Do Vegetables Need a Hechsher?

This ... is ... hilarious! Oh how I love Mayim!

I Cooked: Enchiladas!

I cooked! I have to say that I'm pretty proud that over the past month, I've made as many meals as I did when I was living on my own back in Chicago and fell in love with cooking. Veggies and spices and kitchen messes oh my! Taylor is quite the health-nut veggie like me, so it makes meal-planning and eating a lot more exciting knowing that I can finally share my food with someone!

Tonight was Creamy Spinach Enchiladas with a Red Cabbage Salad. I revamped the original recipe, which was dairy, to make it vegan (parve) and, luckily, it's gluten-free if you buy the right kind of corn tortillas!

Ingredients
10 corn tortillas, warmed (the recipe called for eight, but I had filling for 10)
10 oz. frozen, chopped spinach thawed and drained
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1.5 cups Daiya vegan cheddar cheese (original recipe was regular cheddar)
1 cup So Delicious Original Coconut Creamer (original recipe was regular heavy cream)
2 cans green chiles
salt
pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. In a large bowl, mix together the thawed spinach, corn, one can green chiles, and 1 cup of the Daiya cheese. 
3. In a small bowl, mix together the creamer, one can green chiles, and 1/4 tsp of each salt and pepper. 
4. Heat up the tortillas. 
5. Place about 1/3 cup mixture in each tortilla and roll. Place seam-side down into a shallow baking pan. 
6. Pour the creamer mixture over the top of the enchiladas and top the entire dish with remaining 1/2 cup of Daiya cheese. 
7. Cover with foil and bake for 10-15 minutes until sauce is bubbly. Remove foil and cook another 5-10 minutes. (Daiya cheese won't brown, but regular cheese will.)
8. Enjoy!

For the salad, take a large red cabbage and quarter it. You'll need about 4 cups of thinly sliced red cabbage, which is about 1/4 of a large cabbage, and two thinly sliced scallions. Throw the cabbage and scallions into a bowl with 2 Tbls olive oil, 2 Tbls fresh lime juice, and 1/4 cup papitas (I just used regular sunflower seeds). Mix up with a bit of salt and pepper, and eat!

I'm whipping up a simple dessert right now: Blueberry Crisp Ramekins. Some blueberries, sucanet, gluten-free flour, topped with Udi's Gluten-Free Original Granola. Thatsit. Bam.

Edit: It's done!

Choosing: Ashkenazic vs. Sephardic

I've been meaning to post this question for quite some time (okay, since the divorce), but after talking it over very briefly with a few friends, here I am finally posting it.

Before I got married, I had the option -- as a convert -- to choose my minhagim or customs. That means that technically, because I didn't grow up with any, I had the option of choosing the lifestyle of the Sephardim. Beans and rice on Passover! And a lot of other really awesome, fascinating, unique customs that would have made me more normal in Israel than here in the U.S.

(Sephardim, oddly enough, are more strict on many things, including bishul akum, which forbids a Jew to eat food prepared by a non-Jew, something I observed when in the conversion process that I had no problem with -- this is where that "Jew turns on the flame" bit comes in handy for a non-Jew at a grocery store bakery or the like).

Then I got married, to someone with nominally Ashkenazic traditions and a strong Ashkenazic genealogy. Although he grew up not always following the no-leavening bit on Passover, he loosely identified with the Eastern European ways, considering his family came from Romania and areas around there. So we took on those customs, despite my pleas and knowing that we technically could choose our customs. We adopted our rabbi's Yekki tradition of washing our hands before both kiddush (blessing over wine) and motzi (blessing over bread), which, by the way, has a very legit and sense-making reason if you're interested.

But now, since I'm divorced, does that take me back to square one? Do I get to choose my customs? Or am I bound to the 16-month commitment to Ashkenazic traditions? I mean, I look like I'm straight-up Eastern European (note: my family hails from England and France and Switzerland), but ... until I get married (please HaShem) again, can I just have a little bit of Sephardic fun?!

VERSUS

I don't like the eggs, but ... 

For those of you interested in the halachos that are out there, they're incredibly confusing, and opinions are incredibly varied, but there's a great response and plenty of contradictory sources cited over at Fifth Avenue Synagogue. According to Rav Schachter, community comes before family, but how often do any of us live in a community anymore where there is a single established minhag? 

Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Kosher Flops and Flips

I've been having a lot of really interesting conversations with people lately about kashrut, which makes me think back to some of my less-than-stellar days of refining the art of keeping kosher. It's a journey for all of us, and sometimes it takes years to really take on a full regimen of kashrut. Some cases in point?

Flop No. 1? 
During the first week of classes at the University of Connecticut (where I was to get my first M.A. in Judaic studies), there was a big welcome cook-out over at Hillel, so I decided to go outside my typical box of comfortability in order to schmooze with the campus Jews. At that point, it was August 2008 and I had been an "official" Reform Jew for about a year and a half. I'd slowly been taking on more kashrut, especially after Passover 2008 when I decided that I was set for an Orthodox conversion. I didn't kasher anything, but I kept on my tradition of no pork and no shellfish (which I'd taken on even before I went to a Reform shul for the first time many, many years before) and decided I was going to avoid mixing meat and milk.

While waiting in line at the cook-out to grab my own kosher burger, salads, and chips, I spotted little packets of ketchup, mustard, and ... GASP ... mayo! I started to get really nervous, looking around to see if anyone else was reacting to the mayo on the table. I mean, they said this was kosher meat and that all the fixins were kosher too, didn't they? Okay, okay, so I wasn't fully kosher, but I wasn't about to mix meat and dairy! Come on people!

Yes. I thought, stupidly, for no apparent reason, that mayo was dairy. Yipes. The thing is, I never really ate mayo, so my ignorance should have been expected. Luckily, I didn't make an arse of myself by saying anything to anyone and instead Googled it the moment I got home. Can you imagine how stupid I felt?

Flop No. 2? 
Living in the dorms, I canceled my meal plan after one semester because I simply didn't like going to the cafeteria and the kosher cafeteria (the reason I bought the plan to begin with) was on the other side of campus and I just wasn't into the schlep (my dorm was right next to the building in which I worked, the classes in which I took, and the library in which I lived). Thus, I had to rely on the groceries I picked up every week when Tuvia (who I started dating at the start of my time at UConn) came out and picked me up and drove me over to the Wal-Mart. I got into a habit of eating vegetarian in my dorm almost exclusively, but at some point I was craving meat so I ended up eating a lot of breaded chicken patties, and I made sure -- really made sure -- to never mix meat and dairy, despite my own frustations with chicken as "meat." (I think I thought I was a Karaite.)

And then? Well, I made dinner as usual. Threw a chicken patty in the microwave, popped a piece of cheese on it, threw on some pasta sauce and voila! made my favorite dish of yore, Chicken Parm. I gobbled it up while watching something on my computer and then, suddenly, I realized what I was eating. Holy crap. What do I do? Do I make myself throw up? I didn't do it on purpose I started shouting in my head! It was an accident! What do I do!?

