Need Passover Recipes? Look No Further

Hi everyone!

As we are approaching Passover, I bet you wonder what you’re going to eat. Luckily for you, I’ve got some recipes on the site that are perfect for the holiday, or can be adjusted so there are no problems with chametz. I am linking to all of them:

REINA’S CHICKEN SOUP (And so it begins): Za’atar is hard to find kosher for Passover due to its inclusion of sesame seeds (I believe this is fine for kitniyot). My suggestion for this is to switch up your seasonings. Thyme goes great with chicken, as does rosemary and sage – all three of which are kosher for Passover.

TURKEY JOES (Putting on the Fritz): Turkey Joes are good, but most of the year I use rice vinegar and mustard (which I believe are kitniyot, but not regularly kosher for Passover). I suggest using apple cider vinegar instead and upping a little bit of the honey for flavor. Make sure the barbecue sauce is thick, because you’re going to need it for the consistency. And instead of hamburger buns, matzah should be used.

STUFFED MUSHROOMS (Happy &*#^!@ New Year’s!): The obvious substitution is matzo meal for bread crumbs. But I would suggest seasoning your matzo meal with garlic, herbs and salt and pepper.

CHOCOLATE CHILI (Chili out for the New Year): Cumin and kidney beans are obviously kitniyot, so omit them if you don’t observe them. Allow the chili to simmer longer, though – or instead of using hot sauce or crushed red pepper flakes, use chipotle peppers to get smoky heat.

ZUCCHINI AND POTATOES GRATIN (A Special Market): Should be all good, unless you don’t eat dairy on Passover (and there are actually some Jews that don’t).

ROAST CHICKEN (The Sabbath Queen): See chicken soup warning about Za’atar.

PARMESAN EGGPLANT (A Journey Along Second Street): See note with zucchini and potatoes gratin.

NONY’S MINUTE STEAKS (Nony and Me): Omit the cumin.

LEMON DILL SALMON (Julia)

SALMON COBB SALAD (Kayaking with G-d): Omit the soy bacon and see if you can find kosher for Passover ranch.

NONY’S TUNA SALAD (Adventures of the Hi-Ho Market): Be careful regarding your sweet dressings so they don’t contain corn syrup.

ITALIAN CHICKEN (Welcome to the Past)

ISRAELI SALAD (GOODBYE, RABBI BOUSKILA)

POLLACK SALAD (Punk Jew)

BROCCOLI COLESLAW (Everybody plays with food… I mean plays the fool)

HOMEMADE HAMBURGERS (Job Hunt, or Hunt for Love?): Omit Za’atar.

MATZAH BARK (Starting to be O-U P)

BUTTERFLIED BALSAMIC CHICKEN (Gene Simmons and the Meaning of Freedom)

REINA’S MEATLOAF (Passover: Celebration of Freedom or an Excuse to Rip People Off?)

FOR KITNIYOT EATERS:

GARBANZO SALAD (Unorthodox Flavors): Contains beans.

CORN CHOWDER (What’s the Pull of Pork): Contains corn and soy.

POLENTA PIE (Changes): Contains corn and soy.

BLACK BEAN AND CORN SOUP (Baking vs. Cooking): Contains beans, cumin and corn.

DEVILED EGGS (In the Trenches): Contains mustard (can use goat cheese as a substitute).

WHITE CHOCOLATE POPCORN (At the Movies): Contains corn.

EGG SALAD (Hagbah): Contains mustard.

NONY’S PINK RICE (Love and the Fight): Contains Rice

MUSTARD AND HERB CRUSTED CHICKEN (Getting Active): Contains Mustard and Herbes de Province (which contain fennel seeds).

COLD SALMON WITH CUCUMBER DILL SAUCE (Jewlicious and Nutritous): Contains cumin and soy cream cheese.

STRAWBERRY SALAD: Contains beans, rice vinegar and gorgonzola cheese for dairy eaters (I'm actually going to be adjusting it for Passover, except mine will have chicken in it).

Special Edition of Linked-Up Friday: Is Quinoa Kosher for Passover?

There is a huge debate in the kosher community regarding quinoa. There seems to be a certain element of disagreement regarding this superfood and its status of kashrut when it comes to the upcoming holiday of Passover.

Before we consult the experts, let’s first discover what quinoa is. It has been in the diet of South Americans for over 3,000 years. The Incas called it the “mother grain,” although technically it is not one. It is a seed from the goosefoot plant, and is only referred to as a grain because it cooks like one. But it better than grain – it’s gluten-free and an excellent source of protein, calcium and iron.

So now that we know what it is, let’s consult the experts on the Internet: Is quinoa really kosher for Passover, or this an unfortunate pipe dream?

At Kashrut.com, they reference the CRC (or Chicago Rabbinical Council) regarding the status of quinoa for Passover. According to them, quinoa was not around for Jews to eat during the time that the concept of kitniyot was developed (read: that certain Sephardic Jews, based on their regional customs, are allowed to eat beans, rice and corn as a part of their diet, whereas Ashkenazi Jews, who had problems with people milling these things with flour, are forbidden to eat them). Therefore, as long as there is certainty the quinoa was not milled with chametz, we are allowed to eat it. Read more at: http://www.kashrut.com/Passover/Quinoa/. They also have another article on it: http://www.kashrut.com/Passover/QuonfusedAboutQuinoa/.

Then there is this article from a blogger called the Rebbetzen’s Husband regarding the interpretation of the Talmud texts regarding whether quinoa is kitniyot. Here is the link: http://rechovot.blogspot.com/2010/03/is-quinoa-kosher-for-passover.html. It’s absolutely fascinating, and definitely worth a read.

I also found this interesting article on the status of kitniyot and Quinoa in an article from Shalom Life. It also has a quote from Susie Fishbein, who many of us in the kosher community are familiar with – after all, she wrote the famous “Kosher by Design” cookbooks: http://www.shalomlife.com/eng/9166/Quinoa:_The_Great_Debate/.

In the meantime, I’m going to get back to finishing my kashering and cleaning. Shabbat Shalom, y’all!

Quote of the week: Roux

“What I love about cooking is that after a hard day, there is something comforting about the fact that if you melt butter and add flour and then hot stock, it will get thick! It's a sure thing! It's a sure thing in a world where nothing is sure; it has a mathematical certainty in a world where those of us who long for some kind of certainty are forced to settle for crossword puzzles.”

-Nora Ephron, American journalist (1941-?)

Passover: Celebration of Freedom or an Excuse to Rip People Off?

Yesterday and today, I had to get ready for Passover by doing the shopping I needed to get ready. This includes getting Tupperware and counter covers along with all the groceries that have to be purchased for the occasion. I had no problem with the supplies (our local 99 Cents Only store helps us save some serious cash). But then it comes to time to load up at the kosher market.

