Condolences to reader Miriam and family on the death of her mother, Rachelle Isserow. Both Miriam and her mother have been interviewed here at Cooking Manager. I never had a chance to meet Rachelle, although we corresponded a few times, and I regret that. I met Miriam at last, when I went to pay a condolence call. May Rachelle’s memory be for a blessing.

On a lighter note, food blogger Mirj interviewed me over at Miryummy. Just don’t believe everything she says about me.

Rosh Hashanah is around the corner, beginning Wednesday evening and ending Friday evening, rolling right into the Sabbath. Now that is a lot of meals, and I’ve written extensively about it. See Rosh Hashanah Tips and Recipes for help managing the meal. You’ll find a listing of more posts about the fall holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot at my Jewish website, A Mother in Israel.

Here’s a review of recent posts at Cooking Manager:

Mushroom Soup and Tomatoes

Interview: Nina the Rugby Player

12 Easy, Healthy Toddler Snacks

Does Rice Need to be Washed?

How to Cool Food Quickly for Storage

In Which I Defend My Food Safety Credibility (I am not yet finished with this topic!)

Cooking With Preschoolers: Distraction or Interaction?

How to Cook for a Family with a New Baby

Healthy Last-Minute Dinners

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It’s time for a review of posts you might have missed on Cooking Manager.

Summer Cooking

Healthy and Easy Summer Salads. Leora posted even more summer salad ideas.

Some Like It Cold: Summer Soups

Cool Summer Cooking Tips

Prepare Vegetable Salads in Advance

Recipes:

Beets Marinated with Ginger and Garlic

Wilted Red Peppers with Garlic

Brown Rice with Garlic, Onions and Lentils

Winter Squash Quiche

Mushroom-Onion-Nut Pate

Last Minute Black-Eyed-Pea Chili

Chicken Salad with Ginger, Garlic, Basil and Green Onions

Creamy Parsnip Soup

Creamy Avocado Salad

For more recipes, see the Kosher Cooking Carnival at Yosefa’s. Readers may also enjoy my post on preparing Sheva Brachot, a festive meal for young Jewish couples during the week after the wedding. It has general tips for any dinner party.

More Vegetable Ideas:

Watch my video on cooking artichokes, and get more inspiration for beets, fennel and turnips.

Food for Thought:

The Case Against Paper Plates

Food Memories of My Father 

I consider advantages and disadvantages of cooking in advance or cooking fresh, and cooking chicken in whole or in parts.

What Features Do You Need in Your Oven?

Thoughts on Joining a Food Co-Op

Evaluating the True Cost of Foods

Interviews

Sara, Kelly, Chavi, Roz, and Leah

More tips:

Cleaning Your Baking Bowl. At our Israeli food bloggers’ event last night, Michelle asked me what the problem is because her baking bowl is so easy to clean. I also don’t understand it, but others apparently have trouble.

Video: How to Roll and Shape Hamantashen

Review: Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure

Have a wonderful weekend.

Welcome to the weekend! Let’s review what’s been happening here at Cooking Manager.

Photo credit: Yosefa

Cooking Manager was recommended by the website, Best of the Web.

Here’s a review of posts you may have missed over the last few weeks:

Yesterday’s post, Should Vegetarians Warn Dinner Hosts in Advance?, drew out some hosting horror stories in the comments.

I help reader Hadassah plan her party, with Ten Things You Should Know about Freezing for a Crowd.

I review a book by one of my favorite bloggers, Jonathan Bloom: Book Review: An American Wasteland.

I did a little research and learned the Six Questions to Ask When Buying a Kitchen Knife.

Blogger Tasha of Voracious Eats decides to eat meat in Dangers of a Vegan Diet. Reader Rena wrote a Vegan Response to Dangers of a Vegan Diet.

I helped Deena with Leftover Challenge: Gazpacho.

And I started a series on cooking with kids. Here’s the first entry: 9 Great Reasons to Cook with Your Kids.

Interviews:

I’ve enjoyed the last few interviews. Thanks to everyone who participated:

Interview with Kris of Cheap Healthy Good

Interview with Sarah Melamed of Foodbridge

Cooking Outside the Box: Interview with Yosefa

Interview with Hadassah Levy

Recipes:

Ruth’s Roast Vegetable Soup

Microwave Poached Pears in Red Wine

Scones by Suzie Fishbein

Linda’s Microwave Fish Fillets

Pomegranate-Quince Relish

Leftover Lentil Soup

Videos:

For the first time I’ve posted videos of different kitchen tasks:

How to Cut a Pomegranate

Video: Opening a Ripe Avocado

Video: Braid a Challah with Two Strands

Have a wonderful weekend!

Photo credit: Darwin Bell

My post on slow cookers is featured in the 251st Festival of Frugality over at Fiscal Fizzle. Check it out for great money-saving ideas.

Leah at Ingathered gives great ideas for packing couscous in a lunchbox.

Commenter Yosefa started My Non-Recipe Blog: “I don’t have recipes to share, these are just the stories of how I made dinner.”

Food Labs debunks the Top Six Food Myths. Some will be familiar to long-time readers of Cooking Manager.

