Norwitz Notions

In my ongoing quest to discover 1001 things to do with masa, I came up with this little gem.  Guaranteed to please three year olds everywhere. Start with fresh masa if you can get it.  Reconstituted masa harina if you can’t. Grab a chunk, roll it into a ball, then flatten by hand into a […]

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At the Petaluma farmer’s market in September, I found a stand with a big box of organic paste tomatoes (romas) which was on sale because they were overripe.  I picked out some good ones then thought, wait a minute, and turned to the farmer and asked to buy the whole box.  “I was hoping some […]

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Chimichurri is a popular sauce from Argentina made with fresh green herbs (usually parsley, cilantro, and/or mint), garlic, acid (red wine vinegar, lemon, etc), and olive oil.  Some recipes have other ingredients.  It’s usually served on meat but I love it on fish, tofu, beans, salad, and all sorts of things.  Since I’m not a […]

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We hosted a potluck for Sukkot this year and told everyone we would provide the challah.  The last shabbus potluck we went to had regular challah and Miriam ended up with some symptoms due to cross-contamination from the eggs (part of the ritual is breaking the bread with your hands; while we don’t do that […]

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At the end of our day-long trek into Portland, we met up with a friend and her son at Kalga Kafe, a vegetarian restaurant in the southeast part of the city.  Dinner hours are 5pm-midnight (it serves lunch weekdays) and it hosts live bands some evenings.  Since this was a Saturday night, we thought we […]

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This dish takes a fair bit of time to make, but it’s one of my favorites for a hearty meal to serve to company.  I’ve been making it for a while but it wasn’t until recently when I made it for friends in Canada that I took pictures. I’ve adapted this recipe from: Chili and […]

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While visiting the Vancouver area last month, we stayed with friends in Burnaby, a suburb to the east of the city.  Some other friends from New Brunswick overlapped their stay with ours then went to a hotel in downtown Vancouver for a convention.  On their last night, we met up with them for dinner. Finding […]

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Michael and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary on August 21st (and 12 years of being together).  I was ill for our first wedding anniversary, and our second was a so-so dinner with Miriam after a doctor’s appointment, so we were determined to have a romantic dinner alone this year.  We were in British Columbia […]

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On a recent trip to Vancouver, Canada, I admired my hosts’ towering apple tree, as well as the superior taste of the apples.  When I found out they simply composted them, I vowed to turn them into something useful. First, I collected 24 hours worth of fallen apples. Next, I cut away the bad parts […]

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I’m visiting friends in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) and they introduced me to a local treat. Chi Cake http://www.chicake.com/ Vegan, gluten-free, organic cheesecake Vegan Choice Foods, Inc., Contact: Alan Munro Unit 14 – 7621 Vantage Way Delta, BC V4G 1A6 Canada Phone:  778-88VEGAN (778-888-3426) E-Mail:  questions@chicake.com The good news is, it’s delicious.  The bad news…it’s only available […]

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Pupusas are a lovely Salvadorian food with two thick tortillas, stuffed with goodies, crimped at the edges to hold it all in. You can put anything you want in there (beans and cheese being a common vegetarian choice) and you’ve got a meal, a snack, or traveling food. I won’t purport to have an authentic […]

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“Using masa harina [masa flour] is like making mashed potatoes from a box.” So says Karen Waikiki, owner of Primavera, the Sonoma company that makes masa, tortillas, and tamales from organic stoneground corn. And she has a point. Though the tortillas I made from masa harina were way better than the store-bought tortillas I’ve had […]

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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 five of the Next Food Network Star is fun and is the first one really suited to figuring out if the contestant is someone who ought to have their own show. There was just a single challenge, but it was a long one.  Each contestant was paired with a Brownie (a girl about 8 […]

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I’ve been thinking about making pesto stuffed mushrooms for a while now, at least since considering the dish as worthy of a Food Network competition.  Then I was at the store and saw the beautiful criminis.  Usually they have the smaller ones, but sometimes they have ones almost big enough to be called portabellas.  If […]

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