This web site is dedicated to
the two women in my life who most influenced my cooking. One of them
was my mother- in-law, Bubbe (pronounced bub-bee and meaning Grandmother)
Lottie, for whom this site is named and the other is my mother Emma, who
preferred to be called Grandma, Bubbe being a too “old-fashioned” name for
her.
Lottie, on the other hand, loved
being called Bubbe and her grandchildren happily obliged her, In fact, she
became Bubbe Lottie to many of her nieces and nephews and to the adult friends
of her children. She was known in particular for her delicious
vegetable
soup (I once auctioned off a pot full at a charity fund raiser for $100
and close friends of the family now own and cherish her precious pressure
cooker in which she cooked it), her
pull-apart cake and her
curried fruit (to die for).
My mother was an excellent cook. She
was a perfectionist who would experiment with recipes until they rewarded
her with a dish that met her very high standards. (See
“Emma Conquers
the Knaidel”). She used only the best of ingredients, never substituted
margarine for butter, skim milk for regular, cheaper cuts of meat for the
best, etc. and her fruits and vegetables were always the freshest possible. Every
meal was a feast; every bite delicious.
The subject of Jewish cooking
always includes the question of
“keeping kosher.” For many people,
kosher is as kosher does. My mother-in-law kept her home strictly kosher,
but would eat certain “traif” (forbidden) foods in restaurants. My mother’s
kitchen was not officially kosher, although her cooking style was.
This site will include many
of both Lottie’s and Emma’s time-tested and favorite recipes, as well as
a lifetime collection of treasured Jewish recipes, both for daily cooking
and for holidays. Of course, this brings up the question of what is
a Jewish recipe. The best answer I have is that it meets one or more
certain criteria. One of those is that it is attached to a religious holiday. Another
is that somehow it has become a traditional food. Another is that it
is a food you ate in your Jewish mother’s or grandmother’s kitchen and so
for you it is a part of your culture and heritage. And last, it must meet
the standards of kashrut.
