Norwitz Notions

Quick, name some fermented foods.  What did you come up with?  Beer? wine? cheese? pickles?  Let’s not forget yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, miso, kombucha, natto, tempeh, vinegar, and bread.  These and more were the focus of the second annual Freestone Fermentation Festival in Sonoma County, California, May 15, 2010. This was my first time at this […]

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Once a month, our synagogue, Ner Shalom in Cotati, California, holds a family Shabbat dinner.  Sometimes it’s a potluck, other times they order platters from a local restaurant.  A few months ago, I volunteered to do the cooking.  I had two motives here: 1) I love to cook for large groups of people.  Seriously, I […]

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I recently had the chance to cook a Shabbat dinner (Friday night ritual) for my synagogue.  You can find all the details at Shabbat Dinner for 20.  Because I’m being reimbursed for ingredients, I kept careful track of my expenses. You may wonder about the two titles.  Did I cook for 20 or 30?  Well, […]

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We spent Thanksgiving 2008 much like Thanksgiving 2007, at a potluck gathering at Ecology House in San Rafael, California.  Ecology House is the only HUD (US Government) low-income housing for people disabled with chemical sensitivities.  It has 11 apartments and a community room where residents host events, meetings, and parties.  The Environmental Health Network holds […]

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Episode seven of the Next Food Network Star still takes place in Las Vegas and we’re down to 3 contestants: Aaron, Lisa, and Adam. Challenge #1: Prepare a 30 second promo for what could be their new show. Unlike in previous versions of this, each promo was carefully scripted (including wardrobe) by the Food Network […]

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Episode two of the Next Food Network Star is all about speed. Which I suppose is this season’s theme. Not quick cooking (30 minute meals, etc) like in other seasons, but frantic decisions with no time to plan. Not realistic. This week there was one big challenge broken up into several parts.  The 9 contestants […]

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When I watch competition shows I do sometimes get caught up in rooting for the people I like but I usually end up wondering what I would do if it were me up there. The Next Food Network Star does include home cooks (though most are professional caterers, chefs, or restaurant owners, nearly all with […]

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I’ve hosted a Passover seder at my home every year for the last 20 or so (except for the year my mother died the night before Passover 1996 and the following year, the first with Michael, when Michael and I both had the flu).  Each one has a different mix of people, cultures, familiarity with […]

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Foodlab is an internet mailing list for sharing recipes, tips, support and more while discovering and living with food allergies/intolerances. Monica started the list a couple of years ago, after realizing that off-topic discussions of food allergies were starting to take over a parenting list. Most of the folks on Foodlab (the active posters anyway) […]

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For dinner tonight I made a simple but elegant meal. Each item wasn’t hard to make, though having four of them took more time. The details make a difference too. Nicer plates, eating at the dining room table (something we should do every night, but don’t), using wine glasses. Miriam and I went to Whole […]

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Most of our Thanksgiving dinners are in the community room of Ecology House, an 11-unit government (HUD) complex for people disabled with chemical sensitivity. Every year, with the help of the Environmental Health Network, the residents there host a (supplemented) potluck dinner for the entire chemical sensitivity community. It’s great fun. I share the disability […]

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