[Glossary below.]
My mother z”l hardly ever threw out food. I think she managed this by serving five meat meals during the week. On the three “fleishig” weekdays, she transferred meaty leftovers from one main meal to the next. Whatever leftovers couldn’t go in a main course were recycled in the soup.
With mostly milchig meals, she would have had two sets of leftovers to juggle. I remember that she had a of milchig, cooked rice in the refrigerator at all times because (a) she used it for rice and milk, a comfort food she heated up with a little sugar whenever we got sick, and (b) it was one of the few things I ever saw her throw away.
Frequent meat meals don’t always mean eating large quantities of meat. One friend uses up her Shabbat leftovers gradually, adding more rice and vegetables to the pan each day until the end of the week, when hardly any meat is left. Beans and legumes are a good way to up the nutritional value of meals low in animal protein.
My mother z”l owned few pareve utensils. My mother had two full sets of eating utensils, but a limited number of dairy casseroles and pots. It seems to me that the traditional Jewish kitchen is mostly fleishig, with pareve items cooked in fleishig pots.
At the other extreme I have been to homes with a large selection of pareve pots and serving utensils. I say extreme because by the time I serve the food I already know whether the meal will be milchig or fleishig, and I can match the utensils to whatever dishes and flatware I’m using. It seems that an excess of pareve utensils, like two sinks, is one more example of affluence leading to more stringencies.
Rabbi Dr. Haym Soleveitchik, son of the Rav, once described how his mother went out of town for a few days. While she was away, the family observed kashrut according to the Shulchan Aruch, the standardized code of Jewish law. This included eating cold foods with whatever utensil was available regardless of “gender.” When she returned the rebbetzin accused them of traifing up her kitchen (i.e. making it not kosher). Most Jewish homemakers are more stringent than necessary regarding meat and dairy utensils, but of course this prevents mixups.
My pareve utensils include my food processor; a large pressure cooker, another pot, baking equipment, and a few small things. I use the pressure cooker to make large batches of beans and rice to use in both meat and dairy recipes. Occasionally I’ll use a pareve utensil or the food processor for mixing a cold, milchig food.
For those of you who keep kosher, how do you handle leftovers of meat and dairy?
Definitions: Fleishig: Meaty Milchig: Dairy Pareve: Neutral. Fleishig and milchig foods are never cooked together, with separate pots and eating utensils are required for each. There is leniency regarding cold foods. z”l: zichrona livracha, may her memory be for a blessing. Rebbetzin: Rabbi’s wife.
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The holiday of Shavuot begins Thursday evening. Known in English as Pentecost because it takes place fifty days after Passover, Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The two main customs associated with the holiday are serving dairy foods and staying up all night to study Torah. Staying up all night only became popular once coffee became readily available in Europe.
This year the one-day holiday of Shavuot leads right into Shabbat. Cooking is permitted, but only for the holiday itself. This creates a problem with heating or cooking food for the Sabbath, when all cooking is forbidden. To get around this we put aside some cooked food on Thursday, before the holiday begins, make a blessing and designate it for one of the Shabbat meals. It’s as if we begin cooking officially for Shabbat before the holiday actually started. This food is known as an Eruv Tavshilin.
In Israel all yamim tovim—the holidays with this restriction—are observed for only one day with the exception of Rosh Hashanah. Outside of Israel every yom tov is two days long. Judging by the crowds, it seems that many Israelis panic at the thought of stores closing for two days in a row. A one-day observance also means that making an Eruv Tavshilin is rare. Here the only holidays that can fall on Fridays are Shavuot, the second day of Rosh Hashanah, and the last day of Passover, and that doesn’t happen even every year.
Readers still looking for holidays recipes can check out Gillian of Food Past’s Kosher Cooking Carnival, with added efficiency ratings. You can try my Sourdough Chocolate Cake or Seven-Minute Microwave Cheesecake. Israeli Kitchen has a luscious looking cheesecake and Shimshonit provides both dairy and pareve menus.
Last but not least, funny man Benji hosts Haveil Havalim.
Have a chag sameach and Shabbat shalom.
My friend Annette first made this cake for me almost 13 years ago when I was re-hospitalized with a newborn. I kept it in the hospital refrigerator and it was good for several meals. Now my kids fight about who gets to make it for Shavuot.
The topping is optional but I wouldn’t skip it unless you are on a very strict diet. You can also spread chocolate on the top or lay cookie crumbs on the bottom for a crust.
2 eggs
500 gr. white cheese (1/2% or 5%). If you can get the kind for baking, go for it (gevina levana le-afiyah). I am not sure what a good substitute would be outside of Israel–perhaps smooth ricotta.
1 container (150-200 ml.) 8%, low-fat shamenet (cream). I think it is the equivalent of half-and-half. (Note: We only found 15% in the store we went to.)
3/4 c. sugar
4 tablespoons flour
1 packet of vanilla sugar or a teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
Mix all the ingredients and pour into a glass or ceramic quiche dish (23-27 cm.). You can use another shaped dish, but if the cake is too thick it will take longer to set.
Cook on high for 5 minutes, or until the cake is set in the middle.
In the meantime, mix 2-3 more containers of the 8% shamenet or half-and-half with 3-4 tablespoons of sugar. You can use the same bowl. When the cake is baked spread the sweetened cream over the cake and heat on high for another two minutes.
Our Shiputzim offers another cheesecake recipe.
Cheesecake is traditional for the upcoming holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost) next Thursday evening. But if you’re looking for something easy and different, you can try this single-bowl cake recipe from Joy of Cooking. Though the recipe calls for sourdough starter, you don’t need to let the batter rise.
Cream thoroughly:
6 tbps. butter
1 c. sugar
Add and beat:
2 eggs
Stir in, then beat well:
1 cup sourdough starter (don’t forget to feed your leftover starter)
3/4 c. milk
3 oz. melted semisweet chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla
Sift together:
1-3/4 c. sifted all-purpose flour (as always, I use 90% whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Fold the flour mixture into the batter and stir until smooth. Pour into greased pans and bake about 40 minutes for one nine-inch (27 cm) square pan or 25 minutes for two 8-inch (24 cm) round pans. Sprinkle sifted powdered sugar over the cake, if desired.
RaggedyMom showed me this CNN story about developing children’s social maturity. In a fourteen-year study, the preschool children of mothers who described a picture using emotional language showed more empathy and better social skills when they got older.
It is important to encourage children to think about others’ feelings from a young age. However, I was dismayed by the first line of the article:
Mothers often get blamed for the way their children turn out, and a new study gives additional weight to that accusation.
Let’s stop blaming mothers, who make mistakes like everyone else. Most of the time they are acting in a way prescribed by our culture, which, the last I heard, is comprised of both sexes. Could you imagine a newspaper using similar language to introduce a study about some unknown benefit of breastfeeding?
Mothers looking to build up career skills while taking a break from the work force might enjoy this post by Trent at The Simple Dollar, listing six neglected skills that can be transferred to practically any job.
Tom Hodgkinson writes about the reaction to his article, The Idle Parent, and gives ideas of ways parents can disconnect from the outside world and connect with the family. Shabbat is mentioned.
Finally, Miriam Adahan shares techniques for dealing with children’s anger on Chabad.org.
I wrote about keeping babies hydrated in hot weather at Green Prophet.
Squawkfox compiled a list of the best frugal advice from 41 bloggers, dividing them into categories and adding eye-catching graphics. You can see them all here.
And in the spirit of frugality, Batya at me-ander presents the “discount” edition of Haveil Havalim, the Jewish/Israel blog carnival.
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