Happy Easter!

04 April 2010 Filed In: Easter





Our little bunnies did some last minute egg dying yesterday afternoon using amazing natural dyes. In the early afternoon, I get to sneak around hiding eggs for the kids to find during our annual apartment egg hunt.

Meanwhile, the children have been up since 4:30 in the morning asking when the egg hunt will be and trying to show off the candy and special toys that the Easter Bunny brought them. How are you spending this special day?

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Good Friday, Bittersweet

02 April 2010 Filed In: cooking class






One of my students, Miss M, turned five last week. Since we were going to be in Arizona visiting family, we had a special pre-birthday cupcaking session, complete with the beautiful buttercream frosting that makes my mini-chefs swoon. Five year-olds are so sweet, so bittersweet. Their imaginations are soaring, and they still haven’t lost that je ne sais quoi of wonderment that comes with growing up just a little bit more.

As I write this post, my sister-in-law Suzanne lies in a hospital at the very end of her life, slipping into a coma and then slipping back here for bit, cancer taking her. My heart is with her, wishing her awareness of all the love that is coming her way and freedom from pain. My heart is with her husband and her two boys who must be undergoing such a journey of their own right now.
Instead of writing a recipe today, I would like to leave you with the images above.
Can you remember that feeling of living in the moment that you had as a small child? Each moment is a treasure.

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Almond-Apricot Macaroons

30 March 2010 Filed In: apricot, Desserts, Fall, Gluten-free, macaroons, matza, Soy-free, Spring, Summer, Vegetarian, Winter




My delightful sister-in-law, Elizabeth, Jewess of Love and Light, and her mini-chef, and my favorite mid-western nephew, Ari, are guest-blogging and sharing a recipe with all of you that I personally cannot wait to try out on my family. When I asked Elizabeth to enlighten us with some seasonal treats, I had no idea that corn and legumes were prohibited during Jewish Passover. What was clear all along, something I know first hand, is just how delicious macaroons are.
Now, put on your schmata and get to it….
Elizabeth writes:
Passover – the Feast of Redemption. Some people feel enslaved being limited to matza, but I like to look at it as a challenge. No chametz (bread, flour, leavening, corn, legumes, etc.)? No problem. You just have to get a little creative. The thing is though, I like to be able to reach for a cookie. Yeah, yeah, it’s only eight days, but still. Sponge cake and matza crunch just doesn’t do it for me in the dessert department. Thankfully I found a recipe some years back for macaroons that hit the spot. No, not the things from the can, almond-apricot macaroons, nary a shred of coconut in sight. For everything else, it’s just eight days people!


Almond-Apricot Macaroons
(from Cooking Light)
2 Tbsp matza cake meal, for dusting cookie sheet
3/4 cup whole blanched almonds
3/4 cup matza cake meal
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1 tsp grated orange rind
1/4 tsp almond extract
3 large egg whites
Big person: Preheat oven to 325. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Have your little person help sprinkle the pans with 2 Tbsp. matza cake meal.
Place the almonds in a food processor; pulse 3-4 times or until coarsely chopped.
Lightly spoon 3/4 cup matza meal into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add 3/4 cup matza cake meal, sugar and remaining ingredients to almonds; pulse 3-4 times or just until combined. (Careful not to over-process.) Transfer to a bowl.
Together: Using hands dusted with cake meal, divide dough into 16 portions (or 12 if you’re feeling generous). Roll each portion into a ball. You might need to squeeze it a bit to get them to stick together. Place on prepared baking sheet.
Big Person: Place in oven for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

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Corner View: Typical Architecture

24 March 2010 Filed In: corner view, tribeca





There are days when I walk around my neighborhood just to soak up the nuances that make it so gorgeous. For so long, this part of the City seemed like a foreign land to me, especially the utter quiet that would ensue after banking hours and on the weekends.

