My Mom, Food Processors, and Norene Gilletz

When Ilana-Davita mentioned Healthy Helpings in her reader interview, author Norene Gilletz came by to comment. She even joined my Facebook fan page. I wrote to Norene to let her know that I would be dedicating today’s post to her.

My mother loved gadgets. She wasn’t the first to get a microwave, but when she did she read every book and article on microwave cooking she could find.

My mother loved food processors best of all. She had three Cuisinarts: One fleishig (meaty), one pareve (neutral) and one for Passover. When she wanted to make cheesecake, she called the rabbi to approve using the pareve one. Her hand movements were so limited that chopping and mixing were painful. Food processors enabled her to continue to cook for the family. If she couldn’t do it in the food processor, she couldn’t do it at all.

Learning to Cook, Step by Step

When I wrote Make Your Own Sourdough Starter at Home, I also started a discussion on the Facebook fan page to walk readers through it.

Here’s what Aleeza had to say:

Guess what I don’t get is why recipes can’t be simple. I need directions with numbers like step 1, 2, 3, 4.

Refreshment Help for Hosts

I often host clubs, committee meetings and speakers in my home. The standard refreshments in our community at these events are bought or homemade cakes, soft drinks, bottled water, packaged “snack” foods, fruit, and nuts. I prefer not to buy the prepared foods both because of health and cost. Whatever is left, my family will eat.

Recipe by Dena: Oatmeal, Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

Oatmeal, a true super food:

My father always told me, “Oatmeal should not be the consistency of snot!” When I was a little girl, my father made oatmeal every morning with this family recipe that’s been with us for at least 3 generations. Now it’s my turn to share it with my family, and with you.

Oats are a great way to start your day or even as a light dinner.

Friday Roundup #22: Winter Holiday Edition

The eight-day holiday of Chanukah ended last Saturday. Kids have vacation from school, but my husband took my 8-year-old to visit my father-in-law for a week. For about two weeks my apartment felt like a revolving door, considering my guests and my kids’ schedules.

Extreme Frugality: Twenty Memories of My Mother

Wisebread wrote about her parents’ extreme frugality, leading to an  interesting discussion on the difference between being poor and frugal. When I was growing up, my parents were able to purchase good quality food, clothes and furniture. But my mother did not believe in wasting resources. Here are twenty ways my mother was frugal: Cooking […]