Norwitz Notions

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Vegetable Stock from Scratch

April 14th, 2020 · 1 Comment

Making your own soup stock is easy peasy, costs practically nothing, and tastes so much better than anything you can buy (unless you get it from a restaurant). Now that I have an Instant Pot, making stock is even easier. Instructions Save trimmings for the stock pot in freezer Dump trimmings in Instant Pot (or […]

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Categories: Food · Recipes · Soups
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Spaghetti Squash

March 18th, 2013 · 1 Comment

How do you turn a grain into a vegetable?  With spaghetti squash!  It’s lowcarb, it’s healthy, and it has a texture unlike any other squash.  Tastes good too.  It’s also pretty easy to cook, with a few tips. Every squash is different.  The size, density, and water content will all change the cooking time.  So […]

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Categories: Food · Recipes · Vegetable Dishes
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Vegan Cashew Cilantro Parsley Pesto

March 17th, 2013 · 1 Comment

Back in 2008 I created a post about vegan pesto.  It’s still a great recipe, but here’s an update, made with cashews instead of pine nuts.  Why use cashews?  Well, they’re a lot cheaper than pine nuts.  I switched back a year or so ago when pine nut prices went through the roof, if you […]

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Categories: Dressings & Sauces · Food · Recipes · Spreads & Dips
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September Salsa for Canning

September 25th, 2010 · No Comments

September means tomatoes here in California.  They’re still green on my plants but Greenstring Farm in Petaluma, has bushels of them.  Biodynamically (and organically) grown heirlooms of all possible types, for $1/lb.  I bought Golden Romas and tomatillos (plus a few extras for fresh eating) and made salsa. I’ve made fresh salsa before.  It’s pretty […]

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Categories: Food · Recipes · Spreads & Dips
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Freestone Fermentation Festival 2010

May 22nd, 2010 · 5 Comments

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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Categories: Food · Food Commentary · Meals & Events
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Real Doner Traditional Turkish Food (Petaluma, CA)

July 1st, 2009 · 3 Comments

A few months ago, a new cafe opened in downtown Petaluma near Walnut Park.  Foodies in the know thrill because the owners are family of the owners of a now-defunct Turkish restaurant in Santa Rosa, Real Gryo, which I never had the pleasure of trying.  Real Doner is a small place with a deli feel.  […]

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Categories: Food · Restaurant Reviews · SF Bay Area Restaurant
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Shabbat Dinner for 20

May 17th, 2009 · 2 Comments

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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Categories: Desserts · Food · Grains · Judaism · Main Dishes · Meals & Events · Recipes · Religion & Holidays · Shabbus · Vegetable Dishes
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Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms with Tofu & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

April 24th, 2009 · 2 Comments

I was at Whole Foods the other day with crimini mushrooms on my shopping list.  These are the brown mushrooms that look very much like the common white button mushroom.  They tend to cost a bit than white mushrooms but they’re actually cheaper.  How’s that?  The white ones are mostly water, so they cook down […]

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Categories: Food · Main Dishes · Recipes · Spreads & Dips · Vegetable Dishes
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Nut Burgers

March 11th, 2009 · 3 Comments

I’m always on the lookout for high-protein, lowcarb, vegan, and gluten-free recipes that don’t have soy.  None of us react to soy but it makes up a lot of our protein foods and I want more variety.  So I was thrilled when a friend told me about a recipe for nut burgers she found and […]

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Categories: Food · Main Dishes · Recipes
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Gourmet Garden (Petaluma, CA)

December 26th, 2008 · 1 Comment

It’s Christmas Day and time for our annual tradition of Jews eat Asian food on Christian holidays (why? you ask…because we get the day off and nothing else is usually open, though that’s changed in recent years).  Normally we go down to Todai, a chain of buffets with huge amounts of decent sushi and other […]

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Categories: Food · Restaurant Reviews · SF Bay Area Restaurant
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Edamame Salad with Red Pepper or Red Cabbage

December 8th, 2008 · 3 Comments

Okay, so this isn’t a classic Thanksgiving dish, but it’s mine.  To people eating turkey or other meat, it is a nice side dish. For a vegetarian, though, it’s a good way to get significant amounts of protein without filling up on starch. This recipe disappears fast and gets raves (even from the meat-eaters). I […]

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Categories: Food · Main Dishes · Recipes · Religion & Holidays · Thanksgiving · Vegetable Dishes
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Homemade Pumpkin Puree

December 6th, 2008 · 4 Comments

I’m not going to pretend that making your own pumpkin puree is just as easy as opening a can and everyone should do it, but it is more satisfying, it tastes better, and does double duty using up your Halloween pumpkins.  And it’s not particularly hard. Start with the right pumpkins.  Your fabulous jack-o-lantern is […]

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Categories: Desserts · Food · Recipes · Religion & Holidays · Thanksgiving · Vegetable Dishes
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Vegan Pumpkin Pie

December 1st, 2008 · 2 Comments

Shhh…don’t tell anyone it’s vegan: they’ll never guess.  The first time we made this was Thanksgiving 2007 and it (along with all the cashew cream) was devoured. Someone else’s pumpkin pie (homemade with traditional ingredients) still had half left.  In 2008, this Thanksgiving treat was one of 3 pumpkin pies (all gluten-free as it happens) […]

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Categories: Desserts · Food · Places to Go · Recipes · Religion & Holidays · Snacks · Thanksgiving
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Cashew Cream

November 30th, 2008 · 7 Comments

This is a simple recipe but difficult to get just right. You need a good blender and some finesse. I made the cashew cream to go with a vegan pumpkin pie I took to a Thanksgiving Potluck in 2007 and again in 2008, though it’s delicious on anything sweet. Recipe: 2 cups raw cashew pieces […]

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Categories: Desserts · Food · Places to Go · Recipes · Religion & Holidays · Snacks · Thanksgiving
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Roasted Squash & Pumpkin Seeds

November 24th, 2008 · 2 Comments

It’s fall! It’s pumpkin time! So what do you do with those seeds?  Well don’t waste them, turn them into a healthy nosh. Start with any winter squash: pumpkin, acorn, red kuri, whatever you like.  In these pictures, I used butternut squash. Cut the raw squash in half lengthwise.  Use a fork to pull out […]

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Categories: Food · Recipes · Snacks
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