Learn Yiddish Already

Remember the first time Harry gets to fly?

[U]p he soared, air rushed through his hair and his robes whipped out behind him -- and in a rush of fierce joy he realised he'd found something he could do without being taught -- this was easy, this was wonderful. He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron.
(Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone by J. K. Rowling London: Bloomsbury, 1997)

You know what I am going to say, right? Everyone together now:

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEARN YIDDISH!

We are celebrating the new moon of shvat (and a New Year of the Dragon), which means that while it seems winter will never end, it is in fact already time to start worrying about peysekh, which I hardly need mention is hurtling toward us, well, sort of like this guy,
and it is time to make plans for spring and summer Yiddish classes.

Register right now for spring classes at the Workmen's Circle! Best and most reasonably priced classes in town. Classes at all levels begin on February 13.

Summertime is Yiddish time. Don't spend another summer staring at addled prairie-chickens! enroll in a Yiddish summer program.

Obviously I am most enthusiastic about The Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language Literature and Culture, the first, best, and most comprehensive academic Yiddish Summer program. The Weinreich program offers six intensive, life-changing weeks of Yiddish boot camp for your brain.

If you are a college student, you might be eligible for the outstanding National Yiddish Book Center Steiner Summer Program.

"To what can I compare thee, Vilna?" Learn Yiddish in the capital of Jewish learning at the Vilnius Yiddish Summer Program.

Or come to Israel for the The Naomi Prawer Kadar International Yiddish Summer Program at Tel Aviv University.

If staying cooped up in a university classroom for all those beautiful summer days is not your cup of tea, consider the Yiddish Farm Summer Program. Learn Yiddish, agricultural skills and Jewish agrarian ecology while working on a beautiful organic farm in Goshen, New York.

Can't wait until summer? Classes at the Workmen's Circle are starting soon.

For dragon-related foods see dragon languerie beans, yellow dragon fruit, and red dragon fruit.

Cold in Yiddish די קעלט

קאַלט װי אײַז

Kalt vi ayz Cold as ice

קאַלט װי אױף דרױסן (אין דרױסן)

Cold as outdoors

קאַלט װי אין אַ לאָדאָװניע

kalt vi in a lodovnye Cold as in an icebox (or refrigerator)

עס נעמט אַ פֿראָסט.

Es nemt afrost It is freezing cold.

עס בלאָזט אַ װינט.

Es blost a vint The wind is blowing.

עס קלאַפּט אַ צאָן אין אַ צאָן.

Es klapt a tson in a tson My teeth are chattering.

עס װאַרפֿט אַ קדחת.

Es varft a kadokhes It causes ague (kadokhes).

עס נעמט אַדורך די בײנער.

Es nemt adurkh di beyner It goes through your bones.

עס נעמט ביזן מאַרך פֿון די בײנער.

Es nemt bizn markh fun di beyner It goes through to the marrow of your bones.

עס פֿאַרגײט אונטערן האַרצן.

Es fargeyt untern hartsn It penetrates to your heart.

זינט גאָט האַנדלט מיט פֿראָסט איז נאָך אַז אַ פֿראָסט ניט געװען!

Zint Got handlt mit frost, iz nokh aza frost nit geven!

Since God has been dealing with cold weather there hasn’t been cold weather like this!

Pumpkin Pączki (Doughnuts) ‏באַניע ‏פּאָנטשקעס

Pumpkin Doughnuts

Sift together:

4 1/2 cups (18 ounces) flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Blend:

1/2 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin or winter squash

1/2 cup (1/4 pound) melted butter

1 cup (1/2 pound) brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

zest of one lemon

12 scrapings (1/4 teaspoon) nutmeg

3 eggs

Mix the pumpkin mixture into the flour to make a soft dough. Roll the dough out half an inch thick. Try to the extent possible to roll the dough evenly so that the doughnuts will fry evenly. Cut the doughnuts using a large cutter and make holes with a smaller cutter. I believe they actually make doughnut cutter to save you the labor of making two cuts, but I have never felt the need for one.

