We love soup in the winter. However, many soups take 2-3 hours to cook and I don’t always leave myself enough time to make the soup to have for dinner the same day. These are a few soups that take an hour or less to prepare.
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Author Archives: Sarita Eisenberg
Hardening the Heart: Thoughts on Parashat Va’era
The notion of hardening the heart occurs 20 times in the book of Exodus.
Ten of these occurrences state either that Pharoah hardened his [own] heart (8:28, 9:34) or say that Pharoah’s heart hardened, suggesting that this was something that Pharoah did on his own (7:13, 7:14, 7:22, 8:11, 8:15, 9:7 , 9:35). The other ten occurrences attribute the heart hardening to God (4:21, 7:3, 9:12, 10:1, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10, 14:4, 14:8, 14:17).
The idea that God intentionally hardened Pharoah’s heart has always troubled me. Why would God do that? And how, if God made this happen, can we blame Pharoah and hold him accountable for his actions? Continue reading
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
MESH Report November 28, 2023
The MESH team included our usual threesome of Linda Ariel, Lou Hammerman and me (Sarita Eisenberg) plus Alex Kent – a reunion of sorts as we had all just been together on the Civil Rights trip.
MESH Report Sept 12, 2023
Our team for this first MESH of the year included Linda Ariel, Lou Hammerman, Lynne Kurzweil and me (Sarita Eisenberg).
We made our signature dish of barbeque chicken – each guest received 2 drumsticks with a generous side of roasted potatoes and a slice of bread. The meal also included a serving of cole slaw, fuit cup, cookies (left over from Selichot), and a bottle of water. Continue reading
Recipes for a Sweet Year
It’s traditional to have honey on Rosh Hashanah to symbolize our hope for a sweet new year. That includes dipping apple and challah in honey. Over the years, I’ve also accumulated some recipes with honey that I make only at this time of the year – on Rosh Hashanah itself or during the period between Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot. Continue reading
MESH Report June 29, 2023
We started out the MESH year making 20 meals, then 30. For this last MESH of the year, we upped the number to 50 meals.
Our MESH team included the trusty trio of Linda Ariel, Lou Hammerman and me (Sarita Eisenberg) plus Lynne Kurzweil. Aileen Grossberg provided the bread and dessert and delivered the packed food.
Jewish Relativity: A Seder Story
We had what I consider to be small seders this year ― 6 people the first night at my sister’s and only 10 (plus our 2 toddler grandchildren) here for the second night.
I am from a family of six (I have 2 brothers and a sister). My mother had two sisters – each with a spouse, one with three children and the other with five. Adding in my grandparents meant that we had 20 people at each seder. So 20 is what I always considered to be a normal-sized seder. Continue reading
MESH Report Mar 28, 2023
Our MESH guests were once again treated to a meal of barbeque chicken and roasted potatoes, this time with a side of chopped salad. For the three vegetarian meals, we warmed up leftover mini-quiches and cheese kugel from last Saturday’s kiddush. 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