So, whatever, I am like an eighth Jewish and sometimes my Jewisher friends like to tease me about it. Then I have to prove myself by doing things like eating chopped liver by the pound. I am only bummed that because my oven is broken, I had to buy Zabar’s challah and couldn’t make honey cake from scratch, but I’ll atone for it on Yom Kippur.

Apples & honey, for a sweet new year.

An ENTIRE FISH, because I’m hardcore. This apparently has to do with Rosh Hashanah literally translating to the ‘head of the year’, and also something about being ‘the head and not the tail’ - leaders rather than followers (the shiksa blog claims this appears in Deuteronomy. I grew up going to Unitarian church where we were busy making bird feeders out of pinecones and not learning this stuff, but I can tell you that an entire tilapia can be purchased at Pioneer for three dollars, that it’s a very impressive presentation, and that with a little olive oil, salt and lemon, it tastes pretty darn good.)

Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads.

KASHA VARNISHKES! I love kasha varnishkes. Kasha varnishkes from the 2nd Avenue Deli got me hooked, but this was the first time I’d tried making them from scratch. They are fairly impossible to screw up, containing four main ingredients - buckwheat groats, onions, farfalle (which my boyfriend pronounces “farfle”) and olive oil or schmaltz. I knew they’d be better with schmaltz, but I couldn’t figure out where to buy it - anywhere legit enough to sell me some was closed today - so I did them with olive oil and The New York Times recipe. My Polish great-great-grandmother Loewenstein would’ve been proud.

Challah from Zabar’s. The round kind, braided into a circle, represents the cycle of the year. The way this particular loaf tasted reminded me how excited I am for Christmas panettone. We had it with Trader Joe’s honeybear honey and kosher cabernet. 

Apples & pomegranate - new fruit.

Yesterday my boyfriend and I went to his grandma’s house down the shore where he grew up, which turns out to be not terribly far from the places down the shore where I spent a lot of time during summers as a kid (the Maps app on my iPad had me playing a well-illustrated version of the “What exit?” game in the backseat). We ate Vic’s pizza with extra garlic, sausage and peppers. We ate linguine with anchovies and chicken marsala and ziti marinara and good bread. So this morning, I woke up full of carbs and salt and grease but craving something for dessert. 

I’m not a big yogurt fan - on the whole, it strikes me as too goopy and/or watery and/or tart and/or boring - but I’ve recently come serendipitously across a yogurt I adore. Zabar’s has a special on these adorable mini-cups of a full-fat, fruity French yogurt that is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS (and, as Google would have it, I’m not the only one who thinks so). The size of the cups implies a responsible portion control, but this morning I’ve had three of them. Strawberry is the best, with apricot trailing close behind. I’ve also discovered a new favorite in the combination of Zabar’s rye bread spread with Crunch Time peanut butter and a little honey. Yum.

I was recently asked by my raw-food friend Stacy to guest on her Whole Bodies/Whole Foods series. Below are the raw recipes that I put together for her. The ingredients in raw food recipes can sometimes be daunting - you may not have solid cacao butter or raw ground vanilla bean in your pantry. Sunfood Nutrition is a great resource, and just a few purchases (raw cacao, coconut oil) can carry you through recipes from morning superfood shakes to decadent raw chocolate desserts.  

Carrot ginger salad dressing:

• 1 large or 2 small carrots
• 1/2 large cucumber
• 2 tbsp chopped scallions
• 1 tbsp fresh raw ginger (about a one-inch piece)
• 1 handful fresh parsley
• 1 handful fresh dill
• 2 tbsp raw tahini
• 2 tbsp raw unpasteurized white miso paste
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp cold-pressed sesame oil
• 1/2 cup filtered cold water

1. Peel and slice carrots, ginger and cucumber and place in a blender (Vitamix works best) or food processor along with scallions, parsley, dill, tahini, miso, vinegar and sesame oil.
2. Add water bit by bit until the consistency is how you like it. 

 
Chocolate tahini truffles:

• 4 tbsp raw tahini
• 3 tbsp + 1/4 cup raw cacao powder 
• 2 tbsp raw honey
• 1 tsp raw ground vanilla bean
• 2 tsp cacao butter or coconut oil
• 1 tsp liquid (raw almond or coconut milk)

1. Blend all ingredients except for 1/4 cup raw cacao powder in a food processor until they form a dough-like ball. If your dough is too oily, blot with a paper towel. 
2. Roll the dough into ten gumball-sized truffles. Roll each truffle in the remaining cacao powder to coat. Freeze or refrigerate for at least an hour or until ready to eat.