I remember walking around, pregnant with my daughter, longing for my friends in the East Village. There, I had so many neighborhood people with whom I had day-to-day relationships. There was an Indian grocer who loved to haggle with me in a loud voice. I would sometimes sit at home making up certain, special insults for him, and when I went into his store, he would teach me all kinds of other, special insults. Then, after several minutes of this back and forth, he would add a gooey brightly colored sweet in with my purchases for free, and we would smile at each other.
Two best friends in their 40’s and 50’s would invite me over for fresh baby coconut, opened at the eye with a small hammer. We would sit out on the tiny terrace and giggle like teenagers sucking out the water and scooping out the flesh with a straw.
The messes of friends who put up with all my messes and I with theirs.
I would long for the simple diversity without which life seemed a little paler:
Where are the girls in Japanese street fashion?
Where are the boys with the piercings all over and their ubiquitous pit bulls?
Where are the grannies and grampies push push pushing their carts up the street, pausing for moments to talk to one another or themselves or to catch a breath?
Where can we go to eat a pierogi at 3 am and tuck into a big cone of belgian frites at 4?
Tribeca took a while to grow on me. Where my love for my old neighborhood was instant and passionate, falling in love with Tribeca happened cautiously and only began to take place when I took time to notice the details. Here, you could swoon over the little flowers and gargoyles and nooks and crannies.
A good friend from our neighborhood just told us that she and her family, all dear friends to the big ones and little ones in our family, are moving far away in a month.
My heart sank with the news. How precious they are, this beautiful family with whom I feel such a connection. It turns out that it is not just the small architectural details that have slowly turned this place into home, but also the rare friendships.
For other corner views, click around here:

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Tamales with Greens and Queso Blanco

22 March 2010 Filed In: collard, cooking class, corn, Fall, Gluten-free, greens, lunchbox, Main Dish, Side Dish, Snacks, Soy-free, Spring, Summer, swiss chard, tamales, Vegetarian, Winter





My class of 3 year-olds is probably my most adventurous class in the taste department. Week after week, even when we push the envelope and make dishes that some kids would not come near with a ten foot pole, they happily sit down and eat together, with not a word about it being gross. Even better, they seem to happily eat everything up and talk about making it later with their moms and dads.

So, to continue the tamale making, we put together these greened up tamales for the time that bridges late winter to early spring. Here in the North, where we still are not seeing many new things at the greenmarket, we look to the things that have come through the winter with us. In this case, locally grown collard greens, swiss chard, and spinach are sauteed, added to the bed of masa harina dough, and topped with some queso blanco, a mild Mexican cheese that is just right but that could also be substituted with mozzarella, Monterey Jack, or really any mild and melting cheese that your children like.
We are all about using up everything we have, so we did add dollops of cumin tomato sauce, but you can mix and match as you like. The technique is the same with the greens tamales. Just swap out the greens filling and queso blanco recipe below with the tomato sauce. Here is the original recipe for our tamales with cumin tomato sauce.
The following recipe for the green filling is mostly done by a Big Person since the greens are sauteed on the stovetop. One of the parts that your mini-chef can do is to help you wash the greens. Talk to your mini-chefs about each green, what its name is, and have your Yummy touch, smell, and eventually taste the difference among the three greens. Next time you see these greens at the grocery store or greenmarket, your Yummy will be able to point out and ask for their favorite by name.
Tamale Filling: Greens and Queso Blanco

*1 bunch of collard greens
*1 bunch of swiss chard (the rainbow variety is especially pretty in tamales)
*2 cups spinach
*3 cloves garlic, minced
*4 shallots, finely chopped
*2 T. olive oil
*1 T. red wine vinegar, optional
*salt and pepper, to taste
*1 lb. queso fresco, room temperature

With your mini-chef, wash each green under running water. Then, in a very large bowl or bucket filled with cold water, let the greens soak so that the remaining dirt sinks to the bottom.

Big Person: Cut the big ribs (stems) out of the center of both the collards and the swiss chard. Finely chop all of the greens together and set them aside.

Over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Stir in the shallots and cook till they turn translucent. Add the garlic and saute another minute, stirring. Add the vinegar and the greens and saute for a few minutes, till the greens are soft and cooked through but still bright green. If you do not have a pan large enough to cook all the greens at once, cook them in two batches, using half of the olive oil and the vinegar in each batch.

To fill the tamales, use a heaping tablespoon of the greens filling, topped with a popcorn-sized lump of the cheese.

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