Hey Guys,
Just a quick update... we kinda rearranged the Hanukkah meals and even changed them a bit - I am still planning to get the videos up but as it stands I am working off of my old PC gaming laptop and thus don't have the program to make or edit my videos :( I know, it's very sad, right? I am hoping to have my macbook pro back by next Monday (01/02) and then will catch up with all the recipes. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, I'm pretty bummed my logicboard decided to flip out and go kaput on me.
Anyway, have a great holiday and I will be blogging for you all in early 2012! <3
~Jess Miykal-Li
Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts
Monday, December 26, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Chrismakuh? I Think So!
So some of my readers (those that are closest to me and even those that have taken the time to read my introduction - which can be found here) are aware that my husband (to be) is Christian; his beliefs are centered around non-denominational beliefs, but overall he believes what the bible says (both old & new testament) and believes that Jesus Christ died on the cross for his sins. My beliefs are that of Modern Orthodox Jewish; I believe that the Messiah is not Jesus Christ, although I do acknowledge and believe that Jesus Christ is a Prophet.
Ethan and I don't tend to argue or even debate our religious beliefs. We love one another and understand that our religious beliefs and choices are our own. He doesn't think I am a sinner, nor does he believe I am going to hell. We both believe that when it is our time to go those that are most important to us are the ones that will be waiting on the "other side" for us, regardless of their beliefs on earth. Keeping with respecting one another's beliefs and religious choices we are often reminded of our religious differences, typically around holidays, and most frequently during the month of December.
Let me begin by saying that December is a very full month for us, and this year is absolutely no exception. Right out the door, on December 3rd we celebrate my life... we celebrate me being alive to enjoy all of God's greatness after an assault in 2006 which put me in the hospital multiple times over the course of that first year. I suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) which has brought with it a large and diverse list of challenges for not only myself but those who remain closest to me to overcome.
This year we have a court date on the 12th of December to see where the trial is at with my 2 year old nephew's murder.
Shortly after December 3rd we begin to plan for our Anniversary which falls on December 13th, and is usually just marked with a lovely annual (non-kosher) dinner at Red Lobster (for this dinner I don't eat shellfish or other trafe foods I simply tell myself from the beginning of the evening that the meal will not be kosher due to being prepared around trafe foods. Especially since I am unable to know if the trafe foods are prepared separately from the presumably kosher foods.) This is Ethan's favorite restaurant (from what I've gathered, as I tell him he can choose whatever and he always says he wants Red Lobster) so I have no issues breaking Kashrut once a year to give him what makes him happy. This year we chose to do a few extra things because it marks our 5th year together. We are going to go explore a free museum on ASU's campus, then have a picnic lunch at the park and play on the swings, afterwards we are going to go to a Christmas event Ethan found at our favorite fishing supply store and have our photo taken with santa and maybe look at some fishing gear (we love to fish). We plan to end the evening with the Red Lobster dinner.
My birthday happens to be on December 16th and as such we usually go to breakfast at Denny's (and split the free grand slam), then out to a mid morning movie, followed by a lunch of some sort - this year we are going to come home and make homemade kosher pizzas & a birthday cake!
Also from Sunday through Thursday of that week (12/11 to 12/15) we have tech week for "Every Christmas Story Ever Told", which is a production we are working on as sound techies with Black Box theatre!
As if the week doesn't sound full enough, Friday the 16th is also opening night!
We have shows the 16th (7pm), 17th (7pm), 18th (2pm), 22nd (7pm), 23rd (7pm), 29th (7pm), 30th (7pm), 31st (2pm).
And here is where Chrismakuh comes in to play! This year Hanukkah falls on the 21st through the 28th so we decided that since Christmas is in the middle of that we'd celebrate them together.
We plan to say blessings, light candles, spend time away from the phones & computers, maybe watch some movies and play some cards, and of course enjoy made from scratch meals. We even took turns choosing yummy sounding foods and I found recipes to adapt in to kosher meals. Our menu consists of not so traditional Jewish foods however we both felt that the holiday posed an excellent time to attempt recipes that seem a little complicated and therefore not something we would typically attempt for a regular dinner; we also chose foods we don't always eat. The hope is that we find yummy meals for not only this blog, but for my own homemade cookbook that I am slowly putting together. It seems that the closer we come to starting a family the more my desire grows to make sure our children are raised in a kosher home, with home cooked meals, and true family traditions.
