This Article is Cross-Posted on KosherEye.com

As 5771 approaches, we look ahead with hope for a good and sweet year.  Honey has been part of tradition for thousands of years, as exemplified by the age-old custom of using a taste of honey to encourage and reward young children for learning.  What can be more delicious than dipping home-made breads, crackers or fruits into honey? And now honey has gotten even sweeter!

The Savannah Bee Company is redefining honey and educating the consumer as to the many ways to use and enjoy this golden nectar.  Just as there are numerous sources and types of coffee, Scotch and chocolate, raw honey, too, is sourced globally and is available in single varieties and blends, each with different characteristics, taste variations and flavors.

Here are some standouts as described by The Savannah Bee Company:

Tupelo is the “gold standard” by which all other honeys are measured. Harvested over two or three weeks in the early spring, Tupelo nectar is one of the rarest and most valuable liquid resources in the world…a thick, slow-moving river of liquid sunshine. Pour it into strong black tea, on to buttery toast, or over a piece of aged cheddar.

Acacia is known as “moonflower honey” and is produced in the Southern Italian Alps. This delicate organic honey has a clean, light vanilla taste.  It tastes delicious in coffee or tea or served drizzled over toast or over Parmigiana- Reggiano.  Elegant!

Winter White comes from the wildflowers of Lapland, Finland, near the North Pole. This exquisite honey has a creamy color and a smooth texture. Its pure, clean taste, with just a hint of fruit, is the ideal compliment to hot cocoa or warm scones.

Sourwood, an award-winning honey with hints of maple and spice, is made in small batches high in the southern Appalachians.

Raspberry is from the largest raspberry orchard in the U.S and is the purest raspberry honey on the market. This honey naturally crystallizes immediately after extracting it from the combs, making it the ideal dipping consistency. Spread on warm toast, biscuits, or scones.

Black Sage, a pale, cool, greenish-yellow honey rarely crystallizes, is extremely rare, and a treat on the palate. It is very different from any other American honey. The flavors are distinctive, with notes of apple, berry, and vanilla. Many prize this as a favorite with strong black tea.

Recently, Savannah Bee Company has introduced three new varietal honeys, specifically formulated for special uses:

Grill Honey—Pair with grilled foods and grilling marinades; this honey caramelizes well and makes your grill a BEE-B-QUE!

Cheese Honey—Drizzle on salty cheeses or sweeten a strong, creamy blue cheese.

Tea Honey—Stir effortlessly into teas, lemonades and, of course, mojitas

Products from Savannah Bee Company are KSA kosher certified.

Visit Savannah Bee Company to read about the ongoing endangerment of the honeybee population.

Photos: Lauren Krohn

The last time I hosted a vegan Shabbat dinner for friends, I planned it a couple of weeks in advance. Although I only came up with the idea of hosting this past Friday’s dinner four days earlier, there was still an “agenda.” First, I wanted to rely chiefly on produce purchased at the Union Square farmers’ market earlier in the day. Second, I wanted to use some red, white, and blue foods, as Independence Day was just two days away.

The week before the dinner, I attended a “Cooking With Seasonal Vegetables” class at B’nai Jeshurun, a synagogue in Manhattan. Event organizer Melissa Tapper Goldman explained, “I wanted to help support the members of BJ’s new Hazorim CSA [community-supported agriculture program] to transition into CSA living: learning to cook flexibly with the bounty of the season. This is different from supermarket (or even farmers’ market) cooking because the variety and quantity are set by the land and the farm rather than by your preferences.” Victoria Sutton, who runs the company Catering by Victoria, led about 10 people in making a mixture of roasted and cubed red and golden beets, a dish involving the beet greens (the edible leafy greens that are on the end opposite the beet bottoms), and quinoa.

On Friday, I found that the greens from the two different types of beets were surprisingly different from each other in texture and color. I made a stir-fry that included both varieties of beet greens, seitan, green pepper, onions, and garlic. It was probably the centerpiece of the meal, and the leftovers have long since been devoured.

