Tonight we light the 4th candle of Chanukah. Our discussion question tonight should be fun!
As we continue to light the lights:
What four foods have been comforting to you this past year? They don’t *have* to be Chanukah food, but if that is what comes to mind, all the more perfect.
To be honest, when I am under stress, I lose my appetite, and thankfully my husband will remind me to eat and good friends will drop off food 🙂 So this is not an easy question this year for me.
Let’s Talk About Food
My mother-in-law Pearl Zimmerman z”l was a master cook. She was one of the first women to get an advanced degree at Cornell and she really knew the science of cooking.
She loved to entertain large groups of people (like the Indian delegation to the World’s Fair) and had incredible recipes that I had to quickly scribble down on scraps of paper as she recited them from memory. I still laugh at the memory of her being in the passenger seat of the car, and me in the back, straining to hear the recipe she wanted me to know.
Back in 1999, I could tell that my mother-in-law was beginning to forget some of the recipes she stored in her head. I sat down with her in our kitchen in Sammamish Washington transcribing her recipes as she spoke them out loud.
I wanted to make sure our boys were able to inherit her recipes, and those of my family, too, and thus, the idea for a “Recipes From the Heart: Family Cookbook” was born.
I put a call out to both my husband Ely’s and my side of the family for people to send me their recipes that they’d want to pass down to their own children. The recipes that they always asked for at holiday gatherings.
In addition, I requested that they share any stories about the recipes that made them special. One of Ely’s relatives had been turned away from Ellis Island back in the ’40s and Cuba let them immigrate. Bertha contributed Arroz Con Pollo to our Family Cookbook.
My father never cooked so I asked him to write up his Sunday morning routine when he’d go to Kaufman’s in Skokie, IL to get bagels and lox and pastries.
The Zimmerman Family Cookbook has been a treasure. We’ve been able to remember stories and people through their cooking. Both of our boys have well-worn copies.
My Four Comfort Foods of 2021 are:
1) Chicken Soup: Of course I love my mom’s, but I also loved Ely’s mom, Pearl’s (may both of their memories be a blessing). She added chicken feet, which make it delicious (I make Ely put them in the pot so I don’t have to touch them.) She also added parsley root, in addition to celery root. I combined those two recipes, and now our boys make “my” recipe. It never fails to bring light into my life.
2) Polenta in the Instant Pot. Ultimate comfort food, so easy to make.
3) Potato Latkes – thin and crispy. YES, there is the unfortunate oil smell that lasts for days and days – but still. I love them with applesauce and sour cream. Here’s my recipe.
4) Butternut Squash Soup. This anti-inflammatory soup by Dr. Karen Lee for the instant pot balances out the gluten-full eating I’m doing (I hope).
Now it’s YOUR turn. What are the four foods that bring you comfort and light? AND you get extra points for telling the story.
Now it’s your turn. What 4 foods have been comforting to you this year?
One candle has the power to light up the darkness. One person has the power to light up our lives.
— I’ll be posting a new question each day with a photo of our precious #Bo, our Labradoodle. For my favorite potato latkes recipe click here. For the Chanukah candle blessings, click here.
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1) tea with toast, butter and jam, 2) red lentil soup, 3)cheese blintzes, 4) pumpkin bread
Thank you, Sylvia! I love reading your responses.
My favorite foods were my Grandma Briney’s Challah (which we tried to make with the Kitchen Aid and it came out more like the I love Lucy Bread episode…luckiliy I have your bread machine challah recipe), her rugglah, mandel bread and matzoh ball soup. Also my Grandma Rose’s cabbage knishe, my mom’s chopeed liver (the only one I’ll eat) and my mother-in-law’s stuffed cabbage (all of blessed memory). I hope you and your family have a wonderful Chanukah together!
Sending all of you love and latkes,
Jill
AS YOU CAN IMAGINE dear Jill, I laughed out loud remembering our Grandma Briney’s disastrous challah episode. I can still remember us in the kitchen. Didn’t I schlep my KitchenAid over to your house for it? What a sweet memory. I would so look forward to a meal with you with these wonderful dishes. xoxoxo
For me, Constant Comment tea is my most comforting comfort “food”. It brings back warm memories of time spent as I was growing up with my minister’s wife. She always embraced me with enduring guidance, understanding, wisdom and unconditional love. I was truly blessed to have a spiritual experience that encouraged questions, that never demanded that I blindly accepted any doctrine, that supported my quest to understand & develop a personal “knowing” that a greater, loving force was always present-God. I don’t recall ever putting all my faith or belief into Jesus-I still don’t. But I have wavered little from my belief in God or my moral assignment to care about humanity. All this and a lovely cup of tea!
Hmmm…Even though I can’t get these where I am now, one of my comfort foods is the sufganiyot/donuts we get in the UK. They’re so soft, filled with delicious jelly and covered in sugar. My other comfort foods for 2021 are penne al fuoco, Häagen-Dazs Dark Chocolate with Caramelized Walnuts ice cream, and Jamaican chicken and pumpkin soup.
YUM
What a great idea on your recipe book project! As both an outcome and a rapport, relationship and culinary delight experience generator, it is no miss. I’ll never turn down these 4 personal fan favorites: Chicken soup, an artisan salad, smoked salmon, fresh (get creative on the details and distinctive) bread. Oh, and I am the modified vegan who tries everything at the family buffet. Thanks for a fun question!