For those of you interested in our menu (and what you will be seeing recipes for come late December and early January) here it is:
12/20 Cashew Chicken & Banana Nut Bread
12/21 Salmon w/Avocado Sauce & Corn Bread
12/22 Potato Soup & Sour Dough Bread
12/23 Homemade Mac & Cheese & Fried Veggies
12/24 Cheeseburgers & Homemade Burger Buns
12/25 Turkey, Challah Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Cranberry Sauce, & White Bread
12/26 Cheese Lasagna & Corn on the Cob
12/27 Fish Tacos & Black Bean Cesar Salad
12/28 Undecided!
For New Years Eve we will probably choose our favorite meal from the menu above, cook that, and enjoy a bottle of wine. Before dinner we may go look at stars at the park or drive around and look at Christmas lights (something we both enjoy).
I wanted to write this update as a way of showing how we maintain respect for one another's beliefs during the month of December. As an interfaith couple we have found that simply embracing one another's religions and loving one another (unconditionally) is the only way to make our relationship work.
Thanks for reading!
~Miykal-Li
Ethan and I don't tend to argue or even debate our religious beliefs. We love one another and understand that our religious beliefs and choices are our own. He doesn't think I am a sinner, nor does he believe I am going to hell. We both believe that when it is our time to go those that are most important to us are the ones that will be waiting on the "other side" for us, regardless of their beliefs on earth. Keeping with respecting one another's beliefs and religious choices we are often reminded of our religious differences, typically around holidays, and most frequently during the month of December.
Let me begin by saying that December is a very full month for us, and this year is absolutely no exception. Right out the door, on December 3rd we celebrate my life... we celebrate me being alive to enjoy all of God's greatness after an assault in 2006 which put me in the hospital multiple times over the course of that first year. I suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) which has brought with it a large and diverse list of challenges for not only myself but those who remain closest to me to overcome.
This year we have a court date on the 12th of December to see where the trial is at with my 2 year old nephew's murder.
Shortly after December 3rd we begin to plan for our Anniversary which falls on December 13th, and is usually just marked with a lovely annual (non-kosher) dinner at Red Lobster (for this dinner I don't eat shellfish or other trafe foods I simply tell myself from the beginning of the evening that the meal will not be kosher due to being prepared around trafe foods. Especially since I am unable to know if the trafe foods are prepared separately from the presumably kosher foods.) This is Ethan's favorite restaurant (from what I've gathered, as I tell him he can choose whatever and he always says he wants Red Lobster) so I have no issues breaking Kashrut once a year to give him what makes him happy. This year we chose to do a few extra things because it marks our 5th year together. We are going to go explore a free museum on ASU's campus, then have a picnic lunch at the park and play on the swings, afterwards we are going to go to a Christmas event Ethan found at our favorite fishing supply store and have our photo taken with santa and maybe look at some fishing gear (we love to fish). We plan to end the evening with the Red Lobster dinner.
My birthday happens to be on December 16th and as such we usually go to breakfast at Denny's (and split the free grand slam), then out to a mid morning movie, followed by a lunch of some sort - this year we are going to come home and make homemade kosher pizzas & a birthday cake!
Also from Sunday through Thursday of that week (12/11 to 12/15) we have tech week for "Every Christmas Story Ever Told", which is a production we are working on as sound techies with Black Box theatre!
As if the week doesn't sound full enough, Friday the 16th is also opening night!
We have shows the 16th (7pm), 17th (7pm), 18th (2pm), 22nd (7pm), 23rd (7pm), 29th (7pm), 30th (7pm), 31st (2pm).
And here is where Chrismakuh comes in to play! This year Hanukkah falls on the 21st through the 28th so we decided that since Christmas is in the middle of that we'd celebrate them together.
We plan to say blessings, light candles, spend time away from the phones & computers, maybe watch some movies and play some cards, and of course enjoy made from scratch meals. We even took turns choosing yummy sounding foods and I found recipes to adapt in to kosher meals. Our menu consists of not so traditional Jewish foods however we both felt that the holiday posed an excellent time to attempt recipes that seem a little complicated and therefore not something we would typically attempt for a regular dinner; we also chose foods we don't always eat. The hope is that we find yummy meals for not only this blog, but for my own homemade cookbook that I am slowly putting together. It seems that the closer we come to starting a family the more my desire grows to make sure our children are raised in a kosher home, with home cooked meals, and true family traditions.
