Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is a holiday full of hope and optimism as well as apples, honey and round challahs. Many of the traditional dishes that are served feature honey and apples to assure “a sweet new year.” It is said the custom of eating apples, a fruit whose fragrance is associated with the Garden of Eden, forecasts a New Year that will be smooth, sweet and well-rounded….

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…

Some teachers love to get things cookin’ in the classroom Judy’s Signature Strudel. Photos by Dan Kacvinski. Food coordinated by Judy Zeidler. When I think of heroes, I think of schoolteachers. A good teacher can make a big difference in a student’s life. Our daughter Kathy is one of those teachers who I think of as a hero. When Kathy was a little girl, she had a reading problem, and…

Food plays an important role during Passover — from the six symbolic items on the seder plate to those foods avoided during the eight-day holiday, like chametz (leavened grains) and kitniyot (legumes). But the dinner that follows the seder on the first two nights, when family and friends gather to retell the story of the Jews’ exodus from slavery to freedom, can leave a host slaving away in the kitchen….

Passover Meringues. Photo by Judy Zeidler Passover is our favorite family holiday — last year we hosted nearly 40 people at our house. It’s also one of the most complicated. The seder begins at sundown, but the formal dinner won’t begin until we finish reading the haggadah, which is usually late in the evening. Fortunately, small bites are served as part of the seder that help keep the guests from suffering…