Ricotta Cheese Tart Photo by Dan Kacvinski. Food preparation and styling by Judy Zeidler 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…

Girls love guys who know their way around the kitchen There is an old saying that men don’t cook at home. Yet it is also said that women always appreciate men who cook. Only one of these is true. Can you guess which? I can’t exactly remember when our son Marc’s passion for cooking began, but he certainly loves to cook. He was always in the kitchen watching or helping me,…

In the early 1960s, we bought a 45-acre ranch with a big, sprawling house in Topanga Canyon, not far from Pacific Coast Highway. The lush panorama seemed to stretch for miles into Malibu. Our rambling ranch house was a dream come true. From our living room, we had a view of the canyon, with Shetland ponies grazing below, framed by a big bay window. Prior to buying the house, my…

Romanian Noodle Latkes. Photos by Lynn Pelkey. Food preparation and styling by Judy Zeidler Chanukah, which begins the night of Dec. 6, has always been a joyous holiday celebrated more in the home than in the synagogue. Every year, we invite a minimum of 25 family members and friends to our celebration, and it is always a festive occasion.  When our guests arrive, we begin with platters of Crispy Potato…

My fascination with Israeli food started the first time I tasted a falafel laced with tahini at a little sidewalk cafe in Westwood, near UCLA. Inspired by this simple Israeli dish, I began developing a list of Middle Eastern recipes that grew with each trip to Israel. When visiting the marketplace in Jerusalem, I love watching the pita bakers working at cavernous wood-fired ovens. Rounds of dough are flattened by…

The Other Pie Crust Toppings aren’t the only versatile part of the pizza. By JUDY ZEIDLER, Special to The Times Pizza is described in one dictionary as a “baked, open-faced pie consisting of a thin layer of dough topped with tomato sauce and cheese.” In which century was that written? Somebody has to tell them about Thai barbecue chicken. By now everyone knows that pizza is infinitely flexible, adapting to…