In today’s world the image of the Jewish family, and the traditions they celebrate within their home, is rapidly changing. Some families stay true to what we embrace as "classic" – my friend Avi still bakes challah every Friday for Shabbat with her twin daughters – but that doesn’t hold for everyone. Instead of a holiday dinner, my friend Jill and her family took a Yiddish lesson. Creative? Yes. Traditional? No. But they had a blast. And as a family that’s not necessarily "religious" it was a perfect way to recognize a holiday and spend it together.

As part of my research for the book I spoke with a rabbi named Rachel Greengrass. I met her when she stopped by my daughter’s "Tot Shabbat" and I knew she would be the perfect person to contribute to the book. She’s friendly, approachable, and young…and she did not disappoint. One the main points she talks about in her portion of the book is that fact that being creative and making new traditions IS traditional. She and her husband practice what she preaches – one of her traditions is to drink four shots of vodka made from grapes instead of wine at her seder.

Many of the other family traditions were just as unique. From my friend Aleesa, who celebrates the joys of matzo ball soup with a song that her late grandfather made up, to my mom’s good friend Dee, whose niece has kept a 25+-year list of everyone who has attended every seder they have ever had. There’s Jodi, who had to hide TWO afikomens from her ultra-competitive brother; Stacy, whose mom reenacts the Passover plagues with live table theater and rubber bugs; and Israeli-born Efrat, who teaches her Miami-born children holiday songs in English, Spanish and Hebrew.

My own family’s tradition is my mom’s Jell-O mold. Every year she would serve it and every year my cousins and brother and I would laugh and mock her choice of side dish. In an effort to entertain us even further she began finding funny shapes to "mold" her mold with. There was the turkey, the Star of David, the heart… and many more. Today it still remains the butt of every holiday meal joke. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.

What’s the craziest Jewish holiday tradition you’ve heard? (Who knows? There may be second book…)

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Traveling around promoting Jewish Cooking Boot Camp, my mom and I have been fortunate to meet many, many people who love to share their stories and recipes with us. And almost everyone has the same comment: "My mother/grandmother/aunt made a similar honey cake/matzo ball/brisket but shenever wrote down the recipe! It was ‘a little of this, a little of that.’"

Hearing these stories only reinforced how rare and special it is that my mom and I were able to amass such a huge collection of traditional recipes. And the real reason we were able to do that was my grandmother, Edith.

Edith was far from a typical Jewish grandmother. She loved fashion and style almost as much as she loved cooking. She was the first person I knew to own MAC makeup in the late 1980s, brought back from a trip to New York City. She referred to her friends as"the dinosaurs." She once convinced a tailor to make my prom dress so short it would have made Paris and Lindsay blush. And I would often come home from work to find my roommate Zoë on the phone with her, discussing the previous night’s episode of "Sex & The City."

She was a true individual and her style, her attitude, and even her cooking reflected that. People are always asking where the recipes came from and, truth be told, most came from Edith. They may have originated with her mother or grandmotheror even friends, but it was her tweaking and taste – and ultimately her writing things down – that gave us the basics for the book.

Even more than in her recipes, I like to think her spirit lives on in the book as well. I wanted to create a book that would appeal to those who go to temple every week as well as those who have never seen the inside of a shul. And I wanted people to see that it’s ok to do things your own way, in your own style, with your own spin and personality – much like my grandma. Holidays are about more than following rules. I always like to say I wrote the book not to tell people how to celebrate, but to give them the tools to do it on their own. And I think Edith would have loved that.

In honor of Edith (and my last post) I’m happy to share her signature cake. Try it – it’sreally simple, and absolutely amazing.

Edith’s Orange Cake Serves: 8-10 Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 25 minutes

(1) 18.25 oz. package orange cake mix (1) 3.4 oz package instant vanilla pudding 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 cup orange juice

4 extra-large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan using oil or cooking spray or Baker’s Joy (I prefer Baker’s Joy for baking)

3. Mix together all of the ingredients and beat for 2 minutes.

4. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan and bake at 350° for 50 to 60 minutes. Cake is done when golden and bounces back when touched.

