Name Game

What do the following names have in common? Upper-class twit of the year finalists? Refugees from a game of "Clue"? Members of "The 400"? Yale Alums?

Holly Clarendon
Morton Kendall
Dale LaGrange
Dayton Welsley
Gerry Kennedy
Alfred Canisteo
Burt Wilson
Marilla Springbrook
Clarence Crittendon
Hume Fillmore
Tyrone Weston
Sonora Bradford
Wallace Wheeler
Roy Stafford
Wayne Dundee
Hector Valois
Catharine Millport
Borden Lindley
Thurston Campbell
Rose Butler
Alton Wolcott

Awash in a Sea of Dentures

.. was something I missheard earlier this evening, and it might well have described a recent event we attended. It also left me musing about the many differences between Jewish and non-Jewish weddings. Among my thoughts: when is the last time you ate at a poorly-lit Jewish wedding?

The reception venue was almost as lovely as the bride, with an amazing view of the city. I guess that is why I was so befuddled and couldn't remember that a proper "Rusty Nail" is composed of Drambuie and scotch. Ok, so I'm not a drinker. But, inadvertantly,
I created a new drink, which I hearby officially name "the Vanessa". It is as charming and smooth as its namesake

Vanessa

1 part B & B (Benedictine and Brandy)
1 part Scotch (preferably a slightly smokey variety)
Ice
Lemon zest to garnish

Stirred gently in a med highball glass - not a snifter.
Enjoy in good company.

Mulled Wine - Glögg

Someone from Northern Minnesota was asking recently for a good recipe for the Nordic winter specialty, glögg. Similar in some ways to mulled wine or the German Gluhwein. it is a standard feature at get-togethers throughout November and December, often served with crisp gingersnaps. By omitting the vodka, and substituting grape juice for wine, it is easily made into a family-friendly drink. This is my variation of a recipe that my friend Bitte and I used to serve in Helsinki/Helsingfors.

Finlands Glögg

Heat up 2 cups of burgundy, port, or good old concord Manishewitz, 1 cup of black currant syrup (you can get this at well-stocked grocery stores, sometimes sold under the trade name "Ribena"), 1 stick of cinnamon, a strip of orange peel (in Finland, they use pomerance peel, "pomaranssi", but it's very difficult to get here), 1" of peeled, raw ginger, 10 cardamom seeds (not the pods), about a teaspoon, and about 20 whole cloves. You can also add 1/2- 1 cup vodka. Let the mixture simmer, covered, for at least two hours. I like to let it stand overnight. Strain the mixture and put into a glass bottle until ready to heat and reuse. Serve very warm with a couple of blanched almonds and raisins in each glass. Be very careful when removing the lid that you have turned off the heat, especially if you are using a gas flame. My brother has burned off his eyelashes when the vapor caught fire from the flame!

* if you can't find the blackcurrant syrup, you'll need to add 3/4 cup of water and sugar to taste. Do try and find the syrup though. It is worth the hunt.

Hot and Sour Soup

East meets West to cure what ails you. When the weather gets raw, you can try this Northern Chinese specialty with leftover kosher turkey or use a smoked kosher turkey leg. Most Asian palates prefer dark meat to white meat, finding it more toothsome. Do as you like!

Meat:

1 tblsp. dark soy sauce
2 tblsp. kosher brandy (may be omitted)
1 tsp. cornstarch or potato flour
1/4 - 1/3 lb regular cooked or smoked kosher turkey, cut into 1/4" cubes or julienned. You can also use chicken breast, but
I prefer the stronger taste of turkey.

Combine the above ingredients and let marinate in a small bowl at room temperature for about 20 min.

