Jews + Chinese Food

I couldn't help but share this. My darling husband Tuvia sent this to me (I believe he got it from his pops). Enjoy!

EDIT: This image needs attribution. Just got wind that it was drawn by David Mamet for Tablet.

I'm An Oscar Mayer Weiner ...

Growing up, hot dogs were a family staple. My mom made Pigs in a Blanket (think a hot dog with a slice in it, a piece of cheese placed in the slice, and a biscuit wrapped around the hot dog and cheese and cooked) regularly, and when we went to the Drive-In as kids my mom always made hot dogs in buns, wrapped in foil, to schlep to the theater for good eats. Hot dogs were always a staple. Old school hot dogs. The kind with who knows what inside them. As I got older, I got hot dog cravings and opted for turkey dogs -- at least I knew they comprised only one curious item (turkey, that is).

For a lot of people, Hebrew National Hot Dogs are the bee's knees of the non-gross hot dog business because it's the non-crappy stuff that makes up their dogs. I can get behind that, but I can't get behind the kashrut. I know, I know "ages old rumors" and "Conservative hashgacha is just as good as Orthodox" and all that jazz. Nine times out of ten kashrut issues involve something that happened a long time ago that a business or store owner or company just can't get over. It happened back in the day, too (I'm reminded of a story from "The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million" by Daniel Mendelsohn in which village residents remember the author's family because he was selling non-kosher meat as kosher and it caused a huge scandal!).

But what Hebrew National did for the industrialization of kosher food in the United States can't be underestimated. So mad props to Sue Fishkoff in her July 4 New York Times OP-ED "Red, White and Kosher" for her exploration of just what Hebrew National did when it did it. Today, one-third to one-half of the goods you find in your average supermarket chain have kosher certification (of course, whether Orthodox Jews will buy those certified products is questionable), but Fishkoff's point is that most of the people buying these products aren't Jewish! People (mistakenly) think that kosher = healthier, better, less junk than all that other stuff. Boy, have they walked down the grocery aisles in Monsey? Candy, chips, candy, chips, sugary treats. Have they sat down at a Shabbos meal!? I mean, come on, we're not the healthiest eaters out there.

Fishkoff has a new book coming out in the fall called “Kosher Nation: Why More and More of America’s Food Answers to a Higher Authority," and I'm super eager to read it. As the kind of person that gets giddy when she sees the kosher food carts at Yankee Stadium, I'm guessing Fishkoff's look at kosher food production and evolution in the United States will be right up my alley. Here's what the Random House page has to say:

Kosher? That means the rabbi blessed it, right? Not exactly. In this captivating account of a Bible-based practice that has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry, journalist Sue Fishkoff travels throughout America and to Shanghai, China, to find out who eats kosher food, who produces it, who is responsible for its certification, and how this fascinating world continues to evolve. She explains why 85 percent of the 11.2 million Americans who regularly buy kosher food are not observant Jews—they are Muslims, Seventh-Day Adventists, vegetarians, people with food allergies, and consumers who pay top dollar for food they believe “answers to a Higher Authority.” She interviews food manufacturers, rabbinic supervisors, and ritual slaughterers; meets with eco-kosher adherents who go beyond traditional requirements to produce organic chicken and pasture-raised beef; sips boutique kosher wine in Napa Valley; talks to shoppers at an upscale kosher supermarket in Brooklyn; and marches with unemployed workers at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant. She talks to Reform Jews who are rediscovering the spiritual benefits of kashrut and to Conservative and Orthodox Jews who are demanding that kosher food production adhere to ethical and environmental values. And she chronicles the corruption, price-fixing, and strong-arm tactics of early-twentieth-century kosher meat production, against which contemporary kashrut scandals pale by comparison.

A revelatory look at the current state of kashrut in America, this book will appeal to anyone interested in food, religion, Jewish identity, and big business.

Color me stoked. Are you stoked? Put this on your to-read list for the fall!

Note: You might recognize Fishkoff's name from her book "The Rebbe's Army," another book I'm dying to read. Anyone have thoughts about Fishkoff and/or her books?

I Can't Believe I Used to Hate Cooking!

