Minecraft Cake #2: The Creeper (for the 12-year-old’s birthday)
If you asked me 12 years ago, when child #1 was born, if I’d find myself baking a cake sinisterly named The Creeper, my response would have been ‘huh?!’ followed by ‘heck no.’ But with two boys mad on Minecraft in the house, this day was inevitable. Well, here it is, in all its neon green glory – attempt #2 at a Minecraft cake: Introducing The Creeper! (more…)
Planning for Passover: 13 Breakfast Ideas
After 51 weeks of reaching for that favorite breakfast cereal, Passover week can throw one off kilter in terms of daily eating rituals. Egg and soldiers? Buttered croissant? French toast? Avert thine eyes! Usually, by day 2 or 3, despite starting off well with peanut-buttered and jammed matzah (and with deep apologies to our ancestors who ate unrisen bread and wandered the desert for 40 years) I tend to hit a rut in terms of ideas for the kids’ lunchboxes or breakfast.
Passover Dessert: Toffee and Chocolate Matzah Brittle (Rabbi Approved)
33 Passover Meal and Lunchbox Ideas
The family lunch boxes are lined up, water bottles are filled, and fruit is ready to jump in. Now what? Forget the usual lunchbox candidates like sandwiches, chicken noodle soup, and leftover fried rice over the coming days. Unless you’re on a no-carbs diet, the week of Passover can loom long and laboriously in terms of meal planning. (more…)
What to drink over Passover
It’s hard to not love a holiday that mandates that one drinks four cups of wine over dinner. But, just in case you had a hankering for a cocktail over Passover, here’s a list of grain-free alcohols to work with. (Warning: Do not drink all at once, or together with the four cups of wine)
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Acappello Sings To Your Tastebuds
(First published on Baristanet 11.11.11)
First cousins Dardan Mati, Ben Husenaj and Naz Husenaj were singing a familiar business reprise when they opened Acappello on Bloomfield Ave a month ago. The restaurant, named with a nod to the Wellmont Theater next door, is their fifth restaurant in New Jersey, following Cara Mia in Millburn, La Campagna in Morristown, La Catena in Bridgewater and La Catena 22 in Roselle Park. (more…)
A Day for Hamantaschen (Gezundheit!)
Once upon a time in Persia, a beautiful Jewish girl named Ester was brought up by her stepdad (a cousin, Mordecai). One fine day, Mordecai, who loved Ester dearly, thought it would be a brilliant idea to send his daughter away to join the harem of the King of Persia. Fortunately for Ester, the king fancied her and made her queen. (So she wasn’t just any old sex slave, she was the chief one.) (more…)
Crafting the Minecraft Cake
Why pick between cake, marshmallow, and fluffy buttercream, when you can have all three?
Till the boys were about 8, I had baked them cakes covered in frosting and fondant, and moulded into a myriad of objects and animals. Ducks, dinosaurs, trains, sports cars, monsters, a camping tent, ladybird (ladybug), even an entire multi-storey car park, you name it. They were no mean feats, either. Several took up to 6 hours of careful laboring, completely disproportionate to the velocity with which they’d end up in teeny tums.
Wholegrain-Banana Waffles
Before we moved to the States three and a half years ago, I had assumed that every North American owned two things: A donut maker (human) and a waffle maker (contraption). So, I speedily stocked our kitchen with a waffle iron, which has since been used almost every weekend – when we’re not having pancakes. On the donut front, it tickles me how often I find the inspiration for that policeman-eating-donuts stereotype right here in New Jersey. (more…)
A Happy Hanukkah, with Apple Fritters and Cilantro-Ginger Latkes
It’s time to reenact the Miracle of the Oil in the Temple again, by lighting the Hanukkah candles. And (the best part, surely), we get to eat fried food for eight days running, with impunity.
Well, thighs and hips may be impugned, but with the obligatory New Year diet round the corner, the sacrifice is small, necessary, and metabolism willing, easily reversed.
