This entry is cross-posted at Your Health is on Your Plate.

Last summer, after my patient Mrs. Price heard me say that her blood sugar was 204, a single tear ran down her cheek as she said,  “My eldest granddaughter is getting married next year.”  A blood sugar measurement over 200 is one way to confirm a diagnosis of diabetes.  Her parents had both died in their 60’s from complications of chronically elevated high blood sugars.  Here is what I told her.

By Rhea Yablon Kennedy. Originally posted on PursueAction.org.

Last month in a post on PursueAction.org, I puzzled out the fierce public interest in healthy food that even a tragic oil spill and a coalmine disaster could not distract attention from. The grassroots groundswell for healthier food in the D.C. area included the passage of a sales tax on soft drinks. Similar bills recently emerged in many parts of the country. In this post, I take a closer look at “soda tax” campaigns and what they can teach us:

One such recent measure to apply a penny-per-ounce soda tax in New York State failed. New York Times reporter Anemona Hartocollis pinned it to a winning anti-tax campaign. She compared two ads focused on Governor David Paterson’s proposed cost jump, one aimed at promoting it, the other aimed at defeating it:

Soda.  Pop.  Coke.  S.S.B. (sugar-sweetened beverage).  Whatever you wanna call it, it’s bad for you.  Or so argues Mark Bittman, the New York Times‘ “Minimalist” columnist and prominent foodie in this Sunday’s New York Times.  This phenomenal article poses the question of whether soda may be the next tobacco.  He interviews proponents calling for a special excise tax on soda to fund obesity prevention programs, as well as other measures to curb the intake of these empty calories in a can (or bottle).  The article comes after Michelle Obama’s appointment to lead a national campaign against childhood obesity, which some believe is linked to an excessive consumption of soda and candy.

In another important case against Monsanto and the USDA, the Center for Food Safety has again prevailed, demonstrating that GMOs pose serious risk of harm to organic farmers and consumers, and that the USDA is failing to sufficiently protect us from the contamination that can result from the planting of these crops – this time in Sugar beets! As lead counsel for CFS on this case, I’m excited to share the news with you!

A Federal Court ruled yesterday that the Bush USDA’s approval of genetically engineered (GE) “RoundUp Ready” sugar beets was unlawful. The Court ordered the USDA to conduct a rigorous assessment of the environmental and economic impacts of the crop on farmers and the environment.

What could be more dear to an ecologically minded keeper of kashrut in summer than a marshmallow? In San Francisco, a panel of tasters at the local daily voted the kosher brand as their top pick. Tell us in comments where to find kosher ‘mallows in your area! Has anyone tried to make one at home?

I’m in the minority as far as Jews go in that I’m blonde.  There are increasing number of blonde Jews but we’re still few and far between.  I was president of my Jewish sorority in college so my picture was smack in the middle of our composite photo.  Not only was I  front and center but I stuck out like a sore thumb as one of three or four blondes out of over 100 women on the  composite.  In any case, I’ve always embraced being blonde so when I was deciding what to bake recently blondies came to mind immediately.  I am a huge fan of chewy brownies but there’s something about blondies that make them even better than brownies, at least in my opinion.

I located a recipe on one of my favorite cooking blogs and after reading the recipe I realized what makes blondies so fantastic (beyond the hair color connection, of course): brown sugar!  Blondies are chewy and have a bit of a molasses flavor since they made using only brown sugar and no white sugar.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with blondies, they are sort of like a chocolate chip cookie in a bar form – but so much better.  There are a few reasons that blondies will be my quick and easy dessert of choice moving forward: they are versitile, easy to make without fancy kitchen electrics, and keep well in an airtight container for a few days.

