The Highland Park Teen Film Festival will be at the Highland Park Public Library on February 6, 2011. I have been told that you will be able to meet the creator of Pierre in person. In this reckless adventure, Pierre (white shirt) hides in shipping cargo to escape a couple of angry thugs. Before he knows it, the cargo is loaded on to the ship, and the ship sails off to sea…
Thursday Challenge theme is CONSTRUCTION (Houses, Streets, Commercial, Equipment, Vehicles,…).
I was going to do the house nearby that was wrapped last spring; but I went to photograph it, and I found the photos a bit dull. See result at the bottom of this post. So instead, here is a construction paper amusement park. It was created by my daughter when she had a “do what you want” day in her school art class.
See how the house looked “wrapped.” See how it looked with a mere wooden frame.
I love buying fresh produce at the Highland Park Farmer’s Market. On Friday I bought lettuce (two kinds), parsley, and broccoli.
For more shots Straight Out Of the Camera:
My friend Linda Balavram will be having a recital this Sunday, November 21 at 2:30 pm at Congregation Etz Ahaim in Highland Park, New Jersey. She plays the bassoon and will be accompanied by pianist Kathleen Haynie.
When I was in college at Boston University, there were often free recitals by top quality musicians. How nice to have such a treat here in Highland Park!
Last Thursday, Veterans Day, I (along with other parents) had the pleasure of driving my son’s eighth grade class to a small gathering of Jewish War Veterans. We met by the dough boy (see bottom photo) in Highland Park, New Jersey, one half hour before the official Veterans Day Parade. According to my son, the way this got started was one year the teacher who organized the meeting saw some veterans saying kaddish (prayer for the dead) without a minyan (ten men). So she asked the school if she could arrange to bring the eighth grade boys. In the photo above, Rabbi Shostack of RPRY (far left) is talking with the students and the veterans. The 90 year old veteran on the right invited the boys to join them at a special prayer service the next day in Menlo Park. I kept thinking, but the boys have school the next day.
The veterans shared tales from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. My friend David on the left (a father of one of the boys) recorded their talks. One told how he became a medic with only a high school education. Rabbi Poleyoff, who is a retired teacher from RPRY, talked about his service in Japan immediately after the Korean War.
This *is* a Ruby Tuesday post, so here’s a red veterans’ car!
These older women wore bright red uniforms. I didn’t get a chance to hear their story. They are standing in front of the Highland Park Doughboy (What’s a Doughboy?).
For more posts with red, visit Ruby Tuesday:
What do Monty Python and social media have in common?
According to Greg Jarboe, Monty Python increased DVD sales 23,000% (yikes, yes, that many zeros) with the above video.
Find out more on this Websites for Small Biz post:
★Social Media at Rutgers with Greg Jarboe
And coming soon to this blog, Here in HP, a special writing interview with a Highland Park resident who quotes Eletelephony. Stay tuned!
This beautiful tune, El Nora Alila, is sung at Congregation Etz Ahaim in Highland Park at nei’la time, the last prayer of Yom Kippur. My husband said the first tune on this video, the Turkish one, is the melody used at our synagogue, which makes sense since it was founded by immigrants from Salonika and Turkey.
Hat Tip: a friend who used to belong to Congregation Etz Ahaim and now lives in Israel; and another friend who was pleased to hear it sung at his father’s Reform temple in a suburb north of New York City.
Friday was a beautiful, not too hot day in Highland Park. What a joy to visit the farmer’s market. I usually buy peaches, yellow squash, parsley and a cucumber. If the organic stand features kale, I buy some of that, too. What produce do you like to buy?
For more posts with a little or a lot of red, visit:
Today’s guest is Gary Minkoff, founder (with his cousin) of Grandma’s Original Cheesecake. I am honored to have Gary answer some questions about his delicious cheesecake.
1) How did you get started in cheesecake business? My cousin had the idea years ago to shop, cook and bake with our grandmother–Clara Rothschild. This enabled him to do a couple of things…explore a new dimension of “traditional” cooking, while enjoying hours of quality time with our Grandma Clara. That was a priceless experience which I know he treasures. She sensed that he might want to commercialize her recipes and provided some gentle encouragement.