I had never cooked beets before, but the roasted beets came out great. I actually only thought of my red, white, and blue plan after I’d done my shopping, so I thought it’d be nice to present the beets over a bed of thinly sliced, baked “chips” made from blue potatoes. It turned out that the juice from the red beets interfered with the color scheme I had in mind, but the cubed beets and the chips still turned out well individually.

I thought the raspberries and blackberries would complement the red and white beets for the red, white, and blue collage pictured above. Of course, had I thought of the color scheme prior to shopping, I would’ve purchased blueberries instead of blackberries!

I also served dal (using lentils, onions, and garlic I still had left over from my friend’s Veggie Conquest 4 adventure), charoset (made legendary by my Veggie Conquest 3 adventure), carrot salad with scallion microgreens and parsley, and wild rice. I decided to use store-bought pita instead of homemade challah, as the latter just didn’t come out too great in my last few baking attempts.

I managed to make a scrumptious vegan Shabbat dinner that relied heavily on fresh produce from the farmers’ market, getting more mileage out of beets than I would’ve thought possible. It goes to show that vegan meals don’t need soy foods to get by. Why have “Killer Tofu” when The Beets rock so much?

Cross-posted to heebnvegan

“On our farm, the house is bedecked with fragrant lilacs and green branches we�ve cleared from the woods. Tonight, we�re making ch�vre blintzes drizzled with rhubarb sauce for a sweet supper…”

Are you salivating yet? Click here to read more about Shavuot on the farm from our friends at Ten Apple Farm.

Click here for a recipe for the deliciousness you see in the picture above.

It’s not so much the dilemma over recipe that irks me every Shavuot, it’s the huge crack (or 3) down the middle of the cheesecake when all I want is a smooth, beautiful top I don’t have to cover with fruit to hide the imperfections.

After doing some reading on the chemistry of baking cheesecake (and lots of failed experiments [in appearance, not taste ]), I found the perfect technique for making a smooth, creamy cheesecake. It freaked me out the first time I did it, but it was the most amazing cheesecake I’ve ever made.

There are two key elements:
1. Bring all ingredients to room temperature to avoid the need to overmix.
2. Allow the cheesecake to bake, then cool for 5-6 hours in the oven, no peeking allowed!

Yup. Bake, and then turn the oven off and walk away. Don’t open the oven to peek. You won’t see what the cheesecake looks like for many hours. Freaky, right?

But it really works–the slow cooling of the oven allows the cheesecake to cool very slowly to avoid cracking.

Here’s my favorite recipe, but feel free to try it with your own! The lemon zest really brings a brightness to this dish, but you can use lime or orange zest if you prefer, or just leave it out altogether if you aren’t a citrus fan.

Creamy Lemony Cheesecake

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 7ish hours

Makes: 1 9-inch cheesecake

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
2/3 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp flour
zest of 1 lemon (optional)
24 oz cream cheese
1 graham cracker crust

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Let all ingredients including eggs come to room temperature.
3. Beat eggs and sugar until well blended, then stir in sour cream, vanilla, flour, and lemon zest. Fold mixture into cream cheese until smooth. Do not overmix.
4. Pour into graham cracker crust. Bake in oven for 50 minutes, then turn oven off and leave cheesecake for at least 5 hours, and no more than 8. Do not peek or open oven door.
5. Cool and serve (tip: Dip the knife in hot water before you make each cut to avoid jagged edges).

Note: For we lactards, substitute parve (non-dairy) cream cheese and sour cream.

Living with food allergies can make things difficult, especially when it comes to Shabbat. Of course I love eating Shabbat meals at the homes of my friends, but it’s always quite a dilemma for me. If they don’t already know the ins and outs of my dietary restrictions, do I tell them?