Heat about three cups of coconut oil (or other oil) in a cast iron dutch oven or other wide, shallow pot. Fry the doughnuts a few minutes on each side until golden brown. Drain on brown paper or paper towels and dust with powdered sugar.

‏אַ משל פֿאַר די חנוכּה לעמפּלעך ‏

A moshl far di khanike lemplekh

"An example (or a parable) for the Chanukah menorahs"

That is, an example which is utterly irrelevant and in no way advances your argument

‏דער חנוכּה לאָמפּ

der khanike lomp the Chanukah menorah

‏באַניע

banye pumpkin

דאָס חנוכּה ליכטעלע

dos khanike likhtele Chanukah candle

לאַטקעס

latkes latkes

‏פּאָנטשקעס ‏

pontshkes doughnuts

חנוכּה קעז ‏

khanike kez Chanukah cheese

(I have seen a couple of references to something called khanike cheese, but I have no idea what it is. Anyone familiar with this?)

Our latke and pontshke video is here.

Since we filmed this episode, I have started frying the doughnuts in coconut oil.

Red Rice for Rosheshone

From the Current episode of Polskie Radio! One of my most beloved New Year dishes, Italian Red Rice.

Pistachio Hummus פֿיסטאַשקע חומוס

Pistachio Hummus

1 1/2 cups shelled raw pistachios
2 cloves garlic (more or less, to taste)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup tahini
salt

more olive oil and some paprika or sumac

Soak the pistachios for a few hours or overnight in warm water. Decorticate the pistachios. Combine the first five ingredients in a processor and process to a smooth puree, adding water as necessary. Spoon into a shallow dish and swirl trenches with the back of a spoon. pour additional olive oil over the hummus and sprinkle with a little paprika or sumac or both if desired.

חומוס פֿון פֿיסטאַשקעס

1/2 1 טעפּלעך פֿיסטאַשקעס
2 צײנדלעך קנאָבל
1/4 טעפּל אײַלפּערט בױמל
1/2 טעפּל תּחינה
זאַלץ

נאָך בױמל און פּאַפּריקע אָדער סומאַק

װײקט'ץ אײַן די פֿיסטאַשקעס אין װאַסער אַ פּאָר שעה אָדער איבערנאַכט. אַהײַטלט'ץ די פֿיסטאַשקעס
מישט'ץ אַלץ אױס אין אַ פּראָצעסירער און צעמאָלט גוט אױס
טוט אַרײַן אין אַ טעלער און מאַך אָקאָפּעס מיט אַ לעפֿל
גיסט'ץ אָן נאָך בױמל און פּאַפּריקע אָדער סומאַק אױב עס גלוסט ענק

אנטהײַטלען
decorticate

Bicycle-Churned Butter

Shvies celebrations began early here at Chez Chocolate. We rode up to Brattleboro, Vermont for the Dawn Dance and the 10th annual Strolling of the Heifers. This was Brattleboro's 10th Strolling of the Heifers, but it was a first for us. Every minute of the cow parade was beautiful. You think I am kidding, but I am not. I never saw cleaner, better-kempt cows, and the brilliant and skilled 4-H kids were just kvelling with pride and love for their cows. A heifer named Jellybean won the beauty contest, which was judged by the human Miss Vermont, but the beauty was just all over the place.

In keeping with the cow-themed nature of the ride, we indulged in milk, cream, and ice cream from Strafford Creamery, and brought a pint of heavy cream for coffee with us on the way back. Now, here's the most amazing Shvies recipe ever, and possibly the coolest thing I have done in my whole life. After we had gone about sixty miles, of which five were off-road, we stopped for coffee and had the following exchange:

Phisch and Chips: I think there is something wrong with this cream, Chocolate Lady; it's all yellow and lumpy.
Chocolate Lady: OMG! We churned butter!

It was the creamiest, most flowery, most ethereally delicious butter on earth. I realize this is not a recipe you might be able to try conveniently right away, but keep it in mind.
Bicycle-Churned Butter

Buy a pint of the most bodacious local heavy cream. Drink about four ounces (half a cup, 1/4 pint) with you coffee, and place the bottle with the remaining cream in an insulated pouch in your bicycle basket. Ride about 60 miles, five of them off-road. Spoon out the curds and salt lightly. Enjoy with bread, crackers, parsnips. Eat. Be satisfied. Praise the Lord.

