When I design my placemats I always make a front with a fun design and space to put their name and a back that they can draw on with washable markers.
Print out these designs, fill in your child’s name and have them laminated. Now you have a decoration that doubles as an activity for your kids.
Here are three placemats to choose from:
Calling all Jewish Hostesses! Let’s use our year-round Jewish holidays to express our creative passions, as well as our desire to keep our families coming back for yummy food and a great Jewish holiday atmosphere. With so many table setting shopping resources at our fingertips, its exciting to set a fun holiday table that combines the old with the new, has a dash of color and sparkle, while also making sure to connect to the Jewish holiday theme at hand. No matter what your own personal style, budget, and the table decor that you already own, there is always a creative, yet easy way to update your holiday look.
This year, I decided to stick with the traditional Hanukkah blue and silver color combo mainly because I already owned blue water glasses given to me by my consuegro (Syrian word for son-in-law’s mother) as a Rosh Hashanah gift, plus I happen to own a set of blue and silver rimmed Greek style dishes (a perfect Macabee theme!). Wanting to add some holiday knicknacks to my Chanukah table, I decided to check out the local Ikea and West Elm stores and see what I could pick up without too much of a dent to my wallet.
After an hour or two of piling anything blue or silver into my shopping carts, this is what I finally ended up with:
! (see ice cube pic below). Kids love ‘em!
Use these suggestions as a basic guide for your own unique Chanukah table. Start with your favorite silver, blue or white tableware as a base and fill in with flowers and accessories. Be daring and let your personality show through! I’d love to see what you come up with!
For more of my Chanukah table resources and Jewish Holiday Table setting pictures from Jewish Hostesses all over the world, please check out The Jewish Hostess! Happy Holiday!
With Chanukah just around the corner, now is the time to pull out some quick and crafty decorating ideas to get your home ready for the holiday! Not to worry, I’ve got a few ideas that will get you started in no time, and your house will look more festive that ever without too much effort. Sounds great, right?
While I love to knit and crochet, I also happen to think that yarn is great for crafting. I picked up a ball of pom pom yarn recently, and realized that it makes instant pom pom garlands! So I draped my dining room chandelier, and now it’s ready for just a few well placed ornaments. Yippee!
And then I tried wrapping the yarn around some glass vases, inserted some shot glasses filled with candles, and voila, a gorgeous centerpiece for Chanukah was born! And you could re-use them for the next bris, how about that?
I was thinking of making napkin rings somehow with the yarn, and then I remembered the little casual table setting trick that’s in style at the moment, so I tied some yarn around a setting of silverware, cute as can be! Simple right? And of course I’ll also be using pom pom yarn to hang the decorations my kids make and for any other crafty garlands that we come up with between now and Chanukah. Can’t wait!
If you don’t have any pom pom yarn on hand and would rather use up what you do have, rest assured, there are many great projects to make with any kind of yarn that may or may not take just a bit more effort but will also be wonderful additions to your holiday home. Here’s just a few ideas from my blog creativejewishmom.com to get you started:
Wrap glass vases in two colors of regular yarn, in this case light blue and dark blue, for a stunning and contemporary centerpiece, tutorial here.
Go green and make yarn wrapped napkin rings from recycled plastic bottles, and yarn wrapped luminaries from recycled cans for your holiday table.
Yarn snowflakes look great all winter, as do pom pom bouquets, which you’ll use over and over, believe me!
That’s all for now, have a wonderfully creative Chanukah, and the good news is, that it’s eight whole days long, which makes your crafting efforts really worth it! And do stop by my site creativejewishmom.com for lots more Chanukah craft ideas, and ways to fill your life with creativity all year long. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Let me know what you end up making in the comments below and share your photos on Facebook.
I remember the first time I realized that granola ain’t exactly a low cal diet food. SO disappointed! I mean, it just screams healthy, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t a girl be able to eat all she wants of the stuff and go on losing pounds & inches? But I got over it. In an incredible feat of denial, I decided granola shouldn’t be a guilty pleasure. I still categorize it in the “good-for-me” food group. Hey, better granola than Godiva.