I did everything I could to prevent it. I had a game plan, making a list and checking it better than Santa Claus ever could. And yet, I walked out of the kosher market this afternoon with a serious total added to my credit card bill – a total that is going to cause me to have to take a sizeable dip into my savings. All this was done in the quest to make sure that I could be as kosher for Passover as I could.

But the truth is it couldn’t be helped. The fact is there is a complete and total monopoly on the kosher for Passover food market. If you are honestly and sincerely O-U P (and a lot more people are versus the rest of the year), you need to purchase everything for the holiday the week before at your local kosher market, since they are the only ones who clean fully for the holiday and set up accordingly. You aren’t supposed to use any products that you use normally throughout the year, either, so you have to buy all your other stuff new as well. This means seriously putting out cash once a year.

On top of it, the companies who make these kosher for Passover products seem to be able to get away with selling some of the most disgusting items ever created to man, ranging from barbecue sauce that looks more like a dressing (and tastes like one, too) to a salad dressing that has the flavor of the plastic bottle it came in. On top of it, some of the ingredients in the kosher for Passover foods are completely unhealthy for you (I can’t find a kosher for Passover pareve margarine without hydrogenated oils in it).

We have come so far in the kosher world outside of Passover, with wonderful gourmet items to choose from. It frustrates me so much when I see that Passover is stuck in the past in comparison – not to mention ripping people off in the process. Companies aren’t forced to improve their products because they know people will keep buying them simply because of the fact they are kosher for Passover. Kosher markets won’t lower their prices because they know people will pay for the kosher for Passover items they need no matter how high the price.

Most people are happy to go about their Passover shopping not thinking about it. Maybe they’re willing to discuss it in their kitchens, but not wanting to cause a commotion to talk to their market owners or write letters to the companies that produce some of these products. But we shouldn’t ignore it. We should bring it to the attention of people who listen. How fair is it for people to have to pay a premium simply because of their faith?

This Passover, as we celebrate our liberation, we should be liberated even in our purchasing. We should be free from price gouging and being taken as fools. Just because it’s a special time of year doesn’t mean that we should be taken advantage of.

I’m going to leave on a happier note, though, with a recipe for meatloaf. There is a joke in my family about the hard-boiled egg in the center of meatloaf. During the era that meatloaf came into being, in order to make it more interesting, people would stick a hard-boiled egg in the center, so when you got a slice of meatloaf, you got a slice of egg. My father happens to think this is the most unnatural thing in the world. Thank G-d my mother never did it. He'd have the same reaction as I did to my plastic-bottle-flavored salad dressing that I bought for Passover two years ago.

REINA’S MEATLOAF

2 pounds ground beef

2 eggs

½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs, oatmeal or matzo meal (see quick tip 1)

4 cloves garlic

1 cup ketchup

1 cup dried minced onions

2 tablespoons herbes de province

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Finely chop the garlic cloves. Put in a bowl with the beef, eggs, breadcrumbs, dried onion, ketchup and herbes, along with salt and pepper. Mix together, preferably with your hands.

Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Put the meatloaf into the pan and put in the oven. Cook for 45 minutes.

Quick Tip: If you don’t like ketchup, barbecue sauce makes a wonderful alternative.

Amazing Tastes: Ben and Jerry, Two Jews on a Mission (from G-d?)

Today seems to be the day of freebies. Some people are going for Starbucks’ giveaway (and I will let my fellow blogger Chavivah take it away for that one). But most of you know how much I love ice cream. And Ben and Jerry’s is one of the more important Jewish businesses in America.

It started more than three decades ago, when Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield started their mom-and-pop ice cream stand in a gas station. Now, they stand on shelves next to gourmet lines like Haagen-Daaz, and are the eternal favorite of ice cream lovers and girls with the blues everywhere.

All their products are certified kosher dairy (although not chalav yisrael), but what stands out are their fun flavors. Everyone has a favorite. My Aunt Sophie is known for her love of Cherry Garcia, and my sister likes Mint Chocolate Cookie. I like a lot of flavors, but unfortunately, they don’t make my all-time favorite, Vermonty Python, anymore (it was coffee ice cream with a chocolate cookie swirl with chocolate cows).

To this day, the brand is famous for its friendly appeal and counterculture flirtations (Phish Food, anyone?). Even on their website, they still have that fun appeal that extends to its packaging and shops.

But the thing that’s most important is that Ben and Jerry’s does not sit idly by. Part of their commitment as a company is to be there for others. There is also a Ben and Jerry’s Foundation, which gives money to organization who are looking to solve environmental and social problems. They believe in fair trade and social justice (and please don’t quote Glenn Beck at me. If social justice and caring for others means I am a fascist, I’ll eat my kettle). Manufacturing employees are paid a livable wage. They don’t just talk a good game – they prove it.

Ben Cohen is quoted on their website as saying, “Business has a responsibility to give back to the community.” In addition to its product and economic missions, the company even has a social mission, which recognizes their part in the world and realizes that we have to give back to it. If that’s not what Judaism stands for, I really don’t know what it does.

And on that note, I think it’s time that I go get myself an ice cream cone on this perfect California spring day... peace out, peeps!

Gene Simmons and the Meaning of Freedom

Since this week is the building up to Passover, I have liberation and freedom on my mind. And for some odd reason, when it comes to freedom, right now I’m thinking about Gene Simmons.

Okay, before you stop me and scratch your head or give me a very confused look, I want to explain myself. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching “Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels” a lot lately – a show I love and is really quite fun (and somehow, has reached its 100th episode without scandal). But if you look at his life and his beliefs, you see that freedom seems to run through his veins.

People would probably call Gene a libertarian, as he believes very much in free market principles (anyone who has seen the show or Gene shelling out for a product can attribute to that) as well as admitting to have socially liberal policies. One joke on the show is that Gene doesn’t believe in marriage, which I don’t know is necessarily a freedom thing.

But I believe that Gene has a better lesson to teach us. He has, so many times, has met the U.S. Troops and talked about how important they are to America. He has brought his children along to show them and to teach them. He understands freedom and what it means, and wants to pass along the message.

His mother was a Holocaust survivor from Hungary, with her brother and her being the sole survivors from the persecution. She moved to Israel, where Gene (or at the time, Chaim Witz) was born. He even wrote on his blog about how great it was that American soldiers liberated his mother’s concentration camp when there really was nothing to gain. As he was raised almost solely by his mother since the age of eight, her struggle for freedom seems to have become a part of his genetic makeup, and something he has understood and kept close to his heart even into adulthood.

I am always amazed by Gene’s support of troops, even those in Israel. In 2006, he recorded a message that was sent to a soldier who was wounded in the Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah. The soldier was a huge Kiss fan, calling Gene his hero. Gene, in his message in both Hebrew and English, said that that soldier was actually his hero instead.

There is a huge joke on his television show that there is nothing that Gene Simmons won’t do to make a buck (and just in case you read this, Gene, YBK could sure use some help!). Yes, he is ambitious, but he realizes that there are more important things in this world than simply money. I believe this is part of the reason why his kids are so normal – instead of simply throwing cash at his children, he lets them see the world and see that there are things more important than them. Perhaps this is why they haven’t had any crazy incidents that end up in the tabloids.

