Kiddush with a Southern Flair

The kiddush luncheon for MLK Shabbat (1/13/2024) was sponsored by participants from the November Civil Rights trip. In keeping with that experience, kiddush coordinator Dale Russakoff (who herself grew up in Alabama) planned a Southern-themed menu. The kiddush crew prepared these recipes: Southern Cajun Salmon, Soul Food Mac & Cheese, Southern-style BBQ Tofu (for a vegan option) and Sweet Potato Pie. There was also a chopped salad, “Sweet Cole Slaw” from Shoprite with bagged cole slaw and shredded carrots mixed in, and cornbread from a mix.

Thank you to Dale and to these other volunteers for preparing the kiddush luncheon: Lou Hammerman, Lynne Tapper, Gerry Blume, Linda Blume, Vicki Compter, Risa Bernstein, Fern Hening, Alex Kent, and Aileen Grossberg.  Continue reading

Cool Down with Soup

When we think of cold soup , we most often call to mind a bright tomatoey gazpacho or a silky smooth vicysoisse. Gazpacho is technically a blend of raw vegetables including tomatoes,cucumber, bell peppers, often bread and spices. A simplified version was most likely brought to the Iberian Peninsula of Spain by the Romans and then given a local twist. It is simple and quick to make and has endless variations.

Today blended fruit soups, sometimes including tomatoes, are also called gazpacho. Continue reading

Clearing Out the Pantry

Pesach for me has always been about more than the actual week of the holiday. It starts several weeks before as I think about clearing out all the chametz from our pantry.

Here are a few of the recipes I’ve come up with over the years to use up pasta. During most of the year, I make pasta once or maybe twice a week. However in the last few weeks before Pesach, we might have pasta almost every night. We also usually have stockpiled several large jars of marinated artichokes as well as cans of beans and tomatoes. Continue reading

Kiddush Thanks

They came from everywhere: California, Mexico, Florida, Chile, Israel, and New Jersey and more. They were in all shapes and sizes- some long and thin; others squat and round. Some with no blemishes and others showed a bit of age. Their colors were like a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, purple, blue as well as tan, brown , black, and white. Continue reading

KIddush Kudos

Many thanks to Erin Berman for taking total charge of last week’s kiddush including set up and clean up. She was ably helped on Shabbat by volunteers Lou Hammerman, Sharon Harwich and the Gold family – Amanda, Benjamin, and Abigail – who saw a need and offered their help.

We all live with the contemporary saying “If you see something, say something.”

Let’s apply it to kiddush. “If you see a need to help, help out.”

And don’t forget to plan ahead if you can and use Sign Up Genius on the volunteer page.