For those of you interested in our menu (and what you will be seeing recipes for come late December and early January) here it is:
12/20 Cashew Chicken & Banana Nut Bread
12/21 Salmon w/Avocado Sauce & Corn Bread
12/22 Potato Soup & Sour Dough Bread
12/23 Homemade Mac & Cheese & Fried Veggies
12/24 Cheeseburgers & Homemade Burger Buns
12/25 Turkey, Challah Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Cranberry Sauce, & White Bread
12/26 Cheese Lasagna & Corn on the Cob
12/27 Fish Tacos & Black Bean Cesar Salad
12/28 Undecided!
For New Years Eve we will probably choose our favorite meal from the menu above, cook that, and enjoy a bottle of wine. Before dinner we may go look at stars at the park or drive around and look at Christmas lights (something we both enjoy).
I wanted to write this update as a way of showing how we maintain respect for one another's beliefs during the month of December. As an interfaith couple we have found that simply embracing one another's religions and loving one another (unconditionally) is the only way to make our relationship work.
Thanks for reading!
~Miykal-Li
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Writer Update - Turning Down Invites
I'm not sure if others have had this type of situation arise but I am the only observing religious jew in my family, chosen or otherwise, and therefore I find I feel kind of left out of situations.
I just had to decline the invite to go to my Brother & Dad's home tomorrow, for Thanksgiving, because I feel truly left out. I was informed a couple weeks ago that I'd have to cook my own turkey and bring it... because all they were making was ham, at first I was okay with this, but as Thanksgiving has drawn closer I have began feeling almost resentful.
I am cooking an entire meal from scratch today, and then I have to cook a turkey and 2 pies tomorrow, plus pack a couple helpings of the meal from today to take with me. Why, you ask? Because ethically, morally... even religiously, the thought of eating food that has been prepared around swine makes me physically ill. I don't know what their cleaning or cooking practices are, so while I know that I scrub everything 2 to 4 times before cooking something considered milk or meat, I don't know if they simply rinse it. I know I don't cook milk items at the same time I cook meat items, and that I never cook trafe items, again I don't know their practices.
I just messaged my brother, wishing them a happy thanksgiving, and saying I didn't want to have to cook an entire meal... which I don't. I know that no one has to embrace my choice to practice kashrut, and when I first thought of converting to Judaism I knew there would be challenges, I just never thought feeling unwelcome at holidays would be part of it. Honestly, who wants to go to a dinner of any sort, and watch people eating what is presumably delicious food, and have to warm up left overs instead of feasting with them?
I just had to decline the invite to go to my Brother & Dad's home tomorrow, for Thanksgiving, because I feel truly left out. I was informed a couple weeks ago that I'd have to cook my own turkey and bring it... because all they were making was ham, at first I was okay with this, but as Thanksgiving has drawn closer I have began feeling almost resentful.
I am cooking an entire meal from scratch today, and then I have to cook a turkey and 2 pies tomorrow, plus pack a couple helpings of the meal from today to take with me. Why, you ask? Because ethically, morally... even religiously, the thought of eating food that has been prepared around swine makes me physically ill. I don't know what their cleaning or cooking practices are, so while I know that I scrub everything 2 to 4 times before cooking something considered milk or meat, I don't know if they simply rinse it. I know I don't cook milk items at the same time I cook meat items, and that I never cook trafe items, again I don't know their practices.
I just messaged my brother, wishing them a happy thanksgiving, and saying I didn't want to have to cook an entire meal... which I don't. I know that no one has to embrace my choice to practice kashrut, and when I first thought of converting to Judaism I knew there would be challenges, I just never thought feeling unwelcome at holidays would be part of it. Honestly, who wants to go to a dinner of any sort, and watch people eating what is presumably delicious food, and have to warm up left overs instead of feasting with them?
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Kosher Thanksgiving Menus... Yes, Plural!
As Thanksgiving is upon us I am trying out a few recipes ahead of time to get a feel for how much "1 batch" will make and how they will turn out.
This year we are cooking 2 separate meals.
One for us on Wednesday night, the kosher menu consists of:
Gravy (Meat)
Turkey (20 lbs) (Meat)
Challah Stuffing (Considered meat since it will cook inside the bird; alone it is parve.)
