-
Shop at Amazon?
Click the logo below and a percentage of your purchase will automatically help support our online congregation.
Breakfasts & Breads – Recipes
Below are recipes submitted from various individuals. Feel free to comment on recipes below or submit your own at the bottom of the page by registering and hitting “comment.”
Easy Baked Spinach, Eggs, and Cheese
Easy Baked Spinach, Eggs and Cheese
Lisa Forschner
Serves 6-8
8 eggs, beaten
1 10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 stick butter or margarine, melted
1 12 oz package shredded cheddar cheese
1 24 oz container small-curd cottage cheese
7 T flour
½ t nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine all ingredients and pour into a 9×13 pan.
3. Bake 1 hour.
Banana Bread from Jamaica
Karina Rothzeid
This recipe was given to me by the chief in Boscobel Resort in
Jamaica. Each pan can be sliced into at least 16 slices.
14 oz of brown sugar or 12 oz of white sugar
4 very ripe large bananas
3 eggs
16 oz of all purpose flour
2 oz of baking soda
7 oz of skim milk
5 oz of canola oil
1 t of: vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice (or more for extra taste)
½ C of walnuts and ½ C of raisins (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In the electric mixer blend bananas with sugar.
3. Add eggs slowly. Then add flour, baking soda, milk, oil, and
spices.
4. Mix well and add raisins and walnuts.
5. Grease bread type forms (two or three) and line them with
wax paper.
6. Pour the mixture on top and bake for 1 hour.
Beer Bread
Marcie Rosenston
I concocted this recipe about 2 years ago. It’s very similar to the
“Tastefully Simple” beer bread mix but much less expensive.
Makes 1 loaf
3 C self-rising flour
5 t sugar
1 t salt
¼ t baking soda
¼ t baking powder
4 T melted butter
1 12 oz beer (any kind)
1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
3. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake 40 minutes.
4. Spread the top with butter and bake an additional 10
minutes.
Challah
Faith Emden
I make this challah on Fridays for Shabbat and it’s always a hit. You
can make one large loaf or 2 smaller loaves. For Rosh Hashanah I add
vanilla soaked raisins and make it a raisin challah.
3/4 C warm water
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
3 C bread flour
2 T sugar
1 ½ t salt
¼ C butter (½ stick but I usually add a little more)
1 ¼ t instant yeast
Place all ingredients i 1. n a bread machine according to the
machine’s instructions.
2. Set bread machine to “dough” setting and start. Add additional
flour a little at a time if dough is too wet and sticky until right
consistency. Also, use spatula to incorporate all ingredients into
a ball.
3. At end of dough cycle, take dough out and punch down on a
floured surface. Divide into 3 equal parts and roll each section
into a long rope. Braid the three strands. Be sure to pinch each
end for a tight seal.
4. Place braided dough onto an oiled cookie sheet. Cover with a
damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place about an hour.
5. Preheat oven to 375°. Uncover challah and paint with an egg
wash (1 egg and 2 t water). Sprinkle with sesame and poppy
seeds.
6. Bake for 27 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack
and enjoy!
Crockpot Raisin Bread Pudding
Sandra Smith
8 slices bread, cubed
4 eggs
2 C milk
¼ C sugar
1/3 C butter, melted
¼ C raisins
½ t cinnamon
Sauce (optional)
2 T butter
2 T all purpose flour
1 C water
¾ C sugar
1 t vanilla
Place b 1. read cubes in slow cooker.
2. In bowl, beat eggs and milk.
3. Stir in sugar, butter, raisins, and cinnamon.
4. Pour over bread, and stir.
5. Cover and cook on high 1 hour.
6. Reduce heat to low and cook 3-4 hours.
Sauce
1. Melt butter in pan.
2. Stir in flour.
3. Gradually add water, sugar and vanilla.
4. Bring to boil.
5. Cook and stir 2 minutes until thick.
*If you double this recipe, it needs to be cooked longer.
Scottish Short Bread
Sandra Smith
1 lb butter, softened
2 C powdered sugar
4 C flour
1. Preheat oven to 250°.
2. Knead butter and powdered sugar.
3. Slowly knead flour into mixture. Make sure dough is
thoroughly mixed.
4. Line 10 X 13 shallow pan (or cookie sheet) with 2 layers of
brown paper bag, letting paper come over edge of pan.
5. Spread dough evenly in pan.
6. Use fork to poke through dough every couple of inches.
7. Bake for 1 ½ hours.
8. Cut into squares while still warm.
Appetizers – Recipes
Below are recipes submitted from various individuals. Feel free to comment on recipes below or submit your own at the bottom of the page by registering and hitting “comment.”
