Pam R

I don't carry them - but thanks! I've emailed them to see if they have a Canadian distributor. I'm thinking that a 20' box may be too much for us...

Different country, same issues. We were under local supervision for about 20 years. This supervision was not recognized by some. A group tried to put together a higher supervision - and we switched over to them. For various reasons (money and a key rabbi moved) we were only under that supervision for about a year. Rather than returning to the previous Va'ad, we decided to drop our hechsher completely. As a result we lost only a few customers (for prepared foods only). Any catering we do for the orthodox synagogues is done in their kitchen. Another result is that I cannot say that our food is kosher. I can tell you that we use all kosher ingredients and we do everything as we did when we were under supervision - but legally we are not kosher. The local va'ad has been talking with the national COR - they're trying to bring the city's level more in line with the national. I don't know whether we'll return to being hechshered or not - I would never say never. I can tell you that it's very difficult - especially in a small community like ours. The fees involved are prohibitive. It just seems odd that we are trying to provide a service for the community and the powers that be want to tax us for it.

I slept well - but there was a terrible thunder/lightening storm that woke me at 4 AM. Made up for it by sleeping through my alarm. Made it to work at 8:30

I'd say cook it down some or use a potato starch/water slurry. If you go with the starch, don't go overboard or it will get gummy.

Fun Fact: I have personally cracked 1800 eggs over the last week and a half (that's 150 dozen). Each egg must be cracked into a small bowl or cup, checked for blood-spots and then they can be added to a recipe. Any egg containing any blood must be discarded. This year they haven't been too bad - except for one case that seemed to contain most of them. For some reason I really love this picture. I loved last year's version too . Here's the shells from 30 dozen eggs: And here they are in my cooler - separated and waiting to be turned into cakes. I'm going home to bed (11 PM). 'night.

First of all, the first slice of the first brisket was heavenly. Just so you know. Second - I'm not sure what show it will be on. The producer that did the taping today is supposed to email me with the time (local). They're doing a Good Friday broadcast - so I don't know if that means as part of one of the scheduled shows or if it's replacing a reg. show. (I'd love to do Sounds Like Canada- but I'd want to be in the studio with Shelagh.) We usually have CBC on in the kitchen during the day at work - I've definitely become a 'CBC listener' over the last few years. I love when Bonnie Stern is on with the food historian debating foods. I'm leaving for dinner at one of the local Greek restaurants - then I'll be back at work. More later.

We've been taking turns manning the cash register today. I've also been busy in the kitchen. The exciting event of the afternoon was an interview I did with CBC radio for a national broadcast. The Winnipeg CBC producers are putting together a Good Friday show, but realizing that not everybody celebrates the same things, they wanted to include something about Passover. I've don't a couple of things with them since my book was released - but I still get nervous each time! I feel like I'm rambling on and on. They assure me that I'm a great radio interviewee (I think they mean I talk a lot), and I know that they can edit out a lot of my ramblings. You can hear me rambling on across the country on Friday morning .. or probably over the internet at CBC.ca. (be kind!)

Thanks Michelle. I really like the Daube recipes - very similar to some of my own recipes. In fact, I was thinking of doing something similar with lamb later this week.... decisions decisions. Maybe I should divide the brisket up and do it a couple of different ways...

It's not a standard practice around here - but I've frozen them cooked and couldn't tell the difference when I was eating them. I think freezing them uncooked would be just fine, (but haven't done it).

So - Dad's trimming up all the big briskets - he'll be slow cooking them in a garlic marinade. He has been trimming off small chunks that won't make for good carving later on. Here's my question: What should I do with five pounds them? I was thinking of smoking them - but will it be too much for such small pieces? Any suggestions? We also have some small chunks of buffalo brisket. We've been trying to get a source for kosher buffalo - and have been in contact with a company in South Dakota. The owner is happy to sell it to us, but the Canadian government wants him to fill our about 20 forms before they'll even consider letting it (and lamb) into the country. In the meantime, while driving home from Florida, my aunt and uncle visited and got some samples. We'll prepared some of it the same way we do the beef brisket and see how it compares. I have some buffalo stewing meat as well - anybody have any good recipes?

As soon as I get it all figured out, I'll post the totals.

I get a weekly email from Kosher Today - a kosher food industry trade paper. I just received the email and some of the interesting news bits: - Kosher Wines are the big story. Discussing all the changes in kosher wine - from the sickly sweet stuff we often associate with kosher to all of the wonderful new wines now available. - Dominoes in Jerusalem expects a 50% sales increase over Passover (all but 4 stores are open) - Kosher romaine (washed-precut) is hard to find. Some stores in NY have special rabbinic staff in to check the lettuce for bugs.