Soup:

3 tblsp. cornstarch
8 cups chicken stock/broth
3 tblsp. vinegar - either a light or dark rice vinegar. Many use white vinegar.
3 tblsp. soy
2 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/3 c. peeled diced potato
6 dried wood ear mushrooms, reconstituted, drained and cut into 1/4" pieces or julienned.
15 tiger lily buds, soaked, drained and sliced (may be omitted)
12 oz. firm tofu, drained and cubed
1 egg, checked and lightly beaten (important!)
1 tsp. dark sesame oil
1/8 c. slivered whites of spring/green onions (add during soup if less prominent flavor is desired)
3 tblsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Combine cornstarch and 1/4 water in a small bowl. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, pour the stock, soy, vinegar, white pepper, cayenne, and salt. Without heating, stir in the cornstarch liquid. Bring to a boil over medium flame. Add the turkey and lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, without allowing to boil again, for about 30 minutes. Add potato, mushrooms, lily buds and tofu and continue to simmer until the potatoes are cooked through, but not mushy, about 15 - 20 min.

Slowly drizzle the beaten egg into the hot soup, WITHOUT stirring, making long strands. After the strands rise to the top, add oil and garnish with cilantro and onion. You can also use chili sesame oil if you want more heat.

Pumpkin Sauce, aka Liquid Pumpkin Pie

Scandinavians are big on sauces. Sauces for meat. Sauces for potatoes and vegetables. Sauces for desserts. Some are so keen on sweet sauces that they put them in a bowl and eat them as "soups" for dessert. Blueberry and rhubarb are among my summer favorites. Thinking of Thanksgiving, I remembered an easy pumpkin sauce I made one year in Oslo. Necessity held all the maternal rights here as well - I had one small pumpkin - think medium gourd - and about 8 guests. I served it over pound cake, and it was a big hit, but you could serve it over regular or parve ice cream as well.

Pumpkin Sauce

2 cups of mashed sugar pumpkin or Hubbard squash
1/4 -1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp cardamom (optional)
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 c. evaporated milk/light cream/parve creamer

Mix well and serve over cake, ice cream or eat as is.

Staggering Genius

In the Sunday New York Times Magazine, from 20 November, 2005, the feature article was about the advances made to encourage the identification and development of "gifted children", (the preferred euphemisms of my childhood), or what they called "geniuses". I always have to laugh when I hear the word "genius" - it makes me think of the old Wile E. Coyote "super-genius" cartoon. The article itself aroused about very mixed feelings in me. On one hand, I agree that this type of intellectual capacity is a potential resource which should not be wasted in the name of some artificial standard of theoretical "equality". But I worry about how much of this "genius" is based on the needs and nature of the child alone, rather than the ego of the parents. Also, with big financial awards at stake, like the "Davidson Fellowships" mentioned in the article, will identifying and labeling prodigies help them find community, or will it just ratchet up the feeling of competition, either from within the young people themselves or from their parents, family and school?

On the face of it, the fact that intellectual gifts are identified and encouraged, rather than treated as a distraction, oddity or classroom burden represents progress, at least viewed from my elementary school days. In the village where I grew up "gifted education" was largely a foreign concept from the late 60's to mid 70's. Children who were quick learners were expected not to be disruptive, i.e. ask for more time or attention from the teachers. "Enrichment" consisted by and large of more of the usual homework, which counted for nothing and was often ungraded. Busywork, in other words. Tracking in certain classes like math and reading/language was supported through mandatory standardized tests (both SRA and Stanford-Binet, at my school). Later, there did seem to be an attempt to at least pay lip service to providing "gifted education" in grade 7. Unfortunately, the experiment ended in about three weeks when one of my "gifted" classmates set a science lab on fire. No more was said about being "gifted". If you were lucky, and teachers were cooperative/convinced you were less trouble out of their class, you might be able to go to a lower class and tutor or skip the class entirely (both happened to me).

Skipping classes - letting students advance to a grade level where the work was appropriately challenging - a standby of the pre-WW II educational establishment - had largely been abandoned in favor of keeping children at an "appropriate social level." Not just abandoned, but actively discouraged. Many of the adults I was close to, including my grandmother, older cousin and close family friend, had been allowed to advance, often 2-3 grades over the course of their education.The older folks I knew did not seem to have suffered socially from having had peers who were older and more advanced than they were. On the contrary, they were socially engaged people who said that learning to get along with older classmates gave them a useful skill. By the time I entered public school, this strategy was no longer possible and the rule seemed to be "the nail that sticks out gets beaten down". This seems to have changed now, and kids are able to "test into" university in a way that wasn't "possible" a few decades ago when I left high school and went directly to college at 15. That's a whole separate story, but it was the best decision I ever made - and I do mean "I", as my parents were supportive, but not directive.