After Grandma passed away, Fred showed me that he had completed some solid market research/taste testing that suggested the product could be successful. I was not only impressed by what he had done, but as we have gone from idea to an actual product that we sell, so many of our friends, suppliers and technical experts have been enthusiastically supportive. We had some “fits and starts” but we created a business plan and now that we have launched, we are working hard to implement our plan-with adjustments as we progress.
2) Who is Grandma Clara and why should we eat her cheesecake? My mother and my cousin Fred’s father were siblings. Clara Rothschild was their mother, and she brought this cheesecake recipe with her from Eastern Europe (Prussia is where she was lived. She hiked across Europe c. 1914 (?) with her sisters to escape the Tsar), apparently her grandparents’ recipe… We think the best reason to eat it is because it is a uniquely delicious treat.
It’s novel–we do not use any of the cheeses typically found in today’s cheesecake, It has a crunch in the crust and it can be eaten warm or cold. It also has the unusual combination of pineapple and raisins—so it has a great deal of flavor and texture—but no particular flavor is dominant. Because it’s so different from existing cheesecakes, our slogan is “You’ve never had cheesecake like this!” We’re biased of course, but most people who have tried it love our cheesecake.
We have also received a certification from the NJ Division of Agriculture to use the “Made with Jersey Fresh Milk” label on the cake, because our cheese is made to our specifications using milk from NJ dairies. It’s important to us to support the NJ economy-by sourcing as many of ingredients as possibly locally. We think that is consistent with the tradition of this recipe; 200 years ago, our great, great grandparents used ingredients they could get in/around their community, so to the extent practice, we like the fact that locally sourcing ingredients is part of the tradition of this cake.
Last–people enjoy the nostalgic experience of food that dates back generations–everyone has a story they share about their own family’s recipes when they taste this cake. In many respects, we think this in whatever form we serve this cheesecake–that it’s evocative–it’s a conversation piece-so it combines a delicious treat with a social experience.
Using Grandma’s recipe, we created a “cheesecake single”, so that people can enjoy this traditional recipe —packaged in a modern, convenient serving—without worrying about having a large (the original recipe yields a 5lb cake) tray of cake leftover. We are refining our product line to include a cake in that original size, as well as a cake of about 2-3 lbs that will serve about 4-6, and a “party pack” size with 20 slices. We also have ideas for different flavors, to enhance the traditional recipe; we will introduce them soon.
3) How can we get some of this delicious cheesecake? It’s available at the Highland Park Farmer’s Market for the next 3 weeks; this weekend at the East Coast Food and Wine Festival. Dairy Deluxe at 811 Raritan Avenue may still have a limited supply.
We are in discussions with other farmer’s markets, and have begun approaching specialty/gourmet food stores, caterers and restaurants about carrying our cake. We are also building a website. People can go to our Grandma Clara’s Original page on Facebook, and we will keep them updated.
4) What do you do when you are not selling (or eating) cheesecake? You mean there is time for something other than cheesecake? ๐ I own a business that consults to sales and marketing organizations, and teach various professional development courses at Rutgers. Fred is a Chef and caterer, with years of experience in food service.
5) Kashrut? Our cheesecake is certified kosher by the Kof K. It is a dairy product.
On another local topic, fireworks finally return. On July 3, residents in Highland Park and New Brunswick will come together to celebrate Independence Day in Donaldson Park in Highland Park. For the last few years, residents in both Highland Park and New Brunswick have foregone a local fireworks celebration because of construction in Boyd Park and Route 18 in New Brunswick. The construction project is complete, but because Boyd Park is smaller now, there is not enough room to support a fireworks show, said Mike Blackwell, superintendent of recreation for New Brunswick. So the fireworks will be shot from Donaldson Park at the bottom of Second and Third Avenues in Highland Park.
So, since this is soon after Shabbat is over, the question asked will be: “Is it permissible to make havdalah on fireworks?”
After discovering the fabled Ruin Rui in Ruins, Patrick finds mutated pins and dead racers everywhere. Bruce is the last rebel left. Or is he?
Another episode of Motor Wars by my film making son: I can tell it was filmed in earlier this spring — notice the bright red azalea in bloom in my backyard.