I’m not arguing that Gene is a perfect person – he most certainly is not, and I don’t think he would argue that he is. But he teaches us something important as we approach the holiday of Passover that we should take with us into the holidays: that there is something more important in this world than ourselves. There is family, faith, hope, redemption, love, honor and respect. And there is freedom, which is one of the most important gifts of all.

I hope to one day meet Gene and shake his hand (my friend Josh said he was a very nice guy when he photographed him for the OC Register, and I hope that to be the case). I hope one day to cook for him and his lovely family. But, in the meantime, I am posting what I would probably make for him as a main course if he came over (oh, and it’s a dish that can be made kosher for Passover, too).

BUTTERFLIED BALSAMIC CHICKEN

One chicken or Cornish game hen

1 cup balsamic vinegar (see Kosher Alert!)

1/4 cup honey

3 cloves minced garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

Non-stick cooking spray

Cover a cookie sheet with two sheets of foil and spray liberally with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 500 degrees (yes, I said 500 degrees).

In order to butterfly the chicken, cut open the back using kitchen shears and remove the backbone. Lay it as flat as possible, pushing it down. Mix balsamic vinegar, garlic, honey and olive oil. Pour over chicken, rubbing it in. Allow it to sit for up to 30 minutes before putting it into the oven. Cook for 30 minutes and serve. The final product will be dark, but it shouldn’t taste burned.

Kosher Alert!: Remember that, although balsamic vinegar is wonderful, it needs special kashering as it comes from grapes. Some brands mix theirs with other types of vinegars, so they’re easier to kasher, but many balsamics are not. This can make it pricy. Many kosher wine brands make their own, though, so make sure to keep a lookout.

Please help the Marcus family!

Hi everyone!

I wish I could be writing a blog post on Sunday for a happier occasion, but this is a call for help. My friend Allyson came home Friday night to find her family's house on fire. They lost everything, from photographs down to their clothes. It's the week before Passover, and in the spirit of the holiday, we need to help them.

I may be Young, Broke and Kosher, which includes not having a lot of money to give. But I am doing everything in my power to help despite my lack of funds. All of us are charged to help others who are in need. So please, if you can, help out! Contact me at youngbrokekosher@gmail.com for more info.

Until then, please check out the Facebook group page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=108100215874496&ref=nf

Linked-up Friday

Hi everyone! It’s time for Linked-Up Friday. We’ve got some interesting links for you today – some Passover-related, others interesting nonetheless.

First off, here's a link to my friend Eric Rosen's remix of Matisyahu's "One Day." I want him to win this contest because he's such a talented and wonderful guy -- and the fact that he's married to my friend Estee doesn't hurt his case. So, here's the slogan I have for him: "Don't make Estee sad! Vote for Eric!" Click on the link to get to his remix.

http://www.indabamusic.com/submissions/show/14522

A blog written by Rob Eshman of the Jewish Journal. He keeps a blog called Foodaism. I may not have had the best working experience at the Journal (due partially to the fact that I was young and dumb), but Rob is a very interesting dude indeed:

http://www.jewishjournal.com/foodaism/item/be_vewy_vewy_quiet_20100217/jews_and_wine

Washington Post has a couple of great articles on kosher for Passover wines, including their recommendations… although please don’t forget our friends at Baron Herzog for delicious wines!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/03/16/ST2010031601697.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/16/AR2010031600870.html

Oh my G-d. There’s a kosher chili cookoff? I want to be there next year and make my chocolate chili!

http://dondedallas.blogspot.com/2010/03/kosher-chili-cookoff.html

So cool! My buddies at The Kitchen Table Restaurant got a shout-out in the Wall Street Journal. No mention of lamb bacon, though.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704131404575117640531799282.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

I love this article. Matthue Roth is talking about the expensive part of the holiday. I’m going to remedy that this year by giving you all tips. That’s why YBK is here, people!

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/culture/the-costs-of-keeping-kosher/

A New York Times article about kosher eating in Connecticut… wow, trying saying that five times fast. I dare you.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/nyregion/14dinect.html

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Jewish music scene, we have some really cool artists, and the Klezmatics is a great band. Not to mention they’re combining with Josh Nelson, famous for his “kosher gospel.” I’d love to hear this!

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/03/13/the_klezmatics_blend_traditions/

And, lastly, stories like this just warm up my tummy. How wonderful it is when people reach in to help out.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Kosher+deli+kept+open+thanks+group+angels/2673368/story.html

Thanks everyone, and Shabbat Shalom!

Starting to be O-U P

There is a famous quote from a hero radio program from back in the 1930s, called The Shadow, about a vigilante superhero with psychic powers. It goes, “Who knows what evils lurk in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!”

Well, when it comes to that quote, I revise it when it comes to Passover. It goes: “Who knows what evils lurk in the kitchen? Reina knows!”

Today, I stared at my kitchen, wondering if it was really ready for the major overhaul that is Passover. There’s hametz all over the place. I love hametz – delicious bread, herbs with seeds in them, rice, beans, soy products, corn, peas – the works, ya know. I may be Sephardic, but unfortunately I’m from an area where we also had regulations on what is referred to as kitniyot. In fact, the only reason why we have these regulations is in Europe in the 1800s, everything was milled together, so you couldn’t tell the difference between grains and rice and beans. So the rabbis took everything away. Thanks a lot, guys.

For those of you who aren’t Jewish and reading this, you would not begin to understand what type of struggle we face when you take out all these things out of your diet. Think of almost every single food and drink that’s currently out on the market, and tell me I can’t eat it. Why? Well, because almost all of it contains high fructose corn syrup, rice or a bean product.

On top of it, there’s matzah – the famous cracker that makes my stomach want to yell at me for putting inside of it and I get constipated just thinking about. When I was growing up, there was a girl who lived up the street from us and when she came over, all she wanted to eat was matzah, saying that it tasted so good. I still think to this day that she had to have been certifiably insane.

Mind you, there are some things I do look forward to when it comes to Passover. I love spending time with my family and eating all the wonderful Sephardic foods that my mother will one day teach me how to make for Passover – like squash and spinach frittada, novias – delicious leek burgers that are so tasty that one year Lucy, our family dog, ate about half the batch, and binuelos, a little matzah fritter that is very good with my mom’s homemade syrup.

But truthfully, all I can think about is finishing up the holiday so I can get back to normal, and be able to eat like a normal human being. And not cleaning like my life depended on it. That would also be great.

In the meantime, I will be developing my gameplan for the holiday so I can clean successfully while not losing my head. But don’t expect this to be my last posting on the holiday.

So, to get you guys in the mood for Passover, there is this special treat. First is my mom’s recipe for matzah bark, possibly the only way I like my matzah (other than matzah pizza, of course). Second, I love Foamy the Squirrel, and this happens to be my favorite cartoon they’ve done, all about matzah. Enjoy!