Well, of course, I went to AskMoses.com. And the kind random person behind the computer told me that there was nothing I could do to make it better or to go away. Of course, the person behind the computer didn't know that I had only had a Reform conversion so technically, according to halacha, I'd done nothing wrong -- I was a non-Jew eating milk and meat together. No biggie, right? But the person talking to me at AskMoses.com talked me down, explained to me that it wasn't something I'd intentionally done, so while it was wrong, there was no way to repent, if you will. I felt better, I'll say that much, but man was that a serious flop.

(Note: I haven't found a good replacement for Chicken Parm, unfortunately with the gluten-free thing. Eggplant Parm just isn't the same. Oh Morningstar why must you have wheat?!)

Flippity Flop!
The thing about kashrut is that it's a journey, and it's one that isn't at all easy or always fun to travel on. I stopped eating pork and shellfish probably sometime back in 2003, long before I even knew there was a Reform shul in town. But I started there because I knew there was something I could start with that was easy to do and it would connect me to generations of religious and assimilated Jews.

But after that, it took me until 2008 to really even consider the idea of separation of meat and milk completely, and even after I started, Tuvia and I still ate out dairy. But after I went to and returned from Middlebury, Vermont, in Summer 2009, I couldn't do the eating-out-dairy thing anymore -- I felt like I was cheating, being hypocritical. Not everyone feels that way, and I don't expect anyone to feel that way, but we did. And then? We went on that big journey of kashrut together. And now look at us -- we're all super frum with the kashrut.

And it's still hard. I don't know if it ever gets easy. Every now and again I have cravings, strange cravings, for things like Chick-Fil-A and Chipotle and other places that, to be completely honest, I wouldn't be able to eat at anyway because I'm now gluten-free. Saving grace? Maybe HaShem is trying to give me an easy time? Probably not. Cravings are cravings -- they don't go away. But the nice thing is that with modern cooking, you can pretty much figure out a way to satisfy any craving with creative cooking. Likewise, leaving in Teaneck has us pretty spoiled foodwise.

Don't worry about making mistakes. I grab the wrong utensil more often than I should, and we end up doing a lot of kashering (sorry Tuvia!). One of the wisest things I ever read (or was it heard?) was that as long as you acknowledge that there's a goal (in this case being shomer kashrut), then your mistakes and stumbles will not stand in judgment of you. Or something like that. Basically? As long as you say "I will, someday, be a kosher Jew," then your steps and missteps to get there will be accepted as growing pains rather than your downfall. Stick to your guns, and you can make it happen!

Public Service Announcement Times Two

Two things, because they've been on my mind a lot lately.

One: Starbucks Frappuccinos are not kosher, period. At all. If you are shomer kashrut, there are a million other drinks you can get at Starbucks that are fine, but Starbucks changed from its coffee base to a creme base last year, and that base no longer is certified kosher. Mmk? Mmk.

Two: The Kotel, aka the Western Wall, is not -- I REPEAT -- not a part of the Second Temple, which was destroyed in 70 C.E. The wall is part of the remnants of the Temple courtyard wall. That is all.

That second one really grates my cheese. We mislead Jewish children in school and on trips to make them think it's a remnant of the Temple, when it isn't. Yes, it may be all we have left, and it's a place of historical value and definitely a place where one can become close with HaShem, but ... well, we've turned it into something it isn't.

Is that good? Is that bad? I don't know. All I do know is that I wish more people knew what it really is.

Shavua tov!

Starbucks Dilemma

Moral (sort of) dilemma: I was in Starbucks today getting a beverage and a man in a kippah with a beard walked in with his son, who was probably 8 or 9.

Father: What is that thing that you want?
Son: A double chocolatey chip thing.
Starbucks Girl: Oh! A double chocolate chip frappuccino.
Son: Yeah, that!
Starbucks Girl: Whipped cream?
Son: Yeah!

The man proceeded to order an ice tea (which is fine), but I was perplexed. Didn't he know the frappuccino stopped being kosher last year? When they went from a coffee base to a cream base?

I was tormented. I really wanted to tell him. The guy clearly had zero clue what a frappuccino even was, let alone its kashrut status.

Should I have said something? Or would it have been out of line? Does it not matter because it was a kid?

No More Starbucks, It Seems.

Hi, my name is Chaviva, and I am freaking ... out. Freaking. Seriously. Y'all know I live for coffee, right? That my "office" is Starbucks, right?

Well, evidently Starbucks is not recommended anymore ... in most cases. Why? Things get washed together, that's why. Sigh. Just ... just read what the cRc says in their obnoxious chart.

EDIT: Food for thought on a few sites -- looks like this is an OU vs. cRc battle. Some links:

• http://www.collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=13205&hl=starbucks
• http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/crc-starbucks-kashrus-alert

Looks like it's not so clear. I'll keep going ... until someone gives me a reason not to, it seems. 


EDIT TWO (03/08/2011): From my rabbi I received this, which makes me happy. I hold by the OU, so I feel RELIEF!


The kosher status of beverages at Starbucks is a constant topic of inquiry. The following list of approved beverages, compiled by the Orthodox Union (OU), provides the guidance that can avoid the confusion and answer most questions. 

COFFEE and TEA 

All Plain Brewed Coffees 

Café Latte 

Café Misto 

Cappuccino 

Clover Brewed Coffee 

Decaf Pike Peak Roast 

Espresso 

FLAVORED LATTE (hot or iced) 

Blackberry

Irish Cream 

Brulee 

Caramel - regular and sugar free (not the topping) 

Cinnamon Dolce- regular and sugar free (not the topping) 

Cinnamon Syrup 

Classic/Simple Coconut 

Dark Cherry 

Gingerbread 

Hazel nut – regular and sugar free 

Natural Almond Peppermint - regular and sugar free 

Raspberry - regular and sugar free 

Toffee Nut 

Valencia Vanilla - regular and sugar free 

Whipped cream at every store needs to be checked by the consumer.

(H/T to Shades of Grey)

A Kohen and a Chicken Walk Into a Bar ...

The interweb is giving me a huge shout-out today. I'm all glowing and delighted, what can I say. For your viewing pleasure, check out these two items and let me know what you think!

• The first thing? The Chicken in a Bag returns! This time, an article in The Jewish Week that quotes this here blog in Instant Kosher Chicken. My only beef (har har) with the chicken article? It cites me as a "recent" convert. I suppose in one sense that's true: I completed my Orthodox conversion a little over a year ago. But in another sense, I've been doing Judaism in some form since 2003, having converted Reform in 2006. I realize that to some that doesn't count, but, you know, even more than a year later I don't feel "recent." ~ At any rate, others in our 'hood have tried this and were pretty pleased with it. I'd say my kosher microwave chicken ambassadorship has been successful!

• And then there's The Huffington Post piece by the lovely Shira Hirschman Weiss: The Kohein's Conundrum. Some have asked me about my quote in the piece and referring to the problems my daughters and granddaughters will have when it comes to not even considering marrying a kohen, and it stems from something I read in one of my halacha books a while back, and it was referenced however fleetingly in my blog post Three Years and a Day. I really need to write a more comprehensive post on this, and if I can find the book and source, I'll sock it to you. 

Stay tuned, also, for an OU piece on Project Frumway that should appear some time this month and will also feature the blog here. Does this mean I've hit it big time? Who knows. I just know the exposure puts me in a happy place. 