As I have gotten older, it has been fun to run across others who did the same "impossible" thing. I always felt like we belonged to a secret society, and I personally never felt competitive with these other people who went to college at an early age, some even as young as 12 or 13. Some individuals did seem to have relished their outsider "genius" or "wunderkind" position. In my experience, these were usually guys who worked in math or science. Most of these "early achievers" focused closely on their studies, keeping their heads low, intent on feeding their intellectual curiosity in a more conducive climate. Some, like me, tried to pass and fit in with the other students. Even though I didn't look much different than the other students, I easily got into situations where it was hard to hang without outright lying. Being labeled "genius" would have killed any social aspirations I had, other than that of resident freak. So I wonder how it will be with these kids? Will they be able to parlay their label into something that will work for them? What is important for them as they go to college? Do they care about having friends at college and university who will look beyond the title and get to know them as individuals? Or is the social aspect unimportant, compared with the possibility to seek new opportunities to explore - and to be mentored?

Corn Pudding

Do The Math, Comrades!
High Yields = More Corn Pudding!



I love corn pudding. It's a family tradition. And though it is often made milchig, it's easy to do parve. Here is a version of my mother's corn pudding - hers uses canned creamed corn.


Corn Pudding

Ingredients

24 ounces vacuum packed corn, preferably white sweet corn - or right off the cob if you'd prefer
1/2-cup sugar
1/2 cup crumbled crackers
1 -cup milk, half and half, or soy creamer
3 eggs, beaten (you can substitute EggBeaters)
3 Tablespoons flour
8 Tablespoons melted butter or parve margarine
2 Tablespoons vanilla
Preparation Instructions
Combine all of the ingredients in the order given. Be sure to stir the mixture while you add the hot melted butter/marg.

Pour into a widish casserole and bake at 425F for 45 - 50 minutes or until golden.

You can double this, but it will take longer in the oven - more than an hour probably. Don't go for a deeper dish, but rather a wider one like a
13 x 9 pyrex pan or larger pan, as needed, than to use a deep casserole.

May I have a word?

... Or several? Or just some really good etymologies? Reference books are a great passion of mine - I knew somehow that my husband was my basherter when he asked, the first time we met, if he could see my reference books. My standard favorite etymology was for many years the redoubtable Onions. Dr. Charles T. Onions devoted over 50 years of his life to the Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology and it's a great place to settle - or start - an argument.

Over the course of many years, I've given away several of these volumes to would-be "wordies", as I used to come across them cheaply enough in used bookstores. With some 38,000 words, it will scratch most linguistic itches. However, I began to feel that there were shortcomings - not enough space for non-Indo-European word origins, somewhat narrow scope, etc. My mind's eye began to wander, as it were.

Then, one wet and wintry day, my husband brought home the worn, red cloth volume that was to change our life in ways Mao's little red never could. It was Klein in name only. Klein's Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary the English language; Dealing with the Origin of Words and Their Sense Development thus Illustrating the History of Civilization and Culture. is a massive volume and undertaking, worthy of its chewy title and its high price tag (should you not get it as a gift, as did my lucky spouse).

Rabbi Ernest Klein, the author, was a linguist, author and rabbi. Born in 1899 in Szatmar, Hungary, his pre-World War II life was that of learning and prestige. He earned his doctorate at the University of Vienna and was chief Rabbi of Nové Zámky, Slovakia from 1931 - 1944. He was deported to Auschwitz in 1944 and returned to find that his father, wife and children had all perished. He served as Rabbi in Satmari, but he had no desire to remain in Romania. In fact, he had little desire for anything, as he was depressed almost to the point of despair.

His sister, Elizabeth, was gravely concerned about her brother's situation. She urged him to leave the blood-soaked soil of Eastern Europe and immigrate with her and her husband. They settled first in France and ultimately in Toronto, Canada, where he lived and served as the rabbi of Congregation Beth Yitshak until his death in 1983. Elizabeth was also the impetus for him to pursue his etymology. Rabbi Klein had been frustrated for many years over the inadequacies of most etymologies and was encouraged by his sister to write his own book. In the forward to his book, he expresses his hope that in finding the common roots of words and thereby of languages, that people will focus on that which brings us together and help to create peace among nations.