Appetizers:
Black Bean Salsa
Apple Tomato Chutney
Mark’s Dip
Reuben Dip
Black Bean Salsa
Sandra Smith
Simple and good!
Serves 100
7 ½ (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 ½ (11 oz) cans Mexican-style corn, drained
5 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, partially
drained
5 tomatoes, diced
5 bunches green onion stalks, chopped
cilantro leaves, for garnish (optional)
In a large bowl, mix together b 1. lack beans, corn, diced
tomatoes with green chili peppers, tomatoes and green
onion stalks.
2. Garnish with desired amount of cilantro leaves.
3. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, or overnight,
before serving.
Apple Tomato Chutney
Mark Heiman
2 lbs apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 C water
1 T mustard seed
2 lbs tomatoes, sliced
2 large onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 C sultana raisins
3/4 C white sugar
5 t curry powder
1 t cayenne pepper
4 t salt
2 1/2 C malt vinegar
Cheesecloth
Place apples and water in a large s 1. aucepan. Bring to a boil,
reduce heat, and cook 25 minutes, or until apples are tender,
stirring occasionally. Add more water as necessary to keep
the apples simmering.
2. Wrap mustard seed in cheesecloth, and place with apples.
Mix tomatoes, onions, garlic, raisins, sugar, curry powder,
cayenne pepper, salt and vinegar into saucepan. Stir until
sugar has dissolved.
3. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 3
hours, stirring occasionally, until a thick chutney remains.
Remove and discard wrapped mustard seed. Seal chutney in
sterile containers until serving.
Mark’s Dip
Mark Heiman
Make it as hot or as mild as you want. The flavor will still be wonderful.
It can be doubled or tripled or whatever. This recipe will feed 4 adults a
snack. Black Beans (canned) can also be added.
2 large tomatoes diced
1 ear fresh corn cut off the cob
½ small sweet onion, like Texas sweet or red, finely chopped
1 to 3 jalapeños, finely chopped
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
2 T fresh squeezed lime juice
¾ t salt
½ t cumin
¼ t black pepper
Combine all the ingredients a 1. nd chill for 2 hours before
serving with chips.
Reuben Dip
Sandra Smith
3 small packages corned beef or one 8 oz package Buddig corned
beef, chopped
6-8 slices American cheese, chopped
6-8 slices Swiss cheese, chopped or 6 oz package shredded Swiss
cheese
14 oz can shredded sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
½ can black (or green) olives, sliced (full can = 6 oz drained)
1 C mayonnaise
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Mix all ingredients and bake for 20-25 minutes until bubbly
in an 8 x 8 or round casserole dish.
3. Serve warm with party rye bread.
Shake, Rattle, and Roll (Your Lulav)
Today at Religious School we celebrated the holiday of Sukkot. It’s actually been Sukkot since Monday night, but I didn’t get around to celebrating it until today. Here’s what I learned about Sukkot as a kid: it’s modeled on our peripatetic (they probably didn’t use that word) lifestyle when Jews had to live in temporary dwellings, and it involves shaking an etrog (looks like a large lemon), and palm, myrtle, and willow branches. Traditionally, the wish is that rain will start after Sukkot and last until Passover.
Rabbi Barr has an audio podcast where he explores the real meaning of Sukkot. To listen, click here and scroll down to his Oct. 2, 2007 one on “The Real Origins of Sukkot.” Hint: Jews shake their lulavs (long stick like objects) that we say resembles the backbone, but perhaps it’s another body part instead. Rabbi Barr argues it’s got a lot to do with pagan fertility rites – pretty compelling, and more interesting than what I learned in Sunday School.
I think of Sukkot as a cute holiday – but one with bad timing (so close to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur). It’s cute if you, or your friends, have a sukkah (hut) and you can eat dinner in it.
But, I don’t have a sukkah, and most of my friends do not either. In Israel, Sukkot is pretty incredible though. Apparently, 600,000 Israelis leave Israel for the time between Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot – to avoid the holidays which can be as crazy a time as Christmas in the United States.
Come to think of it, Sukkot in Israel actually parallels Christmas in the US in a couple of ways. Jews in Israel decorate their sukkot (plural of sukkah) much like Americans decorate Christmas trees. And, in Israel, the president opens his home to visitors on Sukkot – just like Christmas at the White House or the Easter Egg Hunt there. When you walk around in Jerusalem, you’ll see sukkot everywhere – and the city municipality even gives out s’kach (branches for the covering) for free. At Beth Adam, we had to buy our corn stalks at a local landscaping store.