Next Up: A mikvah follow-up to The Mikvah is Lost On Me (seriously, HaShem must read my blog) and a fashion post on my duds for the 17th Annual NJOP Dinner at the New York Hilton last night, as well as a post about my studies and thoughts on Jewish and Hebrew education today. 

Prepare to Microwave Your Chicken

The greatest thing I miss about not being kosher is the convenience of many heat-and-eat products (after all, I once upon a time wrote food treyf-style reviews for HeatEatReview.com). I also was able to lose a hefty amount of weight by subsisting on Lean Cuisines, which are, from my memory, absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, being kosher means very few healthy, heat-and-eat options. Among the available options is probably the only healthy one, which is Garden Lites, but it's all veggies, all the time. You have to be a real lover of things like zucchini to take those on. But there's nothing like those giant family-size frozen options that I've found that are both gluten-free and won't clog my arteries on first-bite.


What if, say, you want a full-size chicken. And you want it in 20 minutes. You want it delicious. You want it moist. And? You want to make it in your microwave.

Tuvia got really excited. And he wanted to do the "Susanne Face."

I know, it's crazy. I thought it was crazy. When a rep with Empire Kosher called me about this new product -- the Ready to Roast Garlic and Herb Seasoned Chicken, I seriously thought he was insane. You can't buy un-kosher chicken that you can cook in 20 minutes in your microwave, so why on earth would the kosher market produce something?

There were some juices leaking from the bag, but otherwise? Ready to cook.

In my mind, all I can think is that the folks at Empire realize that we're busy -- all of us, not just Jews -- and having a fresh, delicious, kosher, seasoned chicken ready in 20 minutes is the best thing since sliced bread. The directions couldn't be more simple [this is my take on them, actually]:

Open the big bag. Inside is another bag. On one side it says "This side up" or something to that effect. Put the bag of chicken on a plate with the right side up. Cut two holes. Put in microwave. Cook for 20-22 minutes. Eat delicious, moist, seasoned chicken. Be happy. Use the time you could have used waiting for your chicken to be done to eat some delicious dessert or go for a walk or snuggle with your sweetie.  

He's got a knife! Steam.

My dear husband Tuvia described the chicken as "moist and flavorful." To which I responded, that's it? And he responded, "sure thing." Okay, so he's not one for words. The great thing about this chicken is that the seasoning really permeates throughout the bird. Oftentimes, as I've noticed in my own imperfect cooking, the seasoning I put on the skin sits there, and a lot of people don't eat the skin, so the flavor is lost. Empire did a great job making sure the flavor was throughout, and that the bird stayed super moist, even in the microwave.

I will say that the perfect cooking takes a bit of tweaking, and you have to check the packaging with the wattage of your microwave. We cooked ours initially for 20 minutes, then for another 2, and there were still a few spots we weren't sure about, but the thermometer (our's) showed us otherwise. We devoured the chicken, leaving just enough for me to take on a Chicken Taco Salad tomorrow. Leftovers are wonderful (and that shows you how plentiful the chicken is).

Yes, Empire gave me this bird to try. Yes, I'm happy that it was free. But seriously? It was at Glatt Express here in Teaneck for about $15, which is nothing for a meal that with some potatoes and veggies could easily feed four people. But those of you who've read me for a while know that I'm honest in my reviews. If you don't believe me, check out some of my honesty over on my Yelp page. So go out, buy a delicious Empire Kosher Chicken, and be prepared to kick back and have dinner in no time at all.

Happy eating! (PS: I'm pretty sure this is NASA technology ... what else could it be!?)

The delicious, well-seasoned, moist as a summer night in Washington D.C. chicken. B'tayavon! (Bon appetit!)

Cooking w/Giveaway, Susie Style!

Ever since Pesach 2008, I've been in love. The love affair has taken me to flavorful heights and through disastrous experiences. No, I'm not talking about my life since meeting Tuvia, I'm talking about my falling in love with the kitchen and cooking. I've always loved baking -- for me, it was easy to throw together cookies or a cake or some brownies. But cooking? It required knowledge of recipes and vegetables and spices and oils and other things I had zero experience with. Home was not a place where I was prepared for the big, bad world of food, so I took it upon myself to learn. I never wanted to learn to cook. After all, my original desire in a spouse was for him to be completely kitchen trained. I dated a few guys with skills that would put Martha Stewart to shame (Manishewitz in a pasta sauce? you bet!), but in the end, I need to figure it out for myself.

More than two years later, I consider myself pretty skilled in the kitchen. I've cooked for a few people, for two families with kids, for my in-laws ... you name it. I'm confident in the kitchen (except when it comes to serving, and then I sit on the edge of my seat waiting for pleased responses). But I didn't get here alone. I've had the help of my favorite Kosher cooks: Jamie Geller, Susie Fishbein, and the Internet! Thus, here begins an ode to one of my chef partners, Susie Fishbein.

I promise you, at the end of this post, there will be a giveaway for the book I'm about to discuss, so keep reading!

I received a copy of Susie Fishbein's upcoming (as in, today's its release) cookbook, the newest in the Kosher by Design series, Teens and 20-Somethings, and upon receipt I 3M flagged the heck out of it. Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. At first, I was amused by the cover design -- a spaghetti squash with headphones ... how silly. But I wasn't completely sold on the concept. I flipped through the cookbook and the first thing I noticed was the layout and design, which, to be completely honest, I wasn't jazzed about. As a proverbial "20-something," I felt sort of ... talked down to. I know that this cookbook is geared toward a variety of ages and that the goal is for the book to appeal not only to the title's demographic but also to those cooking for them ... but the design just rubs me the wrong way. It reminds me of 1980s teen style. Bright colors, paint splatters, quirky phrases. It's just trying to hard. Susie gives party ideas in the back of the book with menu suggestions, and the party suggestions seem very, well, geared toward a 5-year-old. Again, I felt like the book was talking down to me. But is the point of the book the layout and design? Probably not. But aesthetics are big when it comes to appeal and selling points. But let's move on to the food. That's why you're here, right?

I decided to make a few things straight out of the book to get a feel for this edition and whether it rocks my world as much as the others I have purchased since moving to Teaneck. I opted for the Mexican Chicken and the Blondies, both which surpassed my expectations in ease of preparation, cooking time, and taste. The great thing about the new edition is that Susie took the time to label each recipe with its "free-ness." That is, nut free, gluten free (GF), dairy free, etc. Although the number of gluten-free recipes is minimal, I'm a firm believer that just about anything can be made gluten-free. Neither of these recipes were labeled as such, but some simple replacements made for an easy cooking experience.


The Mexican Chicken was a breeze (once my husband chopped up some chicken thighs because, well, we're in the Poconos and the chicken selection is limited in the kosher department). All I had to do was crush some tortilla chips (corn = GF), some corn flakes (GF), and put in some taco seasoning (of the GF variety), throw it in a bowl, then toss the chicken pieces in some salsa to coat and then in the chip/corn flake mix to coat, in a pan, bake at 350 and blamo. Twenty minutes later I had some nommy eats. I mixed up the sauce offered with it, which my husband used to mask the seeming "salsa taste" that the chicken had. He doesn't dig salsa, I do. We compromised. It looks yummy, right? It was, believe me.