My recipe for Homemade Granola includes flaky light coconut chips and is sweetened with brown sugar, maple syrup (with its rich, earthy flavor) and raisins. You can swap in an equal measure of craisins or chopped apricots, or pineapple, or any dried fruit of your choice in place of the raisins.
I love my granola in yogurt or ice cream – how do you enjoy yours?
Rosh HaShana is just around the corner and I’m so happy to be here on Joy of Kosher! Now of course, you came here looking for recipes for the upcoming holidays, which is certainly a great start, however in my biased humble opinion, no holiday table or home is complete without some holiday specific decorating! And now you’re thinking “well of course she thinks that, she’s the crafting queen!” But let me tell you, you don’t have to be an expert crafter to make crafts or introduce creativity to your family— I’m here to help you!
And most importantly of all, I can tell you from personal experience, that when I sit down both with and without my kids to make craft projects for upcoming holidays, our enjoyment of the holidays themselves are so much more meaningful. Anticipation and preparation are key, and craft projects not only add joy to our timeless traditions, but help make lasting memories for children and adults alike. So do give it your all and prepare some amazing meals for your family and friends, but this year set aside just a bit of time to complement your delicious cooking with some touches of creativity that will make your holidays extra special.
This year I decided to come up with a mini-series of simple craft projects using a few basic supplies, especially suited to those who haven’t done much crafting recently. These projects are a great way to get your feet wet, so to speak, and you can customize them so that they’ll be just right for your home.
Place a golden leaved apple at every place setting or use them to make a gorgeous rustic centerpiece on a cake stand or in a beautiful bowl. You can make these apples in just minutes, following the simple instructions here.
This simple golden apple garland will add a festive touch to your home, whether you string just a few apples on each string and use them as chair back garlands, or make longer strands to hang in doorways or just about anywhere. And after you’ve enjoyed your garland a bit in your home, you can certainly use it in your succah as well. You’ll find the complete instructions here.
And while you’re cutting out those golden apples, how about making some larger ones to use as fun decorations or to give as Rosh HaShana cards? This is of course the perfect project to do together with toddlers who may enjoy lacing the hemp string through the holes of the apple. You’ll find the complete instructions here.
Creative napkin rings are a great way to add a festive touch to your holiday table, and these can be made by all ages. I love the contrast of using hemp chord on an elegant white holiday table, but you may prefer using thin ribbon and crystal beads, which would also be quite lovely. You can find the complete instructions for these golden pomegranate napkin ties here.
That’s all for now, I hope you’ve enjoyed this mini craft series! For many more Jewish Holiday craft projects and lots of creative inspiration, please do visit me at creativejewishmom.com. It really can be your one stop crafting site and I’m always there on the other line happy to answer questions or help you come up with the perfect project for any occasion. Wishing you and yours a shanah tovah and a gamar chatimah tovah!
When the weather’s just right, my husband and I take the kids out to the apple orchard. Apple picking is the perfect outdoor family activity in September and October.
The Sprechers are an apple-picking family, and for that matter, we love picking any fruit or vegetable that’s in season. When we come home with bushels of apples, what do we do with them? Well, first we eat some of them raw – delicious!
Then we get creative and make lots of tasty creations with our apple picks. And of course, we use the best tools! My favorite apple corer is the Cuisipro Red and Stainless Apple Corer. This distinctive tool easily removes the core and makes disposal quick and effortless. The unique leveler splits in half for easy release after you twist or push this corer through the apple. And it’s top-rack dishwasher safe. (See it featured in the Joy of Kosher Magazine and win it here)
If I need a corer that will wedge as well, I have been using the basic OXO Good Grips apple divider for years. If you want thinner slices the Amco Dial-A-Slice is perfect! You adjust the thickness, and voila – either 8 or 16 wedges with one swift motion.
Before you slice your apple of choice, you might need to peel them. Who needs handles on peelers anymore? The hottest peeler on the market is the Palm Peeler from Chef’n! Wear it on your finger like a ring, and peel your apples right in the palm of your hand.
And now that my apples are ready to bake – I am ready to use my charming Chantal pie dish that resembles a real crust! Or, I can’t wait to try the silicone petite tart molds by Tovolo – there is an apple and a pear motif. Over the years, I have collected plenty of pie dishes and tart molds – and the tart mold does not need to be non-stick.