MATZAH BARK

Approximately 5 matzot

1 stick butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

8 oz. chocolate chips

Chopped walnuts or slivered almonds

Line a cookie sheet with foil. Spread the matzah on top. Meanwhile, melt the butter with the brown sugar in a frying pan. Once the sugar is dissolved, pour it over the matzah and put in a 400 degree oven for 7 minutes.

Once the caramel has spread out, take it out of the oven and pour the chocolate chips over the matzah. The heat should melt the chocolate. Spread with a knife or spatula and top with the nuts.

Put in the freezer to cool for half an hour. Once completely cooled, take out and break apart. The pieces should break completely without bending. If they do bend, put back in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

Job Hunt, or Hunt for Love?

At a recent job fair, a guy was presenting and said, “You know, I have always noticed that job hunting is a lot like dating.”

It’s a fact that I have known for a long time, ever since I have been hunting for work. The fact of the matter is that job hunting is very much like dating. I didn’t need to see this guy to know that it was the truth.

Just think about it for a second. Here’s how it usually goes down:

First, there’s the responding to personal ads – or in this case, classified ads on the Internet. You sometimes need to create an ad for yourself, whether it’s through a blog or social networking. You’re putting it out there to the world that you’re ready to date, or in this case, work. Sometimes, you’re lucky in looking in that people will come and find you. There are even cases where your friends will set you up, i.e., “I know someone who is offering work.”

Then comes the response -- a company finds you attractive and wants to talk to you. They usually call, introducing themselves. You either make small talk or arrange to meet. Sometimes, you have a long conversation, or interview, over the phone. They’ll ask you about yourself and your past, occasionally testing you along the way. Then, if they really like you, then they will ask you out on a date – or an interview.

The interview is often the first date. You’ll dress up to the nines in your best outfit – in this case, a great suit or something along those lines. For the girls, you’ll put on your best face and pray for no pimples. For the guys, you’ll make sure you have your snazziest outfit as if to tell them you’re the only guy in the world.

You show up, you talk. Occasionally they’ll offer you something to drink, depending on the person. In the best of situations, if there’s great chemistry, you’ll start a fun conversation, complete with laughter and fun jokes. In the worst, they’re asking their formulated questions that they have asked a hundred more first dates, only to shunt you away for the next attractive person.

Sometimes you have to have multiple dates. They’ll introduce you to their “dads” or “moms” (read: executives). Occasionally, you’ll end up hanging by your phone, desperately waiting for them to call you about this-or-that.

And then, if you’re lucky, you’ll get the call: They want you. Only you. For the meantime, anyway: They usually give you a three-month trial to prove your worth, to see if you are really the one for them. It’s a trial thing. Then, after that, you enter into a committed relationship, complete with benefits that include extra money and health insurance.

There are bumps occasionally in this relationship, but there are quite a few that last a long time. Then, comes the breakup – the firing or the layoff. For the first, they kick you to the curb. For the latter, they give you the old excuse, “It’s not you, it’s me.” And then we’re back to the dating process yet again.

So to those of us who are currently going through the dating process, I say that we should start a club. It should be like “Sex in the City,” but with the opposite gender and plenty of wine to go around. And it better be good wine, because I won’t be drinking it otherwise. Or we should do things that will make us better people and forget the struggle. I think my theory before I started dating my husband holds true – don’t obsess over it, and it will come naturally.

In the meantime, let’s have a recipe! We should have a comfort recipe for all those serial job hunters out there. When it comes to me, nothing is more tasty or more comforting than a totally awesome burger. But if you’re not close enough to Jeff’s Gourmet, here’s an alternative.

HOMEMADE HAMBURGERS

1 pound ground beef

3 tablespoons Za’atar (optional)

2 tablespoons season salt

1 teaspoon pepper

In a bowl, mix the meat with the Za’atar and season salt. You’re going to have to use your hands for this one. Don’t forget to wash afterwards, or else bacteria could get everywhere.

Heat up a skillet to medium heat. Shape the burgers into patties that are 3-4 inches wide and about ¼ inch thick. (see quick tip 1). Place them on the skillet. A medium rare burger takes 4-5 minutes.

Turn over the burger. Cook the burger on the other side for about 4 minutes. Don’t worry if the burger is a little pink on the inside. Serve on a bun with your favorite condiments – or you can always take a page from In-and-Out and serve it in a lettuce leaf.

If you want to spice up your burger, here are some great ways to do it:

- Carmelized onions are a sweet compliment to any burger. I recommend making a whole bunch at a time so you can use them in different recipes.

- If you want to do a different type of burger, double the recipe, but add a pound of lamb instead of an extra pound of ground beef. People are going to wonder what you’ve done to make the burgers super-tasty.

- The last time I made burgers, I pan fried some pastrami to go on top. It may not be Jeff’s, but it is mouthwateringly good.

- I find guacamole to be a great compliment to the meatiness of any burger. If you want to make a super-messy Mexican burger, add some salsa with the guacamole, along with some lettuce and onion.

Quick Tip 1: If you like making burgers, I suggest purchasing a patty maker. They’re available at any home store and are around $3.

Quick Tip 2: I know that little home grills have gotten popularity over the years, and I loved mine in college. If you have one, I encourage you to use it for this recipe. It should be about 8 to 10 minutes if you have a grill that closes, or follow the instructions for the skillet and use an open-faced grill instead.

Amazing Tastes: Lamb Bacon

If you ever ask me, “Reina, what is the best thing ever?” the answer is very simple: lamb bacon.

Yes, lamb bacon. This smoky, delicious, oh-my-G-d-it’s-coming-towards-my-mouth tastiness has been done in two prominent kosher restaurants on the West Coast – and all you East Coasters haven’t truly lived unless you have tried it.

Let’s face it – bacon, not to mention pork of any kind, seems to be the du jour of the culinary world. Therefore, it’s obvious that the kosher world would hurry to try to come up with a more halachic version. There are different versions of bacon you can buy – only yesterday had I heard about duck bacon, and although turkey bacon exists, I’ve never seen it kosher.

But the truth is that lamb bacon is a beautiful thing. It’s flavorful to the point of dancing on the tongue. I love the savory and wonderfully unique flavor of lamb, not to mention meat that has the earthiness of smoke with the sweet of maple. Perhaps that is why I like barbecue so much.

The first time I tasted this goodness was at the Herzog Winery’s Tierra Sur restaurant. I had it at lunch on a chicken sandwich with garlic aioli. It was so scrumptious I couldn’t believe that I was consuming this deliciousness. I had to preach its goodness to the masses. Chef Todd is a very cool guy – in fact, since I got married at the Baron Herzog winery, my parents went up to try some appetizers, and he made them specially to taste one random Thursday night. But he would be cool enough alone if he just made lamb bacon.

