Like all of you, our hearts are broken following the horrendous death of innocent children at an elementary school in Uvalde Texas, which follows two mass shootings last week at a supermarket in Buffalo and a church in Laguna Woods California. Thoughts and prayers are not enough. We need to act. Taking action is the only thing that will change what is happening. Here are some suggestions for appropriate actions you can consider taking. Continue reading
Author Archives: Sarita Eisenberg
Taking Action Against Climate Change
At this past Sunday’s Mitzvah Day event, Shomrei members took part in an educational program delivered by David Korfhage, President of Montclair Climate Action. David began the presentation by asking us, “What comes to mind when you think about climate change?” These were our responses, “Guilty” “Scared” “Confused” “Helpless”: “Paralyzed.”
“So there’s a lot of anxiety” he responded. “And the antidote to anxiety is to take action – to channel fear and anxiety into action, even if you don’t know what the results are going to be.” Continue reading
MESH Report Feb 15, 2022
It was “all hands” in as Linda Ariel and Susan Rosenblatt assisted Chef Sarita Eisenberg in cooking for our MESH guests – making chicken with barbecue sauce, coleslaw and roast potatoes. Continue reading
MESH Report Jan 11, 2022
It was frigid outside but warm – even hot – in the Shomrei kitchen as Chef Sarita Eisenberg prepared 20 meals with assistance from Shirley Grill and Susan Rosenblatt and special thanks to Lou Hammerman for doing the shopping.
Macaroni and Cheese …. Perfect Together
Around Thanksgiving, I kept seeing articles for Thanksgiving meals that included a side dish of macaroni and cheese. As someone who does not think that cheese and poultry belong together in the same meal, that sounded awful. But it did get me thinking about mac-n-cheese. So here are some recipes that I’ve accumulated over the years. Continue reading
Little Food Pantry Arrives at Shomrei
Shomrei is now the 7th site in Montclair for a Little Food Pantry. The Pantry is based on a simple rule: Take what you need and donate what you can. This provides another way for Shomrei members to help people experiencing food insecurity. We invite you to donate non-perishable food in cans or boxes (no glass and no expired food, please!).
We are looking for volunteers to keep our pantry in good shape. This would involve checking the pantry to remove expired food and perishable food and sometimes restocking with extra food stored in a closet inside the building. Please contact Sarita Eisenberg (email hidden; JavaScript is required) if you are interested and for more information.
B’shalom,
Sarita Eisenberg & Audrey Levitin,
Co-Chairpersons, Social Action Committee
Chicken on the Grill
Our grill sits on our deck and we use it most of the year, but particularly in the summer. We started to grill a lot when we purchased our first gas grill, over 30 years ago. So much easier and quicker than cooking with charcoal.
Having a gas grill came in handy when we redid our kitchen and were without a stove and oven for 3 months. We do have a funny story about that, though. Usually I buy fresh chicken, but this one day I was using chicken that had been frozen. It wasn’t quite defrosted so I left it on our dining table for a bit. When I came back an hour later, the chicken was gone and there was Donny, our little dachshund, in the corner of the living with just a bit of bone still hanging out of his mouth and a bulging tummy. Seems that he had managed to jump onto one of the chairs and then on to the table to get the chicken. No grilling that night. We ordered in. Continue reading
Plain and Not So Plain Chicken
The silver lining to the pandemic has been that our son and daughter-in-law (Moish & Charissa) ― who used to get together with friends every Friday ―are, instead, coming over every week for Shabbat dinner. This past week, Charissa commented that she never cooks chicken herself, partly because she doesn’t like the thought of handling raw chicken but also because she doesn’t know how to cook chicken.
Did I say that the menu every week is always chicken? Lou grew up having chicken for dinner every Friday night for Shabbat. When we were married, I decided to continue that tradition. However, whereas Lou’s mom made chicken the same way every week, I wanted to vary what I served – hence I have a very large number of different chicken recipes. So here is an excerpt of the chicken chapter of the family cookbook I am compiling. I’ll start simple with some roasted chicken recipes … Continue reading
Starting with Starters
Back in September at the start of the (Jewish) new year, I started a new project – compiling my recipes into a book for my daughter and daughter-in-law. The project posed several challenges – many of my “recipes” were just scribbled suggestions of ingredients while some were not written down at all. Still others were actual recipes that I had found over the years – except that I didn’t follow any of them as written and had not noted down my modifications.
So …. I have embarked on a year-long (or possibly longer) journey which involves making each recipe and writing down the ingredients and directions for all the items I cook. In addition, at the request of my daughter-in-law, I am taking pictures so that she knows what the finished recipe looks like. Continue reading
A Week of Action: Message from the Social Action Committee
Dear Friends,
I am outraged and saddened at the killing of George Floyd. On the news, I heard a young black man say that when he leaves the house in the morning, he never knows whether he will come back alive. I cannot imagine living with that reality for him or for his family.
Amidst this, I am proud of our state. In Newark, the police stood back and let their community protest peacefully. In Camden, police joined with their community to protest racism and police brutality.
Several groups in Montclair are collaborating to host activities for a week of action. Please consider joining in these events: Continue reading