Sep 13 2012
By Kveller at 11:34 am
Ahoy, Kveller readers. For those of you following along, today is our Twitter chat this month’s book club author, Jennifer Miller.
We’ll be chatting about Year of the Gadfly with Jennifer on Twitter today at noon (EST). Get your questions ready and then follow along with the conversation by using the #kvellerlit hash tag. The chat will go from 12 – 1 p.m.
To ask Jennifer a question, tweet at her Twitter handle @propjen. And if you haven’t had a chance to read through our discussion about the book on the blog yesterday, you can find it here. We really hope to hear from all of you. See you in the Twittersphere!
Sep 12 2012
By Kveller at 12:06 pm
The time has come for another Kveller book club discussion! This month we read Year of the Gadfly by Jennifer Miller. This book sucks you right into the crazy world of a hyper-intensive East coast prep school, featuring new student Iris Dupont, a budding journalist and occasional hallucinator, and an underground secret society that may or may not be ruining everybody’s lives.
Below you’ll find our chat about the book among our contributing editors, as well as our *guest star commentator*, Kveller reader Jennifer Grackin Steinberg. If you read along this month, add your thoughts about the book in the comments below, as we’d LOVE to hear them.
Then remember to join us for a Twitter chat with author Jennifer Miller (@propjen) tomorrow at noon. You’ll be able to follow along with the #kvellerlit hash tag.
Molly: Of Iris, Jonah, and Lily, who was your favorite narrator/perspective? I found myself pretty partial to Iris, maybe because we got to know her first and also maybe because she is a semi-delusional nerd who feels very passionately about her art and, well, I can relate.
Jordana: I also loved Iris most. I found her intelligence and, yes, nerdiness, appealing. I’m not sure if Jonah turned me off because of my first impressions of him through Iris’s eyes, or because of how Miller wrote him–I’m inclined to think the former, as I was impressed over and over again by Miller’s dexterity. Read the rest of this entry →
Aug 31 2012
By Kveller at 9:42 am
Today’s Rosh Hashanah recipe of the day is from Melinda Strauss, the founder of Kitchen Tested, a website devoted to helping home chefs tackle any recipe (and where everything is kosher, too!). And we must say, this recipe for Apple Pecan Galette will make one nice looking dessert on your Rosh Hashanah table.
Here’s the recipe for Apple Pecan Galette with Salted Peanut Butter Caramel: Read the rest of this entry →
Aug 30 2012
By Kveller at 2:04 pm
Today’s Rosh Hashanah recipe of the day comes from Rachel Teichman, who specializes in turning classic Jewish foods into toddler-friendly hits. Check out her version of the classic carrot dish, tsimmes, below.
Recipe for Smashed Tsimmes:
Tsimmes is a combination of root vegetables and dried fruits. It is typically seasoned with honey and cinnamon, and sometimes includes meat or beans. A sweet dish used to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, it can be enjoyed all year long. Since this version of tsimmes is mashed, it can easily be fed to a child, or they can feed it to themselves. Read the rest of this entry →
Aug 29 2012
By Kveller at 4:09 pm
Today’s Rosh Hashanah Recipe of the Day is from Meredith Jacobs, and it’s a great twist on a Jewish holiday classic–the kugel. Try it out as a side dish for your Rosh Hashanah meal.
Apple & Raisin Kugel Recipe:
Rosh Hashanah is all about apples and honey. And really, what’s not to love? But say you want to add a little more apple-love to your new year’s table, try this kugel on for size. It’s delicious, sweet, and best of all–easy. Just boil, mix, and bake. Before you know it, your house smells like heaven and you’re ready to eat. (Oh, and though this kugel is great for the High Holidays, it’s also a yummy side dish year-round!) Read the rest of this entry →
Aug 28 2012
By Kveller at 2:41 pm
Hello, and welcome to the Rosh Hashanah Countdown 2012 (or should we say 5773?). In order to get you all fully prepared and excited for the High Holidays, we’ll be featuring one tasty Rosh Hashanah recipe on the blog every day, from now until the Big Day (which begins at sundown on September 16th, in case you haven’t been keeping track).
Today’s recipe comes from Zoe Singer, and it’s for honey-baked chicken with tangy apple. Here’s the recipe for honey baked-chicken:
A drizzle of honey creates a nice browned skin on this baked chicken. It makes a lovely autumn meal accompanied by challah, a green vegetable and a salad.
Tip: The tart apples, cooked with shallots and mustard, can also be served with other proteins, such as salmon, turkey, or duck. Read the rest of this entry →
Aug 27 2012
By Stacey Ilyse at 6:02 am
Show off those precious faces this New Year.
I remember, growing up, getting cards in the mail for Rosh Hashanah. They were always the normal, generic, Hallmark “Happy New Year” type card.
Nowadays, people are WAY more tech savvy and have the ability to create really fun cards that reflect and show off who they are and their adorable kids and family. If you want to give your Rosh Hashanah cards a personal touch this year, here are five tips plus a few resources for creating and producing the picture perfect photo card. Read the rest of this entry →
Aug 23 2012
By Emily Mendell at 2:40 pm
The sign-off at the bottom of my letter was a familiar one:
Miss you! xxoo
Love, Mom
It was how I finished every bunk note I sent to my two sons, Noah, 14, and Chase, 12, at sleep away camp this summer. But when I went to press SEND on the last letter of the year, a nagging feeling came over me as I realized that this was just the fourth missive I had written to them in as many weeks. And it had been days since I had scoured the camp website to catch a photo of my precious punims. Suddenly the unthinkable reality was all too clear. I was lying. I did not, in fact, miss my children. At all.
What kind of Jewish mother am I??? Read the rest of this entry →
Aug 20 2012
By Alina Adams at 11:11 am
So, remember when I said that this summer my kids were doing… nothing?
I tried to stick to the plan, I really did. But then, I found out about this free dance camp for my 8-year-old son. (And if there is one thing I love more than making life easy for myself it’s things that are free .
And then, thanks to the articles I’ve written here on Kveller about my Soviet Jewish background, I was contacted by the Marks JCH of Bensonhurst asking if I might be interested in sending my oldest to Camp B’Yachad, a 12-day overnight program happening this August 22 to September 2, specifically for teens from Russian-Jewish families. Read the rest of this entry →
Aug 15 2012
By Alina Adams at 4:10 pm
Me with Brian Boitano!
Would you want your kid on a Wheeties box, Renee Septimus wondered here on Kveller. She talked about the kind of things that young Olympic athletes must be giving up to acheive their level of success–school, summer camp, birthday parties, etc.
Renee concluded: I’m glad my children lived “average” lives. They turned into well-rounded, self-actualized adults with many interests, good relationships, and satisfying careers.
As someone who spent several years covering Olympic sports for ABC, ESPN, and TNT, as the older sister and official chaperone of a brother who was the 1996 US Novice Ice Dancing Champion and, last but not least, a mom, myself, I have a different perspective on the subject. Read the rest of this entry →
