Pam R

Is the goole search all that different from Amazon's search inside feature? Can't you access whole books on amazon - or do they limit it?

Briefly touched on here - the pierogi thread.

I don't know about the recipe you're using .. maybe someone who does will have a different answer. But - you can buy frozen challah doughs - they work well. I would think that if you froze it before rising (just after shaping) it might be ok. Then just thaw and rise the day you want it.

this is so true. as I said earlier, my two publishers wanted the same book done two different ways. There was give and take on all sides so that everybody could be happy with the final result.

soup. you can roast off a few pounds and make a delicious soup outta them. yum.

I use the same technique - though we used to have some staff who placed the cabbage in the freezer which softened up the leaves.

Sorry - my fault. I need to be thinking about and trying out recipes a good month to a month and a half before they are actually here. At least it's not like Passover was for this year - I invited people over and had a seder meal in December - all so that I could get my recipes in to a magazine. But isn't it nice to be thinking ahead? and thanks for the link!

I was gonna say .. it's a long drive to Toronto

Thanks Michelle. As Jason posted in another topic, it's not so easy to buy etrogim in these parts for cooking. I'd love to be able to try some etrog recipes. Is the taste that different from a lemon? Can I duplicate it in any way? (Maybe a mix of lemon and lime?) I read somewhere that Sukkot was like the Jewish version of Thanksgiving. It makes sense to make fruits and vegetables the stars of the mean. I'll check out the link

After I made the comment about more than one way to do something in a kosher kitchen I meant to add another comment about the fact that this is no way a jewish specific dish. It's just that the first few posts centered in the jewish kitchen. Carry on.

How odd... that there would be more than one way to make a dish in the Jewish kitchen . Nancy, my grandmother was from Poland as well... maybe that's the cause of my sweet-free rolls. I like them more on the sour side... but MizDucky, there was very little coming out of baba's kitchen that didn't have garlic in it. Cabbage rolls definately did have garlic. Having said that - next time I make a batch of them, I think I'll cook up two pans ... one sweet one not. I'm almost sure it wouldn't kill me! Does anybody else ever make the lazyman-cabbage roll? Forget the rolling, just layer everything and call it a day? As well, one of the best tips baba taught me was to line the bottom of the baking dish with extra cabbage leaves - this way there was no chance of the rolls themselves burning.

am I the only one that thinks raisins are a terrible idea?

uh huh. My personal memories of Sukkot, sadly, are mostly of when I was in school. Each class took it's turn filing out of the school and into the Sukkah where we all got jiggy with the lulav and etrog, had some juice and an Oreo knock-off (kosher of course). More vivid memories are of the decorating than the eating... though also food related. The old cranberry and popcorn strings we worked on in the synagogue for the sukkah there. I wonder if it is the weather (in these parts) that have stopped Sukkot from being a 'big' holiday. The leaves are already changing colour here and falling off the trees - by the time Sukkot rolls around we can have snow. It's tough having an outdoorsy holiday north of the 49th parallel. Should my Sukkot column focus on soups that we can all drink out of a thermos?

Why do you think there aren't many/any sukkot traditions? I mean... there's been plenty of time for traditions to form... and if there's any group that's all about the food traditions, it's our group. Nu?

Ditto on the grandmother. My mother definately has her 'gourmet' moments... but then, I don't remember her making halopchy Years ago I made some with crushed tomatoes... but I can't really remember what else I put in it. The end result though, tasted very much like we all remembered my grandmothers tasting. So the next time I made it I used canned tomato soup .

My baba always used some canned manishewitz tomato soup in hers. I don't know why, but damn was it good. She would also add some chunks of meat to the 'sauce'. I use sour salt in borscht - but I jsut sprinkle it in, stir and taste. If it's not sour enough I add more. A pot of borscht probably gets 1/2-1 tsp of salt. Now I want some too.

Good point. I had to change colour to color and flavour to flavor throughout my book. For some reason Canadians and those in the UK/Aus can understand they are the same thing ... Americans apparently have more difficulty with it..

