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Cooking for the holidays
There's a great article in Tablet Magazine about the challenges intermarried couples face when it's time to cook for the holidays. It also has some scrumptious-looking recipes: Moroccan harira, a hearty vegetable stew, a brisket, and a sweet noodle kugel.
For the brisket, you can substitute a firm tofu or seitan, and bake it for around 30 minutes rather than 4 hours. Marinating the tofu or seitan in the sauce in the refrigerator overnight will intensify the flavors.
The other two are vegetarian (use vegetable broth in the harira). I've been pretty lucky when it comes to cooking for the holidays. The High Holidays don't pose much of a problem for me, as my boyfriend's mother has the family over for dinner, and there aren't any special restrictions on the types of food that you can eat. For me, the need to respect both traditions comes to a head during Passover, which sometimes overlaps with Easter. Not being able to eat chametz at my lolas' houses makes for some creative finagling, especially when freshly-fried lumpia, wontons, and a great steaming wok full of pancit sit on the table, beckoning for me to eat some. The rules (at least, my lolas' rules) of hospitality dictate that guests can't go hungry; conversely, it's rude for guests not to take any food. The solution that's worked so far for us is to make a pan of matzah lasagna and bring it to her house. It usually disappears faster than you can say aiyiyi. It's gotten to the point where my cousins won't let us in the door without it ("Oooh, it's Passover? Did you bring matzah lasagna again?"). A family that adores matzah? I can live with that!Perhaps next year I can try riffing on a popular snack that my lola makes. Instead of frying wonton wrappers and then tossing them in cinnamon sugar, I can fry matzah and toss the pieces in cinnamon sugar... L'shanah tovah! May you have a sweet and happy year!
For the brisket, you can substitute a firm tofu or seitan, and bake it for around 30 minutes rather than 4 hours. Marinating the tofu or seitan in the sauce in the refrigerator overnight will intensify the flavors.
The other two are vegetarian (use vegetable broth in the harira). I've been pretty lucky when it comes to cooking for the holidays. The High Holidays don't pose much of a problem for me, as my boyfriend's mother has the family over for dinner, and there aren't any special restrictions on the types of food that you can eat. For me, the need to respect both traditions comes to a head during Passover, which sometimes overlaps with Easter. Not being able to eat chametz at my lolas' houses makes for some creative finagling, especially when freshly-fried lumpia, wontons, and a great steaming wok full of pancit sit on the table, beckoning for me to eat some. The rules (at least, my lolas' rules) of hospitality dictate that guests can't go hungry; conversely, it's rude for guests not to take any food. The solution that's worked so far for us is to make a pan of matzah lasagna and bring it to her house. It usually disappears faster than you can say aiyiyi. It's gotten to the point where my cousins won't let us in the door without it ("Oooh, it's Passover? Did you bring matzah lasagna again?"). A family that adores matzah? I can live with that!Perhaps next year I can try riffing on a popular snack that my lola makes. Instead of frying wonton wrappers and then tossing them in cinnamon sugar, I can fry matzah and toss the pieces in cinnamon sugar... L'shanah tovah! May you have a sweet and happy year!
