This summer, gather your friends for outdoor fun and a feast Let’s have an outdoor summer party! Whether you have a tennis court, a swimming pool or a great lawn for playing croquet, now is the time to invite friends over for a fun-in-the-sun celebration and an alfresco meal. Or you can take your party to the park. At our annual summer event, we invite friends to an afternoon bocce…

While enjoying my favorite foods on a recent trip to Italy, I began to think about Chanukah, even though it was only October. This was a natural association, because the Italians love to prepare foods with olive oil, and the traditional dishes served during Chanukah are fried in oil to commemorate the tiny supply of oil that burned for eight days and nights in the ancient temple — a real…

Chicken Fricassee with Turkey meatballs. Photos by Morgan Lieberman Celebrated close together, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the High Holy Days, but each offers its own special food customs. Rosh Hashanah, which begins at sundown Sept. 13, celebrates the Jewish New Year. It is a joyous occasion enlivened with a variety of delicious foods, symbolizing a bountiful year to follow. Many traditional dishes include honey and apples to assure…

January 10, 2005 For the past fifty years I have given cooking classes that include recipes for contemporary and traditional dishes, as well as menus for all the Jewish holidays.   It is always very rewarding when I receive calls from students telling me that they loved the class and prepared all the dishes.  But my most recent cooking class is one of the most memorable. It happened when a close…

Romantic dinners for two can be fun — and healthy, too Quinoa With Shiitake Mushrooms and Delicata Squash. Photos by Dan Kacvinski. Food coordinated by Judy Zeidler In a wild wedding party last year at the Hollywood Museum, our granddaughter Giamaica married Steve. They met in Flagstaff, Ariz., at the historic Hotel Monte Vista, where Steve was the chef. They moved to Pacifica, in Northern California, when Giamaica got a…

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…