Thursday, December 29, 2005

Special Winter Greetings

Our 2005/2006 greeting

Dev Null Etc.

In the interest of keeping all of you wordhounds up-to-date, I present the following link to your own personal guide to geek-speak.

And if you are a knitting geek, you might want to figure out your knitter's geek code .

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Trader Joe's Update III



More news of Trader Joe's: the local St. Paul newspaper reported that Trader Joe's is thinking about moving into some new developments at 2700 University Avenue - just a bit west of the 280/94 intersection. More here.

"The store would be part of '2700 on the Avenue,' a Wellington Management project with four floors of condominiums and a grocery store in an emerging St. Paul neighborhood.

Wellington is in ongoing talks with Riverside Market, an independent Minneapolis grocery store that recently closed. But Tanya Bell, Wellington's acquisitions and development director, confirmed that Trader Joe's is part of the picture and that the company is interested in the project. [...]The University Avenue area, near the intersection of Interstate 94 and Minnesota 280, is home to a boom in high-density housing near the Minneapolis-St. Paul border. The projects are all within walking distance of 2700 W. University Ave.

Construction of more than 400 lofts and apartments are planned on the site of the historic Johnson Bros. Liquor Co. warehouses. More than 250 luxury rental apartments and town homes were built at 808 Berry Place, and more than 200 town homes and condos have been built as part of the Emerald Gardens project."

And, as you read here first, sports fans, further confirmation of Trader Joe's opening in St. Louis Park in April. We're the only one with the secret to the exact projected date...

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Pandora's Musicbox


Check this out: Music Genome Project. It's the perfect thing when you want to hear some new music but you don't have any hip or hipster friends to freshen your play list. This is a free service which covers a lot of territory - jazz, pop, Latin, some folk, but no world or classica - yet! Plus it gives decent paying jobs to music majors.
Enjoy!

Monday, December 19, 2005

Chanukah, Chocolate, Chinuch and Change


Why do we eat chocolate gelt at Chanukah? There are several schools of thought on this question. One links this tradition back to the minting of their own coins by the Hasmoneans after their military victory over the Greek Syrians. Then there is the linguistic angle, which associates "Chanukah" - "dedication" with "chinuch" -" education". Maimonides himself made the education-gelt connection describing Chanukah gelt as "an incentive for you [children] to study Torah properly."
[Rambam, Hilchot Chanukah 3].

By the time the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E., with the exception of a 3 year period during the Bar Kochba Revolution, there were no Jewish coins until modern times. Accordingly, there were no specifically Jewish coins were available to distribute when the custom of Hanukkah gelt – giving emerged as an important part of the festival during the Middle Ages. it was traditional to give Hanukkah gelt to the local Jewish teacher. This was more than a token present - it was usually his primary means of support. Again, we have the linkage between Chanukah, chinuch and coins.

In the time of the Ba'al Shem Tov, rabbis often traveled to distant villages during Chanukah to strenghten the learning of Torah by Jews who were off the beaten path. some Jewish communities chose Chanukah as the time to celebrate the freedom to be educated Jewishly. Although these rabbis typically refused payment from these often poor Jews, they came to accept coins and food as a token of the gratefulness felt by these communities.

Some communities have the custom of giving gelt on each night of Chanukah (except for Shabbat), with a larger amount being given out on the fifth day. Why is the fifth day so special? The fifth day calls for added celebration because of the brilliance of the fifth candle. Since the fifth day can never fall on Shabbat, this candle has the ability to illuminate the darkest of realms and hopefully giving a larger amount of gelt on this days reminds Jews to use their material wealth for spiritual purposes.

But how did gelt get associated with that waxy chocolate money in the foil wrappers? As best I can tell, chocolate gelt became popular in Europe in the mid 19th century when the Jews were well established in the chocolate industry. This coincided with the custom of giving gelt primarily to children, instead of to rabbis or to the poor, the latter being a major feature of many Jewish feasts. Chocolate in gold foil resembling coins of the realm would have made it possible for parents of even very limited means to participate in giving their children gelt. And since when have children ever protested against chocolate?