Although I have blogs wholly devoted to gluten-free and kosher living (the recipe blog and the review blog), I like to share my adventures in cooking on Just Call Me Chaviva because, well, food is what Jews do. Sure, food is the livelihood of all peoples, but there's something special about the flare of Jewish cooking and Shabbat preparation that is incomparable in other cultures.

This week, I decided to do a deliciously spicy Indian menu for Friday night and a light, fish-focused meal for Saturday lunch with leftovers on the menu for seudat shlishi. Tuvia and I are in the Poconos for Shabbat and the weekend, with him heading off to his new job in Newark on Monday and me staying here trying to stay sane, get organized, and get some work done. I'm also going to share with you my plans for Father's Day Brunch tomorrow with the in-laws. So let's get to it.

Friday Night

Challah

Dahl (a delicious lentil soup, it was amazing)

Chicken Tikka (I'd probably do this next time sans yogurt, which, by the way, was totally parve)

Saffron Rice (okay, this was store-bought and easily made on the stovetop)

Aloo Phujia (this was crazy spicy, but so delicious!)

Chickpea/Tomato concoction that I sort of rocked on the fly

(That is: chickpeas, olive oil, onions, garlic, tomato paste, salt & pepper)

Gluten-Free Brownies (store-bought, and they were so gooey in the middle!)

Do you ever do "ethnic" food night? I mean, beyond doing the Israeli thing with falafel and hummus. Do you get your Chinese or Greek on? How do you work your menus? Are you successful with guests, or do they prefer the usual suspects?

Saturday Lunch

Challah

Steamed Salmon

Lemon Rice

Roasted Potatoes (the usual, leftover but I knew Tuvia would eat them!)

Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole (sans the nuts, oops; probably the "heaviest" item in the meal)

Corn

Gluten-Free Vanilla Rugelach, a la Heaven Mills! (perfect right out of the freezer)

I'm a sucker for cooking lots of food ... someday I'll be a master of hosting 10+ people at my home every week. That is, of course, until I have kids and my head explodes from being overworked. Luckily, this fall I have class Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, with an early-morning class Thursday, and that's it. I'll have Thursday and Friday to get my mad cooking skills on. I intend on using the rest of my time here in the Poconos to try out a boatload of recipes I have up over on Gloriously Gluten Free & Kosher, not to mention some other recipes (for crackers, go figure) that I haven't posted up yet. Until then, here's what I have going for brunch tomorrow for my father-in-law.

Father's Day Brunch

Some delicious OJ, Coffee, and Tea

Gluten-Free Donuts (SO GOOD! I'll have the recipe up later on my other blog)

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls

Fresh Sliced Watermelon and Strawberries

Scrambled Eggs and Oven-Baked Eggs in Tomato Cups

Home Fries

Bagels (sadly, not GF) with cream cheese and/or butter

Mad props to the author of "You Won't Believe It's Gluten Free!" Roben Ryberg. Seriously, she's become my new go-to author when it comes to cooking. Her recipes are absolutely amazing, simple, and will be *excellent* come Passover (she offers her recipes in corn-based, potato-based, and oat-based options!). 

Shavua tov, friends, and happy noshing!

A Pasta-licious Shabbos Menu

My gratin didn't looks this scrumptious, but it came really close!

Another cooked-up Shabbat, and another menu to present to my readers. I like to venture outside the traditional box and mix up some milchig (dairy) treats, so this week I went the route of the cow! Its byproduct, that is.

Friday Dinner

Challah (store-bought, come on people, Pesach is coming!)

Boxed Butternut Squash Soup (I do have a life, after all)

Brown-Sugar Roasted Salmon with Maple-Mustard-Dill Sauce

Cajun Steak Frites

Cinnamon Streusel Cake n' Cup kit (an impulse by at Burlington Coat Factory, of all places)

Saturday Lunch

Challah (store-bought, FTW!)

Vegetable Pasta with OurBestBites.com's Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

Vegetable Pasta with Trader Joe's Pasta Sauce

Sweet Potato and Butternut Gratin (Note: I obviously didn't include the pancetta!)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

The sauce with the fish was to die for. I could seriously eat that sauce ... I mean wow. It really blended well with the sweetness of the fish, too. I used Cary's Sugar-Free Syrup to help keep the badness down, too.