Then I find out that it’s not the only place. Turns out that Chef Chaim Davids of The Kitchen Table Restaurant in Mountain View was the sous chef for Chef Aarons at Tierra Sur. The love of the lamb bacon was spread to northern California, and people were shocked that there was actually kosher bacon out there. Chaim’s currently in Israel, but I thankfully got the chance to meet him before he left and talk food – not to mention the glory of lamb bacon. I have come to the conclusion that if you make lamb bacon, you’re automatically cool. It could me just me, but I haven't met anybody who has made it who is a meanie.

As bacon is a cured meat, often needing lots of preparation to become its smoky and sweet self, it’s probably not something you’re going to find at your local kosher market (although I can keep on dreaming). But I do recommend going to The Kitchen Table if you’re up in NorCal, or visiting Tierra Sur for a lunch in Oxnard. It’s not a cheap stop, but it’s something worth saving for, not to mention savoring.

For more information on The Kitchen Table, visit them at www.thekitchentablerestaurant.com. For more information on Tierra Sur, visit them at www.herzogwinecellars.com.

Reina's School of Salads

As warmer weather comes in to Southern California, we thrive with our best foods. With everything blooming and the seasons changing, it means it’s time for some great salads.

Mind you, in California, salads are not so much a food as really a way of life. Need proof? A few days after my wedding two and a half years back, I went to lunch with my new mother-in-law (who I lovingly call Ima) and Maureen Martin, a new cousin from London that came out for the event. We sat down to have lunch at a restaurant where there were some beautiful salads to choose from. Maureen looked up from the menu, and then said, “You know, I’ve never had so much salad in my life as I have here.”

Here, salads are large, small, homey or downright experimental. They can be comforting, gourmet, or something that you have never tasted before. But the best part is that they are simple and often cheap to make. You can throw almost anything into a salad, save for ice cream (and don’t tempt me – I love it so much, I may just do it). Salads are a great way to use leftover items in your fridge, canned items such as beans and tuna, and the main ingredient doesn’t necessarily have to be lettuce if you don’t want it to be.

So on that note, I have decided to do a blog dedicated to coming up with salad ideas. I have given you some recipes, but I think that salads allow your inner creativity to flourish. Here are my best tips for salads:

• When it comes to choosing your salad base, you should be thoughtful of it. It should be something that you can get plenty of. Lettuce is always good, as are beans. There are plenty of other bases for salads: beets, carrots, even broccoli coleslaw. The object is that it should be plentiful and hearty enough.

• The traditional base is lettuce or some dark leafy green, and you should consider which one to choose. Romaine is mild, crunchy and fresh, while spinach has a good flavor and adds a lot of body. Butter lettuce has a wonderful texture, and oak lettuce is really beautiful and different. The only lettuce I don’t really encourage the use of is iceberg lettuce – unless it’s a modified wedge salad (without the bacon, of course) or if you have problems with your Coumadin. It’s crunchy, but there’s not a ton of flavor.

• Your salad should have a variety of textures, tastes and colors. For example, in the strawberry salad recipe below, you may notice that there are strawberries, but there are also white beans, olives, green onions and gorgonzola cheese. These all provide a different element – strawberries provide sweetness and color, olives provide an accent and salty yet meaty bite, beans offer creaminess and green onions offer a savory and sharp taste. The gorgonzola cheese connects the dots by offering a creaminess and sharpness, while the dressing adds a bit of sweetness.

• Although you should be considering this with whatever you eat, with salads it’s extremely important to make sure to use seasonal ingredients. Sure, you can get strawberries in the wintertime, but the chances are they won’t be as good as getting them during strawberry season, which is usually spring to early summer. When you’re using your ingredients raw, without the mask of cooking them, it’s best to get the freshest possible.

• If you’re going to use canned ingredients, give them a quick rinse to remove the packing liquid. You don’t want your beans and olives to taste like they’ve been in a can.

• If you need some extra protein in a leafy salad, feel free to add some canned tuna or salmon to the mix. Although you can make tuna or salmon salad on its own, it can also be good when mixed in. If you are vegetarian, just stick with beans or hard-boiled eggs for a protein. Another good option is to cook up some salmon or some tofu and put it on the salad hot – my mom does this with salmon and pasta, and it’s just yummy.

• Dressing is an important consideration for any salad. You can use store bought (and I do – Ken’s Steakhouse is a great brand that has many O-U choices), but you can also make your own. Just remember that you should use really good ingredients, particularly when it comes to olive oil when making vinaigrette. All olive oils are different, but you should always use an extra virgin olive oil when you’re making a dressing. Don’t know which one to pick? In certain cities, there are places that offer olive oil tastings – and they are quite enjoyable.

• Meats are possible on salads, and some that you never thought of. Up in LA, if you go to Pico Kosher Deli, you can get a delicious Cobb salad – complete with bits of pastrami, chicken and pareve ranch dressing. So yes, you can make a Chinese chicken salad if you want to. Just be careful if you choose a store bought dressing to check the hechsher.

• Above all, have fun and be creative. There are tons of fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses (although not in the same salad, people!) and other such items that can be wonderful in your salads. So, enjoy and p’tay avon!

The recipe below is for one of my favorite people in the world, Ann Mellon. She was my sales rep at my last job, and I just adore her, her husband Frank and their little boy Daniel. They came to my Ima’s house one day, and she served them a strawberry salad that was really good. This is my version, complete with my family’s traditional dressing, and I hope she likes it.

STRAWBERRY SALAD

3 small heads or one large head of romaine lettuce

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

1 can cannellini beans

1 can olives

4 green onions

1 cup slices hearts of palm, rinsed

Gorgonzola cheese (optional for dairy)

DRESSING:

¼ cup rice vinegar

2-3 tablespoons garlic powder

3 tablespoons dill weed

½ cup olive oil

Wash and rinse romaine (see KOSHER ALERT!). Chop off the ends and then chop into 1-inch leaves. Pour into bowl. Rinse beans and olives and add to lettuce. Slice off ends of green onions and cut into ¼ inch pieces. Add strawberries and hearts of palm.

In a small bowl, mix the rice vinegar, garlic powder and dill weed. While stirring with a whisk, add the olive oil so that it will emulsify completely. Taste and adjust to your liking before adding to the salad. Serve with gorgonzola cheese on the side.

QUICK TIP: I love gorgonzola with this recipe as it has a little bit of a pungent flavor that I find complements the strawberries and dressing nicely. However, if you don’t like it or can’t find it, I think some shavings of parmesan will be just as delicious.

KOSHER ALERT!: Make sure that whenever you use fresh lettuce like romaine to make sure to inspect for bugs. Rachel Bookstein likes to use a tub and mixes the water with a teaspoon of vinegar. That way, all the little bugs will rise to the surface.

Linked-up Friday

Hi everyone!

I have decided that from this point on, every Friday will be links to some of my favorite websites, news and other items from the week regarding kashrut and other issues in the kosher world.