I think that's also up to the author for the most part. I wanted my book to be used by the home cook (I mean really used) - and I am not a trained chef. So I pretty much stay away from many 'culinary' terms. When possible I like to say something like '1/4" dice' or 1" cubes - specific sizes. But let's be honest - my book is 140 soup recipes - it doesn't have to be that precise - when you get into other cooking areas it's a different matter. I'm more concerned with the level of expertise of my readership, vs. their concern about mine. I'm always clear when giving interviews or writing my little bios - I grew up in the family business, I didn't go to school to learn how to cook. I want each and every person using the recipes to be able to understand them. I just remembered one issue with the publishers though. I like doing things by weight - as we know it's much more accurate. All of my recipes were done using weight measurements. I was then asked to change everything to volume or piece units. IE: 2 lbs of potatoes needed to be changed to 4 medium potatoes. 1 oz. of basil changed to 1/4 cup. That 'crimped my style".

In my experience, they differ. Part of the style is up to the author, but there are often restrictions or guidlines that are imposed by the publisher or editor. One magazine that printed several of my recipes earlier this year had very strict rules and reorganized my recipes once I submitted them. The newspaper I write a regular column for lets me do what I want. These days you also have to think about international readers (maybe this is less important in the US). All of my recipes for my cookbook needed metric and imperial weights and measure and celcius and ferenheit temps. I don't know how many book publishers have strict guidelines. If you look at a variety of books put out by one publisher they often have very different set-ups and looks. I think it's more the magazines and newspapers that impose restrictions. That's my experience anyway. I'm sure others have different experiences. edited to add: I don't know if this is what you mean... but when I was in the editing stages with my cookbook there were several things that my Canadian publisher was good with but my US publisher needed me to change. Things like English cucumber had to be changed to long seedless; Roma tomato needed to be changed to Italian plum; etc.

While I completely agree with you, I just want to point out that no two ovens (and other equipment) are the same. I've baked in 9 ovens this year - and they all did different things to the same recipe. Not to mention that living in different locations and climates will also do wonky things to recipes.. and the weather is an issue.. It can be hard to be chatty I HATE recipes that continue on the backside of the page it starts on. Either fit the whole thing on one page, or lay it out so that it starts on the left side and ends on the right - not on the back. I like clear ingredient lists and simple instructions without any superfluous stuff in the recipe itself. I like reading extra tidbits - but not in the middle of the recipe.

I pretty much am a purist as well. But at Rosh Hashana I like my (plain) challah slathered with creamed honey. mmm.

I love that people have their family holidays catered. Brief comment on the offerings of the caterer - while they may be offering traditional foods to the extreme, in my experience people want traditional at the holidays. We always add new and interesting items to our holiday order forms - but they get outsold from here to Timbuktu by the traditional stuff. In fact, we sell very few 'complete dinners'. More people are calling us specifically for the traditional foods and then cooking the rest themselves. Brisket is very expensive. Every year we debate whether or not we'll make it. We sell it for over $30/lb. cooked and people still order it. Knishes, blintzes, gefilte fish, kugels are top sellers. Now, when I go home after days of cooking all of these traditional foods, it's the last thing I want to eat (or serve) for dinner. While I have grand ideas of creating some interesting dishes, I'm usually so tired that all I really want is something basic. About the price. I live in the wrong place. $70 US is close to $100 CND. Our complete dinners (from soup to dessert) run in the high $20 to mid $30's, depending on the meal. That's Canadian. I'm always afraid to charge too much - which is nothing compared to almost any other city. OK... so my thoughts weren't that brief

gee thanks. do you know kosher brisket retails for around $18/kg? I don't pay retail, but still!

The rum ball. Some places make rum balls out of ...well basically garbage - things that they can no longer sell that have been sitting around too long. I've heard other horror stories but choose not to believe them. Others (like me) use up scraps of cakes or cookies that have never seen a showcase. If I bake a cake and have to cut off pieces to even it out - I keep them for rum balls. If I'm using lady fingers to make something.. any extras go in the rum ball bin.. I actually buy a plain tea biscuit that I use just for rum balls. These things are ground up and mixed with cocoa, corn syrup, nuts (optional) and dark rum. Rolled in chocolate shots or nuts or whatever you like, a rumball.

Boy, ain't that the truth. When I was green and fresh out of pastry school, and I discovered what rum balls "really" were, I never ate one again. ← That's true for many places. Let me assure you though, that my bucket full of goodies that I use to make them is full of good stuff only. Unfortunately, we can sell so many of them that I sometimes have to take packages of cookies and grind them up because I don't have any 'garbage' to use. I promise, you can eat one of mine!