I was a little disappointed in the gratin, but it was my first time making something as such. I think next time I'd probably leave out one of the three main ingredients and settle for just plain potato + squash or plain potato + sweet potato. There's just too much going on in this dish!

The Guiltless Alfredo sauce, however, was a huge hit. Such a huge hit that even I, who absolutely loathes white sauces, loved it. There's some kind of special kick to it, and the fact that it's so easy and not horrible for you helped, I think. As a note, I did substitute the milk by using SKIM milk, and it turned out fine.

For both pasta dishes, I made the noodles, poured the sauce over it, put some mozzarella on top, and baked it for probably 10 minutes to get the sauces to thicken up for reheating on Shabbat purposes. They both came out amazing! The nice thing about using "vegetable" pasta is it gets Tuvia to eat his vegetables without shoving them down his throat!

Until next time ...

Shabbos Menu a la Chaviva.

Once again, my good friends are allowing me to host people at their place while they're away, which means I'm cooking. Again. I honestly don't know how mommies of kids or working mommies or just normal people get used to this cooking for Shabbos thing. Then again, I'm guessing most people don't accidentally invite over 12 people to feed. I hate delegating, and I like there to be a fluid sense of food on the table. However, this time, people offered, so there will be extras brought in. I'm also considering making more dessert. (Wow, can I stop cooking already? There's enough food, Chavi!) This is the menu for Shabbos dinner tonight.

Challah + Hummus

Creamy Vegan Potato-Leek Soup

Salad

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Barbecue Meatballs

Some kind of chicken dish (from guests)

Rice (from guests)

Corn Kugel

Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole (parve)

Green Beans (with a bit of garlic/salt/pepper)

Oatmeal Cookie-Peach Cobbler

Store-bought cinnamon buns (parve)
Green Grapes

What a spread, eh? Who is coming over for dinner!? Pictures forthcoming!

As a brief aside: It felt so good to cook all of this food for my friends, knowing that I didn't have to observe bishul akum!

Chavi's Cooking -- Look Out!

Winter is readily upon us here in Connecticut. It's a lovely 37 degrees outside at 9:30 a.m., and I couldn't be happier. I get to wear long jean skirts and sweaters. It also means that in no time I'll be needing to make some of my mom's delicious potato soup!

However, for now, I'm just preparing for this Shabbos. Tuvia and I have decided to spend Shabbos not in the community, mostly because our hosts are asking for a break and we need a serious break, too. The chagim wore us out and some serious relaxation time with Bananagrams and Long Naps is in order. So what's the meal looking like?

Friday Dinner
Klops -- Eastern European Sweet-and-Sour Meatballs (a favorite from Pesach 2008)
Sweet Potato Hash (A recipe borrowed from a friend from Pesach 2008)
Potato and Garlic Soup (Boxed, kosher parve! Yay!)
Gefilte
Apple Crisp (From Weight Watchers magazine)
Homemade Challah

Saturday Lunch
Chicken Cholent
Homemade Challah
Um ... not sure what else to serve here. Maybe a kugel?

Saturday Dinner
Tomato and Pepper Lasagna (recipe from WW; for me, because I like tomato sauce)
Stuffed Pizza Rolls (mostly for Tuvia, but I'm going to try one -- sans meat!)
Maybe some Orzo dish on the fly.
Either Cinnamon Crumb Cake or Lava Cake

You know there will be photos. OH YES. There will be photos. Stay tuned!

But I Want it NOW!

Over the weekend (and for the greater part of the past six months) Tuvia and I have conversed a lot about how long to wait between consuming meat and milk. The general rule is that you can eat milk right before meat, but not the other way around because of the command in three different locations in the Torah to not cook a kid in its mothers milk (Exodus 23,19; Exodus 34,26; Deuteronomy 14,21). There are a lot of great alternatives to dairy today, including Rice Milk, Soy Milk, Almond Milk and Tofu products, but sometimes you just jones for some Ben and Jerry's ice cream, right? And sometimes it's just a few hours after a meat meal, right?