First of all, it turns out that the article about kosher lox and the O-U was a lie. Read the article here:

http://jta.org/news/article/2010/03/10/1011018/lox-is-kosher-rabbi-says

This one is really cool, regarding Cleveland’s kosher scene – or lack thereof. We have a good scene in LA, but I understand Cleveland’s plight on this one, so I stand in solidarity:

http://matzav.com/beefing-up-clevelands-kosher-food-scene

In the meantime, scroll through Matzav’s website. It’s certainly an interesting one.

Hilarious and unusual: Turns out that Cheeseburger Pringles have a recall on them. Doesn’t sound kosher to me:

http://www.jewishjournal.com/thegodblog/item/cheeseburger_pringles_not_kosher_20100309/

And last, but not least, I have an article from Chef Todd Aarons at Tierra Sur Restaurant – possibly one of the best kosher restaurants in the country. He has great tips (and two fabulous recipes, if you can afford them) for Passover. I’m a big supporter of Tierra Sur, as I got married at the Herzog Winery and the chef was really sweet to my parents as we were planning:

http://www.herzogwinecellars.com/html/documents/PesachRecipePressRelease010.pdf

And on that note… Shabbat Shalom, y’all!

Everybody plays with food... I mean, plays the fool ;-)

This is based on an inside family joke, where my sister thought that the song, “Everybody Plays the Fool,” was the title above. It shows that everyone makes mistakes and misunderstands things. So why should it be any different in the kitchen?

I will be the first to admit that I do make mistakes in the kitchen. It’s the risk you take when you create your own recipes. Not every dish I make can be completely perfect the first time around. So sometimes, there are boo boos in the kitchen and food that has to be thrown out.
Monday night was a good example of how recipes go awry. I wanted to try someone else’s – namely, a Martha Stewart magazine recipe that I have been saving for a long time. It was for the microwave, and it was for cod. Probably not the best idea to microwave fish, but I wanted to try it. Besides, if it was from Martha Stewart, it should have been tested in their kitchens.

The truth was it was probably tested in their kitchens – where their fancy, superduper microwaves worked properly and they had wonderful dishes to zap stuff in. The Postage Stamp (just in case you don’t know what it is, see this post), meanwhile, has issues of it’s own. I’m beginning to believe that it is freaking out in knowing that Passover is coming and is going to undergo a major clean and overhaul. I know that I am.

Either way, the Postage Stamp’s microwave skills have been suffering as of late, and it’s been having some difficulties when it comes to zapping. On top of it, while I’m sure the Martha Stewart kitchen’s budget is unlimited on dishes, I am limited to a tiny Corningware dish.

So I ended up with my Corningware boiling over, with burnt sugar on the glass rotating dish and half-cooked fish. I sat there, looking at Ari, who was staring back at me with hunger in his eyes. Dealing with my husband when he is in need of food and I mess up is not a task I look forward too. I had nothing to spare for this one. Ari calls me the queen of plan B, but I was out of ideas The answer was frozen fish sticks. Normally, I would have cried and ordered a pizza, but with a health-obsessed husband, that idea was out.

It wasn’t the first mistake I made and certainly won’t be the last. As long as I am creating recipes, I’m sure that there will be more crazy things that happen, not to mention burns on my hands (and occasionally my stomach, like there was last night – don’t ask) and cuts on my fingers. But along the way, I will produce good food.

So I want to say to people who claim to be bad cooks: Don’t give up. If you make a minor mistake, it’s not the end of the world. If you feel that you can’t make anything delicious, open yourself up to food education. I am always happy to teach others to be better cooks. It’s the only way that we become better.

In the meantime, I leave you with the only thing that did work properly on Monday: my famous broccoli coleslaw. It may not have had everything in this recipe that makes it so good, but it was still super-tasty. This is one of Eden’s favorites.

BROCCOLI COLESLAW

1 bag broccoli coleslaw
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup slivered almonds

DRESSING:

3/4 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon salt

Pour the broccoli coleslaw into a bowl. Mix in the almonds and the cranberries.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, pour the mayonnaise in. While pouring in the vinegar, mix with a fork to remove all the lumps. It should be slightly thinned. Add the sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, dill weed and salt. Mix. Adjust to taste.

Pour the dressing over the coleslaw. Allow the coleslaw to marinate in the dressing for at least 20 minutes before serving.

QUICK TIP 1: For those allergic to nuts or cranberries, they can be omitted. However, they provide great flavor if you choose to use them.

QUICK TIP 2: If you don’t like almonds, try chopped walnuts instead.

Remembering J

NOTE: We will not be using the full name of J in order to protect his identity. We also apologize for the downer nature of the past few postings, and hope you take comfort in knowing that the next few will be more uplifting – not to mention with recipes.

This morning, I woke up to the news that Corey Haim, famous for being one of the teen heartthrobs of the 1980s, had died, potentially from a drug overdose. It probably came as no surprise to people who knew of his addiction problems. It came as no surprise to me.

But then I stopped. I read an article on one of my favorite sites, The Frisky, about Haim’s relationship with his friend, Corey Feldman, after their series, “The Two Coreys,” was cancelled. (See the article here). Apparently, Feldman refused contact with Haim until he finally kicked his addiction once and for all.

I know that Feldman is taking it hard now. And believe it or not, I know how it feels. I was once put in a similar position with a drug-addicted friend, and I made my choice. And now he is dead.

J was a friend of mine when I was at Pierce College in the Valley. I loved him dearly. He was a lost soul who seemed to connect with mine, whether it was through coffee at Starbucks or fun dinners. We laughed easily with each other. I seemed to understand him in a way that other people didn’t really get, and in me he saw the quiet desperation, the looking for someone’s soul to connect with mine.

We talked all the time, and our conversations were very frank and intimate. However, we soon crossed a threshold that my poor 19-year-old mind couldn’t understand. It was the world of pure and total addiction.

J struggled with very serious depression. He tried everything he could to take care of it. There was electroshock and the talk of removing his frontal lobes. He did a lot of charity work – I always felt that, knowing him the way that I did, it was because he wanted to help others simply because he couldn’t help himself.

But what scared me the most were the pills. He would tell me stories of the pills he was mixing, drugs whose names that I recognized, that he was mixing to see how he could get the best high. They were frightening for me to hear, told in such incredible detail that it was horrifying for someone as young and dumb as I was at the time. I couldn’t stand hearing how my friend was hurting himself.

I didn’t even know what to call this – back then, prescription drug addiction was something that people didn’t really understand. The drugs that J was mixing for himself were the drugs that were making huge amounts of money for top pharmaceutical companies, and were considered miracle cures. No way could they be abused, right? It wasn’t until much later, when stars such as Heath Ledger succumbed to prescription drug overdoses, that people understood the dangers.

Meanwhile, I was so disturbed I didn’t know what to do, and my heart was breaking. Who could I tell? What could I do? I made a choice, and it was something that I regret, no matter how many people told me that it was the right decision at the time. Although he was hurting me while in a locomotive pattern of destruction, sometimes I wish I was standing on the train with him, and wonder if he would had lived if I was there.