אױסשלאָגן פּוטער

oysshlogn puter
to churn butter

קװעלן

kveln
rejoice, swell with pride

I just remembered the entry on Butter from Le Grand Dictionaire de Cuisine by Alexandre Dumas. After noting briefly butter's historic and literary relevance Dumas adds:

In a few countries where I have traveled I have always had freshly made butter, made on the day itself. Here, for the benefit of travelers, is my recipe; it is very simple, and at the smae time foolproof.
Wherever I could find cow's milk or camel's milk, mare's milk, goat's milk, and particularly goat's milk, I got some. I filled a bottle three quarters full, i stopped it up and I hung it around the neck of my horse. I left the rest up to the horse. In the evening, when I arrived, I broke the neck of the bottle and found, within, a piece of butter the size of a fist which had virtually made itself. In Africa, in the Caucasus, in Sicily, in Spain, this method has always worked for me.
(From Dumas on Food translated by Alan and Jane Davidson, introduced by Alan Davidson, London: The Folio Society, 1978, 83-84)

Bon Yon Tov Alexandre!

Blintzes

Blintzes: The Leaves (Crepes)

2 eggs
1 egg white
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/ teaspoon salt)
3 ounces (3/4 cup) sifted flour
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons melted butter or oil
additional butter for frying

Whisk all the ingredients together to make a thin batter. Heat two cast iron griddles or skillets and butter them lightly. If you only have one skillet, that is fine; it will just take a little longer. For each crepe,pour about 1/3 cup batter onto the griddle and cook on one side only until golden on the bottom an dry on top. Stack the lintz wrappers in a loosely overlapping pile so they will be easy to pick up later on.

Blintzes: The Filling

2 packages (14 ounces) farmer cheese
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 3/4 teaspoon salt)
1 or two tablespoons sugar

Blend the filling ingredients together with a fork.

Blintzes: The Assembly

Lay a blintz wrapper on your work surface cooked side up. Spoon about teo tablespoons cheese filling onto the nearest third of the crepe. Roll up the blintz, tucking in the sides as you go, so that it is raw-side-out. You may keep the assembled blintzes until ready to serve, At serving time, heat yet more butter in your iron skillets, which you need not wash or wipe in the interim, and fry the blintzes on all sides to your desired degree of golden-brown nirvana. Serve with full-fat sour cream.

Still working on the vegan version. A gut yontif ale.

See our Blintz video here.

This recipe appeared in Yiddish here.

Vegan Shvies (shavuos, shavuot, shabuoth) survival guide here.
Johnny Cash on Blintzes here.

Khreynbow

Clockwise from eight: beet khreyn, celeriac khreyn, watercress khreyn, yellow pepper khreyn, and carrot khreyn

Here is the khreynbow. I only made five kinds of prepared horseradish this year, and as you see, my khreyn dish has six segments, so clearly something has to be done, but I do feel off to a very solid start. All of these were smashing. The traditional beet horseradish will always have a special place in my heart, but the celeriac horseradish was a very exciting new relish for me. The overall popular favorite was the yellow pepper horseradish, the sweetest and mildest of the bunch. All of these are fond shidukhim for vegetarian gefilte fish, tea eggs, soups, and matzo canapes of all kinds.

Khreynbow

Wash and peel two large fresh horseradish roots, each about18 inches long. Cut them into smallish pieces. place the horseradish in the bowl of a food processor with 3/4 cup white vinegar and a tablespoon kosher salt and pulse until finely ground.
To proceed, divide the khreyn into five equal portions.

Beet Khreyn
Pulse the horseradish with an equal volume peeled roasted beets.

Carrot Khreyn
Pulse the khreyn with an equal volume peeled raw carrots.

Celeriac Khreyn
Pulse the khreyn with an equal volume peeled, chopped celeriac.

Watercress Khreyn
Pulse the khreyn with a small handful of watercress leaves

Yellow Pepper Khreyn
Pulse the khreyn with two peeled raw yellow pepper.