Well, our general rule was to do four hours. Now, there was no particular reason we did four hours. Tuvia had heard that four hours was the thing to do, and I didn't know any better. In truth, neither of us have a family tradition in which to follow. There are a variety of rulings on how long to wait after your steak for some yogurt, and they range from One Hour to Six Hours, and there is even a legend of a rabbi way back in the day who waited a full 24 hours between his meat and dairy meals. That's a little extreme, don't you think? Our rav and a lot of people in our community abide by the Three Hour rule, though I'm not entirely sure where the Three Hour rule comes from. Luckily, we eat a lot of fish, so our meals tend to be dairy or parve and the meat/milk issue doesn't come up that much. Plus, there are a million and one great parve desserts out there, so the issue is really a non-issue when it comes down to it.

But, being someone who likes to understand why she's doing just about everything she does (and you should, too), I decided to do a Twitter Poll among my intelligent and devoted followers: How long do you wait between meat and milk? The results were:

The interesting thing, to me anyhow, is that no one waited Five Hours or Two Hours. There were two people who said they wait Five Hours and some minutes (one said 5.5 hours another said 5 hours and 1 minute). But not a single person listed Two Hours. Of course, this isn't scientific at all, but I'm curious why Two Hours is a non-answer.

One Hour tends to be the tradition of Dutch Jews, and Six Hours appears to be what most Orthodox/Hasidic rabbis go for in their rulings based on rabbinic discussions. The general ruling was that you have to wait until the meat in your teeth has been removed or broken down and gone away. Now, back when the rabbis were debating this topic, they didn't have floss or toothpaste or toothbrushes most likely, so the option of flossing and brushing after a meat meal wasn't an option. Nowadays, we can floss with the best of them, getting our teeth sparkley clean and fresh from meat in an instant.

Of course, that doesn't get rid of the issue of waiting, and I'm not calling for a complete abstention of waiting between meals. I'm just trying to understand how we decide in our communities nowadays which traditions to follow. Since Tuvia and I have no tradition, we're obliged to follow the tradition of our community, which appears to be Three Hours. I just wish I knew where this Three Hours derived from as being okay. In reality, the length of time between meals has changed greatly since the Middle Ages when the five-meals-a-day thing probably wasn't hip with the Kosher crowd. Nowadays, we have breakfast, then snack, have lunch, then snack, have dinner, and then maybe a late-night snack. It's the healthy way of rocking your metabolism, you know. So meals can be anywhere from Two to Three hours apart, not Six.

So let's have a dialog. Throw at me all the rabbinical rulings you can. Also, go put your two cents in over at Hadassah's blog, since she's also polling her readers. I'm going to put up a new poll over there to the right, in the usual place, so feel free to chime in!

In a Monsey Moment: Oy Vey!

Yesterday, while driving back from New Jersey after a fun and family filled weekend, Tuvia and I decided to stop in Monsey, NY, since we pass by it at least twice a month when we're schlepping back and forth between his former residence in NJ and our current abodes in Connecticut. The experience of Monsey is something I've always wondered about, after reading about it and hearing about it in blogs (both good and bad things, that is). So, at the spur of the moment, we pulled off and realized the hub of Monsey shopping and dining life wasn't that far off the highway.

Our first stop was Rockland Kosher, a gigantic supermarket in a building filled with a dozen other stores selling lingerie, clothing, books, and other necessities for the kosher home. There were Jews, garbed in black, white, navy blue and about 30 shades therein, rushing in and out of the building, pushing strollers, payess waving in the wind. I gave Tuvia his "emergency Crown Heights kippah" -- a black, velvet number that I keep in my purse in case of emergencies. I was wearing modest clothes, at least, until I stepped out of the car I felt like I was. A long peasant skirt that floated along the ground, a brown tank-top that covered most of the skin up to about a fist-lengths below my neck, topped with a black 3/4-length cardigan. I walked around the grocery store with my arm clutched across my chest, reaching over to my purse on my right shoulder, trying to cover the skin that did show. These women were wearing long black or navy skirts, and under their cardigans of similar varying shades of blue and black were tight, choking button-down shirts. The sheitels were perfect, the hair looked real, and few women actually had head coverings other than sheitels.

And every aisle we walked down, little Tzippies and Menachem Mendels were staring at me.