A couple of years ago I was checking out the Passover section of a local grocery store (part of a big chain). A display had been set up in front and I noticed that they had some of the non-Passover matzo in this section. A manager was walking by and I mentioned to him that he might want to move it out of the area. His store is located in an area with a lot of seniors - and for those of you who haven't seen this stuff, the writing on the packaging that says it's not for Passover is quite small. I know of people who have picked it up by mistake and I would have been concerned if it was my store. His response to me was "this is what they send us. this is what we put out".

We do. Both for catering and in the store. In our new location there's much more 'walk-in' traffic. The two parts of the city couldn't be more different. We've been lucky to get a few very good reviews in the local newspaper - so that has brought in people from all walks of life. When we had a restaurant it went through several different incarnations. For a few years we had a vegetarian/dairy restaurant - one of only a couple in the city. In more recent years we had a good, old-fashioned Jewish-style deli. We brought in meat from Montreal, then Toronto. We steamed real, Montreal Smoked meat and sold 3.5, 7 and 10.5 oz. (100, 200 & 300 gram) thick sandwiches on good Jewish rye bread. Together with our 'house-made' knishes, verenekes, blintzes, gefilte fish, etc., plus our baking - we had customers who came just to experience real deli food. Though we no longer have a restaurant, we continue to have non-Jews come in to buy baking, prepared foods and items from the store that they know of or have heard of (like hummus, babaganoush, etc.). We also cater for companies and organizations. For years we used to cater the staff Christmas dinners for a bar down the street from us. If we are able to do it, we do. As long as the customer isn't expecting a seafood buffet or cheeseburgers, it's just food. btw - I've been working in this answer for about 2 hours now!

There is - though I don't think it's very large. Since we've opened and have started carrying items like jahnun and melawah - I've been meeting more and more of them! (I realize these items aren't Moroccan, but they are much loved by most of the Sephardi population here.) In the last year I've learned about foods that I've never heard of before. It's not unusual to hear customers telling each other about one product or another. Carrying all of these Israeli items has really introduced us to a segment of the Jewish population we didn't really know. Apparently 1+ Israeli families are moving to Winnipeg each week. Many of them are Russian families via Israel - but some are Sephardi. It's a great mix. We've been playing Israeli music in the store - and as your shopping for your Passover supplies you can hear English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian and Spanish being spoken. It's a very 'hamish' place. All the staff yells across the store at each other and the customers. You can hear people singing along - yelling back at us. It's really lots of fun. (and very different from when we're catering fancy-shmancy parties )

I was totally prepared this year and started stocking up on bread three weeks ago. Now my (atheist/secular/high-holiday Catholic) household has 3 loaves in the freezer and two in the fridge. But as an outsider, I do love a holiday that involves so many macaroons! Your menu looks fabulously tasty, Pam. Good luck! ← Is it really strange to be in Israel and not celebrate the Jewish holidays? Living here I never think about people having the opposite problems we have. Some people come in and literally spend thousands of dollars on food for a one-week period. We were discussing this - amazed to see what people were spending. Then we realized that people here, who care about keeping kosher during the holidays, have no other choices. They can't go out for a meal - everything must be prepared at home (or catered ). Surely the treif restaurants in Israel remain open? As for macaroons - I've never been a huge fan of the tinned ones. I don't mind homemade ones. This year though, we got in some Shachaf macaroons - they are so superior to the ones in the can. They remain... moist. (I like the strawberry filled ones.)

From my office I can hear two customers talking with my father right now. I haven't said a word, but a recent Israeli immigrant jsut said that he was amazed to see the non-kosher for Passover matzo. Michelle - do they sell these chometz ones in Israel?

No we don't. I feel that we should not impose our religious beliefs on our pets. Seriously - I don't. But I haven't had anybody ask for it.

Manischevitz and other brands make Matzah year round, but only the ones stamped "Kosher for Passover" should be used during Passover. The ones that are baked year round could have come in contact with some sort of leavening. What she said

There are 140 orders, but again - some of the orders are for only one item, while others are for complete seders. We kashered our kitchen about 2 1/2 weeks ago (think blow torches and lots of boiling water) - and started preparing items that can be frozen. With limited oven space, we have to work out a tight schedule to get everything done. People don't want to know that their food has been frozen - but anybody doing this type of thing, pushing all of the food out in one 4-hour period, has to do it this way. And then, there are some items that I encourage people to keep in their own freezer if they won't be using them within the next day or two. Passover rolls made with cottonseed oil, for example, will go rancid quickly. I try my best to estimate how many of each item we'll need so that I can complete all of the prep for that item at a time. We look at the orders that have already come in and the number of orders from last year. It never works . This year the orders just kept on coming. So although I baked a large batch of Passover rolls almost 2 weeks ago (about 250), last week I had to bake another 120. I've now made 3 huge batches of komish (mandelbroit), and so on. Items that get done a day or so before include all of the meats, fish, chopped liver, dessert finishing. Mandarin salad is exactly that . For non-Passover times it's romaine, mandarins (or fresh orange segments), slivered almonds, toasted sesame seeds and honey-dijon dressing. Very simple, very popular. At Passover, we eliminate the sesame and rework the dressing. No dijon (mustard's not allowed) but apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic, seasoning and oil.