And, when I am ready to serve my freshly sliced apples on Rosh Hashanah, I look forward to adorning my Yom Tov table with the beautiful Apple Plate from world-renowned designer Michael Aram… I can’t decide on the Michael Aram Apple Honey Pot (Do I want a nickel or gold tone finish?) or the Mary Jurek Honey Pot with a bee accent and a honey dipper.
You think there’s only one kind of honey? Well, you’re sorely mistaken! Believe it or not, there’s Raspberry Honey, Blueberry Honey, and many other varieties to choose from! And, honey is available in sticks and small pourable bags to avoid a sticky mess. If you prefer to use honey from a dish, a silicone honey dipper is available from Le Creuset in a variety of colors.
Wishing that we are all blessed with a sweet, healthy, and prosperous new year,
Ok, the name is funny, but this is serious cooking. Spatchcocking poultry is the process of removing the backbone and sternum of a bird. The bird is then flattened out by pressing on it. (more…)
Many parents find it challenging to incorporate nutritious, well-balanced meals into their children’s diets. They complain that their kids want the same thing for dinner every night or that the only vegetables they eat are peas and corn. It can be difficult for parents to work on improving their children’s diets day in and day out, but teaching children healthy eating behaviors at a young age is essential.
As a dietitian and nutritionist, I get so much enjoyment from seeing the interest and excitement that children have when it comes to food. Teaching them at a young age about nutrition, where food comes from, and how to use food is a very important part of child development. Research has shown that cooking with kids and assigning them tasks surrounding mealtime promotes independence and a sense of responsibility. It also encourages them to build their strengths wherever they are in the course of development – coordination, use of utensils, and learning about foods and certain kitchen objects. As kids get older, cooking with them is a great way to reinforce subjects that they are learning in school, such as math and science. Another amazing benefit of cooking with kids is that they tend to be more excited to try a new food or dish that they helped make than something you just put in front of them. And if these aren’t enough reasons to start cooking with your kids, focus on the fact that it is a fun activity that the whole family can enjoy!
I recommend that parents involve their children in the cooking process every step of the way from preparing the shopping list and going grocery shopping together to cooking and cleaning up. It’s also fun to perform food-related activities with kids: let them grow their own herbs, show them the difference between fruit and vegetables, and help them see how all their senses are involved in the enjoyment of food. When it comes to the actual cooking of food with kids, keep in mind that children’s abilities in the kitchen vary by age. Here is a quick rundown of what children can do between ages two and 12.
Once children are six they can most likely get involved in peeling, grating, cutting, and grinding ingredients. Between nine and 12 years old they can do more advanced cutting and use an electric mixer. Parents need to evaluate each child’s abilities to determine what he or she can do since every child develops differently.
For some easy, nutritious and delicious recipes that you can make with your children, check out my new book, We Can Cook: Introduce Your Child to the Joy of Cooking with 75 Simple Recipes and Activities (Barron’s, 2011). Here’s one of my favorite recipes form the book that I think your kids will enjoy!
When the word kugel first appeared in Webster’s Dictionary in the early twentieth century, it was defined as “a suet pudding,” a characterization derived from similarities between kugel and British steamed puddings. Later, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary updated the definition to “a baked pudding.” Baking, however, was actually a late step in the kugel’s evolution. For the kugel’s (kuglen plural) origin lay not in a casserole, but rather as bread dumplings in a stew pot.
By the 12th century, the concept of dumplings spread from China along the Silk Road to Italy then Germany, around the same time that cholent reached Germany from Spain by way of France. Within a century or so, German cooks began dropping a bread batter containing a little egg as a binder into the center of the Sabbath stew, the dumpling developing a rich flavor and texture as it simmered overnight and, after morning services, served warm alongside the stew for lunch.
