KICHEL (AKA BUBBE BOW TIE COOKIES)

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Going to Jewish day school for most of our lives means Rina and I spent a fair share of our preteen years attending bar mitzvah synagogue services. If there was one thing I looked forward to on these Saturday mornings, it was the post-service Kiddush, or Jewish mini-brunch. They served an array of fishes of both the pickled and canned varieties, greasy potato chips and an assortment of dry, brittle, depressing cookies.

One such cookie, the abhorrent kichel, was truly a hot mess. This is the cookie that couldn't even pull itself together to look nice, let alone taste good. It tasted like sandpaper and looked like a wonton. It was all kinds of confused. 

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CHERRY FRANGIPANE TART

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I am obsessed with Alice in Wonderland.

I'm not exaggerating - I am a woman possessed. I've read both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass multiple times over; I read The Annotated Alice cover to cover, including every last annotation - I really am that nerdy; and one of my favorite art books is a giant pop-up book of Alice from the MoMA. I don't know exactly what it is about the story that causes me to lose myself, but I keep coming back to it.

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SPICY CHERRY SALSA

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There is a magical place in Michigan called Traverse City, and it's kind of like the Emerald City of Oz, only instead of everything being green, everything is cherry. There's a huge cherry festival during the summer, when the trees are blooming and the weather isn't truly heinous. Cherries are in everything, and that isn't an exaggeration. With the cherry boom, cherries work their way into anything remotely edible. This is proof that God/Gods/higher powers/divine felines exist, and that they are good.

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PORTABELLA-VEGGIE FAJITA BOWLS

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I can’t tell you how much I love Mexican food.

It combines all of my favorite things – cheese, spice, corn and avocados and can be eaten with your hands. It's my go-to drunk/pre-drunk/drinking/non-drinking-but-just-hangry food (just ask any of my kickball teammates). If I could eat bottomless nachos and never feel sick, I would sign my soul away to the cheese-covered devil.

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HONEY + THYME BISCUITS

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I have a confession to make: I am not an herb person. I don't like most fresh herbs, most notably cilantro and dill - the latter results in shame, seeing as I am the only one in a family of six who detests it. Trust me, I wish I liked herbs! They're so beautiful, and can totally change a recipe with a small addition. I'm hoping this recipe is the beginning of my beautiful love story with herbs. This might not be the biggest leap, considering these biscuits have a small amount of thyme and a copious amount of butter, but hey, it's a step.

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SUMMERTIME PASTA WITH PARSLEY, GARLIC, AND LEMON

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How many of you are watching (or have already finished) The Handmaid's Tale?  

It's excellent, but very troubling to watch. Even though I've devoured the book twice in my lifetime, the TV version shook me deeply. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a baby when it comes to dark TV shows and movies. When I saw Get Out I half-covered my eyes with my jacket  during any scene that maybe contained a jump-scare. I freaking hate jump scares. 

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FOOLPROOF BANANA BREAD

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My mom makes the best banana bread ever.

Growing up, it was one of her two dessert staples, her other being chocolate chip cookies (sometimes baked in the form of a cookie-cake) followed verbatim from the back of a bag of Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips. Even still, her back-of-the-bag cookies were so divine they never lasted more than a couple of days (especially when my brother’s friends came over). But her banana bread is something else.

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AN ODE TO AROMA: SWEET POTATO + BLACK LENTIL SALAD

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When I first started my junior year on study abroad, I made the rookie mistake of actually studying. My roommate, now a best friend, and I would spend hours on our homework, memorizing Hebrew verbs and studying Israeli artists until our eyes glazed over. Silly, really, to think of all those wasted hours that could have been spent at the beach or the shuk. Once we moved out of the dorms, though, and into the city center, we learned our lesson. This is why you should never live more than a ten-minute walk from the beach.

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VEGAN CORN CHOWDER

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The post-college, pre-kids stage is a time when friendships feel crucial. Especially since I'm living in a separate state from my family, I rely on my friends (and boyfriend, but that's for another time) for the day-to-day social interactions and trouble-shooting. Over my time in New York, my friends have accompanied me to various doctor's appointments that have felt scary, and I have done the same for them.  Yes, we are adult women who are perfectly capable of going to the doctor's on our own.  That isn't the point; the point is that we are there to support each other through the parts of life that are happy and exciting of course, but also scary and upsetting.

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MAGICAL VEGAN CINNAMON ROLLS

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I'm a vegan doubter. There, I said it. I know it makes no sense for me to co-run a (mostly) vegan blog, but, before you give me that look, let me explain. My dessert motto has always been "it's not worth it if it's not real," which still reigns true when people try to convince me applesauce is a good substitute for sugar (sex with pants on, as Whole30 appropriately calls it). Living healthily doesn't mean depriving yourself of every sugar-filled good thing life has to offer. And let me be clear: these cinnamon rolls are by no means what I would call healthy. But, if you have a sensitive tummy, as many in my family do, having a dairy-free way to satisfy your sweet tooth means you're one step closer to food paradise. 

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