It's about 11 PM here. I'm going home to have a LARGE glass of iced lemonana juice (my favorite juice of the moment - lemon juice with a hint of spearmint). Then I'm turning in. 'night.

Lest you think we weren't doing any cooking this year, here's the list of foods we're preparing: Chicken Soup Chopped Liver Matzo Balls Gefilte Fish Carrot Dill Soup Planked Salmon Roasted Turkey Roasted Chicken Garlic Brisket Apricot Honey Chicken Sweet and Sour Meatballs Breaded Veal Cutlets BBQ Short Ribs Glazed Cornish Hens Half Glazed Cornish Potato Blintzes Chicken Fingers Vegetable Cutlet Chicken Schnitzel Vegetable Kugle Cole Slaw Stir Fry Vegetables Sweet Kugle Mandarin Salad Garden Salad - Balsamic Dressing Passover Rolls Choc Mousse Log Komish with Nuts (Mandelbroit) Komish NO Nuts Nothings with Sugar (Keichal) Shmoo Lemon Chiffon Cake Chocolate Chip Chiffon Cake Chocolate Brownies Lemon Filled Chiffon Fruit Flan Strawberry Shortcake Orders had to be in by last Tuesday. We have 140. People keep calling, and I'm sure will continue to call until Wednesday, hoping to place additional orders. We just can't handle anymore. We will try to have extras available, if possible - but it will work on a first come, first serve basis. Our menu is mostly Ashkenazie foods (exceptions being desserts). every few years we try to add new and interesting items to the menu - but people continue to order the traditional items.

The saga of the refrigeration continues. This time it's the walk-in. Our last customers left at about 7 PM. Stuff was still being done in the kitchen and some stocking was being done in the store. At about 8, everybody was ready to leave and we noticed that the walk-in cooler is running at too high a temp. and seems to be cycling too frequently. So the staff went home and my father called a 'guy' to come fix it. It's 9:40 PM now and we're waiting for him to arrive. In the meantime my father took me out for dinner. Unintentionally, this blog seems to following a similar pattern to the last. Dinner was at Salisbury House - a local chain of greasy spoons. I realized tonight that both our old location and this one are within a couple of blocks of a Sal's. Interesting... There are no pictures of dinner - but I think I had the same thing as last year - so refer to that . I would really like to go home - but I'm waiting it out with Dad.

Thanks. I'm really proud off how it's pulled together over the last few months. A lady I have never met before came in and looked around and pulled me aside and hugged me because I had the Sabra salads. One little thing can really make somebody's day. You have no idea how many times I've heard in the last couple of months that people no longer have to schlep bags of products home with them when they're going to Toronto, New York, Chicago, etc. We've really made it a point to try to get what people want. Whenever somebody asks me for a product I do what I can to get it in. Some items are easy to find - some I've been working on for months and don't think I'll be able to get. We have even started an email list for our customers. They can sign up and whenever we get new or interesting items in, I send off an email. I've had people show up within an hour of receiving the email. No. I'm not sure which one you're referring to - but the cottage cheeses are Breakstone, Mehadrin and Tara (and Western Creamery's pressed cottage cheeses). When I went to university, I was the only Jew in town. Well.... people kept telling me there was a Jewish lawyer, but I never met him. It's around the holidays that you really begin to miss these things. Isn't there a synagogue in London? or even a Jewish Students Association? I ... have... never had a Yoohoo. Can you get them in Canada? I went to their website and a search for 'kosher' turns up nothing. Maybe somebody else knows?

The two big items for Pesach (Passover) are matzo and wine. For those unable to drink wine (and for most children apparently) it's grape juice. As we are not licensed to sell wine, we sell lots and lots of grape juice. The Matzo Wall: I thought I was being smart with the matzo. This is the first year we're really doing Passover in the store area, so I wasn't sure what to order. I thought I should mix it up a bit. So I got regular matzo, shmura matzo, whole wheat matzo, spelt matzo, light matzo and egg matzo (and chocolate covered matzo!). Brands I had included Manischewitz, Streits, Osem, Aviv, Carmel, King David, Bnei Barak and Yehuda. Do you think this was satisfactory? For many people it was more than they could ever want. For others, I had the wrong brand of this and the wrong brand of that. I'm taking notes. But to satisfy everybody, I'd have to bring in over 20 varieties. There were no complaints with the juice: Israeli and American. Red and white concord. Lite and sparkling. Blush, rose, muscat and chardonnay. Peach, raspberry and apple (all sparkling). I'm going to try to figure out how much of this stuff I actually got in over the last few weeks. We had a special - if you spend over $150 with us, you received 1.5 L of grape juice or 5# of matzo on us. We also kept the prices on these two items as low as we could. So they've been flying out.