One of the cool places I visited while living in Israel was Neot Kedumim – The Biblical Landscape Reserve. There they had various sukkah displays and discussed whether each meets the Jewish legal requirements for a sukkah – e.g. can you have a teepee sukkah? A two story sukkah? A sukkah on a cart? A sukkah on a boat? I don’t remember the answers (so I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have a boat or a sukkah!), but I got to take some pictures.
One more thing… the etrog is cool – and I hear it makes good jam, but I haven’t tried… Last winter a friend bought me a Buddha’s Finger as a gift. It’s got nothing to do with Sukkot or Judaism – apparently it’s used in Asian cooking. I had no use for it, so I’ve saved it for the last several months- because it kind of looks like an etrog that mated with a starfish. I really wanted to tell a story about that at Religious School today, but that didn’t quite seem appropriate. Maybe I’ll write a children’s book about it instead. Not.
Where To Next?
As you know if you’ve been following my blog (where I apparently like to brag), OurJewishCommunity.org has developed quite a following. We’ve had over 1,075 unique visitors from 42 states and 18 countries. Hundreds of people watched our High Holiday services (despite some technical difficulties along the way!).
We’re very excited about what we’ve already done, but the High Holidays were just the beginning. I’m currently working on developing content for Shabbat and lifecycle events and lots of stuff for Hanukkah. Fortunately Hanukkah is on the late side this year (the first night is December 21st.) We never seem to say the holidays are just on time, do we? They are either early or late. None of that Goldilocks “just right” stuff.
Okay, back to the subject at hand… Some of you have asked about how we’re funded and whether we’ll charge membership and if you can donate. Let me begin to answer those questions. But, I’d really love this to be a conversation, so please let me know your thoughts on all of it.
Right now we’re operating on a shoestring budget. My salary (which is a half-time position for OurJewishCommunity.org and half-time position at Beth Adam) is funded by Congregation Beth Adam and by the generosity of some of our members who have made donations. Beth Adam has made a commitment to creating this online congregation and thus the initial funding came from the congregation and our members. We have no budget for anything beyond my salary.
Thus, we have benefitted tremendously from the contributions of time and expertise by volunteers who have helped brainstorm this project, built this site, and helped in various areas of technology including the video streaming (which we did with a borrowed camera, a volunteer cameraman, and a free streaming service).
Our hope, of course, is that we’ll soon have a larger budget. The question – how to do that?
We are happily accepting contributions from any of you who is so inclined. If you feel like you’ve gotten something from OurJewishCommunity.org or that you would like to help support a progressive Jewish voice online, please feel free to donate.
We’re really hoping that we can find some grants or substantial donations to fund this project. We know there are people out there who recognize that 60% of the Jewish community is unaffiliated and that traditional institutions are not speaking to everyone. Our approach (online) and our philosophy (it’s not your grandparents’ Judaism!) provide a contemporary Jewish experience. If you would like to help support this endeavor – or if you know a potential donor who might be interested, please let me know.
Likewise, if you know any reporters who might want to feature an article about us in a publication, please let me know. If we get some more national attention, it will help us spread our message.
Originally we had talked about subscription fees – like a monthly membership charge – to access certain areas of the site. But, frankly, I’d rather not have to go there. I think we need to move beyond our traditional congregational dues structure, and provide a different experience.
I would be interested in your thoughts. Is this something that you think people should pay for? Is it something we can get donors for? Can you help us?
Together, we will build it.
A visit from the American Jewish World Service
Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve written. That’s my fault – and mostly because of the fact that I’ve been pretty busy and tired lately. Whoever decided all of these Jewish holidays would fall so close together – and at the same time that Religious School starts – was clearly not a congregational rabbi. Our schedules are far too busy. Next year, I say we move something to January…
In any case, at Congregation Beth Adam we had a busy weekend after Yom Kippur because Ruth Messinger, President of the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), was here to present to the community. I also had the privilege of meeting with Ruth on Monday morning and hearing her speak to Hebrew Union College students as well.
Ruth Messinger is an amazing person who has worked tirelessly on global issues such as poverty, AIDS, and human rights. The video of her presentation is available and you may also want to check out AJWS’s website. Mark Heiman, the president of Congregation Beth Adam, travelled to Thailand and Cambodia on an AJWS study tour. Check out his blog.
One of Ruth Messinger and AJWS’s many areas of focus is on the crisis in Darfur. Last year I read Not on Our Watch: The Mission to end Genocide in Darfur and Beyond by Don Cheadle and John Prendergast. It’s a fascinating book and offers six ways you can help today; I’m always a fan of practical actions we can take immediately.
