Pomegranate Ice With Frosted Grapes. Photos by Dan Kacvinski Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is considered a High Holy Day, but it’s also a happy holiday, full of hope and optimism. I am always impressed by the fact that food plays such an important part during one of the most sacred of Jewish holidays. The traditional foods — apples, pomegranates, honey, grapes — all have a special meaning, and…

Butternut Squash Soup. Photos by Lynn Pelkey. Food preparation and styling by Judy Zeidler In some ways, I’m pretty traditional when it comes to my family’s Thanksgiving Day meal: I like to plan a lot of old-fashioned farmhouse food for the holiday.  Who doesn’t enjoy a handsome bronzed turkey with lots of stuffing, an appealing array of relishes and a lavish dessert buffet? We pour apple cider for the children, a robust…

When we were invited for a Tuscan Chanukah dinner at the home of our friends chef Jeff Thickman and musician Igor Polesitsky, who live in a wonderful villa in the wooded hills of Roveta, just outside Florence, the menu included Italian Potato Latkes, Vegetarian Borshch and Stuffed Cabbage, all made with traditional Italian ingredients. Thickman, a concert pianist, studied at Juilliard and played with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under Zubin…

A selection of Judy Zeidler’s Mandelbrot. Photo by Lynn Pelkey Tu B’Shevat, known as the Jewish celebration of trees, falls on Jan. 25 this year, in the middle of winter, and marks the time when barren fruit trees begin to spring back to life. It is customary to eat several kinds of fruits and nuts during the holiday, and over the years it has become a custom to serve an…