I realize we are close to Shvies and I am still scrambling to post this year's Peysekh recipes. Will do all I can.

The World is My Oyster Plant די װעלט איז מײַן ציגן־בערדל

Behold
This is salsify, or oyster plant. The images from the 19th century Russian botanical dictionary are reproduced from Joyce Toomre's translation of Elene Molokhovets' Gift for Young Housewives. While gefilte fish is not mentioned in War and Peace, it is in Molokhovets.
I made Lena Braun's salsify gefilte fish here. This is not a translation of that recipe, but an adaptation based on her idea of using salsify as the main ingredient. The Yiddish word for salsify is "ציגן בערדל" tsign-berdl although Braun calls it "אױסטער־פּלנט" oyster-plent

Vegetarian Gefilte Fish

1 1/2 pounds salsify

3/4 cups lightly toasted cashews
3/4 cup matzo meal
1 large onion
3 eggs
salt, pepper, paprika
2 carrots

Peel and trim the salsify and cook the until quite soft, about 40 minutes. I had about one pound cooked salsify left after trimming. Grind the cooked salsify in a processor with the cashews, matzo meal and half of the onion.
Lightly beat the eggs, and blend in the salsify-mixture.
Bring water to a simmer with the remaining half onion and the carrots in a wide shallow pot. Form the salsify mixture into quenelles and poach for one hour. Serve cold with a slice of carrot and some horseradish.

Roasted Beets Vinaigrette בוריקעס װינעגרעט

די אָ בוריקעס האָב איך שױן אנגעבלאָגעװעט צװישן חמצדיקע רצעפּטן, אָבער פּסחדיק װי די װעלט זענען זײ, װיל איך זײ זאָלן האָבן אַן אײגענעם בלאָג-אײנס. פּריװ זײ מיטן װינעגרעט פֿאַר די ערד־באַרנעס

געבראָטנע בוריקעס װינעגרעט

װאַשט'ס בוריקעס, אָבער שײלט'ס זײ ניִשט אָפּ. װיקלט זײ אײַן אין זילבער־פּאַפּיר, און בראָט זײ אָן אין אַ העסןאױװןאױף 400 גראַד איזװײך-אַ 40-50 מינוט. װעןזײ װערן קיל גענוגשײלטזײ אָפּ מיט די הענט. צנײַדט'ס זײ אױף שטיקער און גיס אָן מיט װינעגרעט

These beets appeared previously in some khumetsdik company, but I wanted them to be more easily searchable for peysekh, so here they are. Try the vinaigrette that goes so nicely with Jerusalem Artichokes. You do want to try these.

Roasted Beets Vinaigrette

Clean but do not peel beets. Wrap them well in aluminum foil and place them in a hot oven. If you have beets of very different sizes, maybe make a packet with the bigger ones and another packet with the smaller ones. Roast until done (depending on size and age 40 minutes to over an hour) test for doneness by sliding a bamboo skewer into the package (you don't have to
unwrap them to do this).
Allow the beets to cool until you can handle them comfortably. Now cut off the tops and tails and slide off the skins. The feeling of skin sliding off a roast beet is one of my very dearest pleasures. Cut the beets into slices or cubes and dress with oil, vinegar and salt. Add minced dill, cilantro or parsley.

Passover Eggplants פּסחדיק פּאַטלעזשאַן

Some of you have written recently to ask about Georgian eggplant recipes.
I have tagged as Perfect for Peysekh our beautiful Sher's Eggplant with Walnut Sauce and Eggplants with Cilantro Also Cold Fried Eggplant,
which is not Georgian, but Jewish and a very nice thing to have around on Shabes and Yontif.

I will be trying to post as many Perfect for Peysekh recipes as possible before Zero Hour. Love you'uns.

Work in Yiddish ייִדישע אַרבעט

While it is true that I do tend to get a little tense in the days immediately before the joyous holiday of peysekh, I did not think that even I could break a cast-iron skillet.

