Jewish Holiday Cookbook

I have to tell you that the recipes in this book are a Godsend. My favorites are the matzoh/spinach/tomato pie and the zippy cranberry potroast. They are real crowd pleasers!

This cookbook is one of my favorite cookbooks. It provides great recipes within the context of each jewish holiday. I find myself reading it before each holiday and it learning new things about the holiday itself.

Ms. Greene combines inventiveness with tradition. I used this book as one of my resources for compiling a menu for a Passover Seder twelve years ago. My friend Barbara Podell was taking a closer look at her Jewish heritage (she had been raised Episcopalian, but her paternal grandparents were Russian Jews) and we became "co-caterers" for what has become THE spiritual and social event of the year for our family of friends. Since I am not Jewish, but I wanted to be as authentic and Kosher as possible, I was happy that Gloria included historical background and symbology for the Seder plate and for traditions behind both Ashkenasic and Sephardic foods, such as the "Long Roasted Eggs," which our friends look forward to each year as a very special part of our Seder (which we call "dinner with a script"). Before reading her book, I didn't know about Sephardic Jews and the differences in the ingredients they use. Gloria writes with a friendly tone and a light touch, which I found encouraging since I was neophyte to Jewish cooking styles. If you have to pick only one book, this is the ONE!