Being dairy-free isn’t too much of a problem (usually), since most of my friends serve meat for Shabbat meals, and most Jews are used to cooking parve (neither meat nor dairy) items. It’s the gluten-free restrictions that are the buzz-kill.

Here’s the problem–the list of things I shouldn’t eat pretty much negates typical Shabbat foods: Challah (made with flour). Cholent (because most people use barley, which contains gluten). Kugel (usually made with flour or matzo meal). Soup that has matzo balls or noodles. Schnitzel (breaded). Meatballs (bread crumbs as a binder). Most brands of soy sauce contain wheat gluten. You get the idea.

There are pretty much two scenarios for me when it comes to my dietary restrictions (scenario 2 happens more frequently):

1. People ask me or I tell them in advance what I can and cannot eat, and they proceed to freak out because they can’t make any of their normal Shabbat dishes. I cause them an inordinate amount of stress which makes me feel bad.
2. I don’t tell them in advance because I don’t want to cause any undue stress, and I can usually eat enough at a meal, but then my host/hostess feels bad because they made things I can’t eat even though I’m really okay with picking and choosing.

Now for those who know me pretty well, they’ve adapted to my eating habits and don’t think twice about experimenting with new dishes, and even ask me for ideas. But when I make new friends or am invited by people who don’t know me as well, it gets complicated. To tell, or not to tell?

Do you have friends with Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance? Here are some great Shabbat recipes for the next time you need them:

Gluten-free cholent

Gluten-free side dishes

Gluten-free chicken dishes

Gluten-free beef dishes

Gluten-free muffins (great for desserts)

Do you have food allergies? What has your experience been like?

Passover is a perfect time to learn about Jewish communities from around the world, since there are so many different customs that surround the seder and Passover observance in general.  Whether it is the Afgan and Iranian custom of smacking your tablemates with scallions during Dayenu or the Hungarian custom of decorating the seder table with jewels to commemorate the gold, silver and precious stones that the Israelites took with them from Egypt, Passover can really give us a glimpse into the practices of Jewish communities other than our own.  Haroset is one of the ways that people can learn about other communities and their seder customs, since it seems that every Jewish community (and perhaps every Jewish family) has their own way of creating this seder plate staple.

At Congregation B’nai Jeshurun Hebrew School in New York City, Ivy Schreiber, the Director of Education, brought the Haroset Taste-Off to the students.  In the weeks before Passover, each class picks one type of haroset to make.  They learn about the country where it originates from and make the haroset.  Finally, all the classes come together and present their harosets to a panel of judges.  The judges determine the best tasting, best looking, the best presentation and the class that displayed the best teamwork.  Not only do the students and teachers have a terrific time making the haroset, but they also get a window into how another Jewish community celebrates Passover.

Consider having a haroset taste off at your seder this year.  Create little bowls of different types of haroset, along with a card that explains a little bit about where it comes from.  Guests at the seder can try a few different kinds and vote on their favorite.  You can find all the recipes here.   Chag Sameach!

“This is the bread of affliction”, my father would drone every Passover as he opened the familiar blue square box. “Matzah is tasteless and dry, not meant to be enjoyed. Eating it should remind you of the sufferings of our people.”  As he went on and on and on with his yearly lecture on the harshness of slavery and unleavened bread I sat there slathering on salted butter, devouring sheet after sheet of crispy goodness. Although bland and stomach binding, this so-called ‘bread of affliction’ was a welcome change to the squishy, faintly chemical smelling Wonder loaves my mother bought the rest of the year. Despite the family mandate that matzah eating required a certain degree of complaining to make it religiously significant, my appreciation for the magical combination of flour, water, and fire was born.

Where I grew up in the Midwest during the 1970’s there were only two kinds of matzah available. Manishewitz and Streit’s. Both perfectly square and almost identical in taste, matzah was matzah; or so I thought. It was not until decades later at a community Seder that I discovered that matzah could be round, organic or made from non-white flour.

