Trader Joe's Update II

Hot news flash from a VERY well-placed source: Trader Joe's is scheduled to open in St. Louis Park at the corner of
Monterey and Exclesior around 15 April, 2006. I am not at liberty to reveal the source, but it is a person who is in a position
to make the call. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Quote of the Day

(c) Wisconsin Historical Society
From Golda Meir:

"I can honestly say that I was never affected by the question of the success of an undertaking. If I felt it was the right thing to do, I was for it regardless of the possible outcome."

Harvest Chicken

This is an easy chicken recipe which is perfect for Rosh Hashannah. A person could add honey to the chicken to get the full-on holiday feel, but who needs the extra calories? The beauty of this is that you do not need to thicken the sauce or prepare a starch. You could substitute kasha or even rice for the barley. Reheats wonderfully.

1 cut-up or butterflied kosher chicken
15 or so small carrots - chopped
2 hearts of celery - chopped
1 or 2 red or yellow onions - chopped
2 bunches scallions (spring onions) - chopped
1 head garlic - peeled, cleaned and smashed
2-4 bay leaves - depends on how much you like bay
1 cup dried cranberries - you may know them as crasins - you can also use pomegranate
1 cup more or less barley - this can be omitted if you despise barley
2-3 cups apple cider or kosher apple juice
Salt/Pepper to taste

Oil a large, deep baking pan and place chopped vegetables, garlic, cranberries, garlic and bay in the bottom of the pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Add barley and then pour apple cider over all. The juice should nearly cover the vegetables. Place the chicken over the vegetablees. Salt and pepper again if you like. Place in a 375 oven for 1 - 1.5 hrs until chicken is cooked and carrots are soft and barley is done. Add more cider if the barley looks like it is drying out.

Trader Joe's Update

I'm a bit late in noticing this but the Summer edition of St. Louis Park Business Line Focus pegs the opening of the much-awaited first Trader Joe's as "sometime next spring." Stay tuned!

Monty Hall's Sweet and Sour Herring

Monty Hall's
Sweet and Sour Herring
Monty Hall is best known to people of my generation as the host of "Let's Make A Deal". He grew up in a Yiddish-speaking home in Winnipeg and is, apparently, quite the feinschmecker.

He tells the story that one year he and Alan Alda went to a second night seder.
Hall brought two jars of the sweet and sour herring. The first jar was passed around and it quickly disappeared. He went to get the second jar - but no luck The company looked high and low for it, but it had disappeared into thin air. Hall then walked into the kitchen and there was Alan Alda, devouring the herring, a guilty look on his face.

So, try this for Pesach, or even before.


Sweet and Sour Herring

So, try this for Pesach, or even before.
You can buy kosher pickling spices in a package or combine your own. Matjes herring take about one hour to soak. Salt herrings might take longer, so talk to the fish man about it.
4 fresh Matjes or salt herrings, filleted
1 large white onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup white wine or apple cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. pickling spices OR
3 cloves
8 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
8 juniper berries
1 Tbsp. mace leaves
A piece of cheesecloth
Soak herrings for one hour in cold water or milk [NOT IF YOU WANT A PARVE FISH!]; drain on a few layers of paper towels. Cut into bite-size pieces.
In a wide-mouth glass jar, place a layer of herring, a layer of onions; alternate until you have reached the top. Place pickling spices or individual spices in a piece of cheesecloth, making sure to secure the ends to make a sack.
Place in pan with vinegar, sugar and water to taste with packet of pickling spice. Let it cool.
Pour the liquid over the herring. Refrigerate for 2 days before eating. It will stay fresh in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.
Serves 6 to 8.

LibraryThing

I've been absent for a bit focusing on writing both my dissertation and finishing a short piece for a Finnish publication. But I wanted to put a shout out for an amazing site LibraryThing. This is a mostly free online service allowing bibliophiles to catalog their libraries online. I say mostly free, but if you have or catalog less than 200 books, it is free of charge. After that, it is $10.00 for a lifetime membership and free reign to catalog as many books as you like. The cool thing is that you only need to enter part of the title, author, ISBN and their search engine will check both the Library of Congress and Amazon holdings and input the rest of the information automatically.

If you have a large, specialized collection, it is particularly useful as you can access the information from any internet accessible computer to see if you already have the volume for which you're considering plunking down serious semollians. Potentially, it's also useful for anyone looking to add to your collection (spouse, friends, etc.) and wants to know if you have book X. Another thought in these disaster-ridden times is for insurance - it's always good to have a comprehensive, off-site list, especially if you have a serious investment in your books.