Then emulating an emerging German practice of steaming puddings in a clay pot instead of in a stew or in intestines, Jewish housewives began cooking the dumpling in a kugeltopf –kugel was the Middle High German for “ball” and topf meant “jar/pot”– a commonplace small rounded Teutonic earthenware jar. The kugeltopf was placed in the top of the stew, the steamy environment keeping the batter moist and preventing burning. This not only transformed the batter into a pudding with the potential for greater versatility, but also gave rise to a new name. In order to differentiate the pudding from the stew, people began calling it variously weckschalet (weck was German for “bread roll”), semmelkugel (semmel/zemmel was another Teutonic bread roll), and schaletkugel, a reference to the resulting round shape. In western Europe, these puddings are still called schalet, while in eastern Europe, kugel became the generic term for all these puddings. Whether pronounced kugel (by Poles and Lithuanians), koogle (by Germans), or keegal (by Galitzianers), this dish ranks high in the pantheon of Jewish foods.
As the kugel came out of the cholent, the rudimentary bread dumplings gradually evolved into an array of dishes. Onions, ubiquitous in Ashkenazic cookery, were sautéed and added for extra flavor. Gribenes, cracklings made while rendering schmaltz, provided another possible flavor element. The popularization of sugar in 17th century Europe led to sweet puddings. The common denominators of all true kugels are a starch base, eggs (or egg substitute), and fat, without the addition of water or other liquids. If the dish lacks any of the basic ingredients, it is technically a casserole or cake, not a kugel.
Kugel achieved new gastronomic heights when cooks substituted farfel and noodles and, on Passover, matza for the bread batter. The Frankfort rabbi, Joseph Yuspa Hahn (1570-1637) in Yosif Ometz, a collection of local customs, mentioned three types of schalets: weck, vermicelles(Western Yiddish for “noodles”), and matza. Hanh also instructs, “Do not forget to taste your schalet on Friday (before the onset of the Sabbath) to test whether it be properly cooked!” By the sixteenth century, rice kugels, typically reserved for special occasions, emerged in parts of eastern Europe, influenced by the Ottoman advances into Europe and their introduction of numerous Middle Eastern foods. Potatoes, after their popularization in the mid-19th century, provided an inexpensive and filling kugel, subsequently becoming the predominant type in the impoverished shtetls of eastern Europe. Whence the popular Yiddish folk song, “Sunday potatoes, Monday potatoes, Tuesday and Wednesday potatoes, Thursday and Friday potatoes, but Shabbos, for a change, a potato kugel.”
Beginning in the late 1700s, groups of Chasidim and students of the Vilna Gaon began moving to Israel, bringing with them the traditions of eastern Europe, including clothing and foods. In Jerusalem, they developed a distinctive noodle kugel, a hybrid of traditional salt-and-pepper noodle kugel and sweet noodle kugel, featuring a tantalizing contrast of ground black pepper and caramelized sugar, Yerushalmi kugel.
During the Middle Ages, only some wealthy families owned a home oven. Most foods were cooked on the hearth over an open fire, while baked foods had to be lugged to the town bakery or to the occasional private home oven, typically using the facilities for a fee. In addition, temperatures were difficult to regulate in those wood-burning brick or clay ovens and baked goods had to be carefully watched during the entire baking time. On the other hand, the temperature of stews or water in a pot could be reliably controlled. Consequently, for most of history, cooking was usually performed directly over a fire (roasting, braising, boiling, steaming, and poaching) and kugels were commonly steamed. In this vein, the first Jewish cookbook in English, The Jewish Manuel by Judith Montefiore(London, 1846), which contains the first record of the word kugel in English, offered a recipe for “Kugel and Commean,” (hamin) entailing a sweetened and spiced bread mixture in a covered “quart basin” steamed in a meat-and-bean stew. Similarly, Esther Levy, of German roots, in the first American Jewish Cookbook, Jewish Cookery (Philadelphia, 1871), included a recipe for “Coogle, Or Pudding, and Peas and Beans,” consisting of a sweetened noodle mixture steamed in a covered basin set in a soupy cholent.
Technology played an essential role in creating the kugel’s predominant modern form, particularly in America. With the popularization of the home oven in the mid-19th century, kugels suddenly shifted from the stew pot to baking it in a separate shallow container. The kugel, as we now know it, a baked casserole pudding, had arrived. Baking the kugel in an oven had another consequence, changing it from being primarily a Sabbath lunch dish and accompaniment to the cholent to one also served as a side dish for Friday night dinner and even during the weekday.