 Gourmet Matzah? Forget the family mandate, my quest for the ultimate “bread of affliction’ was ignited. After sampling every brand and flavor of matzah I could find, it hit me. My ancestors did not eat matzah found on supermarket shelves.

They made it.

 By hand.

And you can too.

My matzah recipe.. Affliction never tasted so good. 

Ingredients:

2 cups non-self rising flour

1-cup water (rain water is a nice touch if available)

Kosher salt (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven, with a baking stone or cooking sheet inside, to 475 degrees Fahrenheit.

Turn off your cell phone.

In order to avoid fermentation, thus rendering it un-kosher for Passover, the matzah can take no longer than 18 minutes to make from the time the water is added. In order to meet this time constraint it is good to have a kitchen helper and to make the matzah in individual batches.

Mix water and flour.

 Knead until mixture forms non-sticky dough, adding more flour if necessary.

Roll into thin sheets using either a rolling pin or a pasta machine set to 4.

Cut sheets of rolled dough into rectangles or squares with a pasta cutter or straight edged knife.

Prick the surface of the dough evenly with a fork.

 Salt if desired.

Slide the pricked sheets of dough onto baking stone and bake for four minutes or until matzah is slightly browned.

Remove from oven and cool on a baking rack.

On Passover there are at leat 13 ways of looking at matzah;  Matzah Pizza, matzah lasagne (meat and dairy version), matzah farfel stuffing, matzah brittle, brussell sprouts with garlic matzah crumbs, matzah layer cake, chocolate covered matzah, matzah ball soup, matzah meal chicken nuggets, matzah brei, matzah rolls….. And now,  maple pecan matzah “granola”.  This one is for my kids- who are already tiring of  cream cheese and jam on matzah for breakfast, and vowed to never take a simple bowl of  sweet crunchy morning cereal for granted.

Maple Pecan Matzah Granola

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. maple syrup

6 c. matzah farfel

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. chopped pecans

1/2 c dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper- set aside.  In a saucepan over med. heat melt butter and then mix in maple syrup.  In large bowl combine matzah farfel, cinnamon, and pecans.  Pour in butter-syrup mixture and mix well, until all farfel is coated with syrup.  Spread  “granola” on baking sheet.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 8-10 minutes.  Remove from oven when golden and crunchy, toss dried cranberries into the  mix- allow to cool.  Enjoy with milk, on top of yogurt or cottage cheese.

 * If you like your granola sweet, feel free to increase the amount of maple syrup.

from The Ingredients

“Seder” is Hebrew for “order.”  In my playgroup last week we tried to recreate the order in this three-thousand-year-old carefully choreographed ritual (the Passover seder) while exploring the symbolic seder foods.

The children made seder plates. They got large biodegradable bamboo plates, onto which they glued round cardboard prototypes, with six blank circles for the six seder plate foods.  Onto those blanks they stuck stickers representing the egg, lamb shank (we subbed yam), parsley, romaine lettuce, charoset and horseradish.

Veteran choppers they now are, the children cut pink lady and gala apples for the charoset (aka charoseth or haroset) we made (see my mother-in-law’s Baghdadi recipe on my blog). Then each child measured one teaspoon of fine sea salt and poured it into a bowl. They added water, mixed, and had their saltwater bowl for dipping.

And then the seder began.  The children grabbed their pillows so they could recline like kings and queens (princesses maybe?) We did not exactly go by the book (um, Haggadah) but the children did drink four cups of organic grape juice and eat lots of matzah. They sampled all the ingredients on their seder plates, with the egg the runaway favorite.

The children dipped the karpas (parsley) and the egg (and probably just about everything on the table) in the salt water. With Noah Solomon they recited the four questions, named the ten plagues (the pinky-dipping got a bit messy – good thing we had a white paper tablecloth), and made the famous matzah, charoseth and romaine lettuce sandwich.

The big surprise was that no one found the afikomen. And I thought I’d stashed it in such an obvious spot.

Chag sameach!