Category: Fruit

How to Deseed a Pomegranate


Rosh Hashana is full of traditions, many of them surrounding food. Pomegranates are one of the traditional simanim that are eaten so that our merits should increase like the seeds of a pomegranate. I once heard that some people eat raisins and celery so that they should have a raise in salary! Some of the other simanim, like a sheep’s head, I find a bit harder to chew, but bring on the pomegranates!

Growing up, I remember trying to pick the seeds off the membranes, biting into the juicy seeds, and spitting out the pits. But over the past few years, I began enjoying pomegranates all year round, so I learned to deseed them properly. I also learned to enjoy the crunchy pit and no longer spit them out :)

Deseeding a pomegranate is fairly easy.

1. Cut the pomegranate in half (around it’s center, not from top to bottom) and remove the crowned tip from the top half of the pomegranate.
2. Over a bowl, gently press the skin to loosen the seeds from the membranes.
3. Hold half of the pomegranate open-face-down in the palm of your hand, and with a heavy spoon or mallet, tap the pomegranate. You will see the seeds start to fall out.
4. Continue tapping the pomegranate all around, on all sides, until all the seeds have released.
5. Repeat with remaining half of pomegranate.

Once you’ve deseeded the pomegranate, you’ve got to eat them! Continue down the page for some recipes and ideas!

– Sprinkle pomegranate seeds over ice cream or yogurt
– Add to grains like quinoa, couscous, or sprinkle over oatmeal
– Add to guacamole for extra color and crunch
– Add to smoothies for their antioxidant power and tart taste
– Add seeds to fruit or vegetable salads
– Add to chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies
– Add to salsa and serve over fish
– Add to cranberry sauce
– Make pomegranate jam

World’s Best Honey Cake

Trust me. This.is.the.best.honey.cake.you.will.ever.eat.

I could just let the picture do all the talking, or, I can tell you why.

Did you ever taste the classic Hershey’s chocolate cake recipe? You know the one that is super moist and decadent? Almost fudgy? You know how no matter how many chocolate cakes you make, they can never measure up to that recipe? Well let me tell you a little secret. If you look at the recipe, you’ll see that it calls for a cup of boiling water to be stirred in at the very end. That water makes the cake almost pudding-like. It becomes super moist and incredibly delicious.

Why am I talking about Hershey’s chocolate cake in my honey cake post? Well…When my sister sent me this recipe last year, I thought I already had the best honey cake recipe. But when I saw the addition of boiling water at the end, it had me intrigued. It turns out that this is now my best honey cake recipe. And it will be yours too.

A few years ago, I made Martha Stewart’s honey cake with caramelized pears. The pears made for a beautiful presentation. But let me be honest. This honey cake is way better! I decided to take a cue from the queen of domesticity and top it off with caramelized apples, in lieu of pears, for that “apple dipped in honey” finish. Drizzle some more honey over the top and you’ll be in honey heaven! Talk about a sweet new year!

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Blueberry Apple Crisp

I’m not much of a reader. I don’t have the patience to read page by page and wait for the good stuff to happen. I’d rather just watch the movie. I’m more of a magazine kind of gal, and I read them from back to front. I like short articles, little tidbits of information, and pictures – I let them do the talking! So instead of curling up to a good book on Shabbos, I have my trusty Binah magazine, the Jewish Press, and if I’m lucky, a few good food or gossip mags to boot. But I have to be honest. When it comes to The Jewish Press, I only read 2 columns – The Agunah Chronicles and Dear Dr. Yael. My husband always makes fun of me, but can I tell you a little secret? He only reads the classifieds and he’s not looking for a job!

One thing I did get out of The Jewish Press though, is the inspiration for this recipe. They used to have a health column written by a nutritionist named Shani Goldner. I actually became a client of hers, but that’s a story for another day. She has a litened up apple crisp recipe which I’ve adapted to use different types of fruits. I love to make it because it doesn’t have any margarine and it only uses one bowl. Here is my apple-blueberry version, but I have also tried this with apples and cranberries, apples and peaches, and just plain old apples. Whichever way you make it, this crisp is sure to please. You can serve it up as a side dish, or for dessert topped with vanilla ice cream.

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Honey Roasted Figs


Fig season is in full swing, but you don’t have to save them for the shehechiyanu tray on your Rosh Hashana table. While dried figs are available year-round, there is nothing like the taste and texture of fresh figs – sweet, chewy, with crunchy seeds in the center. Figs are rich in fiber and potassium and range in color and taste. Popular varieties include black mission and calimyrna. My local produce market had brown turkey figs, a mildly sweet variety, on hand and I knew just how I wanted to make them!

Roasting fruit concentrates its flavors for a richer, sweeter taste. A drizzle of honey and a pinch of sea salt, takes it over the top for a mouthful of sweet summer goodness in each bite.

Figs pair really well with tangy fresh cheese or yogurt. You can stuff them with goat cheese, spoon them over yogurt or farmers cheese, or top off an ice cream scoop with their chewy goodness.

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Watermelon Ice Cubes


The weather here in New York last week was truly unbearable, with temperatures over 100 degrees. I am the kind of person that just cannot stand the heat. Anything over 75 degrees is too hot for me. But of course, I cannot control the weather, so I need to come up with ways to deal with it. If there’s a heat wave going on, I usually don’t leave the house. Otherwise, on hot days, I tend to go from my house, to the car, to any indoor place with air conditioning. If I have to be in the sun, I make sure to have cold water with me, and if there is a sprinkler around, I’m more than likely to drench myself!

It was one such day that I was dreaming up some ideas for an ice cold drink to cool off with. I decided to make some lemonade, but instead of traditional ice cubes that tend to water down beverages, I opted to make some cranberry-juice ones to turn it into pink lemonade. I was about to head out for some lemons when the amazing food guru Alton Brown tweeted about watermelon iced cubes. Brilliant! I knew I had to make them!

Ice cubes are a great way to cool down on a hot summer’s day. Here are some other fun ice cube ideas:

– For iced tea or coffee, make a tray of tea or coffee ice cubes to keep your beverage cold without watering it down.
– Citrus ice cubes are great for tea or cocktails. Juice lemons, limes or oranges and put a quarter slice of citrus in each cube.
– Decorate your ice cubes with sprigs of mint, maraschino cherries, or edible flowers.
– Coke and ginger ale ice cubes are a great addition to any cocktail.
– Punch ice cubes work well in a punch bowl for your next party.

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