סקאָװראָדע

skovrode skillet

פּאַטעלניע

patelnye frying pan

פֿענדל

fendl pan

עס קוםמט אָן מיט בלוט פֿון די אױגן

es kumt on mit blut fun di oygn It is difficult (lit: it comes with blood from the eyes)

די אַרבעט ברענט אונטער די הענט

di arbet brent unter di hent One is working like a demon (lit: the work burns under one's hands)

אַרבעטן װיִ אַ הונט

arbetn vi a hunt to work like a dog

אַרבעטן װי אַ פֿערד

arbetn vi a ferd to work like a horse

ציען די ליאַמקע

tsien di liamke to pull the bridle bit --that is, to work like a horse

אַרבעטן װי אַ ייִדענע ערבֿ־פּסח

arbetn vi a yidene erev-peysekh

to work like a Jewish woman on the Eve of the Passover

Mushroom Seitan Sliders סײטאַן און שװאָמען קאָטלעטקעלעך

Top to bottom: poppy seed bun, mustard from 2nd Avenue Deli, pickled sour tomato also from 2nd Avenue Deli, grilled mushroom cap, American cheese from Horizon Organic, mushroom seitan slider, Russian dressing prepared from Angelica Kitchen Cookbook, and the bottom of the bun.

In spite of the reservations I have expresses in the past about vegetarian adaptations of meat dishes, I have always wanted to try some kind of burger, just to see how they would work, and also to have a delivery system for the pickles, sauces, and of course the buns. I had also been thinking that this year, I would base all my Passover cooking on War and Peace, which I am rereading in the wildly acclaimed Pevean and Volokhonsky translation. I will of course make carrot ice cream, which they did not have, and pineapple ice cream, which they did. Another staple in the War and Peace diet is something called cutlets, which seem to be burger-like creations. These cutlets are neither peysekhdik nor vegan. They are my very first vegetable burgers, so I really wanted to go the full Monty. More refined versions will follow, but wow, these will be hard to beat.

Seitan Mushroom Sliders

1 pound seitan
1 pound mushrooms
olive oil (be liberal)
about 2/3 of one large onion, (1 cup diced)
balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon caraway
3 dried red chile pods
1/4 cup sesame seeds
6 black peppercorns
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme

1/2 cup cooked amaranth (more might have been good)
1/2 cup cooked rice
1/4 cup grated parmigiano (omit for vegan sliders, and increase miso)
2 eggs (omit for vegan sliders and increase cooked amaranth)
1 stalk celery (3/8 cup minced)
1 small carrot (3/8 cups minced)
The remaining part of the onion (3/8 cup minced)
olive oil (be liberal)
several sprigs parsley (1/4 cup minced. More would have been nice)
1/4 cup brown rice miso or other dark miso

Chickpea flour for dredging

Grind the seitan to a gravelly texture. Dice the mushrooms and cook with the onion in a liberal amount of olive oil over high heat until reduced and dry. deglaze with a splash of blasmic vinegar and add to the seitan. Toast the cumin, caraway, chiles, peppercorns, and sesame in a small iron skillet for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the thyme and oregano and toast 5 seconds more. Grind the spices and add them to the seitan and mushrooms. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse to blend. Form the mixture into 4-inch cutlets for burgers, or 2-inch cutlets for sliders. This amount made ten burgers and ten little sliderlekh. Dredge the cutlets in chickpea flour and cook until nicely brown on both sides.

גײן אױף אַלץ

geyn af alts to go the full Monty

Buns

I am beside myself about these delicious buns. I followed Marion Cunningham's recipe from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book, but instead of making sixteen large buns, I made twelve large buns and nine little bunelekh for vegetarian sliders (sliders are tiny little hamburgers. We love tiny food). I want to endorse this recipe, which yields up a nicely soft yet densely-crumbed bun that will act as an ideal delivery system for the vegetable burger and condiments of your choice, but I must own that it is milkhik as the day is long, and buns are a particularly problematic category since they are not just a bread that might be eaten with meat, but a bread whose entire reason for existence is to be eaten with meat, so really, I have no idea what to tell you. I will just be making sure that none leave the premises unconsumed.

I have also just made my first batch of homemade seitan, about which more later (yes, I am using up lots of flour). I am hoping to be able to make some kind of burger-like entity with the seitan. Has anyone done this?

