Kosher Cooking Carnival – the Eeyore (Iyyar) edition!

And yet again, I am privileged to host the delightfully monthly Kosher Cooking Carnival!

When the month of Iyyar (אִייָר‎) rolls around, I have always secretly thought of Winnie the Pooh’s sidekick, Eeyore.  I have never mentioned this to anybody before, so I hope you appreciate this confidential divulgence.

But really, there is no month that better captures the spirit of Eeyore, not even Cheshvan, which is called “mar” (bitter) Cheshvan, because it contains no holidays. 

Just like Eeyore has his moments in the sun, Iyyar hosts its own joyous date on the 18th.  Only in true “Eeyore” spirit, in which he often feels slighted and taken-for-granted, almost nobody recognizes the 18th of Iyyar: instead, the holiday goes by its more common name – Lag BaOmer / ל״ג בעומר, the 33rd omer-counting day.  And finally, doesn’t Eeyore’s constant loving kvetching remind everybody of their favourite Jewish Bubby???

I'm telling you. People come and go in this forest, and they say. 'It's only Eeyore, so it doesn't count.'

It’s certainly easy for Iyyar to be overshadowed by the excitement of Pesach in Nissan and Shavuos in Sivan.  But let’s use it as a time for post-Pesach reflection, and regrouping to begin our food year anew, shall we?  On with the food!

Pesach (Still!)

"Eeyore, what are you doing there?" said Rabbit.

"I'll give you three guesses, Rabbit. Digging holes in the ground? Wrong. Leaping from branch to branch of a young oak tree? Wrong. Waiting for somebody to help me out of the river? Right. Give Rabbit time, and he'll always get the answer."

"But, Eeyore," said Pooh in distress, "what can we - I mean, how shall we - do you think if we -"

"Yes," said Eeyore. "One of those would be just the thing. Thank you, Pooh."

Sharon presents Passover Leftovers posted at The Real Jerusalem Streets.  Check out those matzah sandwiches, and then – if you must skip the non-food-related pictures! – scroll to the bottom for her shot of the bus sign.

Just want we all need!  (just in time to bookmark for next year, that is)  Leah offers valuable tips to simplify next year’s Pesach NOW over at her blog, Ingathered.

Oops – a bit late for us, but along the same lines, here are some great ideas for getting organized at the END of Pesach each year, in After Passover review and SBB update from Amital at Organized Jewish Home.

Here’s one to bookmark for next year, as Mrs. S. transforms mandelbroit into “non-gebrochts choco-nut bars” in Changed beyond recognition, over at Our Shiputzim: A Work In Progress.

In Israel, where Kitniyot (products made with rice, beans, corn and other legumes) are everywhere, avoiding them can be tricky.  Luckily for us Ashkenazim, Miriam has shared two recipes, including an amazing-looking boreka recipe, in Non Kitniyot Pesach Recipes for You to Enjoy! over at her blog, From Miriam’s Kitchen…

Speaking of Israel and Kitniyot, you’ll do a double-take when you see this picture of the sandwich for sale at Aroma cafés in Israel during Pesach, with a complete review by Daniela in Aroma’s Pesach Sandwich, at her blog Isreview.

Curious about Yehuda’s new gluten-free “matzo-style squares”?  While you can’t use them for “mitzvah credit” at the seder, Shoshana over at Couldn’t be Parve, offers her review, which (I’ll spoil it for you!) goes from initial skepticism to delighted enjoyment in her post, Gluten-Free Eating on Pesach and a Great New Product.

As for me, we did our annual Homeschool Matzah Bakery and had a great time, but for the first time, did NOT manage to finish even one matzah in the required 18 minutes… luckily, we were just doing it for fun, not making serious kosher l’Pesach matzah!

If you’re even slightly squeamish, please don’t think about clicking through to check out these Final Pesach Guests of ours.  But it gives the eco-crunch-Jewish-mama in me tons of nachas to host them all year ‘round!!!  (and don’t say you weren’t warned!)