5. When the cake is completely cool, pour the glaze over the top.

Orange Glaze

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

3 1/2 tablespoons orange juice

Mix the confectioners’ sugar with the orange juice, and pour the glaze over the cooled cake.

TIP: You can substitute milk for the orange juice to make an unflavored glaze.

The post Lessons From a Not-So-Typical Jewish Grandma appeared first on Jewcy.

One of my best friends, Susie, has the distinct pleasure of being nicknamed the "Jewmaican," as testament to her Jewish father and Jamaican mother. Her family regularly celebrates Jewish holidays with the traditional…rice and peas? It may not be Jewish traditional, but it’s Jamaican traditional. They fused their cultures to create a tradition that recognized all aspects of their family, and I love that.

Food truly is a great connector. It connects us not only to other cultures but to our own as well. As most of us know, the Jewish religion emphasizes the act of inviting people into your home for meals. I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of non-Jewish friends I have who were just as excited as my tribe members about JCBC. I mean, is there really a better comfort food than matzo ball soup?

One of the most powerful stories in the book comes from Nancy Ratzan, an incredible woman who is the current President of the National Council of Jewish Women (and who happened to write a beautiful foreword for the book). In her position she often travels around the world, meeting with other religious and political leaders. In 2003 she found herself in rural China, investigating the role the UN plays in Chinese family planning. As she went door-to-door in an area where the annual family income is less than $300, she was invited into a multi-generational home of a local family and asked to stay for lunch. Though she politely declined, they insisted she stay to taste a bite of their freshly baked food. With her first bite, Nancy turned to the translator and had him explain that it tasted exactly like the popovers her Eastern-European Jewish grandmother used to make. Through the translator she exchanged recipes with the Chinese grandmother. They were the same.

If that’s not an incredible connection, I don’t know what is.

In honor of my "Jewzilian" family, our favorite drink…

Caipirinha

Makes: 1 drink

1 lime

4 teaspoons sugar (or 2 1/2 packets Splenda or other artificial sweetener)

Ice cubes

Cachaça (or Vodka)

TIPS:

• Cachaca is very easy to find these days (51 and Leblon are both good brands) and comes in Kosher form for those who need it.
• If cachaca’s not for you just sub in vodka (also easily found in kosher varieties) and your caipirinha becomes a caipiroska.
• You can use anything from a tumbler to a highball to a goblet to make this drink, but be sure your glass has a thick bottom and plenty of room for ice.
• Caipirinhas (and Caipiroskas) are best when very cold, so as your ice melts, continue to add more ice to keep your drink cold.

1. Cut the lime in half lengthwise and squeeze the juice from each half into a glass, using a lime squeezer.
2. Take the remnants of the lime and cut each side in half and then into thirds, and add them to the glass.
3. Add the sugar or Splenda. You can add more or less sugar depending on personal preference.
4. Use a masher or wooden spoon to mash the sugar into the lime wedges as you stir.
5. Eyeball the amount of liquid now in the glass, and add a little less than that amount of Cachaça.
6. Use your masher to continue mashing the ingredients while stirring.
7. Fill the glass with ice and let the drink sit for a few minutes to chill.

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The recipe is well… let’s say it’s not for the beginner. But I’ve always been one to challenge myself, so off I went. At the time, my husband Gil and I were living in an an old building, the kind where the apartments are still huge but the neighbors were rarely under the age of 70. I spent hours chopping and prepping and simmering, then covered the pan and left it to cook. Long story short… I burned the ever-living bleep out of it. It was literally black. Needless to say, we ate pizza that night. I soon realized that my old apartment and old neighbors came with equally aged burners, one of which had no setting other than “high.” So I tried it again. This time I accidentally added four times the amount of tomato paste and ended up with chicken that was more Italian than Spanish. Sigh.

The third time wasn’t a charm, but it was better. And the fourth was better than the third. Today I can make Mimi Chicken in my sleep. The lesson in all of this? Not everything is going to be perfect on the first try. The biggest step is to jump in and give it a shot.