Purim Potatoes פורים קאַרטאָפֿל

ל אַ גוט חודש ענק אַלע A gut khoydesh enk ale. Blessings to all In Mol Araan for the new moon. This is an appropriate time to remember that the joyous holiday of peysekh is hurtling toward us like a monstrously gigantic chicken (this image, reproduced from the YIVO encyclopedia, is a New Year's Greeting, having nothing to do with peysekh, but that is still a pretty scary chicken). I have tagged as peysekhdik or perfect for peysekh these archival recipes:

Persian Herb Pie
Dill and Chard Frittata
Ratatouille

Watch this space for all your peysekh survival needs.

In the meantime, here is our latest episode, featuring recipes for a Purim feast.
My partner Rukhl is Queen Esther and I am not entirely sure who I am, but I have the bobbly fuzzballs on my head.

Watch 'em All קוק זײ אַלע אָן

Blintzes
בלינצעס
Blintses


Cabbage Strudel
קרױט שטרודל
kroyt shtrudl


Flavored Vodka and Nut Cake
געװירצטע װאָדקע און נוסטאָרט
gevirtste vodke un nustort


Honey Cake and Roasted Trout
האָניק לעקעך און געבראָטנע סטראָנגע
honik lekekh un gebrotene stronge


Sorrel Soup and Matzo Meal Pancakes
שטשאַװ און כרמסלעך
shshav un khremslekh

Mamelige and Popcorn
מאמעליגע און קאָקאָשעס
mamelige un kokoshes


Sour Cherry Dumplings
װאַרניקעס װײַנשל
varenikes fun vaynshl

Guinness Eggcream

Fill a tall glass 5/8 full with whole milk. Add chocolate syrup or agave, but DO NOT STIR. Fill the glass to the top with Guinness. Stir with four short straight strokes. This is not nearly as crazy as you are thinking.

Rabbits, 兔, העזעלעך, קניגלעך

Image from Barcelona Hagaddah, mid-14th century, reproduced from Dreams of Subversion in Medieval Jewish Art and Literature Marc Michael Epstein, University Park: Penn State Press, 1997

גוט חודש Gut khoydesh, happy new moon and a joyous and auspicious New Year of the Rabbit to all In Mol Araan. Adar, (Oder or Uder in Yiddish) is an especially joyous month, in spite of the saying אָדר ניע ברודער Uder nye Bruder "Adar is no brother" referring to the cold, slushy, and generally miserable weather we are likely enough to face at this time of year.

This is a good time to recall that rabbits are positively hopping with significance in Jewish art, most notably in hagaddahs, in which we see rabbits employing their skill and speed to evade the fierce hounds who pursue them. In Dreams of Subversion in Medieval Jewish Art and Literature, Marc Michael Epstein explains the subversive nature of some of these illustrations, like the amazing picture reproduced above in which a repentant hound serves wine to an enthroned rabbit. Take that, dawgs!

Prague Hagaddah 1526, reproduced from Epstein

And, speaking of Hagaddahs, I'm sure I hardly need remind you that the joyous holiday of Passover is hurtling toward us like a pack of ravenous hounds and we must need employ all our skill and speed to prepare.

האָז
hoz hare

העזעלע
hezele little hare, bunny

קניגל
kinigl rabbit


兔子
tu4zi rabbit

Snow in Yiddish ייִדישער שנײ

שנײ
shney
snow

עס גײט אַ שנײ
es geyt a shney
it is snowing

זאַװערוכע
zaverukhe
blizzard

טרײַבשנײ
traybshney
driving snow

האָגל
hogl
hail

גרײַפּלרעגן, אײַזרעגן
grayplregn, ayzregn
sleet

שנײעלע, שנײפֿליטער, שנײגרײַפּל, סנעזשקע, פּליאכע
shneyele, shneyfliter, shneygraypl, snezhke, plyakhe
snowflake

קױל שנײ, באַלעם שנײ, שנײבאַלעם, קױל, שנײבאַל, שנײפּילקע
koyl shney, balem shney, shneybalem, shneykoyl, shneybal, shneypilke
snowball

