1. What is your favorite recipe in the book?

RABBI JANET: That is such a hard question to answer! So many of them are great because they are developmentally appropriate for children and yet not childish – and quite yummy! I think because I cook SO much in the fall and I am always looking for great recipes, my two favorite are both in the fall section. They are the Harvest rice with Pomegranate seeds - it looks so beautiful on the plate, no matter what it is accompanying; and the pumpkin soup - it is rich and flavorful and quick and easy to make.

JILL: It is so difficult to choose! I really, really love the recipes for chicken noodle soup. I love to make it. I love to eat it. And I like to feed it to the people I care about.


2. Why do you think it's important for kids to help make holiday meals?

JILL: I think it is so important for kids to be involved because some of the best moments happen in the kitchen. By spending time cooking with family and friends, kids can hear stories and learn about their family history. Kids might hear about the year grandma burned the brisket so everyone had grilled cheese sandwiches. Kids might learn why their haroset is cooked and not raw.

RABBI JANET: There are so many lessons to teach and learn in the kitchen.Cooking together providesa perfect timefor children and adults toshare ideas all about wherewe come from and what we dream forthe future. Ona simple level, there are math lessons and lessons in creativity and understandingall about our world's resources. And for the picky eaters: A child who helps preparea meal is much more likely to broaden her tastes and try out the food that she has helped prepare. Ona deeper level, this is a place and time to share heritage andhopes and fears.The holiday becomes much more personal - the child has the opportunity to put a little bit of himself and his creative energy into the food that he has prepared. And then - wow - he shares that creativity with everyone who is later seated at the table!


3. Jewish culture and food are so closely linked. Why do you think that is?

RABBI JANET: At a very important moment of cultural and religious shift in our tradition, the dinner table, along with the synagogue, became the replacement for the great temple in Jerusalem. The diner table became such an important place to link our people to our tradition. There are so many rituals that surround the formal Jewish meals, there is Kiddush over the wine to announce the importance and the themes of the holiday, there is salt and challah to formally begin the meal, there are blessings before we eat, to acknowledge the creative energy of God in the food we eat, and there are blessings after we eat to thank God for all the bountiful food we have had the benefit to share.

So food is what links all of these rituals together – it is a meeting place for us as the Jewish people. We use food to invite family and community into our most sacred moments. All of our life cycle events and all of our calendar cycles have meals that create moments of sharing. The ritual meals are an acknowledgement that we as humans have the opportunity to take our mundane appetites and make them into something sacred and holy. We as the Jewish people use food to bring holiness into our everyday lives.

JILL: Food is tied to memory, and memory is tied to faith and hope. Lentil salad recalls the memory of brave and beautiful Esther, a model of courage, fortitude and compassion. Sofganiyot make us think of the miracle of oil and how faith is so essential to Judaism.


4. What are some holiday foods that kids traditionally don't like--and how have you addressed that in the book?

RABBI JANET: The first thing I thought of with this question was desserts on Passover. It isn’t only kids who don’t like the desserts; adults too have a hard time with the flourless, often tasteless endings to these huge seder meals. I love the frog meringues; they are a fun take on a Passover institution. Part of the challenge of Passover is helping our children pay attention through this long evening of story telling. The more humor and fun we can inject in the evening, the more likely we are to have their full interest.

JILL: Kids are probably most finicky about main dishes like brisket and salmon and are grossed out by handling raw meat and fish when cooking. The recipes for these dishes are easy, fun and accessible to kids. One of the ingredients for the brisket is soda pop!


5. What's your favorite holiday memory?

RABBI JANET: Wow – that one is even harder than my favorite recipe! I have to divide my memories between my own childhood, and the memories that I am making now for my children– As a child I loved so much of what it was to be Jewish during the different holidays. I loved sitting at the seder every year with my Grandfather and parents and sisters and family friends, making hamentashen with my sisters every year, helping decorate our synagogue sukkah with all the fruits and the smell of the fresh pine overhead. Now, as a mother, I love the smell of the house before every holiday. I love discovering through my children’s eyes that each season brings its own different sense of the world around us. I really enjoy sitting around the table on Shabbat afternoon, we are all totally relaxed – no homework or housework or outside worries, they are banished until Sunday. We like to play word games and tell stories and share all kinds of fun at the table. There are always new surprises every Shabbat and we love discovering new friends and deepening old relationships together at our dinner table.


JILL: Making hundreds of hamantaschen to share with friends!