For those of us who worry that our small actions don’t matter, there’s a great quotation in that book from Senator Paul Simon in response to US non-involvement in Rwanda in 1994. (By the way, if you have not seen Hotel Rwanda, stop everything you are doing and go rent it; it’s a powerful movie. I haven’t seen The Devil Came on Horseback - which is about the genocide in Darfur – but I’ve heard it’s great.) Anyhow, Senator Simon’s words: “If every member of the House and Senate had received 100 letters from people back home saying we have to do something about Rwanda, when the crisis was first developing, then I think the response would have been very different.”
According to DarfurScores.org, “the genocide in Darfur has claimed 400,000 lives and displaced over 2,500,000 people. More than one hundred people continue to die each day; five thousand die every month.”
Especially when there is so much suffering throughout the world – added to the fact that we’re in our own economic crisis in the US right now – it is imperative that we reach out to others. Our Jewish and human values inform us and remind us to give of ourselves to those in more need. Of course, it’s not straightforward, and there’s a great deal of tension even relating to social justice issues (as you may have heard in my Rosh Hashanah sermon!). We may feel good about what we do – and yet feel that we are not doing enough. Tension is the essence of the Jewish experience – so let’s embrace it. The words of Rabbi Hillel (1st century CE) remind us: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?”
Yom Kippur Morning Services Videostreamed Live
From Congregation Beth Adam (Cincinnati, Ohio)
With Rabbi Robert Barr and Rabbi Laura Baum
Available on Thursday morning (Oct. 9th) at 10:30 AM EST.
We are very excited about videostreaming our High Holiday services. This Rosh Hashanah was the first time we streamed our services. We know that hundreds of people have watched – from around the world. We have heard from some of you – and look forward to hearing from all of you about your experience.
Given our limited budget, we are using free technology (ustream) – we do not necessarily endorse the rest of their site, but we do appreciate having the opportunity to use their technology to present our services to you. In the future, if this is successful, we hope to be able to afford high quality videostreaming.
Please let us know if you joined us for services – let us know how you heard about us – let us know how this experience could be improved. We are building OurJewishCommunity.org together. Your insights, suggestions, and support are deeply appreciated.
Yom Kippur Evening Service Videostreamed Live
From Congregation Beth Adam (Cincinnati, Ohio)
With Rabbi Robert Barr and Rabbi Laura Baum
Available at 8:15 PM E.S.T. on Wednesday, October 8th
We are very excited about videostreaming our High Holiday services. This year was the first time we streamed our services. We know that hundreds of people have watched – from around the world. We have heard from some of you – and look forward to hearing from all of you about your experience.
Given our limited budget, we are also using free technology (ustream) – we do not necessarily endorse the rest of their site, but we do appreciate having the opportunity to use their technology to present our services to you. In the future, if this is successful, we hope to be able to afford high quality videostreaming.
Please let us know if you joined us for services – let us know how you heard about us – let us know how this experience could be improved. We are building OurJewishCommunity.org together. Your insights, suggestions, and support are deeply appreciated.
Religulous?
Bill Maher’s new movie – Religulous – opens tonight. This is not an endorsement of it, because I have not seen it. I’m not famous enough (yet!) to get advanced copies. But, I did see a fascinating interview with Maher on The View where he discusses the movie. And, no, I don’t watch the View regularly.
Without seeing the movie, it seems it will explore lots of questions that we’re often not willing to talk about. Ya know, we avoid religion and politics. Well, I say – we’ve all been talking politics lately – so why not talk religion too? Openly and honestly would be a good framework for the discussion. We need to use words we all understand – especially if we are going to have these conversations across different faiths.
Maher mentions in the interview that he doesn’t really know what “spirituality” means… (he say’s it’s on his to do list though!). I’m not sure I love the word either – because there are so many definitions of it. For more on this, listen to my 2007 High Holiday sermon about the importance of both the rational and non-rational sides of religion. To do that, click here and go to the sixth sermon on the list.
In any case, check out the clip from The View. Maher does tell Sherri Shepherd that it’s a bit crazy for anyone to believe the story of Noah’s ark is historical. Agreed. And he has a lot more than that to say as well.
I’m looking forward to seeing the movie soon (but not too soon because I still have a Yom Kippur sermon to write!). If you see the movie, I hope you’ll share your thoughts with us. You know the drill: register, login, and comment.
Welcome to 5769!
It feels like party time. We just celebrated the beginning of the new year (Happy New Year!) and the one month birthday of OurJewishCommunity.org. We had over 300 people joining our celebration (our website) on September 30th alone. Plus, over 700 different computers have clicked on OurJewishCommunity.org throughout the month. We’ve only just begun!