First published in 1966, Klein's work is nothing short of brilliant and truly deserves the name "comprehensive". His analysis extends to common first names, biblical and mythological characters, angels, saints and demons, and place names. He also examines thousands of medical, legal and scientific terms, as well as all roots and stems used to create compound English words. It is a staggering work of scholarship, yet accessible and often affable. It sits on a shelf beside our dining room table and it is a rare meal, especially with company, that we do not resort to it to look up an answer or detail. Beside it sits Klein's last work, published posthumously in 1987, his Comprehensive etymological dictionary of the Hebrew language for readers of English. But I'll leave that for another time.

To Bird or Not to Bird

.. or "Is Thanksgiving Kosher?"

Why don't your Chassidic friends celebrate Thanksgiving, I've been asked. The answer is rooted in Leviticus 18:3 "You shall not walk in their statutes, would be one reason given (sez the former Hebrew school teacher). On another plane, the answer would be, "We have our own holidays - why add a goyish one?". Anything that causes us to intermingle is not a good thing, particularly if there is a possibility of eating (heaven forfend) something trayf. Yet another aspect is that it makes us less distinctive - something by and large not held to be a good thing, although the first generations of Jewish immigrants would mostly have begged to differ!

I'm giving the religious reason that some Orthodox and most Chassidic Jews don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Their response: "We have a Jewish holiday of Thanksgiving - Sukkot. And we say a special thanksgiving blessing on every new item we wear, fruit we eat and holiday that we are permitted to celebrate. "

It needs to be noted that this opinion is one of several in the observant community. Other Orthodox scholars, including Rav Joseph Soleveitchik, permitted and encouraged Jews to celebrate Thanksgiving based on the following arguments and conditions: a) it is a secular holiday and b) does not require or include religious practices (the same concept applies to Mother’s Day and Father’s Day). Secular holidays can be celebrated as long as a) they are not celebrated with people who integrate religious worship in them; b) the celebration does not appear to others as a religious ceremony, according to Jewish law and c) all dietary and religious laws are observed. We are, as a people, historically chary of anybody thinking, heaven forbid, that we've been converted. See Rabbi Michael Broyde's site for a further discussion of this and other opinions on the holiday.

But a big part of being American means that you get to pick what holidays you personally celebrate, even if the mail doesn't get delivered that day. And as that famous Jew, John F. Kennedy put it: "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." Gratitude and appreciation are values we should express daily, not just once a year over a dead bird.

Curried Sweet Potato Latkes

Ok, so I'm early for Chanukah. But Yetta started it! And I love to make these. They are easy, delicious and very satisfying. Many folks put cumin in their variations on this recipe, but I despise the spice, so I substitute coriander. Since I never can pick between sour cream and applesauce, I tend to make these milchig, but I've added a parve option. You could go all out and serve this with Major Grey's or a mango chutney, but it's not .

Curried Sweet Potato Latke (Pareve or Dairy)

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Frying Time: About 10 minutes per batch

1.5 - 2 lbs. sweet potatoes or yams (ruby reds are the way to go if you can get them)
1/2 cup milk or soymilk
up to 1/2 cup matzoh meal, potato flour, or flour
3 eggs (separated if you want fluffier latkes)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 -2 tsp. brown sugar (less if you use soymilk)
2 tsp. madras curry
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. garlic
salt and pepper to taste
peanut oil

Grate sweet potatoes coarsely or finely, depending on how you like your latkes. Remove any excess moisture by putting the mixture in a colander and pressing out the juice, or put the grated potatoes in a dish towel or cheesecloth and squeeze out moisture. Why? Too much liquid makes your latkes greasy, soggy and nasty.
Check and beat eggs and add one at a time, mixing well (see note above for separating eggs for fluffier pancakes). Add milk. Add sugar, spices and mix well. Add matzoh meal or flour and baking powder, just until integrated. The ideal batter is not too runny or too stiff. Adjust flour or milk/soymilk as appropriate. Heat about 1/4 " of oil until hot - until a bread cube turns brown quickly or it is barely smoking. Place a large spoonful carefully in the oil for each latke. Observe how much they spread and do not crowd. Cook until brown and flip. Drain on paper towels.
Makes about 16 - 20 latkes