Tuvia didn't notice it, he said after I asked him, but people were looking. Here were me, in my very peasanty skirt, and Tuvia, in khakis and a polo shirt, shopping in the kosher supermarket surrounded by immas and abbas and bubbes and zaydes, and I was reminded of how it felt walking home in Mt. Pleasant in Washington D.C. where the Latino men slink out of the bars every five minutes whistling and cat calling. Except, this time, people were piercing and calling out with eyes and up-down looks, not words. Maybe I'm paranoid and it wasn't that bad, but I felt naked, I felt completely exposed, I felt like they could smell on me that I wasn't fluent in Yiddish or Hebrew and that Tuvia and I weren't married, sinners!

But the really fascinating thing about the Rockland Kosher experience was that from side to side, front to back, the entire store was filled with two things: Toys and Snacks. Every aisle we went through there were mommies pulling toys down for kids, and kids picking up bags of candy and chips and snacks. It seemed like nobody was buying real food, just Israeli treats and cheap plastic toys. The store had the Israeli and unique Kosher brands separated from the national brands, and more people were shopping the former than the latter. Is it a trust issue?

The best steal of the day, though, was a dozen eggs, which I purchased for only $1.30 or so. You can't find eggs that cheap anywhere. I don't care who you are. I remember when they used to put eggs on sale for $.99, and now you're lucky to get them for under $2.00. What a steal! I could have bought 20 dozen for that price. We checked out, thanks to a few Latino men working the counter, marveled at the in-house mikvah (in case you buy a pot or pan or something and want to tovel it instantly!), and schlepped off to look for dinner.

There were a few strip malls with some options, including a cafe, a barbecue joint, and the Purple Pear (a dairy restaurant), which I had heard about from friends, so we went there. Now, for those of you who haven't been to Monsey, the Purple Pear is probably the most "normal" place you'll find there. If you're a Modern Orthodox Jew or someone who is a little more metropolitan and likes to wear jeans with your tzitzit, then this place will feel comfortable. We walked in and there were some women in pants, men with ball caps, and a sushi chef shoved nicely in a nook in the corner. The restaurant is so jazzy, a dark red and black theme with a chalkboard menu that makes it feel very cosmopolitan, very bistro-like. I wanted to hijack the joint and move it back to Connecticut (did I mention the only kosher "restaurants" we have are a Dunkin Donuts and some Cold Stones and a Ben and Jerry's?). Instead, I ordered sushi and a coffee, Tuvia got an omelet some fries and a bagel (he was elated to see that "bagel" was the first option instead of the "add $1.50 for a bagel" option). It was so nice to go someplace kosher, to feel a real dining experience out where there are other people doing what you do, just more often. The service wasn't great, but better than what I expected at such a busy kosher place anyway.

As we pulled out of Monsey yesterday, I was a little saddened. On the one hand, I was excited to be leaving a place that seemed so far out of reach and so black and white (literally), but sad that all these options and neat stores and this frummie lifestyle were being left behind. I'd kill for a kosher coffee house, and I often joke with Tuvia about quitting my present path and opening a coffee shop/bookstore for the kosher crowd and anyone else willing to try my favorite pastry and coffee offerings. Coffee houses are home to me, and not having that option were you can nosh a scone and coffee while reading some Rashi drives me nuts. Someday, maybe, when I'm a retiree and rich?

Or maybe, just maybe, someday we'll move to Monsey, reopen the drive-in for classic films (except on Shabbos, of course) and start up a coffee shop/bookstore and take on the town. Livin' it up. Live it up.

But chances are that will never happen. What is for certain, however, is that Tuvia and I will make sure to stop in Monsey more often. Maybe look up some soon-to-move friends, eat at the Purple Pear, get some kosher pizza, and feel the flavor of the community so that those initial feelings of being eyed and examined by the black-and-white garbed as someone on the outside looking in. After all, I'm sure I was analyzing them as much as they were analyzing me. And in the end? We're all just Jews.

Deep Thoughts, With Chaviva E.