"Good morning, Pooh Bear," said Eeyore gloomily. "If it is a good morning," he said. "Which I doubt," said he.

Chocolate & other Desserts:

"Hallo, Pooh. Thank you for asking, but I shall be able to use it again in a day or two."

"Use what?" said Pooh.

"What we were talking about."

"I wasn't talking about anything," said Pooh, looking puzzled.

"My mistake again. I thought you were saying how sorry you were about my tail, being all numb, and could you do anything to help?"

"No," said Pooh. "That wasn't me," he said. He thought for a little and then suggested helpfully: "Perhaps it was somebody else.""Well, thank him for me when you see him."

Food and memories go hand in hand, and Mirjam Weiss thoughtfully reflects back on her parents’ lives and the Shoah, while offering a delicious brownie recipe that helps her remember in A Phoenix From The Ashes, posted at Miriyummy.

"That Accounts for a Good Deal," said Eeyore gloomily. "It Explains Everything. No Wonder."

Shabbat Food

"And I said to myself: The others will be sorry if I'm getting myself all cold. They haven't got Brains, any of them, only grey fluff that's blown into their heads by mistake, and they don't Think, but if it goes on snowing for another six weeks or so, one of them will begin to say to himself: 'Eeyore can't be so very much too Hot about three o'clock in the morning.' And then it will Get About. And they'll be Sorry."

Well, only one post in this category… which is fine, because one of the things I’ve discovered is that you can eat your favourite “weekday” food on Shabbat, too!

Irene Saiger ventures out into the lebidikeh velt (joyous world) of cross-cultural Shabbos cuisine in Soba Salad over at her blog, Bamitbach.

"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily. "So it is." "And freezing." "Is it?" "Yes," said Eeyore.
"However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."

Everyday Eating!

“Could you ask your friend to do his exercises somewhere else? I shall be having lunch directly, and don't want it bounced on just before I begin. A trifling matter, and fussy of me, but we all have our little ways."

More food memories: this one from Batya at me-ander, sharing reminiscences of childhood chicken dinners in Wishing for Something Special.

Lucky Batya also got to eat out recently (well, not so recently now), but as she often does, shared the dining experience for the rest of us to drool over in Yummy Escape from Building Noise Downtown.

Maybe you’ve heard about the Paleo trend or are even thinking about taking steps to eliminate beans and grains from your diet to make it more closely resemble that of our paleolithic ancestors. Yosefa, at Cooking Outside the Box, fights back against thistrend with a post about digestive aids to “de-gas” cooked beans in Beans – Stop the Music.

If you DO want to go paleo, don’t forget about edible flowers, like these Redbud blossoms Avivah shares about in How to recognize redbud blossoms over at Oceans of Joy!

Real-life friend and fellow stay-home mama Decemberbaby talks about letting go of the urge to “out-crunchy” every other mama on the block when it comes to feeding her kids good, healthy food in Just Sweet and Jewy? at sweet & crunchy… with a Jewy centre.

And finally, I know the heading says “every day,” but really, I think any day would be special if you were waking up to these Mini Roasted Tomato and Spinach Quiches, posted by Nina Safar over at Kosher in the Kitch!

Ditto for this mouth-watering recipe for Pepper Steak with Plum Sauce, by Chanie, who blogs over at Busy in Brooklyn.  A couple of special ingredients makes all the difference, she says, in creating “pepper steak that didn’t taste like I was chewing rubber.”  (hint:  cook it low and slow!)

"I might have known," said Eeyore. "After all, one can't complain. I have my friends. Somebody spoke to me only yesterday.”

Hey – we’re done! 

That concludes this edition. Read it, enjoy it, pass it around! Then, submit your blog article to the next edition of kosher cooking carnival-kcc using our carnival submission form or directly at the KCC Facebook page. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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