Kosher Cooking Carnival — The VeNahafoch Hu Edition

Welcome to the Adar II 5771 issue of the Kosher Cooking Carnival, the Purim edition, where you can party like it’s 3338 (or 423 BCE)!  And just as Haman’s edict against the Jews was turned upside down (venahafoch hu), so is this blog post!  From this point onward, the Kosher Cooking Carnival will be

so start from the bottom, and enjoy…

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So thanks for reading the Adar II edition of the KCC.  At this writing, next month’s carnival heads back to Batya.  See you there!

Miscellaneous

Every now and again the KCC BlogCarnival submission form will toss up some non-kosher flotsam and jetsam.  Some of it is totally inappropriate — when I hosted the Tevet KCC I got a real doozy of a submission for 50 of the world’s best bacon recipes.  Yup, that one got tossed out.  This month there was a beauty of a post for how to beat substance addiction.  I thought of including it, since I’m currently trying to beat a Diet Coke addiction, and there was some helpful advice in there (can you see me going into an AA meeting, standing up and introducting myself by saying, “Hi, I’m Miriyummy and I’m a Diet Coke addict!”).

But sometimes there’s something worth reading.  Back in Tevet I called this the Not Kosher But Interesting Nonetheless category.  This month, Cindy Cullen, of the Culinary Arts College, submitted For Your Brewing Pleasure:  The Top 10 Barista Blogs.  So if you’re a major coffee lover, like me (or Batya), or you just want to find out how they get those cute little heart shapes in the foamy milk, check it out.

Elizabeth Wright at Education Degrees posted Indulge With Sweet Reads: The Top 50 Chocolatier Blogs.  First coffee, now chocolate!  This could quite possibly become my most favorite category!  The pictures I found in the links posted completely satisfied my food porn fetish.

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Restaurants and Cookbook Reviews

The kids in my family, both biological and step- are big fans of Burger’s Bar.  Seven out of eight kids, and all the kids-in-law jump at the choice to be treated to dinner here.  But not all are burger fans, and would agree with Batya, of me-ander, and her No Need For A Burger in The Burger Bar.

Watch Out What You Wish For Department:  Over at Miriyummy (that would be me) I talk about how I always wanted to eat at a certain restaurant.  Well, it was…. okay.  Been there, done that.  Check out Theory of Relativity, and maybe it may make or break your decision to eat there.

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Jewish Shabbat and Holiday Food

Over at me-ander, Batya has the best recipe for Shabbat, in fact she’s got it down to a science.  Head over to Festive Meals, Menu Please for her secret.

To paraphrase the Blues Brothers, Rivki Locker is on a mission, a mission from the chulent gods!  On her blog, Kosher Cooking for Ordinary People, she’s Mission Chulent:  Week 9.  This is a recipe for marrow bone lovers, so read, cook and slurp away!

Annette Berlin of Craft Stew and I must be sisters from a different mister, or perhaps raised in the same household, since we both hold the same belief that eggs and onion appetizers are universal, not just a Jewish treat.  It seems we’re both wrong.  Runs in the family… 😉  You can find her recipe for Eggs and Onions Appetizers here.

At the Miriyummy household we’re trying to cut back on processed foods (Shy-Boy has been in mourning since we stopped buying frozen pizza), so I was happy to read Lisa Rose’s post at Real Food Digest.  Check out Got Broth?  Slow Cooker Ginger Chicken Soup, it sounds like a wonderful treat for one of the last few cold Shabbatot in Adar II.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!  Laura, of Pragmatic Attic, was the first to submit a Purim recipe!  Laura wins two weeks in Persia as a prize!  Sorry, kidding, although April Fool’s Day does fall in Adar II this year.  Laura started celebrating early this year, on Purim Katan, with Choc PB Hamantaschen.  At first reading, these sound divine, I kid you not.  These are so on my baking list for Purim this year!

Ben-Yehuda has a yummy and vegan recipe for Mushroom Stuffed Zucchini over at Esser Agoroth.

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Halacha

Batya, of me-ander, the Queen of the KCC herself, poses a Kashrut Question.  Tune in for the possible answers.

Batya goes on to ask another question:  Your Bagel With Cream Cheese and Lox, Is It Kosher?

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Everyday Meals

Oranges can sometimes be bittersweet, as can memories.  Over at Miriyummy you can check out both the smiles and the tears with Tangerine Trees and Marmalade Tithes.  And then try the recipe and have some with breakfast!