Once the chicken was in, I got to work on the Blondies, which, I learned, are basically chocolate chip cookies in brownie form (note: this is my first-ever blondie attempt). It was a quick and easy substitution of Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose GF Flour with some xanthum gum, mixed in with the other bits and pieces of the recipe (you'll have to buy the book for this, folks), and ta-da. Blondies. Oh, and don't worry if you messed up -- I put (on accident) probably two to three times more vanilla that I should have. And? Even still: soft, moist, scrumdiddlyumptious. And I guarantee a stranger wouldn't know they're gluten free, either.

Evan really enjoyed the blondies. Really.

Overall, I'm excited about many of the recipes -- which range from drinks to desserts and include a variety of cuisine styles -- in this cookbook, including Orange Butternut Squash Soup (p. 56), the Pizza Soup (p. 62), the Amalfi Chicken (p. 102), and, especially, the Confetti Spaghetti Squash (there's a squash at home calling my name; p. 160). Oh, and, of course, there's the Cappuccino Mousse (p. 210) and the Molten Deep-Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies (p. 214) -- gluten-free-ified, of course!

So now you know there are good eats, are you ready for the giveaway? Read carefully!

1. This giveaway starts now and ends on Tuesday, November 2 at 10 p.m. 
2. One winner will receive their very own copy of Susie Fishbein's Kosher by Design: Teens and 20-Somethings.
3. How do you enter? I'm giving you two options. 
1. Pick your favorite recipe from the Kosher by Design series and post it to the comments, and tell me what you love about it. 
2. If you don't happen to have the Kosher by Design series on-hand, pick your favorite go-to recipe and post it to the comments and tell me how you found it and why you love it.
4. BONUS entry for those who also post a link to a picture of their favorite Kosher by Design recipe! (Note: you have to have made the food in the picture, no taking pictures from Susie's cookbooks.)

I'll post the winner late Tuesday night. And if you don't win? Never fear. Following this giveaway will be another giveaway of Jamie Geller's new cookbook, Quick & Kosher: Meals in Minutes.

Also, probably the coolest part of this post and the giveaway? Your access to the Kosher by Design Recipe Index! Seriously, the best invention ever! No need to look through all of your KbD books, just check out the index if you can't find a recipe.

Rocking Kosher Fest with Susie Fishbein!

Finally, a little ditty with goods and details: Preorder your copy today at ArtScroll.com – enter the coupon code KBDBLOG at checkout to save 10% and receive free shipping in the continental U.S. Join us online to find more reviews and giveaway contests! Kosher by Design: Teens and 20-Somethings: cooking for the next generation is aimed at the young and digital-savvy fast-food generation and those who cook for them. Susie Fishbein is an everyday cook who loves to share her passion for cooking and entertaining with friends and family. Her enthusiasm for food and entertaining led to the creation of her best-selling cookbook, Kosher by Design, published in 2003 by ArtScroll Shaar Press. For more recipes and updates, visit our blog or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Kosher Fest: The Highs, The Lows

See all that Black and White? 

Kosher Fest, Kosher Fest ... you will forever be known affectionately as "The Big Kiddush." (Hat tip to @elierosenfeld on that one.) The reason? Kosher Fest comes with everything kiddush does: fish, booze, little old ladies and large Hasids elbowing you for nosh ... oh, and Tam Tams. Yes, Kosher Fest had literally everything the kosher consumer could dream of. Squeazable hummus, chorizo-style sausage, soy cheese for your favorite burger, and everything in between. I'm pretty sure my eyes have melted from the shock of so much at once. At least, it feels that way. My knees ache, my back hurts (I schlepped around a lot of stuf), and I'm exhausted. The noise, the shoving, the nudging, the meeting of new old friends. But I survived. I did, indeed, live to tell the tale.

I was eager to go to Kosher Fest for one reason: I love food. (Okay, I was also really excited to be in the presence of literary giants Sue Fishkoff, Susie Fishbein, Jamie Geller, Paula Shoyer, and Joan Nathan.) Food, the enemy, is one of my favorite things. The search for delicious gluten-free kosher food is a difficult one, but one I'm willing to rock for the sake of  other kosher-keepers who seek tasty, healthy, gluten-free eats. The problem? These things don't really exist out of vegetables and fruits -- the basics of a gluten-free diet. But sometimes, you want bread and cookies and crackers and to eat a sandwich like a normal person. Matzo ball soup and cake, pasta and chicken fingers. Just as much as kosher consumers want to eat that treyf-like food (imitation crab and soy cheese for burgers), so do gluten-free consumers want to eat like the rest of the world and even more so like their kosher brethren. To be able to say motzi and bensch at the end of a meal. To enjoy a cookout and go out to eat.

So let's forge forth. I'll be reviewing individual products that I took home with me over on www.kosher-critic.com over the coming week. Items that I tried on-site will get appropriate comments. I was really shocked at how few of the vendors offered products for me to review when I said "I'm a blogger." The power of the blogger is mighty, right? I had to ask, and in a few cases ask multiple times, to take something with me to review.

My adventure began at the Kosher.com booth. I'm already sold on Kosher.com, from which I purchase Heaven Mills gluten-free challah rolls (oat based for motzi fun!) and other goodies like gluten-free gefilte fish. Jamie Geller (of Quick & Kosher fame) tells me that the King Arthur mixes that Kosher.com sells are worth my time, so I'll be giving those a go and if you do, too, please let me know what you think. I trekked on, stopping by the folks behind Naked Juice drinks. They didn't seem to have a clue what I was talking about when I mentioned "gluten free," but when I said I was a blogger they were keen on showing me good customer service (a blogger's tirade can ruin you). From there I spotted the illustrious Susie Fishbein, with whom I nabbed a picture and shared my disappointment in the cookbook's layout. To be honest, she didn't seem super interested in my comments, but, after all, she was bombarded with people and probably stressed out ... so I guess I won't read too much into that ...

I intended on maintaining fleishig status throughout the day (I was sporting some coffee im chalav), so I ended up eating a lot of interesting parve and cheesy things. I surpassed the Mikee marinades, which come in a variety of gluten-free options (although, I did go back later and have some, and it was outstanding). I nabbed an awesome bag from the folks at Kind Healthy Snacks, which produces a variety of fruit and nut bars, including one that is packed with fiber. My recommendation is to get some and throw them in your bag to stav off hunger. The bag they gave me saved my life, btw. So much to schlep! So little time ...

I hit up a variety of booths with random goodies throughout, and I finally met my connections over at Katz Gluten Free and picked up a container of their new sugar-free cookies. I have to give props to them for going the extra length to add a little healthfulness to their products, but I'm still not sure I'll be eating them regularly. Same goes for Shabtai products, which are so delicious in that they taste like normal cakes, but ... sigh. Calories. Sugar. Fat. Weight Watchers is watching. And I'm trying to avoid processed stuff in order to fill up on things packed with veggies, protein, and fiber. One product I'm super stoked about is the Garden Lites line of gluten-free eats. I've had their souffles before, but tasted the Zucchini Marinara today and it blew my mind. With 110 calories, 5 grams fat, and 3 grams fiber, it's a seriously healthy treat that, yes, you guessed it, tasted like spaghetti marinara. I've decided I'm going to just eat this every day for lunch. Why? It tasted good and it was healthy and that's what I've been looking for in kosher foods.

