I just realized I should have included this in the previous post. If there are any recipes you’d love to see in a Passover cookbook, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.
Thanks,
Pam
New Book Coming
Wow. I can’t believe I posted in September of 2007 that I was working on a new book and it’s now July 2009 and there’s been no book.
Not long after posting, I got an interesting freelance job, working on dinners that were held across Canada. Add to that, the regular job gets busier and busier, I neglected the new book for quite a while.
But since Passover of this year, I’ve picked up the book work with a vengeance. When I was writing food columns, the ones that always got the largest response were the Passover recipes. Readers and customers always wanted new ideas for Passover. Newer cooks often asked how to make traditional recipes. So that’s what I’m doing for the next book. Passover. A great selection of traditional recipes with a lot of modern recipes thrown in.
It will be a push to get it ready and out in time for Passover 2010, but I’m going to do my best to get it done.
I’ll be sure to update this when I have a better idea of when it might be available.
Hope you’re having a wonderful summer,
Pam
Shana Tova! (really belated)
I’d like to wish everybody a happy, healthy and sweet new year. Shana Tova!
Life continues to be hectic, and I don’t find myself with the time to post here. I’m working on another cookbook, and I’ll post about it when I have some information. In the meantime, as it’s getting much cooler in Winnipeg, I find myself leafing through the Soup book and planning on making big batches to keep us going through the winter.
I hope the year has started off well for everybody.
Take care,
Pam
Hey.
How does one get started after not posting for 3 months? I’m open to suggestions.
Two Weeks Until Passover
That’s it. 2 weeks. Over 20,000 lbs. have food has come in and it’s flying out. More on the way. We. Are. So. Busy.
Lots of new products. Some interesting. Some strange. I’ve never tried Passover cereal – will keep a box and try them this year. Have heard bad things.
Happy prepping to you all.
Passover countdown . . .
Since I’m totally submerged in Passover – I thought I’d keep you updated on what it’s like to work in the kosher biz during the busiest time of the year.
The kosher biz. By this, I mean that I (along with my parents) own and operate a store in Winnipeg that sells only kosher products (and gifts!). We also prepare food, though not under any kosher supervision (all of the ingredients are kosher, and we follow the laws, but are not officially kosher).
First of all, the planning started the first week in January. Tentative product lists started arriving from various suppliers in Eastern Canada. I’d already been thinking about my orders since September – so I was ready to go through the lists.
For a few weeks, most of the workday and evenings at home were spent going through the lists to see what was new and what wasn’t being offered this year. I spent hours and hours guessing at numbers and typing up orders. Phone-calls to various suppliers to check on things. Questioning customers about what they wanted. All orders have now been sent in except for the final dairy order and some of the meats.
About a week and a half ago, the first of the Passover products started trickling in. We have chocolates and olives everywhere! The big orders will start arriving in a week or so.
For those of you uninitiated, my little food store (I carry approximately 1200 items) is completely turned over for Passover. Right now I’m trying to sell out items and let stock go down - because anything not kosher for Passover has to be sold or boxed up and put away in the next couple of weeks. For Passover we’ll be stocking approximately 900 items – that’s 900 different items than the ones I carry the rest of the year.
Last week we started panicking. Where were we going to put 3000 lbs. of matzo when it comes in next week? Do you have any idea how much space 3000 lbs. of matzo takes up? In a moment of brilliance, I called a storage company. On Monday we’ll be received a 40′ X 8′ storage container that we’ll keep in the parking lot for a month. So all the dry stuff (matzo, matzo meal, cake meal, potato starch, farfel, chips, etc.) can go in there. If it would just stop snowing, it’ll be much easier to get things from the parking lot to the store.
I’ve also spent the last two days organizing the storage room. When we moved our business 2 years ago, boxes never got emptied. I’ve been able to clear out a lot of room. Thankfully we’re busy - and everything is selling. Lots of stuff will go in the next week for shalach manos (for Purim) – and more space will be available. Do you have any idea how many packages of Bissli I sell each week? 
To add to the craziness – I’m waiting on the arrival of a new, programmable cash register system. So every item in the store will need to be programmed into the system before it can be put on the shelves.
I’ll try to bring my camera to work and show you the progress over the next few weeks.
It’s going to be a crazy month!