Genealogy as Blood Sport Or Why the Best Kin are Dead Kin

Well, sort of. We did get shot at. But missed. Fortunately. It all started when my mother accompanied me out east to a conference in Massachusetts. Tom couldn't come with me, given his added workload, as much as he and I would have liked to have made the trip together. Mother was an excellet travel partner and we planned to go and look for graves of long dead relatives from the Berkshires and some of the more hinterlandish parts of upstate New York. I'll talk about the New York part of the adventure another time.

The weather was cooperative, holding off on the promised snow/sleet combo. Most of the Amherst locals had never heard of Peru, MA, and the ones who had only noted glumly that it was the place that got the first and worst of the bad weather that later descended on them. Chanting our mantra "it's only a rental", we collected our courage and headed up the mountains. We had also been warned about terribly maintained, nausea-inducing roads. All I can say is that those folks have never careened their way to Point Reyes with my dad. This was a cakewalk and the roads were far superior to most public throughfares in the Golden State these days. The trees were gorgeous in ways that ranged from picture postcard to Ansel Adams. Folks were friendly, gregarious and poor.

As we were on a hunt for dead relatives, finding old graveyards was of tantamount importance. People were by and large exceptionally knowledgable about burial sites in their own town/parishes, but amazingly clueless as to what existed in the next (i.e adjoining, 2 miles up the road) village, even as far as churches and schools. But the Dodge/Hodgkins brothers, the trucking Click and Clack of Berkshire County were veritable gazetteers. Thanks to them we found quite obscure cemeteries on what could pass for goat tracks on a good day. Mother and I were amazed at how well we could follow his verbal sketches of directions. Althought we ultimately ascertained that few, if any, direct relatives reposed in Peru, we could not help but marvel at the miles and miles of huge black stone fences these forebears had lugged together. Even in what appeared to us as dense forest, we found running fences in remarkably good shape, given that they were probably built before 1830, according to the Kellogg's - local librarians and historians. Clearly, these forests were once cultivated areas, which partially explains the lack of old-growth forest in these hills.

But on to the gunfire. "Uncle Tom" Dodge advised us to visit old Norm Sanderson in the next village, as he was alleged to know quite a bit about local folks and their burial places, have some kind of genealogy book and even be a distant cousin. He did advise that Norm was "a little grumpy", but thought that a visit at suppertime would be a good idea. Said and done, we followed his instructions and found the fellow's tidy home directly across from the fire station. Lights were shining from the old-fashioned kitchen's windows and Mother agreed to go and try to talk to the old man. After knocking at the breezeway door and getting no answer, thinking that the old duffer was probably hard of hearing, she proceeded to knock on the kitchen door, where she spotted a long oxygen tube going to another room. Somehow connecting this infirmity to being hard of hearing, Mother daringly opened the door and called out to him. If you've ever cornered an old raccoon, you can imagine the angry, indignant hissing that emerged from around the corner. Suffice it to say that he ordered mother with a good deal of invective, denture rattling and ornery to remove herself from the property postehaste, we complied with alacrity and agitation, feeling very badly that we'd upset the crusty curmudgeon.

Our pity was short lived. We got about 250 yards from the property, and were in the process of asking a neighbor about the local cemeteries, when a rifle shot rang out from Sanderson's house. It sounded like an old blunderbuss and seemed to be aimed at the fire station or where our car recently was parked. The poor old coot probably wanted to scare us and our gang of maurauding Amazonian bandits d'une age certain off once and for all. As for us, we were terrified that the gent would blow himself to kingdom come, still attached to his oxygen candula cum candle. Fortunately, we spoke with his daughter the next day, and she was most apologetic about her "cranky" father - and appalled to learn that he still had a firearm in the house at all, much less firing it off at visiting would-be relations.

I recently remarked to my Tom that all of our relatives were either in the phonebook or the graveyard and I think I know where I'd prefer to look.