Oh, and I love the redesign of gluten-free soup nuts. Rings? Awesome. And fun. And soup-a-licious! Also, there was a French (or was it Israeli?) company there trying to get U.S. distribution that represents French cheese and a whole line of St. Dalfour jellies that are all natural. By this I mean it's fruit and juice. ZERO sugar. And wow, so delicious. I picked up a jar of the Orange Ginger, and I'll be reviewing it in short. And meat? I had probably the most delicious sausages I've ever had -- surpassing even those of Smokey Joe's in Teaneck! The "Delicious and Kosher" eats of Jack's Gourmet. They had a chorizo-like sausage, a spicy Italian (it wasn't that spicy) and probably six others. They're gluten-free and oh-so nommy.

I'll cap off my product placement and musings with the booze. Yes, the booze. The liqueur was flowing through the aisles. There was a mountain of kosher wines (I seriously had no idea there were so many), and there were varied versions of whiskey and scotch and bourbon. My favorites? Walders Vodka & Vanilla, which won Kosher Fest Best in Show and didn't taste a bit like alcohol (which I love) and the Heering Coffee Liqueur? Holy Moses. I could drink this stuff for breakfast. I didn't try any of the wine, but from the looks on people's faces, they were happy. 

The view from the Tweetup. I felt so powerful ... reigning supreme over the masses!

Kosher Fest loves Canada! 

In the end, Kosher Fest has a LONG way to go in becoming Social Media friendly. There was wi-fi, but it was nonexistent outside of the press room (where there was no room to sit, for anyone) and it was impossible to blog on-site. Phone service, too, was slight in most instances. It was impossible to be technologically connected and live from the location, and the organizers appear to not have been set up for welcoming or even encouraging a social media presence at the event. Color me disappointed and let down by Kosher Fest. 


That is: the experience, that is, not the food. The food? It was 60 percent outstanding and 40 percent irritatingly unhealthy and gluten-filled. Stay tuned for detailed reviews and anything I might have forgotten here, as well as more info about upcoming gluten-free products from Kedem (there will be a "matzo-like" product, as a teaser), Manischewitz's plans for gluten-free eats, and some safe and fashionable Shmira Wear. Yes, you read that last thing right. Hopefully I can get Tuvia to do a fashion show for me!


Oh! And, before we part ways, check out this awesome video of someone making a havdalah candle. I got to take the gem home with me, and I can't wait to use it. These guys were totally shtetled out, too! (PS: It's sideways, but you'll get the drift.)

It's a Kosher, Kosher Nation

Thanks to a marathon session of Eat, Pray, Sleep (hat tip to Adina on that one, talking about the three-day chagim), I had a lot of time to read. My usual intent is to avoid school reading on the chagim and Shabbat, because, for me, school is my version of "work." I sometimes make exceptions for Judaica because, well, Judaica is my school, my blog, my work, my life. It's a delicate balance, but I work it out well. Thus, most of the time, I read what I'll call "pleasure reading" books over the chagim and Shabbat -- usually historical fiction (in the vein of "The Invisible Bridge" by Julie Orringer and the like). Every now and again, I'll sit down with something more serious (or not) in the realm of nonfiction. This past three-day Sukkot/Shabbat fest had me glued to my chair with Sue Fishkoff's upcoming book, "Kosher Nation: Why More an More of America's Food Answers to a Higher Authority."

I got the book as a pre-release read, one of the many perks of being a blogger. I was notified of this book's impending publishing many months ago, and I even blogged about it over the summer in my "I'm An Oscar Meyer Weiner ..." blog post. I was seriously excited. So let's talk.

I haven't had a chance to read Fishkoff's "The Rebbe's Army," yet, but after reading "Kosher Nation," I can only imagine how good it must be. Fishkoff has this elegance about her writing, reporting without being forceful, and maintaining a neutral point of view. Fishkoff is a reporter with JTA, so I have high standards for these writer types -- can they write? or are they just good reporters? are they biased? is there an underlying current of sentiment? do they let the sources speak for themselves? is the BIG QUESTION answered or are we at least left questioning?

Synagogue membership went up during Prohibition because
sacramental wine was exempt from the law!

The great thing about Fishkoff is that she's not only an amazing reporter, but she's also a talented writer (a rarity -- in my experience, you can either report well and write worth you know what, or you are an amazing writer but fail to report properly). The individuals that pepper this book -- from the masghichim to the "eco-kosher" movement specialists to the big wigs at some of the nation's largest kashrut authorities -- tell the story for us, Fishkoff just sews the stories together, creating a fluid discussion of the boom in kosher in the United States. We learn about why people buy kosher (and most of those people aren't even Jewish) and why companies seek out kashrut status -- even when they don't have a large Jewish customer base. The story of a baker who seeks out certification because he wants his patrons to trust him when he says that he only uses vegetable shortening is a perfect example of what Fishkoff is trying to explain: Kosher isn't just Jewish.

I applaud her for not dwelling solely on the politics of kashrut, and she blocks off the issue to a few chapters, which is appreciated. The politics are explained with a delicate pen, and reading about the kosher wars of the early 1900s blew my mind. There could be a movie ... based on the book. I have a title: "Kosher: A Bloody, Bloody History." It's multi-faceted, of course, because we have the blood draining of animals, but also people being killed over it. Yes, killed. You want to read the mafioso-like stories? Buy the book. But really, it will shock you. You think the Rubashkin and Monsey chicken fiascos were bad. People have been killed for less. Over KASHRUT.


All the drama aside, the book left me with a lot of things to think about. Because the book is filled with stories -- the plight of the mashgiach, the struggles of the eco-kosher movement, the battle to keep kosher when you live in the middle of nowhere -- we hear a lot from people. Most of these people talk about the way food helps them connect to HaShem, which I think is something I didn't expect. For me, kosher means being 110 percent cognizant of every item of food you put in your body, because every step of the process requires you to think, think, think about what you're doing (what you buy, how you prepare it, how you cook it, how you eat it, what blessing you say, etc.). Thus, it was incredibly meaningful to read about the very religious experience people have with food and why keeping kosher is more than just laws and customs. Hearing the mashgiach of a Northwestern juice factory talk about davening Yom Kippur and fasting in a factory -- alone -- and how it was the most powerful Yom Kippur for him because he did the work in prayer and didn't rely on a chazzan? That's brilliant. That's a narrative worth reading. 

Kosher meat market on the Lower East Side

But then there were the ... less than stellar moments in the book. Hat's off to Fishkoff for including everyone -- including the naysayers. But some of these people ... yikes. There's the 40-year-old California chef who thinks that kashrut is an insult. It disallows you from having meals with other people (which, I sort of get the logic of). What I don't get the logic of is her asinine reason for eating pork. You see, this woman's mom was a "hidden child" during the Holocaust, and as a result, her mother regularly ate pork and bacon growing up. Thus, this woman, this 40-year-old woman, feels obligated to eat the stuff ... "I feel like I would be betraying my mom if I didn't," she said. Are you kidding me? That's like saying, my mom stole stuff, so to honor her memory, I do the same. I mean, really? The book goes on and on about secular Jews who don't keep kosher but can't bring themselves to eat pork and shellfish -- the two biggies for most Jews on the "don't eat this" list. And this woman honors her mother, who survived the Shoah, by eating pork. Barf. This is the crazy of kashrut. It's unfortunate, I think, that this woman feels this way. (She's quoted later in the book talking about how ridiculous she thinks kashrut is, and she's really the only person in the book who appears to have a negative view of kashrut.)