For this Shabbat, try something small (Kugel is very, very easy- see our tutorial on You Tube!) and see how it goes. One the greatest motivators in the kitchen is confidence. The first time you make something that garners rave reviews or second helpings I can assure you, you’ll be hooked. My best advice for the novice? If you’re going to someone’s home, bring a dessert. It’s a great excuse to bake a cake (nothing wrong with cake mix- you can add things like instant pudding or orange juice to liven it up), and if you’re feeling inspired, try something from scratch such as mandelbrot or a classic honey cake. There can never be enough desserts. The key word here is TRY. Because even if it’s not “Top Chef”-worthy, the time, effort and love that you put into your dish will come through. And that’s what it’s all about.

With that, I challenge Jewcy readers to tell me their best kitchen disaster story and then make an attempt to start over with this New Year. I’ll even provide the recipe! (I know a great honey cake.)

HONEY CAKE

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 Cup presifted all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 Tsp baking soda
• 1/2 Tsp salt
• 3 Tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 Tsp allspice
• 1 Cup vegetable oil
• 1 Cup honey
• 1 1/2 Cup sugar
• 1/2 Cup brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 Tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Cup brewed coffee at room temperature (instant works fine)
• 3/4 Cup orange juice
• 1/2 Cup sliced almonds (optional)

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the oil, honey, sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee, and orange juice
4. Use an electric mixer on slow speed to mix everything together.
5. Using cooking spray, grease a 10-inch Bundt pan, a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, or three 9-or 10- inch loaf pans (whichever you prefer).
6. Spoon the batter into the pan and sprinkle the top with almonds (optional).
7. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until the cake turns golden brown and springs back when gently pressed.
8. Let the cake sit for 20 minutes, then loosen the sides and invert it onto a wire rack to cool completely

The post The Tale of Mimi Chicken (AKA The Dish That Started It All) appeared first on Jewcy.

It was about eight years ago that I came to a shocking realization. I didn’t know how to cook. Not boiling-some-pasta-cooking… I mean real cooking.

I was living in a tiny apartment in New York City and spending every spare moment either working or flying home to get a dose of sunshine. Being that my hometown happens to be Miami, those trips were rarely solo. They soon became group vacations, the highlight of which was my parents’ annual Chanukah party, always attended by my two best friends (both New Yorkers) and a slew of revolving guests. One night, as Ellen, Jill and I sat watching my mom fry up her famous flourless latkes, Ellen spoke up. "Roz," she said to my mom. "We all have absolutely no idea how to cook Jewish holiday food and someday we’re going to have to do it on our own."

We were silent.

"We need a Jewish cooking boot camp," she continued. And an idea was born. We figured it would be 3 days, would cover all major holidays and dishes and come complete with syllabus. From cabbage soup to nut cake we would learn it all. We laughed… and then we moved on.

But as the years went on I realized that there were many, many other young people who went through years of Jewish holidays inhaling brisket, kugel, latkes, honey cake and rugelach…without ever knowing how to make any of it themselves. Wedding seasons and bridal showers and housewarmings came and went and the Jewish cookbooks I found were too religious, too advanced, or too boring. They didn’t speak to my generation or my lifestyle. I wanted something that was fun, stylish, informative and interesting. So I created it. I added Cliffs Notes to avoid the humiliation of Googling "Rosh Hashana," a hip-hop Chanukah playlist (thanks Rosenberg brothers!), wine pairings, and even a Purim-inspired Caipirinha.

The end result ended up being more than just a cookbook. Jewish Cooking Boot Camp is about taking traditional foods and fitting them into our own (maybe non-traditional) lives. It’s not about keeping kosher or serving Manischewitz or saying the right blessings, it’s about celebrating and recognizing holidays by gathering friends and family and feeding them copious amounts of delicious comfort food. It’s about sometimes having to buy challah from the bakery, doing (rabbi-endorsed) vodka shots at your seder and embracing the family quirks that make meals special. It’s also about not being intimidated by the kitchen.

So in the spirit of the New Year I want to take this guest blogging opportunity to try to inspire all you novice hosts out there to grab your spatula and your fancy china, crank up your oven, and channel your inner chef, because if I can do it-trust me-you can too.

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