I would like to share with you a traditional Romanian recipe from my mom Roza Bin that passed away 14 years ago, Of  Blessed Memory. It is especially traditional dairy dish for Shavuoth holiday. It is between a cake and a sweet dairy dinner meal. In my childhood, when I and my brothers were young, my mom used to do “Malai" for fun dinner whenever we asked.  Usually, it’s for Shavuot holyday!

My great-grandmother lived in Missouri, she was a true southern woman. Church on Sundays, a strong southern drawl and the ONLY ONE allowed in the kitchen. However, whenever we would go to visit, she would sneak me and my brother into the kitchen with her, not letting anyone else in. She would tie an apron around us and hand us supplies to put on the table to get baking.

Every thanksgiving, we used to have our family come over and we all cooked together. My uncle was in charge of the deviled eggs. One day, out of all 3 kids, he chose me to help. I was close to 7 years old at the time and he had me add in the ingredients, help mix, and pipe the eggs, which was a mess then but I have gotten much better at it...

As a young child, I was unaware that I was Jewish.  I was introduced to Judaism in 5th grade and was completely enamored.  Since my family  was entirely unaffiliated and knew nothing about Judaic observance, I was completely thrilled to find out that the family challah recipe was passed down to my aunt.  She then shared the "secret" recipe. 

Submitted by Susan Kramer Everyone has a favorite apple cake recipe, right? My favorite is my Grandma Jean's. It's my favorite because it's yummy, but also because I have the recipe in her handwriting.  Grandma Jean loved to cook in the tiny kitchen in her one bedroom apartment. The baked goods that were prepared there were prepared with love.

Submitted by Chaya Leah Bruk, Administrative Assistant for TJE I was never really into baking, I just thought it was something I could never do. When I was in Seminary…

I was raised in a Hungarian/Jewish household, which means we had lots of Goulash and Paprikash at pretty much every Jewish holiday. However, one of the most comforting foods from my childhood is a simple stew made of hot dogs, potatoes and onions in a paprika-based broth. My mom called it Frankfurter Goulash, and it was a staple in my house growing up - 100% pure comfort food.