As I sit here, watching television, nursing a stomach thing slash head cold thing, unable to consume anything but fluids and crackers, I'm beginning to notice how un-Jewish and uber-treyfy commercials are.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't expect lots of Manischewitz commercials or odes to kashruth. The Hebrew National commercials are hilarious enough for me. But the amount of fast-food and dining out restaurant commercials that advertise shrimp and bacon double whoppers as big as your head slowly has begun to shock me. Every commercial highlights bacon-wrapped shrimp or bacon double whatsits or scallops or ... you get the drift. I never realized how pervasive seafood and bacon burgers were until, well, I was really going kosher. For years I've not eaten shellfish or pork or beef/dairy. It's only in the past year or few months that I'd started keeping kosher in the home, only eating kosher meat, really going the whole 613 yards. So it isn't like I was salivating over shrimp last year, or even five years ago. But it's just now that I'm realizing how pervasive the shrimp consumption really is!

What accounts for this odd realization?

It's almost like how you wake up one day and suddenly, everything is green. That happened last week. Suddenly, the entire world was blossoming and green was the primo color. How weird. Does the brain delay such realizations? Or are we just not prepared for such things visually? Maybe we're mentally aware that everyone else in the world eats treyf or that things have gone green because it's spring, but our eyes haven't caught up with our brains?

Pesach Reflections, Part II

I know this is long, but bear with me. The Pesach Miracle comes toward the end, as well as a question about those of you filling out the poll on your matzo toppings ... keep reading!

With a free day before the Second Seder in West Palm, Tuvia and I decided to trek out to the ocean. After all, my one trip to the Atlantic was amid a horrible rain storm in freezing cold weather, so I was looking forward to a beautiful day dipping  my toes in the ocean and collecting seashells. I'm not a big beach bum kind of person, but the vastness and blue of the ocean mystifies me! So we schlepped out, and I convinced Tuvia to dip his toes in the water. The beach was super crowded with families and the water was a little too chilly in my mind for swimming. The sky was clear and blue, the water matched in brightness, and colorful boats floated in the distance. We headed back in toward Tuvia's aunt's house for the second seder, stopping to change first out.

We arrived, and the night mimicked the previous night in many ways. The seder was very short, with few people carrying on for the second half of the seder (in truth, it was the same three people -- Tuvia, myself, and his cousin). It bummed me out a lot, but what can I do? The meal was good and the conversation was interesting. The crowd was mostly the same, save a few new neighbors and a semi-distant relative and his wife. There was philosophical conversation about what happiness is (oy, not going to even go there) and the evening sort of lulled around the living room as people trickled home. The hugs and warmth that were given to me by Tuvia's family is incomparable to anything I've ever experienced. I felt so welcomed by the family, like a true member of the family. Oh, and the dog? Yes, the dog ate the afikomen -- twice. And Elijah never came! Oy. Next year in Jerusalem!

On Friday morning, we got up and schlepped to Tuvia's grandma's place for one last goodbye and a breakfast of matzo brie and matzo pancakes. I've never had matzo brie before -- I tried to make it once and failed miserably -- and bubbe's was absolutely OUTSTANDING. I have yet to make any here yet, but I fully intend on making some tomorrow before the second chag! We said goodbye to his grandmother, headed to his aunt's for some more goodbyes to the cousins and everyone, and headed off to the airport.

On the way to the airport, my anxiety about the iPod incident continued to boil. I'd called the credit card company the night before (despite the chag) to find out if there was anything they could do -- most credit card companies have purchase protection for about 90 days after the purchase for lost, stolen or damaged items. The woman on the phone was kind to relate her own lost item (the bottom of a car seat, really?) and apologize that nothing could be done. So heading to the airport, my anxiety started to build again. I kept thinking -- maybe someone found it? Maybe someone turned it in? Maybe it will magically be there? After all, we were boarding at the same gate we de-boarded from.

We checked in, went to the gate, and there across from us sitting in the waiting area was a little old couple with a bag of matzo. I was jealous and starving and wishing I had some matzo. But I muffled my hunger, approached the woman at the counter who had been so brash with me just days before, and was informed they still hadn't found anything but that I could file a report with baggage claim. Right. It was gone, that was it.

The plane ride back was a lot more smooth than the ride to Florida. The moment we landed in New Jersey we were to pack up Tuvia's car with gefilte fish, matzo, kugel, Judaica, and more and head immediately to West Hartford for Shabbat. Yes, once again, travelling on the chag. It tore me up inside to do so, and I hope that if we go the same route next year, we won't travel on the chag. (NOTE: TUVIA!)