Here are a few seasonal kugel recipes:
Although it is true that the best way to make smooth creamy ice cream is with an ice cream maker it is possible to get very good results without one as well. The key to creamy ice cream is to freeze the mixture quickly. In order to get the best results it is essential that the ice cream is well chilled before freezing. While this method may seem a bit strange it produces a creamy ice cream that is almost as smooth as one made with an ice cream maker.
Make ice cream according to the directions in the recipe, making sure to chill the mixture at least several hours but preferably overnight. Line two rimmed cookie sheets with plastic wrap. Pour half of the mixture onto each pan and freeze until completely firm. Remove one pan from the freezer. Working quickly, peel the ice cream off the plastic and break into medium-large pieces. Place them in the bowl of a food processor fit with a metal blade. Process until the ice cream is the texture of soft serve. Place in a container and freeze until firm. Repeat with the remaining ice cream. If making a recipe with a mix-in, such as cookie dough, fold the mix-in into the ice cream after removing it from the food processor.
This method can be used to make any Homemade Ice Cream recipe, a selection of some can be found here, Homemade Ice Cream Recipes.
Summer fun is here and so are these fantastic tips to keep you out of the kitchen.
Here is a list of “Quick Hints” that I share at my Tupperware demonstrations with my customers. I am sure you will find them very interesting and useful, so bookmark this page and save them for future reference.
Reheating Pizza : Heat up leftover pizza in a non-stick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.
Easy Devilled Eggs: Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
Expanding Frosting: When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar/calories per serving.
Reheating Refrigerated Bread: To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
Newspaper Weeds Away: When putting in your plants, work the nutrients into your soil. Wet newspapers and put layers around the plants, overlapping as you go. Cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic but they will not get through wet newspapers.
Broken Glass: Use a dry cotton ball to pick up little broken pieces of glass- the fibers catch ones you can’t see!
No More Mosquitoes: Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
Squirrel Away!: To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn’t hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come near it.
MINE!!!!! : If you purchase a new bike for your child, place their picture inside the handle bar before placing the grips on. If the bike is stolen and later recovered, remove the grip and there is your proof of ownership.
Flexible Vacuum Extension: To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge, add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
Reducing Static Cling: Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and – voila – static is gone.
Measuring Cups: Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill it with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
Foggy Windshield: Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
Reopening Envelope : If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Voila! It unseals easily.
Conditioner: Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair.
Goodbye Fruit Flies: To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass and add 1/2″ Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dishwashing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
Get Rid of Ants: Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it “home,” & can’t digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works & you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
Baby Powder at the Beach: Keep a small bottle of baby powder in your beach bag. When you’re ready to leave the beach, sprinkle yourself and kids with the powder and the sand will slide right off your skin.
Potatoes soaked in salt water for 20 min. before baking, will bake more rapidly. Add a little milk to the water in which you cook cauliflower, it will remain attractively white.
Toothpicks are sometimes too short to test a loaf cake for doneness. A piece of uncooked spaghetti will work just fine.
Store all luncheon ingredients in Cold Cut keeper ( toppings, mustard, mayo in snack set) so you only have to open refrigerator once.
When camping, make turnovers…butter all sides of muffin. Fill 1 or 2 TBS, of favorite jam. Wrap in foil. Put in coals 2 or 3 minutes each side.
Do you love the idea of a shot of convenience to go with your morning coffee? I do, and I also like the idea of a no mess, one-touch single cup brew. But to be perfectly honest, I haven’t been blown away by the quality of the coffee capsule competition. My counter needs a little more flair and my coffee needs a little more flavor. I’ve been using a Bodum French press for as long as I can remember and I never tasted a good reason to change. So naturally I was curious (and hopeful) when my favorite espresso entered the single-serve coffee market.