I had to republish my post on Jamie Oliver and food education because of technical problems. Oliver suggests sharing recipes to get people back into the kitchen, and gave my ten suggestions. In the meantime, Mimi of Israeli Kitchen also chose ten recipes from her repertoire. Feel free to join in, whether the recipes are from your site or elsewhere.

Review of posts from Cooking Manager since October 26, 2010:

Recipes: Yogurt Sauce with Mint, Spaghetti with Feta, Olives and Garlic Beans, and Vegetarian Nut Loaf.

Are Slow Cookers Really Energy Efficient?

Make Your Gravy or Sauce into a Complete Meal

6 Easy Tips to Help You Eat Less Salt

Interview with Reader Jennie (Her hamin recipe is now in the comments.)

Ten Creative Ideas for Cooking Pasta Frugally. Pasta is already frugal, but the most common cooking method isn’t (as Food Labs pointed out, see above).

A Tomato Surprise

Have a great weekend.

Photo credit: La.blasco

In case you missed it, we had a fun week here at Cooking Manager:

We saw a TED video with Mark Bittman on reasons for cutting back on meat. His reasons related mainly to health and the environment. Healthwise, it probably pays to cut back significantly on all animal protein.

On Monday I gave instructions for a device to manage those little plastic bags in your pantry or freezer by making a spout from an old plastic bottle.

I shared the results of my experiment washing produce in the dishwasher. Don’t miss the comments.

And Yosefa contributed a recipe for Quinoa Tabbouleh.

Next week I’ll be writing about a surprise I found in my tomato, and we have an interview with reader Jennie that includes lots of tips and recipes.

Happy cooking!

I’m honored that my guest blog on stress-free hosting for Rosh Hashanah has been featured in the Eater’s Digest blog at Food.Com, formerly RecipeZaar.

And while it’s not directly food related unless you volunteer in a soup kitchen, please visit my post on volunteering. It’s an entry in JobMob’s guest blogging contest, and the post with the largest number of views wins: Ten Best Practices to Volunteer Your Way to a New Job. Thanks!

Interesting links:

Is Dining Solo a Waste of Time and Money? (via the Wall Street Journal)

Why Going to the Gym is a Waste of Time, Money and Resources (via Wisebread).  Do I sense a trend?

You may also enjoy:

Rosh Hashanah Tips and Recipes

Ten Essential Tips for Preventing Kitchen Accidents

Happy cooking!

Photo credit: dana-jm

Thanks to Melodie at Breastfeeding Moms Unite for posting Ten Essential Kitchen Tools for Breastfeeding Moms. I hope that all busy moms will find them helpful.  On Cooking Manager, I have a series on Feeding Babies Frugally.

Last week I was looking for frugal grilling tips. Penny stepped into the ring and wrote this excellent summary of Barbecue for Less.

You may have missed these recent posts at Cooking Manager:

Recipes:

Mushroom-Barley Soup

Rice and Chickpea Casserole with Tomatoes

Interviews:

Gwen Kosak and Author Norene Gilletz

Tips and Techniques:

Baking with sourdough made easier with these Pictures of Sourdough Starter. Thanks to Dena for giving me a push on the Cooking Manager Facebook Fan Page.

I answered Ms. Krieger”s freezer questions in two parts: Use Your  Freezer to Make Simple Meals and Don’t Turn Your Freezer into a Dungeon.

And I continued my series on shopping for produce, with Ten Questions to Ask When Shopping for Produce.

Thanks to all readers for visiting, commenting, linking, and sharing with others.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a roundup. I’ve been busy with holidays. I hope you’ll look over any posts that you might have missed. Let me know which you found most helpful.

In other news, Shimshonit hosted the Kosher Cooking Carnival #53.

A podcast of my interview about Passover cooking is up at Rusty Mike Radio. The podcasts appear according to date; mine was March 23. If you enjoyed it, please leave a comment on the Rusty Mike site under the podcast.

Posts on Cooking Manager, March 19 to April 16:

Recipes:

Low-Fat Turkey Chili in the Crockpot

Make Pot Roast to Tenderize Inexpensive Cuts of Meat

One-Bowl Passover Cakes

Tips and Tricks:

The Best Techniques for Knowing When Food is Cooked

Ten Tips to Clean Your Appliances without Breaking Them

Save Time and Money by Washing Fewer Dishes

Tips on Stretching Food for Company

On Cookbooks and the Internet

Interviews:

Penny (Lahuh Bread)

Abbi (Eggplant Salad)

Devora (Wilted Lettuce)

Happy cooking!

In  No, This Is Why You’re Fat, Treehugger explains how US government subsidies for soy and corn led to lower prices for meat and dairy, and higher prices for fruits and vegetables. This in turn led to a higher rate of obesity (presumably).

Here’s the podcast for my interview with host Nettie Feldman on Afternoon Shmooze on Rusty Mike Radio on how to make the most of your time.

Posts for March 7-19 at Cooking Manager:

Passover Recipes and Cooking Techniques

Interview with Leora

Ten Questions to Ask Before Going to the Store

Ten Things about Me

Passover Egg Noodles

Rapes (Turnips) in Potage

Interview with Viviana

Guide to Buying Gluten-Free Products on Passover

I’ll be getting back to my Passover preparations, enjoy your weekend.