As far as versitility goes, the recipe I used called for semi-sweet chocolate chips but I had a bag of Heath Toffee Bits that I wanted to use up so I did a bit of a swap.  Here are some of my other ideas for blondie add-ins: dried cherries or cranberries with white chocolate chips, semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips with walnuts, semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips andcrystalized ginger, and the list goes on…

So we only have a few days left of Pesach… and I happen to be quite happy about this!  It’s not that I don’t understand Pesach or why we don’t eat leavened things – I do.  I actually think the story of Pesach reminds us, as Jews, of some important lessons.  The reminder that I find to be most poignant is that we cannot consider ourselves free as long as others are oppressed.

Sorry for the digression – now back to food… I know some people find cooking during Pesach to be a fun challenge but I find it inconvenient.  As a vegetarian I rely (probably too much) on foods which are not considered “Kosher l’Pesach”, i.e. pasta, rice, bread, soy items, etc, so during Pesach I end up eating lots of matzoh pizza.  For anyone not familiar with matzoh pizza it is a basic combination of matzoh, tomato sauce and cheese which is then toasted (do not microwave because your matzoh pizza will be soggy).  I suppose one could come up with many variations to the aforementioned matzoh pizza recipe (please feel free to share your favorite) but no matter what it’s still matzoh pizza and is not even close to real pizza.

As you can infer from the previous paragraphs my brainstorming of what my boyfriend and I were going to eat during Pesach was a bit of a depressing process for me, however; there was one beacon of hope!  Early last week a friend emailed me for my matzoh crunch recipe.  I had made it last year and brought it to my office (filled with mostly Jews) and this friend like it so much that she went home that night and made it for her boyfriend.  He liked it so much that he requested it again this year!  I don’t know how but I until I received her email I had totally forgotten about the matzoh crunch.

Here in the Berkshires, we’ve reached perfect maple syrup tapping temperatures: days above freezing, and nights below freezing. I had the chance to participate in some tree tapping last week.

Today The Cleaner Plate Club featured an article on Vermont maple syrup and sugaring that gives a clear picture of the syrup-making process.

In the past many maple syrup producers tested the readiness of their product by putting a small amount of lard on top of the syrup; nowadays most maple syrup makers use vegetable oil. To make sure your syrup is kosher, look for a kosher certified symbol, or contact the farmer or manufacturer. Check out this site for more information on kosher maple syrup. If you get the chance, visit a sugar shack this season to enjoy in the delights of maple.

I promise I will have more recipes from my CSA in the next few days (here’s a hint: collard greens) but today I want to take a break from the veggies to share something really outstanding!  Last weekend my boyfriend and I had one of his old friends over for a bit of a feast, here is the menu: Maui ribs (for the boys – I’m a vegetarian), fork-mashed potatoes, kale, braised fennel… and of course dessert.

My boyfriend and I had been to a french restaurant the night prior and shared chocolate mousse for dessert.  It was good but a bit heavy and dense for my taste.  The next day I started thinking about what to make for dessert and lacked inspiration so I asked him what he wanted me to make.  He clearly didn’t get his filling of mousse the night before and asked me to make more!  I had never made mousse before so I set out to find a good recipe.  I looked through many cookbooks but ended up looking to the chef who is a master of all things comfort food – Tyler Florence, though I did adapt his recipe slightly.  Tyler’s recipes never steer you wrong.  In fact, if you’re ever looking for some outstanding mac and cheese his is fantastic.

Ok, back to the mousse… it turned out to be quite simple and absolutely delicious.  My boyfriend and his friend agreed that it was restaurant-quality!  The best part is that if you have extra and cover it tightly with plastic wrap it will last in the fridge for a few days.  Since you can make this ahead of time it would be perfect for a dairy Shabbat lunch for those of you who don’t cook on Shabbat.  As a side note, the reason you want to keep it covered is that it will take on flavors of other things in the fridge – same reason you always want butter covered.  Now for the recipe…

In possibly the sweetest debate this side of Candyland, it’s coming down to the nitty-gritty: high fructose corn syrup, or sugar?

