Right Now on Kosher.com

Kosher.com is your one-stop for Tu Bishvat, which begins on the evening of Friday, January 29th. Get holiday information, recipes and much, much more …

	Need the lowdown on Jewish Arbor Day? Look no further than Kosher.com’s Tu Bishvat Central.
	Try these Tu Bishvat crafts; they’re fun for the whole family.
	Make some green resolutions for Tu Bishvat. Here are 4 eco-friendly tips for greener living.
	Stressed? Nutrition expert, Bonnie Taub-Dix, has 8 eating tips to help you chill out without overdoing it.
Plus, try these recipes:
	Lighter in flavor than a beef, this veal stew with apricots and prunes is perfect for Tu Bishvat.
	This zesty side dish of mustard greens and bulgur is a lick-your-chops homage to wheat, one of the biblical seven species.

Tu Bishvat Cheese Course

Quick & Kosher

I had a fabulous cheese course planned for Tu Bishvat, but this year the holiday falls on Shabbat (January 30, 2010), which means that most of us are going to spend the day fleishig. What’s a gal to do? One word: Breakfast!

A breakfast cheese course is not really that far-fetched. I mean all the food is already prepared so you can serve it up quickly, no cooking involved. Add salad and some great crusty bread and you have an easy brunch ready to go. For Tu Bishvat add some dried fruit, grapes, fig or date jam, and you have an elegant cheese course perfect for the holiday.

The secret to the cheese course is variety! Traditionally, cheese courses have at least three different types of cheese including a soft ripened cheese like Brie or Camembert, a hard, sharp cheese like Cheddar or Parmesan and something really robust (i.e. stinky) like Danish blue cheese or goat cheese. If this selection isn’t to your taste or you can’t find everything on the list, serve whatever you like and is readily available. Handcrafted mozzarella, sheep’s milk feta, kashkaval, Gouda, Muenster, Monterey Jack—choose whatever cheeses you and your family enjoy. Finish your plate with some grapes, almonds or walnuts, some dried apricots and you’re done!

If you want to round out this meal, add a salad like this Biblically-Inspired Salad or an Israeli Salad. Crusty french rolls, sourdough bread or challah (call it “brioche” if you want to be fancy about it) represent the wheat in the seven species. You can leave it at that or add a side dish like Barley & Wild Rice Pilaf with Pomegranate Seeds (prepared with vegetable broth). Tabbouleh, a salad made from bulgur wheat and chopped parsley, and dressed with olive oil and lemon juice also works well.

There you have it. The perfect Tu Bishvat cheese course and an easy Shabbat breakfast, to boot. A new Tu Bishvat tradition is born.

What are your Tu Bishvat traditions?

Check out Tu Bishvat Central on Kosher.com for more articles and recipes or head here for your Tu Bishvat Seder or celebration supplies.

Tu Bishvat Web Round Up

Hashkediah porachat, Tu Bishvat is Coming!

Tu Bishvat, the Jewish New Year for Trees, falls on Shabbat, January 30th, this year. The Web is awash with information and activities for Tu Bishvat. Here’s a taste of what’s out there …

General Information on Tu Bishvat

For a general background on Tu Bishvat, check out the Union for Reform Judaism, the United Synagogue, Orthodox Union (OU) and Jewish Agency for Israel holiday pages.

Torah.org has a selection of Tu Bishvat divre torah and Chabad.org offers a variety  of Tu Bishvat holiday insights.

On HebrewSongs.com you’ll find great Tu Bishvat songs translated and transliterated into English including the most famous Tu Bishvat song of all, HaShkediyah Porachat.

Remember bokser? So did Vera Perlman. She wrote to the Forward wondering why Carob (haruv in Hebrew) is called bokser in Yiddish. Here’s Philologos’ response.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency columnist Edmond J. Rodman has an “out of this world” take on Chag ha-Ilanot. Check out his  “A Down-to-Earth ‘Avatar’ Tu B’Shvat.”

Tu Bishvat Kids’ Activities

Babaganewz.com, a resource site for Jewish middle school students and teachers,  has a number of fun activities for Tu Bishvat including games, e-cards and crafts you can make at home. Check out their Tu Bishvat page.

Chabad.org’s Tu B’Shevat for Kids has stories you can download or listen to online.

Aish.com has a cool Tu Bishvat coloring book to download.

Tu Bishvat Seders

The Jewish National Fund has a wonderful Tu Bishvat seder with a Zionist focus.  A great version of a kids’ Tu Bishvat seder can be found at Babaganewz.

For a modern interpretation of the Tu Bishvat seder, head to My Jewish Learning.

Jewish mystics and those interested in kabbalah, should check out the Kabbalistic Seder at Aish.com.

Going Green on Tu Bishvat

Chabad.org’s Nature & the Environment pages look at a Jewish view of ecology and environmentalism. The Reform Movement offers a Tu Bishvat social action guide that includes suggested activities and Torah study sources.

You can calculate your carbon footprint and pledge to “Go Neutral” at the Jewish National Fund’s site. And, of course, you can always plant a tree for Tu Bishvat at the JNF Tree Planting Center.

Tu Bishvat Recipes

Phyllis Glazer  has put together some Tu Bishvat recipes at Aish.com and you can find even more recipes at Kosher.com’s Tu Bishvat Central.