Under the Weather
Sorry I haven’t posted in ages. I’ve had a terrible cold/flu/cough thing that’s almost completed week #2. I’ve had bowl after bowl of soup – and it’s true – there is nothing like a homemade bowl of chicken soup when you’re under the weather.
After over a week away from work, I’ve started going in for a few hours every day. I have no choice – Passover orders have to go in, and (warning: this may scare you) some of the Passover items have already come in. I’m up to my eyeballs in Elite chocolates (it could be worse).
This Passover should be interesting. We have absolutely no idea how much to order of anything. Our basic idea is take the numbers from last year, double them, then add some more. We’re renting a storage trailer – where else will we put 3000 lbs. of matzo when it comes in?
Take care of yourself – there’s some nasty stuff going around. Eat plenty of homemade chicken soup (even better if you can get your mother to make it for you). I’ll check in when I can.
Latke Crisp Update
First case came in on late Monday – 24 bags – it’s almost gone. Crazy.
I’m noshing on a bag as I type – they have a real pepper kick.
May have to order more.
Who knew?
Latke Crisps – Now at a store near you.
Every once in a while I’ll get an interesting sample from one of my suppliers. I thought I’d share some of them with you as I try them.
Have you seen these Latke Crisps anywhere? They resemble rice crackers, but are made from potato. We sampled the ‘original’ which is flavoured with onion, salt and black pepper. We also tried the ’sour cream & onion’, which, basically, has sour cream flavouring added.
The original garnered mixed reviews, but were well received overall. I’d like a more oniony flavour (I use lots of onions when I make latkes) – and was surprised by the peppery kick. I’m going to order a case and see how it sells. I’m guessing that the first batch will go quickly – just because people will be curious to try them.
The sour cream and onion had an artificial flavour – something I can’t quite put my finger on. We didn’t enjoy them, and I won’t be ordering any of them in.
Anybody else try them yet?
Cold Weather and Beef & Barley Soup
I am going to try my best not to complain about the weather. Winnipeg (known to some as WinterPeg) gets a bad rap – and this winter has been really nice. Until last week, when it turned bitterly cold. On Friday the temperature hovered at about -33 C and today it’s better, but still a bone-chilling -23.
It’s during cold spells like this that I like to pull out the big soup pots and let a batch of soup simmer away, warming the house and then warming me.
Beef & Barley Soup
1 1/2 lb. (or more) marrow bones
2 lbs. flanken (short ribs, I use “Miami ribs” which are quite thin)
1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1-2 cups button mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup pearl barley, rinsed and drained
1 – 19 oz. can of mixed beans, rinsed and 
drained
18 cups cold water
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
You’re going to need a big pot for this one. I use a heavy, enamel coated, cast iron pot – but any big stock pot that isn’t thin and flimsy will do.
Rinse the ribs and bones. Place them in the pot. I must confess – my ribs weren’t completely thawed, so they went in whole. If you’d like to cut them up a bit to make them more manageable, you can do that now. You could, of course, leave out the marrow bones if they aren’t your cup of tea – but marrow is a wonderful thing. The bones will add more flavour and the
marrow will add some richness.
Pour the cold water over the bones and then the pot goes onto the stove (medium-high until it just starts to simmer). It won’t take long for scum to start coming to the top of the pot. Skim it. Skim it all – be vigilant. Stir things up every few minutes to release more scum - and reduce the temperature so that the water is just barely simmering. It will take a good 20-30 minutes for the scum to stop – keep skimming until the 
water is pretty clear (don’t worry about it being completely clear – just make sure that the scum has stopped forming, and remove whatever you can). You’ll find yourself with a bowl full of scum and foam to dispose of. Loosely cover the pot and let the meat simmer for 45 minutes.
While the meat is simmering, prep your vegetables.
I like everything chopped about the same size (small) - this is pretty forgiving soup though, so you decide how you like it. Rinse and drain the beans and barley. When 45 minutes are up, add all of the 
vegetables, beans and barley to the pot.
Loosely covered and another 45 minutes of simmering.
When I say ‘loosely covered’ I mean that it should be covered, but left open just a crack. I want some of the liquid to evaporate during cooking, but not too much. Make sense?
Add some salt and black pepper, taste, add more if necessary. Serve it up with some crusty bread.
This does make a lot of soup – but on a cold winter weekend, it doesn’t seem to hang around. Should you find yourself with a lot of leftovers, it can be frozen and then reheated when another cold snap hits.
