A Tasty Guest Post for Passover!

Kelly Easton Ruben is the author behind Kar-Ben's newest Passover story, A Place for Elijah. As Sarah's family prepares for Passover, Sarah makes sure to save a chair at the table for the prophet Elijah who is said to visit every seder. But when the electricity goes out in the buildings across the street and the neighbors start arriving at Sarah's apartment, her parents invite each visitor to join the seder. Sarah adds another place setting for Elijah, and then another, but soon the table is full with people from her neighborhood and there are no more chairs to spare! How can Sarah honor the Passover tradition of saving a place for Elijah?

Read Kelly's guest blog post below, and then check out her book over on the Kar-Ben website!

Writing My First Picture Book, I Think About Food! An Unleavened Blog, by Kelly Easton Ruben

My favorite Jewish Holiday is Passover. For one thing, there is the wonderful meal. I grew up with a mother who often referenced the family’s cook from her childhood, as in the question to my Dad: “Why don’t I get a cook like my mother did?” For some reason, she never tried to learn. A typical childhood supper cooked by my mother was baked steak, similar to a piece of tire, over-boiled pasty potatoes, and frozen peas, which once, were still icy on the inside. We were all skinny. Only the beagle was fat, since the leathery meat was passed under the table to him. The one Jewish food she “made” was lox and bagels, which we all loved. When I grew up, I was astonished to find that cooking was quite simple. On Passover we serve the traditional meal, personalized by special touches. My husband’s matzoh balls are like clouds from whipping the eggs into a frenzy. The broth has simmered for 24 hours, and is dotted with slivers of fresh dill. My matzoh kugel contains rosemary, roasted garlic, and sherry-poached mushrooms.

An aspect of Passover that is of equal import is storytelling. Each year we look for a different Haggadah for variations. Some of the food-related rituals that accompany the story of Passover exemplify one of Judaism’s most important edicts: compassion. The salty water on the Passover plate reminds us of the tears of the slaves. The ten drops of wine spilled expresses sympathy for the plagues suffered even by those who oppressed us. In a time when so many view “the other” as an enemy, Passover reminds us of our unity. Another aspect of this is setting a place for Elijah. This represents not only opening the door to spirituality itself, of unseen holiness, but caring for strangers, for “the other.” The principle of loving the stranger is central to Judaism. As it says in Leviticus 19:34: “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” In “A Place for Elijah,” I wanted to demonstrate the family’s lovingkindness to their neighbors, and the joy they have of sharing their common humanity. With food, naturally. Joanne Friar’s illustrations captured that beautifully. I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome.

Feed Your Kid's Body and Soul: High Holiday Books with Food Themes

By Jill Colella

A colleague and friend of mine who is a rabbi and an accomplished cook once likened the Jewish holiday dinner table to the bimah. Many of the components are the same— a raised surface, a gathering of people with a united purpose, and the sharing of (different forms) of sustenance with reverence and ritual. One way to experience Judaism is through its meals, especially those that happen during the fall harvest. For children especially, food is an accessible way of thinking about their wider worlds.

Basic food literacy is a critical foundation for building cooking skills, and appreciating the symbolism of food, like a beautifully braided round challah on the Rosh Hashanah table. As a writer of a Jewish cookbook for children, I was tasked with creating recipes that were basic enough for children to follow but meaningful enough for some deeper connection. This is why basic food literacy—the ability to identify ingredients—is incredibly important for children.

A few years ago during his TED Talk about the state of food for children, British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver screened a clip from his television show Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. He was in a school classroom of six year olds in Huntington, West Virginia and had brought along different fresh vegetables. The  kids were unsuccessful in identifying fresh tomatoes!  One would think that any elementary school aged child could easily identify such a common vegetable.  And while adults may be able to identify most vegetables, many are not exactly confident about how to cook them.

We can think of cooking like reading. When you think about the act of reading, it seems difficult—recognize letters and groups of letters as sounds, and then combine those into words, and then understand a string of words as sentences. Yet, we do it, and we ask kids to do it from an early age. Cooking can be the same, and can be discovered through reading. Some of my favorite Kar-Ben books develop reading literacy, food literacy and cultural literacy all at the same time, in the most charming ways.

Talia and the Very YUM Kippur and Talia and the Rude Vegetables are clever and funny books that play with words as the title character is helping with preparations for High Holiday meals.

 

 

 

 

Apple Days tells the story of Katy, who loves making applesauce with her mother. Her enthusiasm will inspire curiosity in any reader. TheApple Tree’s Discovery is another great title for reading during “apple days,” with its message that each of us is a unique individual. The book also reveals a very special feature about apples, which will prompt young eaters to observe the foods they eat more closely.

 

Maybe the very best example of food literacy materials for children is What’s the Buzz? Honey for a Sweet New Year. The book provides photos of a school trip to an apiary (bee farm) in Israel. Truly a farm-to-fork book, the story will help young readers understand where the honey on the Rosh Hashanah table comes from.

Jill Colella is editor of two magazines about food for children, for readers ages 6-12, Ingredient (www.ingredientmag.com) and for readers ages 3-6, Butternut (www.butternutmag.com). 

Treats for Hanukkah with Maccabee Meals

It is already November, and Hanukkah is just around the corner. The first candle is on December 8 this year (next year Hanukkah begins on Thanksgiving!). People are already in Hanukkah event and party planning mode, if the number of repins on our Pinterest are any indication! 

Looking for new ideas this year? Check out Kar-Ben’s cookbook Maccabee Meals, which features over 30 recipes and many explanations that are sure to add a kick to your celebrations. Learn how to make all sorts of latkes, cookies, salads, and sides. Try this recipe from Maccabee Meals for your next Hanukkah Celebration! This is a great project for kids!


Alef-Bet Pretzels
Ingredients
1 pkg. dry yeast
1 c. warm water
3 c. flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp. water
Kosher salt
Margarine or oil spray

1. In a bowl, dissolve yeast in water.
2. Add flour, sugar, and salt and work into a dough.
3. Cover with a towel and let rise 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
5. Grease cookie sheet.
6. Divide dough into pieces the size of a golf ball. Dust hands with flour. Roll dough into sausages and shape into the letters on the dreidel.
7. Place on cookie sheet, brush with egg mixture, and sprinkle with salt.
8. Bake for 25 minutes or until brown.


Enjoy Maccabee Meals during the festival of lights and B’Tayavon (Bon appetite)!

Win a copy by posting your favorite Hanukkah treat in the comments here or at our Facebook page. A winner will be selected at random.