Based in Trieste, Italy, illycaffè is led by chairman and CEO, Andrea Illy, the third generation of the Illy family. If you are on the prowly for a high-quality single-cup automatic machine for under $300, their Francis Francis Y1 machine is exactly what you are looking for. It has a simple, one-touch design – just what my tired eyes need in the morning. Insert a capsule (Medium, Dark or Decaf), press the button, and a concentrated, full-bodied espresso topped with a rich crema is all yours in about a minute. The Y1’s aluminum body, tempered glass cupholder and compact silhouette (9.5 inch base) and fire engine red color make it a perfect fit in almost any space. Because extraction takes place entirely inside the capsule, the coffee and machine never come in contact, so clean up is a snap. All in all, it is an impressive package. Although I am not ready to throw my French press away, Italy and France are going to get along just fine together in my kitchen.
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Charcoal Companion Pizzaque Pizza Stone GrillRather munch on veggies while everyone else is wolfing down the meat? Make a veggie cheeseless pizza. “Often, non-meat eaters don’t have something filling they enjoy at a BBQ. This PizzaQue makes brick oven pizza using your grill.” It just might be worth getting a second dairy grill-so you can make brick-oven style cheese pizza too! |
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Bodum Fyrkat Cone Charcoal Grill“Isn’t it cute?” For anyone who doesn’t have a lot of space, or is tired of gas fumes or empty canisters, this is a charcoal grill that’s easy to clean, compact, light – and stylish. There’s two cooking surfaces, a rotisserie, and the cone at the bottom screws off so you can remove the ashes without getting your fingers balck.” The Bodum comes in a bunch of fun colors. |
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Breville Electronic Grill Removable Plates“Yes, there are less expensive indoor grills. Panini makers will also give you grill lines,” says Faige. “But this is the king of electronic grills – it’s large, state-of-the-art, and wil give food that authentic BBQ flavor. It’s just like bringing your fancy barbecue indoors. |
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Camerons Beer RoasterFor Chicken Lovers. Tired of dry grilled chicken breasts? For the best, most moist chicken ever—pour your favorite marinade in the middle (or your favorite beer, the inspiration for this nifty cooking tool). “Stick the chicken on top, and cook over the grill or in the oven. The fat also drips down, resulting in a healthy BBQ option,” says Faige. That’s way cooler than chicken burgers. WIN THIS! Contest ends August 17, 2011 at 9 am. |
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Cuisinart Griddler Grill CentroFor Shish Kebab Lovers “This indoor electronic grill has a cool feature that rotates the skewers so they cook evenly,” says Faige. “The top can convert from a grill to a griddle.” WIN THIS! Contest ends August 17, 2011 9am |
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Talisman Party PicksEditor Victoria Dwek used these at a recent party she hosted to WIN THIS! Contest ends August 10, 2011 at 9am. |
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Zak Lotus BowlThe best of both worlds! These melamine bowls are pretty and |
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Rachael Ray Melamine Garbage BowlKeep the trash can away and out of sight when you cook. Instead, throw those onion peels and egg shells into the Garbage Bowl. Yes, this is just a bowl. Yet, those who have it love it. Why? We suppose most people find using their regular prep bowls for “garbage” is unappealing. But a bowl set aside for the job, sitting right there on the counter? |
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Prodyne Salad-on-IceDo your greens wilt and turn unappetizingly warm when |
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Sensio Mini Cupcake MakerThere’s no preheating, no opening the oven door to check those muffin tops. Who wants to do that in the summer? But we still want our cupcakes. Our favorite cupcake maker turns out moist cakes – in about 5 minutes. WIN THIS! Contest ends August 10th 9am. |
Check out our previous Favorite Things.
Let’s get real. We all know how uber important good BBQ sauce is to the success of your grilling. If you’ve got the right one, it’s all the seasoning you need; if you’ve got the wrong one, ain’t nothin gonna save your meat.
There are great bottled brands on the market, and “best” is a matter of taste. But if you are feeling a bit adventurous, why not try your hand at an easy homemade BBQ sauce recipe? I admit I never thought of creating my own BBQ sauce until I was inspired by the “DIY (Do-It-Yourself ) Diva” columnist, Felisa Billet, in my Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller magazine. It turns out there are some DIY recipes which are easier than you or at least I thought.
Peach BBQ Sauce
You’ll like my Sweet Spicy Smokey BBQ Sauce. It’s traditional, covering all the BBQ bases, but sensational. For something with more of a fruity flair, go with Peach BBQ Sauce. It’s perfect for Father’s Day and every summer celebration, but I’ll bet you’ll find yourself making it all year long.