We arrived back in West Hartford just as Shabbos was beginning. Our host family had waited to have dinner until we arrived and we were so thankful. We were welcomed to a house full of friends, extended family, neighbors and children. The meal was loud and boisterous and the food was delicious. It felt like Shabbat in all ways except the amazing Everything Challah was nowhere in sight! We laughed and talked, related our seder experiences, and afterward everyone retired to the living room and we chatted about family and children and Judaism until the wee hours. Shabbat day was a repeat of the night before, with long and loud conversation among friends and loved ones. People from all over discussing religion and Judaism and Pesach and tradition and the chag and matzo. There was so much, so many people, so much noise! And it was beautiful. There was something also involving a hanging sheet in our sleeping quarters, but that's more fun as an inside joke. If you want to know more, let me know and I'll email you the hilarious details :)

But because of the stress and anxiety and constant noise and people for three days straight, I had Tuvia take me back to campus motzei Shabbos -- but only after a quick trip to the supermarket to shop the motzei Shabbos/seder SALES!!! I got some great deals, let me tell you ...

But the Pesach Miracle? I've been in contact with my credit card company, to no avail. I've filed a report with Continental, to no avail. I'd Tweeted and kvetched and cried about the stupid iTouch I'd lost. My success, my achievements, my physical manifestation of feeling good about my accomplishments. And then, as I'm lamenting how many jerks there are in the world, someone -- an e-friend out there in the ether -- decided to donate to the cause. I didn't ask, or plead, or request. There is merely a soul out there who is fighting the good fight, proving that amid all the jerks there are a few mensches. It was an unexpected gift, and thank yous have been issued but I still feel they are not enough. There is no doubt in my mind that this person will obtain their reward and place in the World to Come. If not, well, more immediately. I hope that someday, when I have the means, that I will be able to perform such giving to ease the minds and hearts of those around me. So all is not lost, fear not, dear readers.

So now, I'm busy eating  matzo and cream cheese and lots of other deliciously dairy things and I think my body is rebelling. I'm hoping to head to the store tomorrow maybe to get some fresh fruits and veggies, but we'll see if that ACTUALLY happens. Otherwise, I'll scavenge for food at the rabbi's for the second chag.

Also: For those of you voting in the poll to the right there -- what is the NOT LISTED that you guys put on your  matzo exactly? I'm super intrigued.  

Is it kosher?

I've taken to drinking Soy Milk in my coffee drinks, mostly because then I don't have to worry about whether I'm drinking it four hours post-meat meal or otherwise. This was a relief for Tuvia, who loves having coffee at work. Right? Wrong. I've always been conscious of the fact that  Silk Soymilk, which you can find at Starbucks and most other coffee shops, is OU-D, meaning it's Kosher by the Orthodox Union, but Dairy. A friend of mine wouldn't hesitate to order a coffee with soymilk at Starbucks after a meat meal and she was definitely kosher. So I never thought much of it. Obviously, the Soy Milk is produced on dairy equipment or in a facility where dairy is processed, and that's all there is to it, but I know plenty of vegans who live on Silk Soy Milk, so it's got to be legit. I mean, I love the Chocolate Silk!

So after thinking more about it, and needing some type of proof to back up my assumptions about why I feel okay drinking Soy Milk after a meat meal (and, to be honest, I rarely eat meat during the day, and mostly only on Shabbos or when I'm out with Tuvia), and so I found the Kosher Blog's write-up on this issue from July 2008.

The actual container of Silk Soy Milk says "It's Free! Silk Soymilk is free of lactose, dairy, cholesterol, gluten, eggs, peanuts, casein, MSG and worries." But with the OU-D label, some explaining is needed. According to the Kosher Blog:

In case you didn’t get it:

The D designates that the dairy-free product was heated on equipment also used for dairy and may not be eaten together with a meat product. It may be eaten immediately after a meat product, but not together [emphasis mine].

So there you have it. You can eat it immediately after a meat product, but not together.

I e-mailed the OU just to be 200% sure, and they confirmed that all Silk products are parve but made on dairy equipment. The e-mailer added the following:

You will not find the DE designation on a product certified by the OU. The OU designates dairy-free products made on dairy equipment with the ‘OU-D’ symbol and not ‘DE’ (Dairy Equipment). This due to the fact that the OU has seen that in industrial applications, very rarely is a proper cleanup performed after a dairy run before the Pareve run. As a result there is a problem of dairy residue entering the so-called Pareve product.

