Follow Friday: Kosher Style

Joining in on the hashtag craze of Twitter, Kosher.com would like to announce our kosher suggestions for #followfriday. 140 characters just wouldn’t have done it justice:

• @Matisyahu - Hassidic reggae rapper supreme…and not twitterrer extraordinaire, Matis updates his own account via TwitterBerry quite a bit.
• @YeahThatsKosher - Wonderful resource for kosher travel blogging tips.
• @AskMoses - Not food per se, though Moses gives us great live answers to our kosher conundrums 24/6.
• @Babka - Our latest twitter account, with nothing but the most exciting events in baked goodness.
• @Nossonzand - Jewish rapper who recently toured around the USA a few months ago.

7 Yummiest Passover Treats

Hurry children! Find that afikomen, pour the wine, and gather round… it’s Passover time again! Get prepared to stuff your gourd as we showcase some of Passover’s most favored treats.

Matzah: No passover is complete without matzah. Now I’m not talking the more digestable egg matzah…I’m talking straight-up, cardboard, take it like a man matzah.

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Tam Tam: With the disappointment of the Manaschewitz plant not reaching full capacity last year, everyone’s eagerly anticipating these matzah-like cracker creations. It would be safe to say our intestines rarely feel the same love… party on!

Horseradish: Part of the traditional seder plate, moror (or raw horseradish) is capable of bringing even the toughest man in the bunch to tears.

The Hillel Sandwich: Hillel used to say of his creation, the world’s oldest sandwhich, “Man this thing is spicy!” Okay, maybe he didn’t. Still, you can’t ignore the alluring combination of matzah, moror and charoset sandwich.

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Brisket: Nothing says “I love you” like the breast of a cow–or maybe that’s diamonds. Anyhow, this is one of the more hearty servings of Passover and not just a favorite treat of Texans.

Passover Pizza: Come on, you know you buy this every year. You know it isn’t pizza but the matrix tricks your mind into believing that it is pizza. And after your 10th box of matzah, what is there to complain about? It isn’t half bad.

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Kosher Wine: There are some wonderful kosher wines out there just waiting to be tried. Have your 4 required l’chaims and then some.  .

Passover Store Grand Opening

Are you ready for some crazy matzo action? Quick, eat all the bread you can! Passover is just around the corner and Kosher.com is offering some wonderful deals to ensure you are good and ready. We’ve opened a Passover Store for our  Manhattan clientele (Manhattan customers have the added perk of free delivery) and for those of you ordering from outside of the city, we have a National Passover Store. You’ll be able to start placing your orders March 1st.

“We have many clients in the New York area who prefer quick shipping of their meat, perishable goods and large holiday orders, and enjoy the convenience of online grocery shopping,” said E-commerce Manager Brian Cooper. “Since we are based in the area, we decided to offer this premium service to the local community at no charge.”

You’ll be able to find everything you need for Passover in one location — the web’s largest online kosher supermarket. Kosher.com offers an enormous selection of perishable and non-perishable foods.

15 Funny Kosher Moments in Pics

Do a search on Flickr for images associated with the keyword “Kosher” and you’ll find some interesting examples. I was surprised by such a simple word, even one steeped in culture and tradition, having such a committed following. From kosher animals to kosher superheroes,  it seems like everyone has gone Kosher and that its strict dietary rules have found favoritism with health-junkies worldwide. With industry growth at such a high level, I can imagine there being many more kosher-themed images to pull from in the future. For now, enjoy these.

Image: adamrice

Image: kansasliberal

Image: adonis hunter’s ’stuff‘

Image: Scorchez

Image: Andrea (psiko)

Image: jeneyepher

Image: starleigh

Image: terr-bo

Image: Gee Hue

Image: pinelife

Image: A.Currell

Image: Verbal Jam

Image: Photopia

Image: dogfaceboy

Image: marm

The Big Babka!

It’s no secret that we New Yorkers are proud of our fine city.  However, ask the average New Yorker on the street if they’ve been to the Statue of Liberty, and chances are that they haven’t. Not only that, the average New Yorker squirms when they hear their home referred to as The Big Apple. People don’t really call it that around here. No way!

So let’s try this. Everyone, not just New Yorkers, loves a good babka:

As a matter-of- fact, I bet New Yorker’s consume larger quantities of these chocolate treats than they do apples.  Therefore, we here at Kosher.com will be ignoring The Big Apple moniker and instead honoring one of the city’s finest deserts by referring to New York as The Big Babka.

To help us celebrate, if you are a resident of Manhattan, please send in pictures of your best babka (one you’ve made or from your favorite bakery, and please keep it clean kids) or if you can’t get your hands on a babka, an entertaining pic of you asking for one will do. We’ll be giving away 10 babkas to the Manhattan residents with the finest pics (they will be posted here). Remember, creativity counts! You can leave your entries as comments here, by sending them to our twitter account, by joining and submitting to the Flickr group pool, or by way of a Kosher.com Facebook event we’ve set up. [image credit]

7 Reasons Obama has Gone Kosher

In an effort to better prepare himself for the grueling emotional and physical strain of the Presidency, Barack Obama has pledged to go kosher, citing the food’s proven health advantages over that of the typical American diet. Though most White House staff (and even Michelle Obama) have balked at such a drastic culinary shift, they should have seen it coming. Here’s why:

1. It was meant to be. How many people do you know whose name contains the letters to make the word kosher? Barack Hussein Obama’s name does.
2. Though McCain visited the Kotel (or Western Wall), Jerusalem’s holiest site, while touring the Middle East, only Obama was seen roaming the shuks of the city afterwards, Blackberry in one hand and bowl of cholent in the other.

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3. Yes, that’s computer generated. It was leaked that this addition to the White House may be in the works. The other option was a bagel.

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4. No one will raise a brow when they see him pimping his favorite yarmulke.

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5. He’s making all the Israeli papers.

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6. Obama genuinely loves the food! Overheard during this photo asking, “What was that your wife put on those fishballs?” “Wouldn’t you like to know,” the elderly man replied.

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7. He looks great with an Israeli flag.

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What if Obama Went Kosher?

Barely having settled into the White House, there have been some surprising developments which may carry serious implications for Presidential staff and the overall running of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Rabbis were rushed in to kosher the White House kitchen, raising suspicions of Obama having an affection for kosher meals or possibly being of Jewish ancestry himself. His campaign hopes, had this still developing story been leaked, would have been ruined. It served his political aspirations better posing as a Christian until in office.

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The video below is of Obama visiting the Western Wall (Jerusalem’s most sacred site), where he placed a prayer he had written in the kotel. This is a traditional practice, the notes later being taken and buried on the Mount of Olives. Though his gesture seemed sincere, a few locals questioned his motives - was this the Obama that everyone expected?

Obama’s natural affection for American food seems to have implications for us as well. Cheeseburgers will soon be served with soy-cheese, expect KFC (renamed Kosher Fried Chicken) to become a government subsidy, all chili contests to be devoid of pork based entries, a significant bacon tax (it’s killing you anyway), and for Obama to renounce his affinity for shrimp and grits.  Go kosher if you like Barack, but low cholesterol isn’t for everyone and you can’t expect unhealthy Americans to embrace your diet after decades of clogging their colons.

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While we doubt Obama has any affiliation with Judaism, he definitely loves kosher foods. Obama getting on the kosher bandwagon will only improve the health of  his other staff members. As for the rest of us Americans, while capable of embracing certain kosher standards, if he ever expects to get re-elected, he better at least ax the bacon tax. That one may even lead to anarachy.