So, I made special desserts last month for Harold's 43rd and my 46th birthdays.

For Harold's, I worked on refining my seven-layer cake.  I started this project  last year, trying to recreate a much-loved dessert from his youth.  This year I used the same recipe for the cake layers, the dobostorte from Gil Marks's World of Jewish Desserts.  This time ( Read more... )

I made this last week and everybody in the family really liked it; that's pretty unusual.  It's almost straight out Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass (where she calls it Curried Coconut Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas).  My only changes were to reduce the vegetable broth (and slightly reduce the starting amount of curry powder, lest I get too ( Read more... )

I sometimes feel driven to distraction by the task of feeding my family, and it's only getting more complicated.  In addition to us having a kosher home, and kids with some typical 3-year-old food reservations, Harold's been on Weight Watchers for about four months and I've recently acquired some kind of milk sensitivity.  It occurred to me today ( Read more... )