This seems reasonable to me, but I would not worry about it in the case of Silk products, since the company is adamant about its products being safe for those with dairy allergies, which requires an extremely high level of cleanliness. And of course, the OU says that you can have them after meat. So you can have them after meat.

Thus, I feel vindicated. If anyone has another take on the topic, please let me know. I know there are those who are HARDCORE with the kosher and wouldn't think of even looking into this and would rather err on the side of not even going for it, but, well, that's not my style. If it's good enough for the OU, it's good enough for me.

(PS: This is post 701! Wow!)

I'll show YOU kosher!

Realization: I'm not very good at explaining to questioners why I don't mix meat/milk. What's a quick, one-sentence explanation that doesn't edge on "because the Torah says so" ...? I go into a big explanation of a variety of things, and well, I seek brevity.

(Note: At the present, my policy is no goat in goat's milk, no beef in cow's milk, etc. "Thou shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk" to me means just that.)

Jewish Food (for thought)

I just realized -- while checking out a blog posted over on Ilana-Davita's blog (yes, it's that vicious J-blogging cycle of click here, click there, click over there, and bam suddenly you're reading a blog by a Jewish guy named Sven who fancies cholent and lives in Zimbabwe) -- that I haven't spent much time blogging about Jewish food blogs. Food, the lifeblood of our (and all) people, is a big blogging topic in the J-blogosphere, it's true. However, I haven't managed to really throw much out there in the way of promotion for other bloggers (not that they need it, but I like to spread the love). So I present to you, a series of Jewish food blogs of which you should most definitely devote yourself. Sometime in the not-so-distant future I full intend on blogging about my favorite Jewish/kosher cookbooks, as well, since I've basically checked out every last one my library has over the past few months! But let us begin ...

Rebecca Joseph, a Conservative rabbi, has a really beautiful (aesthetically and otherwise) blog called The Parve Baker, which I found on I-D's blog just today. The rabbi says, " ... I understand baking as both a religious obligation and a cultural practice shaped by my upbringing, education and community. The recipes and information here reflect what I do in my own kitchen, but you don’t have to keep kosher or be Jewish to enjoy them." The great thing about this blog is that it's a fresh one; from what I can tell, the blog has only been around since February!

Heeb'n'vegan actually very recently posted about the creation of this "niche" in the J-blogosphere for the foodies. You can read the post here. HnV posts several vegan/veggie blogs in that post, as well.

Kosher Vegan Lasagna features an ark-load of recipes worth your viewing time, but as far as I can tell it hasn't been updated since last month. The old blog for KVL can be viewed here. At any rate, I can think of at least one person I know who would be stoked to see this Kosher Crockpot Herbed Chicken recipe!

Probably one of the best Jewish/kosher cooking sites I've come across is the Kosher Hostess. If you go into the recipes section, the collection is broken down by course and the site is really well organized otherwise -- I'm all about the aesthetic pleasure!

Of course there's the Kosher Blog, touting "We're Not Just Bagels Anymore." And if you're in the mood, you can take on Cooking with Yiddishe Mama.

The thing of it is, though, in the past hour that I've spent perusing all the Kosher/Jewish food blogs out there ... is I've definitely found that a lot of the blogs that *are* out there are idle or haven't been tapped in months. I know how hard it is to keep up a blog actively when you're not getting paid and there are all of life's other dramas to handle, but it's really too bad! Not that these sites don't have anything to offer from their archives, but it would be nice to see updated content!

To top off this Kosher/Jewish blog mini-spiel, I give you a few words from Rabbi Morris Allen's blog, the director of Hekhsher Tzedek*:

We need to be in a world where we can say that keeping kosher is the way in which I demonstrate not only a concern for my relationship to God and Torah but the Jewish concern for our relationship to the world in which we live. That's what I really want to get across to people.

*Hekhsher Tzedek is a shared effort between the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism to display a seal on already designated kosher foods that reflects production benchmarks consistent with Jewish ethical standards, including how companies treat their employees.