עס גײט מיר אָן װי דער פאַראַיאָריקער שנײ

Es geyt mir on vi der farayoriker shney
It concerns me as much as last year's snow

ער הערט די מגילה װי דעם רבֿ, דעם רבֿ װי די מגילה, און בײדע אין אײנעם װי דעם פאַראַיאָריקן שנײ
Er hert di megile vi dem rov, dem rov vi di megile un beyde in eynem vi dem farayorikn shney

He hears the megile like the rabbi, the rabbi like the megile, and both together like last year's snow

גײ זוך דעם פאַראַיאָריקן שנײ

gey zukh dem farayorikn shney
Go look for last year's snow

ייִדיש אַשירות (ייִדישער מזל) איז װי אַ מאַצאָװער שנײ (װי שנײ אין ניסן, װי ערבֿ־פּסחדיקער שנײ). מען זעט עס נישט אָפֿט און עס דױערט נישט לאַנג

yidish ashires (yidisher mazl) iz vi a martsover shney (vi shney in nisn, vi erev-peysekhdiker shney). me zet es nisht oft un es doyert nisht lang.

Jewish wealth (or Jewish good fortune) is like snow in March (or in Nisan, or on the Eve of Passover) . You don't see it often and it doesn't last long.

ICE SKATING by Leslie D’Allesandro Hawes (c)

http://www.lesliehawes.com/wordpress

האָב אַ גוטן שליטװעגס

hob a gutn shlitvegs

Goodbye and good riddance (literally: "Have a good sleigh-ride" If someone you know is going for an actual sleigh-ride, and you actually want to wish them a good trip, there is nothing you can say. Not in Yiddish, anyway).

דעם בלאָג־אײנס װאָלט איך נישט געקאנט אנבלאָגעװען אָן דעם עלעטראנישן נוסח פֿון נחום סטוטשקאָװס אוצר

dem bolg-eyns volt ikh nisht gekont onblogeven on dem elektronishn nusekh fun Stutchkoff's Oytser.
This post would not have been possible without the miraculous online searchable Oytser of Nahum Stutchkoff. Inestimable thanks to Raphael Finkel and Shimon Neuberg.

בלאָג־אײנס
blog-eyns
blog post

אנבלאָגעװען
onblogeven
to blog, to post on one's blog

It Couldn't Hurt עס קען גאָרנישט שאַדן

מילכעדיגס פֿין פֿלײשיגס זאָלט איהר שײדען װעט אײַך השי'ת היטען פֿין צרות אין לײדן
(מילכיקס און פֿלײשיקס זאָלט איר שײדן, װעט אײך השי'ת היטן פֿון צרות און לײַדן)( ן

milkhiks fin fleyshiks zolt ir sheydn, vet Hashem Yisborakh aykh hitn fin tsures un laydn

Separate milkhiks from fleyshiks and the Lord, Praised be He will protect you from sorrow and suffering.

(From an embroidered sampler dated about 1820. Part of the Moriah Galleries Exhibit of Jewish folk art. Try to go!

Pumpkin Kernik קערניק פֿון קאַבאַק

Pumpkin Kernik

Raw Pecan Crust

¾ cups raw pecans

¾ cups semisweet chocolate

combine the chocolate and pecans in a processor and grind to a fine dough. Press the dough into the base of a six-inch springform pan.

Pumpkin Bavarois

1 14-ounce can coconut milk

2 tablespoons agar

pinch salt

1 cup cooked pumpkin (or other deep orange squash, like butternut)

¾ cups honey or agave (more or less, to taste)

Heat the coconut milk in a small saucepan and sprinkle in the agar agar. Stir, cooking gently, until the agar is dissolved. Combine the coconut milk with the pumpkin and honey in a blender and puree very thoroughly. Pour the pumpkin cream onto the chocolate pecan crust and chill until firm.

קערניק

kernik A vegan cheesecaker made from nuts or seeds

קאַבאַק
kabak pumpkin

See chocolate kernik, pistachio kernik, Strawberry kernik, and Bamboo Honey Vanilla Kernik