One day in June, while we were instant messaging each other, I told him that he needed help. He should go get treatment for this. Otherwise, “I can’t be your friend anymore.” And I left it at that. I barely talked to him until a month before he died, and even then our conversation was strained. I got lost in my work – my journalism skills were growing, and I was taking off. In the month of April, I won a major award for my writing and was asked to be the features editor for my campus paper – a huge step.

On April 29, 2002, J walked into his parents’ room and collapsed. He was rushed to a hospital , but it was too late. His heart had stopped. The news spread like wildfire among the community. My friend Michelle and I were sending instant messages to each other, and she told me about J. She said a mutual friend told her, a guy named David. He worked at my campus paper. When I saw him that Tuesday, I pulled him aside in the newsroom.

“David,” I said. “I talked to Michelle the other night. Is it true?”

“About J?”

“Yes, about J!”

“Yeah, he’s dead.” He said this nonchalantly, as thought it was a whatever thing that a human being was dead. I began to freak out. This was all my fault, I thought to myself.

The funeral was one of the most disturbing things I had ever been to. I was sitting with a group of girls I used to consider my friends; girls who I knew, when he was alive, used to snicker about J and say how horrible he was. I was upset with him in life, but I never said he was a horrible person.

Images of that day are forever burned into my memory: the beautiful day and the wind in the air, the open grave waiting to take J in, his mother shaking in her pink dress, screaming into the air, “No, G-d, no! Don’t take him away! Don’t take away my baby! Don’t take away my ba-a-by…” Her screaming still haunts me, as does the memory of her son and the choice I made.

Even though J’s life ended – his desire to be a pharmacist, his wonderful piano-playing skills, his smile that caused his eyes to sparkle slightly – mine was just beginning, with all its great adventures. I found it slightly unfair that I got to enjoy my life while J’s was cut so short. While he was buried at 22, three years later, when I reached the same age, I came back from potential death from my blood clots, met the love of my life and graduated from college – three things he never got to accomplish in his life.

It took me years to come to terms with his death. Ari thinks this is because I hold onto things a lot longer than the average person. I think it’s because I feel guilty that I got experience the beauties of life – dancing at my wedding, watching new lives come into the world, experiencing the beauty of how life moves in the direction that it should – while he didn’t get to see the incredible nature of it all.

But I remember one night, as my now-husband was holding me tight. I was reminded of something J said to me one night as he was giving me a huge hug. “Oh, Reina,” he said. “I hope that one day you will find someone, the right guy, who will just hold you and take care of you. You need someone like that in your life.” Somehow, he knew. He just knew.

I think that J would have loved something like YBK the way it is now. I think he would have enjoyed eating the food, laughing with my husband or comforting me during such difficult times. I really wish he understood what he would sacrifice for his addiction. There were years of happiness to be had together. I wish I did not think of him and think of his sobbing mother as they were burying him. I wish I didn’t have to live with this one regret.

I encourage those who may know people with drug or alcohol addiction to tell J’s story. Tell his story alongside Corey Haim’s, Heath Ledger’s and all the other people who have succumbed to addiction. Tell them about J missing out on this beautiful world, this incredible life. Tell them of all the people who he couldn’t give his love to, who he couldn’t share his heart with, all because of depression and drug addiction, because there are people still on this earth who will always miss him and the joy we could have had together.

Updates from YBK Headquarters

Hi everyone!

I'm not really going to do an official posting today, per se... I'm very tired and it has been a very long day. But I have decided to do some updates on what we are doing right now.

But for those of you who do tune in on a regular basis, I want you to know that in about a month we will FINALLY launch video! It's taken us a long time, but I am very excited for this. I'm still ironing out some scripts, learning my editing software on the Mac and looking for someone to hold the camera. But all in all, it's quite a thrill to get started on such an anticipated project.

Also, for those in the SoCal area, I have decided to offer cooking classes for those who are interested in learning how, whether it's basics or something a bit more intermediate. If you are, feel free to shoot me an e-mail: youngbrokekosher@gmail.com. They are for a fee, but I am flexible in offering classes. And trust me, friends of mine have done it, and they have enjoyed it. I am sure you will, too.

I know there are a lot of people coming to the blog possibly for the first time today. A big special thanks goes out to Raechel, or Rae Gross, for giving us a big giant shout-out today! I will give her one too... check her out at www.theprprofessional.com, or follow her on Twitter @theprpro.

Speaking of... did you know that we at YBK have a Twitter account? I'm going to try to be more vigilant about working with it -- let's just say I'm not used to blogging with only 140 characters. We are @Youngbrokekosh, and we also have our own Facebook fan page. Feel free to join us on either system.

We have big plans in store, whether it's the launching of the official Young, Broke and Kosher website or the video. We will keep moving forward!

The War at Home

I have lived in Orange County (and neighboring cities in Los Angeles County) on and off since 2003. And all that time, the Jewish community has been wondering what the heck to do about UC Irvine.

In case you didn’t know, UC Irvine is a complete and total war zone when it comes to relations between Jewish and Muslim groups. When I was in college, both sides were going at it. Their Muslim Student Union (MSU) would bring plenty of anti-Israel speakers to campus, display horrible pictures and harass Jewish students.

The Jewish students wanted desperately to fight back. It got to the point where it got violent among the Jewish groups; when the MSU brought the “Apartheid Wall” – a common tactic used by many Muslim groups to show the border between Israel and the Palestinian Territories – there was a group of students who decided to burn it down. I knew one of the students who did it.

It was a terrible situation all around. The Muslim student groups kept harassing students. The Jewish groups were desperate, sometimes calling in groups with tactics that, rather than bring a sense of peace to campus, isolated us and wanted to teach us to hate the Muslim student groups. Orange County Hillel ignored everything for UC Irvine – much to the determent of my Cal State Fullerton campus and any potential we had for a Hillel.

Despite the tensions, there has fortunately been somewhat of a lull at UC Irvine in the past few years regarding this issue. Compared to the horrors of when I was there, it seemed to be quiet. Until last month.

Last month, Michael Oren, an Israeli ambassador, came to UC Irvine. And as soon as he arrived onto the stage, 11 students began to heckle him. He walked off. When he came back, they continued. This went on for about an hour. Eventually, these 11 students were arrested. As to what their fates are, whether warnings or expulsion from the UC system, is yet to be determined.

Although, according to this article from Yahoo! News, these hecklers may not have been members of the Muslim Student Union, it seems like things are starting to brew again at UC Irvine. These 11 students brought back up to the surface the things that were going on when I was at Cal State Fullerton. It’s like an infectious disease that will spread throughout campuses and poison students, forcing them to act foolishly during a time where they should be trying their best to find peace where they can.