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Diet Food

Why is it that every time I host the KCC there isn’t a single diet post.  Is God trying to tell me something?  Are you all trying to tell me something?  Well, just so the subject here doesn’t feel left out, again, here’s a little dietetic something in the classic sty-lings of Adar II, enjoy:

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Desserts

When you call a blog Our Shiputzim:  A Work In Progress you expect it to be about home improvement.  Mrs. S. can certainly improve your home with the wonderful smells coming out of the kitchen.  Read Freshly Baked Friday: Chocolate swirl blondies edition, follow the instructions carefully, and watch your home improve in the half hour or so it takes to bake these.

When your husband is off dancing with other women, check out Miriyummy and find out who is the Dancing Queen!  A little ginger can really put some snap into your dance moves!

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Anything Kosher

Over at Letters of Thought Mottel gives us a simple, yet classic recipe in Mottel Cooks:  Pan Cooked Salmon on Goat Cheese Salad.

One of my favorite things to eat, even before I snagged myself a Yemenite son-in-law, was lahuh, that yummy, chewy fried bread that I used to buy as a treat.  Now, thanks to Leah, of Ingathered, you can try your hand at Yemini Lahuh — THE Easy Bread Recipe.

Jennifer presents Doctoring Noodle Soups with Peanut Butter! posted at Adventures in Mama-Land.  Those of you who just can’t cope without an emergency packet of instant noodle soup, here’s another reason to rejoice this Adar II!

Over at Pragmatic Attic Laura posted a recipe for Tastes Like the Real Thing Vegetarian Chopped Liver.  I can’t vouch for the taste, but it also Looks Like the Real Thing Vegetarian Chopped Liver.

And while on the subject (sort of), over at Miriyummy I posted a recipe for Edamame Hummous.  This regularly shows up at my Shabbat table, but I also brought it to a party for an ex-vegan friend.  Read all about it at Soy Vay!

Ju-Boy and I are addicts of the food channel, but what we really do love to watch together are the cooking reality shows, Ready Steady Cook, Master Chef, and Top Chef, of course.  Even though Israel is far behind on the seasons, we don’t care, as long as they serve up their weekly dose of food and intrigue combined, we’re happy.  Last season, on the of contestants on Top Chef that we loved to hate was Spike Mendelsohn.  And now we hear (or read, actually, thanks to Soccer Dad and The Feast Washington Restaurants, that Spike is going to open up a kosher food truck.  Any guinea pigs?

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So what’s so wonderful about Adar?  It’s such a party month!  Thanks to the wonders of Wikipedia, here’s a list of all the wonderful things that happened in Adar:

3 Adar – (515 BCE) – Second Temple completed

The dedication of the second Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash) which was built by Ezra on the site of the 1st Temple in Jerusalem, was celebrated on the 3rd of Adar of 515 BCE, after four years of work.

7 Adar – (1393 BCE) – Moses’ birth

Moses was born in Egypt on the 7th of Adar of the Hebrew year 2368 (1393 BCE) — yes, he also died on this day, but we’re thinking happy thoughts, people!

13 Adar – (161 BCE) – Maccabee victory / Yom Nicanor

The Maccabees defeated the Syrian General Nicanor in a battle fought four years after the Maccabee’s liberation of the Holy Land and the miracle of Hanukkah.

14 Adar – (522 BCE) – Purim victory celebrated

The festival of Purim celebrates the salvation of the Jewish people from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.”

15 Adar – (522 BCE) – Purim Victory Celebrated in Shushan

15 Adar – (1st century CE) – Jerusalem Gate Day
King Agrippa I (circa 21 CE) began construction of a gate for the wall of Jerusalem; the day used to be celebrated as a holiday.

23 Adar – (1312 BCE) – Mishkan assembled for the 1st time; “Seven Days of Training” begin.

During the week of Adar 23-29, the Mishkan was erected each morning and dismantled each evening; Moses served as the High Priest and initiated Aaron and his four sons into the priesthood. Then, on the “eighth day,” the 1st of Nissan, the Mishkan was “permanently” assembled (that is, put up to stand until the God-given command would come to journey on), Aaron and his sons assumed the priesthood, and the divine presence came to dwell in the Mishkan.

25 Adar – (561 BCE) – Nebuchadnezzar died

Death of King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian emperor who conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the first Holy Temple 26 years earlier, died on the 25th of Adar. (Jeremiah 52:31)

Enough reason to party?  Let’s start!

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The Kosher Cooking Carnival KCC is a monthly blog carnival, a “round-up” of blog posts about all aspects of kosher food and cooking.  It includes Jewish Law, customs, kosher restaurants, cookbooks and kosher recipes, too.  Every month it’s on another blog.  The KCC is the brainchild of Batya at me-ander.  If you’d like to host an edition, please contact Batya.