And then there's the shocking. I already alluded to the kosher wars of the early 1900s, but the statistics that appear in the first several chapters of the books are plentiful and sometimes shocking. Here's the one that struck me the most: "According to a 2006 Conservative movement survey ... 87 percent of Conservative rabbis and cantors eat in non-kosher restaurants, although just 9 percent will order meat" (98). Eighty-seven percent? That's an incredibly, incredibly high number I think. Especially considering that the Conservative movement is -- according to its precepts -- just as committed to kashrut as Orthodoxy. Yet, yikes. There's a story of a woman in the book whose father used to take them out to eat dairy/fish at non-kosher restaurants, while they kept kosher in the house. One day, this woman's sister was eating her tuna salad sandwich when she realized it tasted funny. Turns out the tuna was chicken. The woman's father vowed that they'd never eat out again, and the woman -- to this day -- keeps kosher. In my mind, there is enough room for error in non-kosher restaurants that I wouldn't even want to approach the idea of eating out vegetarian/dairy. When Tuvia and I decided to go kosher both in and outside of the home, it was largely because we just couldn't deal -- the idea that we had no idea what the fish we were eating out was being cooked with (on the same grill as pork? as a cheeseburger?) disturbed us to the point that we couldn't negotiate that anymore. Even eating out cold -- you don't know that the salad knife didn't also cut some catfish for that yummy fish salad they also serve. The Conservative rabbis stat just bothers me. It seems, well, questionable.

Lastly, I just want to mention one more interesting storyline: the 2008 creation of the Society for Classical Reform Judaism. Yes this is a group devoted to the old-school way of Reform Judaism: no Hebrew, no kippot, no tallit, no b'nai mitzvah, etc. These individuals see other Reform Jews on the slippery slope of observance and "recognizing Orthodox authority." The concept of this is fascinating and frustrating. I'm curious if any of my readers are keen on this movement or know anyone in the Reform movement who is jonesing for the days of yore.

Overall: Sue Fishkoff is amazing, and this book was a beautiful exploration of kashrut -- from here to the plants in China that excitedly seek kashrut status. Fishkoff really takes us into the world of the mashgiach, restaurants, factory life, and why so many people trust items that are kosher, despite so few buyers in the market are actually purchasing the items for religious reasons. The balance of the book is excellent, and Fishkoff lets the stories and individuals speak for themselves without pushing an agenda. Definitely pick up this book. You'll be surprised and shocked at the detail that goes into ritual slaughter and the ease of which some mashgiachs simply push buttons to get the process done. Either way, this book has something for everyone -- even the non-kosher consumer.

If you read this, let me know what you think. I'd love to start a dialogue!

PS: Did you know that treyf doesn't mean "not kosher" or "unfit," but rather refers to tearing -- the prohibition of tearing the flesh from an animal (לטרוף). Fascinating!

The Kosher Traveler: Woe is Me!

The view on my way out of New Jersey on Monday.

South Carolina: It's south of the "border," and the kosher options are slim to none in most places. I anticipated this, of course. I did my research, scouring the internet for some semblance of hope for my four-day adventure, and what I came back with was that there were a few kosher digs in Myrtle Beach, so I immediately told my brother that we'd be going there, no excuses. His response was to ask a really amusing question, drawn out over nearly a minute, "So, sis, if you, you know, if you come down, and, we, you know, go to a kosher restaurant, can you, you know, pay for it?" 

Here's a guy who has no idea that kosher restaurants are more expensive than hitting up Wendy's, but who has been living on very little this summer. Amused, I agreed, and thus it was settled -- there would be at least one kosher meal on my adventure. But what about the other meals? I decided that I wanted to cook for the brother and his girlfriend, assuming that they've been eating a lot of canned chili and things like that. I packed my cooler with Empire Kosher Chicken, a bag of mixed potatoes (red, purple, white), a jar of olive oil, a mixture of thyme and other herbs, and a jar of my Celestial Seasonings 7 Pepper Spice, with the intention of making some yummy spicy chicken and herb-roasted potatoes. Set. That's two meals. (And the latter went over super well with the kids; they inhaled it!)

Now what?

I packed dried fruit, a can of cashews, a loaf of the Katz Gluten Free Bread, Marshmallow Fluff, peanut butter, and some cottage cheese. Oh! And some Gluten-Free Cinnamon Chex. I planned to get by on cereal and sandwiches, but after one created sandwich, I was ready to throw the bread away. I had good luck with the Katz Gluten Free Challah (sliced) Bread, but this whole grain version was ... well ... disgusting, grainy, and gross. So I noshed some nuts and dried fruit on the way down, bought some chips, and by the time I got to South Carolina (two large coffees and that food later), I felt disgusting. I had such a horrible stomach ache and I was up half the night with tummy pains. Sigh.

Tuesday we went to Myrtle Beach, and I was so excited to actually eat something, so at Cafe M I ordered a big ole' flounder with some fries and Israeli salad, and the meal didn't disappoint. In fact, I ate far too much food because I knew I wasn't getting a real meal again until the next night when I was making dinner. The rest of the day consisted of some Ben and Jerry's Coffee Coffee BuzzBuzzBuzz at Broadway at the Beach, and lots and lots of water. When we left around 10:30 to head back to Columbia, the kids were famished and very softly asked me if it was okay if we stopped at Wendy's for them to get dinner. Listen, they're not kosher, and if they need me to deliver them to Wendy's to grab some burgers and fries, then so be it. So we went, they ordered, they ate, I drove, finishing off the rest of my cashews and water. Woe, be me. I was hungry.

Back at the apartment, I opted to just go to bed on an empty stomach than suffer through some chips or cereal again.

Here we are, the two of us. He's so tall now!

The next day, I awoke to eat two large bowls of cereal -- I was famished. Luckily, the first night I was there I picked up a big carton of Lactaid and made it work. The cereal, thank G-d, kept me full until dinnertime around 7, which, of course, was the dinner I prepared and the kids inhaled. All it took was some throw-away pans, lots of foil, and bam, easy kosher dinner in a non-kosher kitchen. It can be done. It can!

I started Thursday morning at 6 a.m., downing a bowl of cereal and hitting the road as hard I as could. I stopped in Raleigh for coffee with one of my BFFs of nearly 10 years who I'd had yet to meet. It was an awesome and surreal experience to sit down with a friend over coffee after so many years. Two cups of coffee later, I was back on the road. My plan was to drive all the way through to Baltimore and stop there for some kosher eats, and the plan was going along swell up until the point that I got on the beltway amid torrential rain and horrible traffic ... two hours I sat there in the traffic, intermittently noshing tortilla chips and dried fruit. The payoff? A burger and fries from Kosher Bite, which I inhaled so quickly I barely tasted it.