Some other recipes to try:
• Apple Honey Marinade
• Cosmic BBQ Sauce
• Honolulu BBQ Marinade
• Fresh Lemon Grass Marinade
• Argentine Chimichurri Marinade and Sauce
I meet many people who are simply “afraid” to freeze any food merely because they have had bad “freezer-tasting” food in the past. That is a false assumption. The food they ate was just frozen and stored the wrong way. It’s like trying to make cholent in a frying pan!
With summer rapidly approaching, we look forward to spending more time outside with our families. Whenever my family and I would spend a great day outdoors, all I do is go to “Mom’s Diner”—my freezer—and pull out our dinner! We never have to experience the “instant heartburn” some people get from takeout food!
You have to learn the proper technique and correct storage containers to use for that exact purpose. In my experience, I have saved hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a year by freezing and storing food correctly! And don’t forget the hours you will save in time because you do not have to “waste” time cooking fresh food every day of your life!
Freezing is simple and the most time-efficient way to preserve foods at home. It is important to note that freezing does not improve the quality of foods, but when properly done, it can preserve most of the quality of the fresh product. Food stored constantly at zero degrees will always be safe.
FYI: As an aside, if you have an electrical blackout, a full freezer will keep food frozen for 72 hours, while a half full freezer will only stay for 12 hours!
One of my customers did an experiment with her family. To be precise, she did it to prove a point to her husband who said he would never eat anything that was frozen. He had been turned off by bad experiences from his childhood years when his mother would serve frozen, dried out food to him and his siblings. She was a working mother and had no other choice. She used cheap plastic takeout containers and lots of foil and baggies to store the food in the freezer. These cheaper quality containers are not meant for the vapors and low temperatures that exist in a zero degree environment. The food lost its quality and got a “freezer burn,” thereby robbing it of its good taste and appearance.
However, this woman was desperate to find a way out of being forced to cook a fresh meal every day, so she decided to try her freezer luck. Her husband’s favorite food was meatballs and spaghetti. She prepared the recipe as usual, but instead of freezing the meatballs with the sauce in cheap containers immediately after cooking them, she used my tricks and saved herself literally hours of time.
She made sure these meatballs remained her private secret. She served her family about 85 defrosted suppers of meatballs and sauce over a period of four weeks, and no one knew the difference! Of course, she cooked her spaghetti and other side dishes fresh each time.
So, she never told her husband what she did and still now freezes many of her food for her family. She recently told me she feels like a “liberated” woman! She has more time to devote to her other interests with her newfound time.
Here’s how you can be liberated of the daily grind!
How To: Yummy Frozen Meatballs or Stuffed Cabbage
Separate the cooked meatballs/stuffed cabbage from the sauce. Line a cookie sheet or flat board with foil. Foil acts as a conductor and will “quick-freeze” any food sitting on it in the freezer. Place the meatballs side by side, like rows of cookies, on the foil, (without the sauce.) Depending on your particular freezer, it may take an hour, more or less to “quick freeze” the meatballs. Then, place the hardened meatballs into any Tupperware freezer container. You can use either a tall or flat container, because shape will not matter. The meatballs will pop out individually, since there is no sauce binding them together! Freeze the sauce separately.
Sauce can be frozen in bulk or in individual smaller 2 cup Tupperware containers. If you did freeze sauce in a larger container and only need a small amount of sauce for those six meatballs you removed for a child, just run some warm water from the sink over the container. On a cutting board, slide out the “brick” of sauce. Hold down the “brick” with a carving fork. Run very hot water on a sharp serrated knife, and “slice” the amount of sauce you need! The rest was not defrosted, so you may return it to the freezer safely for later use. Remember, you cannot refreeze fully defrosted cooked food.
Here are a few more general tips for freezing:
Please try my family’s favorite Sweet and Sour Meatball recipe. I have customer’s who tell me, they have family members who literally “lick the plate” when eating this!
Jamie Geller is a bestselling author of the wildly successful QUICK & KOSHER cookbook...
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