Our most recent exciting news is that we successfully videostreamed our Rosh Hashanah services live – and we have archived them. Though the quality is not perfect, many have told us it’s “good enough” – and we’ll take that for now given our limited budget and the fact that we’re building something totally new. It has a bright future ahead.
I don’t have much to blog about regarding Rosh Hashanah – because, after all, you can check out the services on video yourself. It’s been great to hear from so many of you who have watched the videos online – and to get your feedback. Thanks!
One High Holiday thought… I was exhausted on Tuesday afternoon after our afternoon Service for All Ages. But, then I realized that many of my colleagues at various synagogues were still working – doing tashlich services.
You might ask… what the heck is tashlich? Traditionally, it’s done on Rosh Hashanah afternoon before sunset. Jews go to a body of running water – preferably one with fish, and symbolically cast off their sins. They do this by throwing bread crumbs in the water.
By the way, if you’ve got young children, throwing Cheerios in the toilet and having them list the things they can do better in the coming year can be a very fun activity for kids (and maybe even their parents too!).
Back to the adult stuff… Some scholars have suggested tashlich began in the 13th century. Apparently, rabbis at the time were not happy about this. They worried that superstitious people would believe that tashlich – rather than actual repentance- had the power to change people’s lives. So, the rabbis freaked out a bit… and I would too. Could you imagine if everyone thought they could atone for their sins by throwing some crumbs in the ocean?! It could be a very scary world.
In all likelihood, superstitious rites did influence the ceremony. No big shock there! Some primitive cultures believed they had to give gifts to evil spirits living in the water – so tashlich is not a far jump from that idea. Speaking of jumping, Kurdistani Jews took the idea further and jumped in the water – swimming around to be cleansed of their sins!
Rabbis knew they could not stop this growing trend; apparently, people enjoyed it. So, the rabbis had to work to make the practice look symbolic – instead of just superstitious. Those rabbis came up with stories connecting the water to the Binding of Isaac story which is traditionally read on Rosh Hashanah. (Basically, in a midrash/legend, the rabbis wrote that Satan tried to stop Abraham from sacrificing his son by sending a raging river to block him. Abraham kept trying to kill his son (don’t tell your children this story as they are throwing the Cheerios in the toilet!), until the water reached his neck and he called for God’s help – at which point the water disappeared.
It’s amazing how an idea can develop from the ground up (or, from the water up in this case!). Once people start doing it, the rabbis have to explain it somehow – even if they don’t like it. I’m impressed with their creativity…
But, I also think it’s important that we recognize this is not some deep Jewish tradition grounded in the Bible or Jewish law – as many people assume. It probably began because of rituals Jews picked up from their surrounding cultures.
So, if you want to do tashlich – I say go for it! It can be powerful to enjoy the beautiful outdoors and to think about your past year and symbolically throw away your past behaviors of which you are not too proud.
As for me, maybe I’ll get to it in the spring. I was too sleepy after Rosh Hashanah!
Plus, I’m not sure I would want to burden some unfortunate fish who would then be swimming around with my sins in his tummy. And, if someone eats that fish, does he or she get stuck with my sins? Too complicated!
Ruth Messinger Video
Ms. Messinger proposes how American Jews can do their part to alleviate poverty, hunger, violence, disease and oppression. Sharing the words of dedicated Jews from communities across the United States – college and rabbinical students, community leaders and skilled professionals – Messinger tells of the enormous transformative impact volunteering and advocacy can make in the modern era.
Prior to assuming her role as president in 1998, Ms. Messinger was in public service in New York City for 20 years. She is an active member of her synagogue and serves on the board of several not-for profit organizations. In honor of her tireless work to end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, Ms. Messinger received an award from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs in 2006. She was recently awarded honorary degrees by both Hebrew Union College (2005) and Hebrew College (2007). For the past seven years she has been named one of the fifty most influential Jews of the year by the Forward. She has three children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
The American Jewish World Service is an international development organization motivated by Judaism’s imperative to pursue justice. AJWS fosters civil society, sustainable development and human rights for all people, while promoting the values and responsibilities of global citizenship within the Jewish community. More information is available at www.ajws.org
-
- — Baum's Blog on Facebook Adds Organ Donation feature
- — Baum's Blog on Memory and Independence
- — Learn how to make a map of Israel with ice cream and candy
- — Barr's Banter on what the Boy Scouts can Learn from Conservative Judaism about Inclusion
- — Join us for streaming Shabbat every Friday at 6 PM Eastern Time