Was it really that rough that I had to inhale all the kosher eats I could get? Should I have planned better and brought more food?

Yes, it was really that rough. Being kosher and gluten free presents the challenge wherein I can't even go to the store and buy a loaf of bread. The cooler didn't work like it was supposed to, and my milk went bad pretty quick on the ride back home. Chips and snacks aren't a way to live, and a salad isn't practical to eat on the road. So planning better wouldn't have done much for me. I eat a lot of yogurt, cottage cheese, salad, and other cold-necessary items. I could have gone to the store, I suppose, but it would have been buying items that I wouldn't have been able to finish in the few days I was there and wouldn't have survived the trip back. The problem of eating was compounded by the fact that my little bro and his girlfriend have a very wacky and casual eating schedule, so I wasn't exactly sure when and where and how to eat.

This led to my little brother quipping, "Are you not hungry? You haven't eaten like anything on your trip?"

I was hungry, believe me. It reminds me of my trip to SXSW back in March and how difficult it was for me to plan my food and not be starved. I existed on powerbars and coffee most of the trip, which wasn't ideal, but I wasn't really prepared for the meals either. Now, I'm gluten free and making a sandwich isn't as easy as it once was. I want to avoid the pre-packaged self-heating meals and things like that because they're bad, bad, bad for you, and fruits and vegetables are delicate and can easily be smushed or go bad in the wrong environment.

Overall? It was a rough kosher experience. I got one really good meal out of it at Cafe M in Myrtle Beach, and the meal I prepared really hit my tastebuds out of the park. But inhaling both of these meals because it was the only real meal eaten both days wasn't smart. That's no way to go about my business. Luckily, there are no long-distance roadtrips in my future because this one destroyed my knees, my back, and my shoulders. My body is seriously beat down, but I managed to get home Thursday night after the two-hour traffic delay and a weird incident on the highway with a traffic closure and a cop's wacky driving style. Friday I woke up and cooked a meal for champions for my four Shabbat guests, and it all came together better than I could have planned. The result, however, is that I'm even more sore than when I arrived home Thursday.

Tomorrow is the Jewish Social Media Schmooze event in NYC at which I'll be a moderator, which means another day where I won't be able to rest and relax (listen, Shabbat is supposed to be relaxing, but those of you who entertain know how not true that is). So this week is my week. I'm going to hopefully get a massage, take lots of baths, and chill. This body needs a break.

So here's my query to you, the reader: How do you travel kosher? How do you travel kosher and gluten free? Or, better yet, do you have any recommendations for how I can travel kosher and gluten free? 

(Luckily, I won't be travelling long-distance again until November/December and that's to Israel, so no kosher concerns there!)

I'm An Oscar Mayer Weiner ...

Growing up, hot dogs were a family staple. My mom made Pigs in a Blanket (think a hot dog with a slice in it, a piece of cheese placed in the slice, and a biscuit wrapped around the hot dog and cheese and cooked) regularly, and when we went to the Drive-In as kids my mom always made hot dogs in buns, wrapped in foil, to schlep to the theater for good eats. Hot dogs were always a staple. Old school hot dogs. The kind with who knows what inside them. As I got older, I got hot dog cravings and opted for turkey dogs -- at least I knew they comprised only one curious item (turkey, that is).

For a lot of people, Hebrew National Hot Dogs are the bee's knees of the non-gross hot dog business because it's the non-crappy stuff that makes up their dogs. I can get behind that, but I can't get behind the kashrut. I know, I know "ages old rumors" and "Conservative hashgacha is just as good as Orthodox" and all that jazz. Nine times out of ten kashrut issues involve something that happened a long time ago that a business or store owner or company just can't get over. It happened back in the day, too (I'm reminded of a story from "The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million" by Daniel Mendelsohn in which village residents remember the author's family because he was selling non-kosher meat as kosher and it caused a huge scandal!).

But what Hebrew National did for the industrialization of kosher food in the United States can't be underestimated. So mad props to Sue Fishkoff in her July 4 New York Times OP-ED "Red, White and Kosher" for her exploration of just what Hebrew National did when it did it. Today, one-third to one-half of the goods you find in your average supermarket chain have kosher certification (of course, whether Orthodox Jews will buy those certified products is questionable), but Fishkoff's point is that most of the people buying these products aren't Jewish! People (mistakenly) think that kosher = healthier, better, less junk than all that other stuff. Boy, have they walked down the grocery aisles in Monsey? Candy, chips, candy, chips, sugary treats. Have they sat down at a Shabbos meal!? I mean, come on, we're not the healthiest eaters out there.

Fishkoff has a new book coming out in the fall called “Kosher Nation: Why More and More of America’s Food Answers to a Higher Authority," and I'm super eager to read it. As the kind of person that gets giddy when she sees the kosher food carts at Yankee Stadium, I'm guessing Fishkoff's look at kosher food production and evolution in the United States will be right up my alley. Here's what the Random House page has to say:

Kosher? That means the rabbi blessed it, right? Not exactly. In this captivating account of a Bible-based practice that has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry, journalist Sue Fishkoff travels throughout America and to Shanghai, China, to find out who eats kosher food, who produces it, who is responsible for its certification, and how this fascinating world continues to evolve. She explains why 85 percent of the 11.2 million Americans who regularly buy kosher food are not observant Jews—they are Muslims, Seventh-Day Adventists, vegetarians, people with food allergies, and consumers who pay top dollar for food they believe “answers to a Higher Authority.” She interviews food manufacturers, rabbinic supervisors, and ritual slaughterers; meets with eco-kosher adherents who go beyond traditional requirements to produce organic chicken and pasture-raised beef; sips boutique kosher wine in Napa Valley; talks to shoppers at an upscale kosher supermarket in Brooklyn; and marches with unemployed workers at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant. She talks to Reform Jews who are rediscovering the spiritual benefits of kashrut and to Conservative and Orthodox Jews who are demanding that kosher food production adhere to ethical and environmental values. And she chronicles the corruption, price-fixing, and strong-arm tactics of early-twentieth-century kosher meat production, against which contemporary kashrut scandals pale by comparison.

A revelatory look at the current state of kashrut in America, this book will appeal to anyone interested in food, religion, Jewish identity, and big business.

Color me stoked. Are you stoked? Put this on your to-read list for the fall!

Note: You might recognize Fishkoff's name from her book "The Rebbe's Army," another book I'm dying to read. Anyone have thoughts about Fishkoff and/or her books?

Pesach Cometh, Have You Shaken Your Books?

While looking on Chabad.org for a place to sell my chametz (I sort of hate this ritual, but I suppose it helps cover all the bases), I happened upon a pretty useful Q&A on "Passover at the In-Laws." The particular line that I felt I needed to share?

...It is incumbent upon every Jew to drive their rabbi nuts before Pesach.

Love it! Poor rabbis, however. I've had minimal questions for my rabbi this year, and most of the questions Tuvia has passed along (e.g., what's the difference between a convection oven and a regular oven?). But I am, in a way, heading to the in-laws for Pesach. Future in-laws that is. We'll be in Florida strictly for the first two days of the chag, which means flying down, doing the seders, and then coming back. No vacation time, no time to drive down to Boca, nada. We're staying with family friends (who aren't kosher, and I mention this only because I worry about refusing something so simple as a cup of water because of issues of kashruth), and I'm hoping that things go smoothly. Last year, Tuvia and I were still getting into our observance around this time. We were still lenient on our kashrut, functioning kosher in-house and watching what we ate out of the house, so going out to eat with family or driving around on Pesach were no big thing. Now? Yipes. We're in a different boat.

