Octogenarian Annie Korzen never expected to become a TikTok sensation. The actor, writer and humorist has more than 400,000 followers on TikTok and more than 2 million likes.
“I thought my target audience was people like me: urban, Jewish … intellectual, educated women over 50,” Korzen says.
She was wrong.
Continue reading “Annie Korzen, TikTok Fame & Simple Go-To Recipes”
Author Mitch Albom loves to have lunch in business situations, as well as with people he meets for the first time.
“There’s something that’s very formal about sitting at a table without anything between you,” Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie and the upcoming The Little Liar, says. “The minute you put food in the middle, there’s something that becomes very human about it.“
Continue reading “Mitch Albom, Philanthropy & the Power of Food”
On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, I speak with Dana Shrager of DanasTable.com. Shrager, who specializes in Jewish holiday recipes and healthy-ish dinners, shares why she started developing recipes – and how she modernizes them. She also talks about her Jewish Cooking Facebook Group, her love of Jewish Italian food and her modern Tzimmes recipe.
Continue reading “Dana Shrager, Jewish Recipes & Tzimmes Recipe”
Challah coach and therapist Mandy Silverman, aka Mandylicious, is the “People’s Challah Person.” She is all about helping others have success when baking challah, including how to stuff a challah.
“Challah could really take a toll on you,” Silverman says. “I spend so much time trying to help people understand their challah or baking situations … and help them feel better about themselves.”
Continue reading “Mandy Silverman & How to Stuff a Challah”
Cookbook author June Hersh says her latest book, Iconic New York Jewish Food could have also been called, “Iconic New York Food That Happens to be Jewish.”
“When I was beginning to write the book I realized that … most of the dishes that are the most crave-worthy in New York – that people travel across the country to sample that line up on a weekend to to taste and savor – happen to be Jewish foods,” Hersh says. “These are not just Jewish foods; they’re foods that really everybody loves and associates with New York lifestyle and New York culture.”
Continue reading “June Hersh: New York Jewish Food, Hot Dogs & Onion Rings”
The attachment to food and food memories remains strong, even when the ingredients change.
“Food is important in terms of our memories, our identity and our culture,” Rabbi Jonathan Jaffe Bernhard, Executive Director of Jewish Initiative For Animals (JIFA), told the Journal. JIFA’s mission is to help align people’s food choices with their stated Jewish values.
Continue reading “Jonathan Bernhard, Plant-Based Eating & Shabbat Scones”
The Sephardic Spice Girls Sharon Gomperts and Rachel Emquies Sheff have been cooking and teaching together for years. The duo has collaborated on events for the Sephardic Educational Center, as well as many community cooking classes.
“Mostly what being a Sephardic Spice Girl is all about is making cooking and entertaining easy,” Gomperts explains. “We’re connecting people to the recipes of their grandmothers [and] their mothers, [while] inspiring younger chefs to go ahead and not be scared to be in the kitchen.”
Continue reading “Sephardic Spice Girls, Preserved Lemons & Stuffed Artichokes”
Food and travel go hand in hand.
“The thing most people reference when they come back from traveling is the great food experiences that they’ve had,” travel writer and Jewish Journal blogger Lisa Niver, author of “Brave-ish: One Breakup, Six Continents, and Feeling Fearless After Fifty,” says. “One of the best things to do besides try new food is to try new food with someone … It makes a big impression because it impacts so many of your senses.”
Continue reading “Brave-ish’s Lisa Niver & Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins”
Recipes and a love of baking get passed on through the generations.
“L’dor v’dough, I call it,” Doug Weinstein, who considers himself the steward of Diamond Bakery in Los Angeles, says.
“I’m technically the owner, but I don’t really own Diamond Bakery,” he said. “It’s really the 76 years of family traditions that really make up the character of Diamond Bakery, and I’m just the one that’s perpetuating that for the time being.”
Continue reading “Doug Weinstein, Diamond Bakery, Challah & Rugelach”
“Kugels and Collards: Stories of Food, Family, and Tradition in Jewish South Carolina,” by Rachel Gordin Barnett and Lyssa Kligman Harvey, explores the very personal history, along with the ingredients, that make Southern Jewish food so special.
“A lot of people seem to be surprised by the Southern Jewish table, so we want to introduce that to a wider audience,” Barnett explains.
Continue reading “Kugels & Collards with Lyssa Kligman & Rachel Gordin Barnett”