I am even more concerned now than I was when I was at school. I was talking to my cousin this week, who is getting ready to graduate from high school and go to college. One of the colleges he got accepted to is UCI. I know he’s an adult and he can make his own choices (and he’s smart, so he will make good ones), but I hate for him to inherit the sins of my generation of college students who have made UCI a difficult and sometimes scary place to learn.

I don’t want Jewish students to turn their backs on UCI. It’s a great school in the UC system that has fabulous programs. So, despite what the Zionist Organization of America says, I would never discourage him from going there if that’s what he really wants. Rather, I would give him this advice: Keep your head above water. Don’t fall into the depths of what extremists around you are willing to do, no matter what side they’re on, even if it’s the one you believe in. Rise above bigotry and bias and find your friends in the moderate zones.

I lived by this example, and it worked to my benefit – one of the greatest ones being my wonderful friend Rudy. She was associated with Muslim groups when she was at Cal State Fullerton; I was Jewish and associated with my own groups. There were jokes on campus about our friendship – “Oh, there go the Arab and the Jew,” “They’re solving the Middle East peace process,” etc. I always listened to Rudy, and she listened to me. I became friends with some of her more moderate Muslim friends, and I found a sense of respect. We didn’t always agree, but we shared views and were friendly with each other. While others were trying to make our campus a war zone, I found my peace and enjoyment and never succumbed to hate.

I may be a rare breed, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could do something like this at UC Irvine? I’m not sure if it would be too late. Gather for coffee and talk about issues regarding this? Or perhaps do an event together – a food fair or something of the sort? They may sound naïve, along the lines of, “Can’t we all just get along?” But obviously the un-naïve plan isn’t working, and hasn’t been for many years. I am of the firm belief that food brings people together in so many ways. Perhaps it’s with food that we will open up our eyes and realize that we aren’t as different as we thought. There will always be disagreement. But there should never be hate to the point of isolation.

Important kosher info!

Hi everyone!

I have a blog today of great social and political import(ance), but I think that all my kosher friends should read this first before they buy their fish for Passover:

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2010/03/08/types-fish-attack-unfit-kosher-label/

-Reina

People are Suffering... Just Not Here, Right?

Last night, I attended an event through an organization called This World, run by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. Originally, the title of the event was, “Why does G-d Allow Good People to Suffer?” However, they changed it to, “Where was G-d in Haiti?”

The people who spoke – Rabbi Shmuley, author Marianne Williamson and Pastor David Beck, along with moderator David Suissa – all had fascinating things to say that were heartfelt and meaningful. However, I did notice something as we were talking about suffering and how G-d makes us suffer: They were reluctant to mention the pain and suffering here in the United States.

When I got furious and asked them about this, I was addressed with, “We never said that,” and the point was quietly and quickly dismissed. Perhaps I was filled with angst, partially because I didn’t have much of dinner. But the fact of the matter was that I had to say it. How can you be so concerned about the suffering of people you don’t know when the people sitting right next to you are struggling to even afford groceries? I may have seemed like I was getting carried away, but I had to say it.

Ari pointed out to me that yes, many countries across the world have more problems and difficulties than we do here as Americans. But the fact of the matter is that we are not helping people in our own backyard. All over America, people are losing their jobs and homes. They are unable to get proper medical care. Americans are falling apart.

Marianne pointed out when she was speaking that, as Americans, when an emergency happens, we roll up our sleeves and make sure to get involved and help. And yet, with the day-to-day problems of the world, such as the starvation of children all over, we turn a blind eye.

Yes, but I think there’s a worse thing that we turn a blind eye to: We ignore the suffering in the world around us, in our own backyards. We give hundreds of thousands of dollars to aid in Israel, in Africa, Chile, Haiti and other countries throughout the world. Yet there are people in America that are starving and people who are struggling to survive.

There are great organizations here, such as family services, food banks, soup kitchens, health care clinics and more in our own neighborhoods that could use the help and donations that people are willing to offer. They are strapped for cash and provide services that members of our own communities need. In many recent crises, many of these places haven’t been getting the money they need – and, in the Jewish community, lots of these different organizations lost a ton of money to a horrible man you may have heard of, named Bernie Madoff. It's years later, and they are still struggling to survive.

Many times, when you hear of people giving charity, it’s for organizations far away. In fact, the donation seems to be done far away from the problem – think about the different charity balls that are hosted for causes. Do people usually see what they’re supporting in their fancy garb and eating delicious food, while others are going hungry?

Ari was telling me last night that Jews believe in “repairing the world,” so therefore we help everyone, and our healing should never be limited. I agree, that we should give as much as we can. But what do we do when we heal everyone else, but your next-door neighbor is in desperate need? How can we claim to heal the world if we can’t heal our own worlds where we live?

I think people should try it. Go and work at a local soup kitchen. Give food to a person with a sign off of a freeway. Treat your neighbors with dignity and respect – heck, if you want to, make them some cookies or something. Relieving suffering should start at home. As a lady last night said to me when I told her about my issue with this, “You should clean up your own backyard first.” And sometimes, this means taking care of yourself before taking care of everyone else – after all, how can you truly help the world if you can’t help yourself first?

There is a phrase, I’m not sure where it comes from, but it says something such as, “Charity begins at home.” Giving should start here, in America, where people who you may not be able to see need help the most. Think about this next time you ask someone, “How are you?” Ask them how they really are. It’s a place to start.

There’s no recipe today, but here are some song lyrics as food for thought. This song is probably one of my favorites by Michael Jackson. He didn’t write it, but the lyrics say a lot:

I'm Gonna Make A Change

For Once In My Life

It's Gonna Feel Real Good

Gonna Make A Difference

Gonna Make It Right...

As I Turn Up The Collar On

My Favorite Winter Coat

This Wind Is Blowin' My Mind

I See The Kids In The Street

With Not Enough To Eat

Who Am I, To Be Blind?

Pretending Not To See Their Needs

A Summer's Disregard

A Broken Bottle Top

And A One Man's Soul

They Follow Each Other On

The Wind Ya' Know

'Cause They Got Nowhere To Go

That's Why I Want You To Know

I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror

I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways

And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer

If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place

Take A Look At Yourself, And Then Make A Change

I've Been A Victim Of

A Selfish Kind Of Love

It's Time That I Realize

That There Are Some With No Home

Not A Nickel To Loan

Could It Be Really Me

Pretending That They're Not Alone?

A Willow Deeply Scarred

Somebody's Broken Heart

And A Washed-Out Dream

They Follow The Pattern Of

The Wind, Ya' See

Cause They Got No Place To Be

That's Why I'm Starting With Me

I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror

I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways

And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer

If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place

Take A Look At Yourself And Then Make A Change

I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror

I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways

And No Message Could've Been Any Clearer

If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place

Take A Look At Yourself And Then Make That...

Change!

I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror

I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways

No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer

If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place

Take A Look At Yourself And Then Make The Change

You Gotta Get It Right, While You Got The Time

'Cause When You Close Your Heart

Then You Close Your...Mind!