I think the hardest thing about becoming frum -- or more observant/more shomer -- is how your observance comes to affect those around you and how it affects situations with friends and family. Where you can eat, where you can't, how you address the issue of food and Shabbos. Dealing with being told you've become "too religious" or the like. All ba'alei teshuvah and converts deal with these kinds of things, and the issue is very delicate. For me, I can't expect my non-Jewish family to figure out what I need or to understand next to anything that comes along with being Jewish. But with Jewish in-laws? It's a whole other story sometimes.

So we'll go to Florida, hopefully get through the seder with the other shomer cousins, and tread delicately and thoughtfully with my future in-laws. I'll sport my prescription sunglasses, a dozen books, and hopefully enjoy some R&R wandering around the golf course.

In the end, logic must always prevail (just think: common sense), and, as the Chabad website says, there is halakah and doing only what you have to do in the presence of those who are uncomfortable is probably best. And most of all? "Passover is a festival for goodness sakes! Festival=time to bring families together in harmony, love and goodtime fun. What's desperately needed here is some education, sensible priorities and common sense."

I suppose I couldn't say it better. It's difficult to present myself to the in-laws sometimes; I worry they worry that I've transformed their kin in a unique and unnatural way. My spark of influence helped spark something in Tuvia's neshama and allowed him to develop himself in observance. To the in-laws, it easily can look like I've forcibly transformed him, and that's the last thing I want them to think. After all, it's the farthest thing from the truth.

What are your tips on staying with non-frum in-laws? Or hey, those of you out there who aren't frum, what gets your goat most about your frum friends or family when they come to visit or when you organize social events? Let's dialogue this. I want to help you help me, and, you know, vice-a-versa!

NOTE: I use the term "frum" to signify individuals who consider themselves strictly shomer mitzvot (observant of the mitzvot, such as shomer kashrut and shomer Shabbat). I avoid using terms like "more observant" or "more religious," because of the diversity of my readership. I think saying "more" anything can rub people the wrong way. After all, there is no scale.

OU Cabot Cheese!? Hallelujah!

I'm not sure why Cabot doesn't suck it up and go OU Kosher year round, especially after my horrifying incident with their hashgacha, Tablet K, over the summer in Middlebury, Vermont, but at least they have the decency to run a limited production of OU Kosher for Passover Sharp Cheddar Cheese once a year. ONCE a year, folks. One of the local shuls is doing a fundraiser, and on the Cabot website they even tout the option of selling their cheese as a fundraiser.

Anyhow, I just thought I'd rock out this public service announcement for some delicious Cabot, OU-approved kosher for Passover cheese. After all, no Passover meal is complete without a big brick of cheese with some ... matzo?

So go buy some. And then write a letter to Cabot begging them to sell the business of kashrut to the OU permanently!

Circumcised Comedian, Kosher Burgers, & Cafe!

After a tip from Aliza Hausman last month or a few months ago on her blog, I decided to buy tickets for today (also known as Valentine's Day in the secular world) for Tuvia and I to see the illustrious Yisrael Campbell in "Circumcise Me" at the Bleecker Street Theatre in New York City. We were down in Jersey for Shabbos in order to meet with our caterer and scope benschers and a ketubah earlier today, and we also happened to stop by Burgers Bar in Teaneck, which just opened recently. Talk about a busy, busy day. I'm finally back in my dorm and feeling a little overwhelmed about all I have to do, but there's always time for a little good press for others!

First for the show. Talk about a gut-buster! I'm a hard sell on a lot of comedy, but I was hopeful because comedy with a Jewish twist is always good. Add to this the fact that he's a convert and I was in. The room was packed, and the group varied from frum Jews in sheitels to little old ladies decked out like Sarah Jessica Parker might look in her 90s. The flow of the show was great, and I think I only checked my watch a few times -- I am, infamously, impatient. Yisrael Campbell's life story is, in a word, unique. He's seen a lot, been circumcised three times over his life (that's at birth and for his Conservative and Orthodox conversions), and watched friends die while living in Israel and experiencing the harder, more violent times there. He's also a father, a husband, and a hilarious comedian. How he juggles his show here while his family is in Israel amazes me, but I have no doubt that he has to be a great husband and father. Campbell also is a recovering alcoholic, which added an interesting and sobering (no pun intended) twist to his comedic narrative. The ups and downs of his life -- which I won't spoil for you here -- kept the audience captivated; there was laughing, some near-tears, and a feeling of peace and excitement for the comedian rocking a one-man show on the small black-box theatre-style stage. And for me, being a convert myself, it was especially surreal to hear him talk about meeting with rabbis and what it meant to convert and dip in the mikvah. I'll be honest in saying that his story was more than a typical conversion story -- it wasn't as emotional as I expected it to be. But overall? A great show, and I encourage you all to go see it. There are only a FEW showings left! If you can't make a show, seek out some of Campbell's work online. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Next? Tuvia and I found our ketubah. I'm so stoked about it -- it's very different, very artsy, and it integrates one of my favorite themes within Jewish art! Stay tuned for the wedding (a little more than 100 days left)!

Then, Burgers Bar. I happened to win a "Tweet for Meat" free burger coupon on Twitter from @BurgersBar, so we decided to head to the recently opened Teaneck joint. There are a few others open in the U.S., but the chain is known mostly in Israel, especially for its location just up the stairs from the Kotel in Jerusalem (where Tuvia and I happened to eat in December!). I'll admit, it was no Jerusalem experience. We stopped in at around 2 in the afternoon, so the joint was not jumping. We were probably one of three or four tables of people, so service was fast and very friendly. My biggest beef (once again, no pun intended!) with Burgers Bar in Teaneck was the quality of the veggies they had for the burgers. They had no problem throwing a bunch of brown, obviously bad lettuce on my burger. It was really disappointing, to say the least. I ordered a spicy burger and regular fries, and the fries weren't quite as crisp as I was looking for and the burger wasn't quite as spicy as I remembered my burger in Israel. The quantity of food was on par with the price, and it definitely made filled me up. Overall, it was probably a 2.5 out of 5 star experience. The restaurant just opened, so I'll give them some time. If you're heading over, don't look for a "BURGERS BAR" sign -- it still says Discount Liquidation! The ambiance will surprise you, as it's very clean, very crisp, and very hip. They're open amazingly late (2 a.m. most days and 3 a.m. on Saturdays) for the late-night crowd, but I've heard they can get quite busy, so plan accordingly. And, don't be like me -- let them know if the veggies are less than stellar. (Location: 1383 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck, NJ)

We topped our day off with some coffee before hitting the road, and I can't help but show off the fancy footwork of the folks at Think Coffee, just around the block from the theater where we saw "Circumcise Me."

And that, folks, was one busy and thrilling day, despite a hacking cough, stuffed up nose, and achy body. Now? Now I rest myself and rock some Hebrew. L'hitraot!