-I haven't made this yet but it looks scrumptious. I will make it with a loaf of home made challah bread. I will set the dough up to rise in the refrigerator on Tuesday night and then on Wednesday morning will make the bread so it is as fresh as possible for the stuffing.
Deviled Eggs (Parve)
-Ethan makes these, so I was told the ingredients and okayed them as being "parve" but don't know the recipe.
Homemade Mashed Potatoes (Parve)
-This was a big deal for me as I enjoy "dipping" my turkey in my potatoes & gravy.
Cranberry Sauce (Parve)
Beer Battered Green Beans (Parve)
-This is a tradition that Ethan and I began 3 years ago, and it is his favorite.
Corn Bread (Dairy)
-Made from scratch, moist & sweet, I consider this a dessert and will eat it 45 minutes to 1 hour after my meal of meat, most likely as a "snack" before dessert.
Dinner Rolls (Parve)
-One thing I remember about Thanksgiving on my Father's side of the family is the potato dinner rolls. We buy them freshly baked from a bakery each year, and I warm them slightly in the oven
The second meal isn't a complete meal made by me. We are headed over to my Dad's house on Thanksgiving day to spend time with the family and I offered to bring pies, then I realized that not only is their home not a Jewish home (or kitchen) which is perfectly ok for them, but there will be Ham cooked in it. I quickly threw together a small compilation of food I could make the morning of Thanksgiving before heading over.
The menu consists of:
Turkey (Meat)
Challah Stuffing (Meat when stuffed in the bird, Parve if cooked outside the bird)
Homemade Corn Bread (Dairy)
Homemade Pumpkin Pies (2) (Parve)
I also plan to package up a few helpings of leftovers from the night before for myself so that I can enjoy the meal without breaking any Mitzvahs.
This year we are cooking 2 separate meals.
One for us on Wednesday night, the kosher menu consists of:
Gravy (Meat)
Turkey (20 lbs) (Meat)
Challah Stuffing (Considered meat since it will cook inside the bird; alone it is parve.)
-I haven't made this yet but it looks scrumptious. I will make it with a loaf of home made challah bread. I will set the dough up to rise in the refrigerator on Tuesday night and then on Wednesday morning will make the bread so it is as fresh as possible for the stuffing.
Deviled Eggs (Parve)
-Ethan makes these, so I was told the ingredients and okayed them as being "parve" but don't know the recipe.
Homemade Mashed Potatoes (Parve)
-This was a big deal for me as I enjoy "dipping" my turkey in my potatoes & gravy.
Cranberry Sauce (Parve)
Beer Battered Green Beans (Parve)
-This is a tradition that Ethan and I began 3 years ago, and it is his favorite.
Corn Bread (Dairy)
-Made from scratch, moist & sweet, I consider this a dessert and will eat it 45 minutes to 1 hour after my meal of meat, most likely as a "snack" before dessert.
Dinner Rolls (Parve)
-One thing I remember about Thanksgiving on my Father's side of the family is the potato dinner rolls. We buy them freshly baked from a bakery each year, and I warm them slightly in the oven
Homemade Pumpkin Pies (2) (Parve)
-This will be my first attempt at making pies, this year I opted to use pre made raw crust however next year I may venture out and attempt a pie or 2 made completely from scratch.
Chocolate Silk Pie (Parve)
-This pie is a vegan recipe, made with tofu and chocolate, with minimal prep time, and no oven time. I will be using a graham cracker crust that is pre cooked.
Rice Crispy Treats (Parve)
-Yummy treat that packages well and keeps for a few days after the holiday.
The second meal isn't a complete meal made by me. We are headed over to my Dad's house on Thanksgiving day to spend time with the family and I offered to bring pies, then I realized that not only is their home not a Jewish home (or kitchen) which is perfectly ok for them, but there will be Ham cooked in it. I quickly threw together a small compilation of food I could make the morning of Thanksgiving before heading over.
The menu consists of:
Turkey (Meat)
Challah Stuffing (Meat when stuffed in the bird, Parve if cooked outside the bird)
Homemade Corn Bread (Dairy)
Homemade Pumpkin Pies (2) (Parve)
I also plan to package up a few helpings of leftovers from the night before for myself so that I can enjoy the meal without breaking any Mitzvahs.
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