According to OUKosher.org, “high fructose corn syrup made up… about 56% of the sweeteners that Americans consumed in 1997.” That was 12 years ago. Is a new pattern emerging, in favor of sugar?

This is an especially interesting question as we approach Passover. Generally, high fructose corn syrup is treated as a no-no chametz ingredient, come Passover. This discounts some popular foods during the eight days, including sodas and ketchup… unless it is known that the particular high fructose corn syrup used is a kosher-made variety.

Not too long ago, I was in New Orleans on a three-day work conference.  Having never been to the Crescent City before, I decided to seek out many of the city’s culinary delights.  But after I had tucked into a bucket of boiled shellfish, enjoyed a platter of jambalaya,  étouffée,  and maque choux, at Mother’s Restaurant (World’s Best Baked Ham), slurped down a fried oyster po’boy and munched on a muffuletta – I was acutely aware that the only kosher thing I had enjoyed during my brief stay was a bucket-sized plastic cup of beer.

So, what could be kosher in New Orleans a city famed for its Creole cooking – a cuisine dependent on many non-kosher foods?  According to one kosher-keeping Tulane alumni, and a couple of rabbinical students, it is tough to keep kosher outside of one’s home in NOLA.  Before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city there had been several vegetarian restaurants and the Creole Kosher Kitchen in the French Quarter – although to date none have reopened.  Possibly the only kosher restaurant left in town is Casablanca and the Kosher Cajun Deli located in the suburb of Metarie.  Café du Monde, the French market cafe famed for its beignets (fired dough doused in powdered sugar) and chicory coffee received its kashrut certification in time for Chanukah this past year.  But are there any traditional New Orleans dishes that are kosher?

Chanukah gelt always seems like a good idea at the beginning of December, but these days, the chocolate just doesn’t seem worth fighting with the foil to eat. Similar to Rhea Yablon Kennedy‘s experience, we wanted to find another way to use up our leftovers. When my roomies came back from a trip to Ohio they were inspired to make Buckeyes – the unofficial candy of the state of Ohio. Buckeyes are a tree nut and the candies do resemble the naturally occurring buckeye. Rachel, who hails from Cincinnati, referenced the Isaac M. Wise Temple Sisterhood cookbook for recipes. Not 1, but 2 recipes can be found (pages 113 and 114 for those of you who have the 2001 edition of the cookbook).  The Hazon office sure enjoyed these tasty treats…Buckeyes are basically peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate.

The joy of Diaspora is the variety of experience it brings into our tradition. Almost any kind of food has analogues in every tributary of Jewish heritage and candy is no exception. We’ve sifted through the internet and our cookbook collections to bring you Jewish candy recipes from Eastern Europe, South Asia and the Mediterranean, including, of course, the sticky and celebrated halvah, in its classic sesame rendition and with a serendipitous autumnal twist.

Raw Halvah
(From Arrowhead Mills)

1/2 cup Sesame Seeds (ground)
2 tablespoons Sesame Seeds (whole)
3 tablespoons Raw honey
1/4 cup Sesame Tahini (use the driest part of the jar)
1/8 teaspoon Almond extract

Grind 1/2 cup seeds in a blender. Mix ground seeds, whole seeds, tahini, honey and extract in a bowl all together until thoroughly blended. Roll into small balls or into a long roll and refrigerate.

More after the jump…

(Cross posted on Mixed Multitudes)

Wednesday is Simchat Torah, which generally means dancing around with the Torah, watching little kids wave some flags they made in Sunday school, and lots of drinking.  Simchat Torah is second only to Purim in its association with alcohol.  I don’t think there’s any halakhic obligation to drink this week, the way there is on Purim, but if you walk into any synagogue on Tuesday night, you’re likely to see a bottle of schnapps or two (or six).  Now I like Schnapps, but I also enjoy mixed drinks, and thought I’d share some nice Jewish cocktail and shot recipes to help enliven your Simchat Torah celebrations.  Chag Sameach!