The recipe below is an easy milchig chocolate treat for Chanukah - assuming you like your latkes like I do with sour cream and applesauce. You don't need a bowl, it bakes in about 1/2 hour, is not majorly heavy in fat or sugar and is rich enough for the biggest chocolate fiend. It can be made parve with some simple adaptations, but does NOT double well. Try to bake it in a metal/foil pan. It stays quite wet in a glass pan and can be hard to get right. Don't expect it to rise - it stays fudgelike. You can even make it pesachdik without a major amount of hassle, but let's stick to the holiday at hand.

Brownies

3 squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 stick of butter

Melt the two of these together in a heavy pan. When melted, allow to cool slightly then add:

1/2 brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla - essence or sugar, but not vanillin
1 tsp leftover coffee (if you have)
1/2 cup of flour
pinch of salt

Mix in the pan and when smooth pour into a greased 8 X 8 brownie pan.
Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, depending on if you want gooier
or more fudge-like brownies.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Snix Chopped Liver


My husband hates chopped liver. Detests it. In any form, at any time. But, yet, he is such a sweetie that he makes it uncomplainingly for me. This is my recipe which I developed in San Francisco about 15 years ago, based on the foie haché I ate in the Marais district of Paris. Yes, you can find less fattening versions, but this particular recipe is quite miserly with the chicken fat. Try it and see what you think. Eat it at simchas in good health!

Chopped Liver/Gehakte Leber

1 lb pre-broiled kosher chicken livers (easier than explaining the laws of broiling liver here)
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled
3 + 2 tblsp schmaltz
1 large red onion, chopped
1/8 c kosher cognac (may be omitted)
1 tblsp fresh tarragon or 1 tsp dried thyme
pinch of sugar (if desired)
salt
black pepper
chopped scallions (if desired)

Melt three tablespoons of schmaltz on medium heat in a cast iron frying pan. Fry the onion in the schmaltz and when clear, add the pre-broiled livers and heat thoroughly. Raise the heat briefly, add the cognac and tarragon, stir and remove from heat. Don't overcook, or the livers will get hard and dry.

Chop the liver mixture with three of the eggs and the reserved schmalz, either by pulsing in a food processor (if you like a smoother version) or in a bowl with a mezzaluna (if you like it coarser). Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with hardboiled egg slices and scallions if desired. Chill overnight to let flavors meld - if you can hold out that long. Cover tightly with plastic film to prevent discoloration.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Nanaimo Bars

What are "Nanaimo Bars"? They aren't a geographic feature of the British Columbian seaboard, but rather a fixture on Canadian cookie trays since the 1950's. These multilayer bars are rich, chocolate-intense and as sophisticated as fuzzy bunny slippers. Yes, I know you can find them in any decent patissserie north of the 42nd parallel, but they are a classic kitchen-made treat, with their origins in the city of Nanaimo, B.C. You could make them parve, but they are much better in their original milchig form. Remember that the eggs are not cooked in this recipe, so you may want to use Eggbeaters or another pasturized egg product if you are sharing this treat with folks with immune system issues.

Your Basic Nanaimo Bar

Bottom Layer
1/2 cup butter (use a good quality butter - some prefer unsalted)
1/4 cup sugar
5 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg beaten (or egg substitute)
1 3/4 -2 cups graham wafer crumbs (egg substitute may need more crumbs)
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds (some say walnuts; I grok pecans)
3/4 - 1 cup coconut (toast it if you want to gild the lily)

Melt first three ingredients in the top of a double boiler.
Add egg and stir to cook and thicken .
Remove from heat.
Stir in crumbs, coconut and nuts.
Press firmly into an ungreased 8 X 8 pan. Chill while preparing the second layer.

Second Layer
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp. and 2 tsp. of cream
2 tbsp. vanilla custard powder or kosher vanilla pudding mix
2 cup powder sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream butter, cream, custard powder and icing sugar together well. Beat until light.
Spread evenly over bottom layer. Chill thoroughly before topping with third layer, as the topping may melt the middle layer.

Third Layer
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz each) or 2 squares unsweetened and 2 squares
semi-sweet chocolate
2 tbsp. butter

Melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Cool slightly - if the top layer is too cool Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator. These will keep well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and in the freezer for about a month.

If you'd like a cappuchino variation, proceed as above, add two tsps. of coffee powder (like Café Bustelo) to the middle layer.