mother was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. We have spent so little time in the kitchen since the diagnosis that my mom, an enthusiastic and innovative chef in her own right, recently joked she had probably forgotten how to use a measuring cup.
Though I miss cooking and baking, spending time with my mom is my top priority these days, so I’m glad that our community has stepped in and set up an extensive network of people to bring us food so we don’t have to spend all day in the kitchen. We have gotten some truly amazing and delicious meals. Still, there have also been some pretty substantial bumps in the road.
Here are some tips to take into consideration if you’re called on to bring food to a family member or friend who’s ill, recovering from surgery, or dealing with a recent loss.
4 Comments »Yid.Dish: Vegan Challah
(cross-posted at Jewcy)
This challah recipe is spiced bread more than anything else. There’s no egg in it, which is what makes challah challah in my opinion, but we do braid it, so I call it faux-challah. The dough is pretty sweet so we added lots of salt to make it a savory loaf, but it’s just as easy to make sweet by adding cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and raisins.
There are two sets of directions below - one from a Chabad rebbetzin, and one for those of you who might like something slightly more step-by-step.
