What makes the holiday of Purim so special for our family is more than the heroic story of Queen Esther. These days, our celebration wouldn’t be complete without a holiday meal that starts with all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren dressed up in costume to re-create the Purim story and making mayhem, using groggers —noise-makers — from our collection that are part of the table decor. The menu itself is much less chaotic….

Smoked Salmon Pizza. Photos by Lynn Pelkey I have known Wolfgang Puck since he was about 19 or 20 years old and he was working as a chef at Ma Maison restaurant in West Hollywood. I met him at a cooking class, probably the first one he had ever taught. I will never forget what happened when he rolled out the pastry dough for a raspberry tart. He confidently flattened…

As the sound of the shofar officially closes the long day of Yom Kippur prayer, people head home a little weary but spiritually uplifted. It has been a tradition for our family to gather upon returning from synagogue for a break-the-fast meal. It began when our children were growing up, and we prepared a light brunch-style dairy supper. In many Jewish homes, a favorite way to break the Yom Kippur…

(Above) Tuna Salad Sandwich Photos by Morgan Lieberman. Food preparation and styling by Judy Zeidler If you have children in school, you know that making a lunch that pleases both you and your kids is not an easy assignment. Think of it as the school-lunch challenge. To help, get them involved with planning a meal, because they’re more likely to eat it if they were part of packing it. My daughter-in-law, Amy Zeidler, remembers when…

Chocolate poppy-seed hamantaschen and chocolate sorbet. Photos by Dan Kacvinski Queen Esther, the heroine of the Purim tale, was quite a woman. Not only did she outwit the evil Haman and save the entire Jewish population of Persia, she did it all as a vegetarian. According to tradition, when she moved into the palace, she became quite a party girl but limited her diet to seeds, vegetables, fruits, nuts and, of…