Aviva's Bat Mitzva

Mazal Tov!

On Thursday, 21 August 1997 / 18 Av 5757,
we celebrated Aviva's Bat Mitzva with about 90 of our friends.
The Invitation
Cover Inside

For those of you who were not able to join us for the simcha,
here are some pictures of the festivities:

Berkley Catering provided the food, and many of our friends have asked for some of the recipes.

We have been able to convince the caterer to provide some of them, and are pleased to make them available as follows:

The Menu
Rolls
Herbed Butter

Nachos, Dip, Salsa

Brocolli Cheese Casserole Spinach Cannelloni Tofu and Peppers Spicy Peanut Noodles Tomato and Onion Salad

Soda

Coffee and Tea Cookies and Ice Cream

Brocolli Cheese Casserole

20 oz frozen broccoli, coarsely chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup chopped cheddar cheese
2   eggs
1 can mushroom soup
(I buy the powdered stuff and I add just enough water to make it the same as a can of the American condensed mushroom soup)
2 tbs chopped onion
1 cup cracker crumbs

  1. Defrost the broccoli. Mix with other ingredients EXCEPT the crackers.
  2. Pour into a greased 2 qt casserole. Sprinkle cracker crumbs on top.
  3. Bake at 375F for 30 min. (It really takes longer).

Source:recipes/ova-lacto food group

Spinach Cannelloni

4 500g Cups dry curd cottage cheese
1-1/2 Cups grated parmioganne cheese
3   eggs
1 tsp spices (pepper, oregano) - to taste
1/2 Cups frozen, chopped spinach
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 Cups grated parmioganne cheese
1 Jar Tomato Sauce

  1. Mix the cottage cheese, parmioganne cheese, eggs and spices together and beat well for 5 minutes. The consistance should be rather thick. if it is too thin (i.e., runny,) add more parmioganne cheese.
  2. Drain the spinach well (!) and add to the cheese mix. Continue beating until well mixed.
  3. Oil the bottom and sides of the pan well with olive oil.
  4. Scoop the cheese mix into (plastic bag or cloth funnel), and fill each of the cannelloni shells completely. Place the filled shells in the pan to tightly fill it.
  5. Cover the filled shells with tomato sauce. The shells should be COMPLETELY covered, otherwise they will remain hard.
  6. Springle more parm. cheese over the tomato sauce to taste (app 1/2 cup for two trays).
  7. Cover and Cook in pre-heated oven at 350F for 25 minutes

Sweet and Sour Tofu with Mushrooms and Cashews

1 lb tofu, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup tamari sauce
6 Tbs water
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 Tbs honey
1 tsp freshly minced ginger
4 cloves crushed garlic
    black pepper
2 tsp oil
8   scallions, minced
2   peppers in strips
1 lb mushroms-sliced
1 cup toasted cashew pieces

  1. Cut the tofu.
  2. combine the next 8 ingrdients in a bowl and mix until well blended. Add the tofu to the marinade, stir gently, and let it marinade, covered, for a few hours(in the frig) or all day.
  3. About 10 minutes before serving time, set up your wok or skillet over a flame and let it heat up for a minute or two. Add the oil and immediately add the vegetables. Stir fry very quickly over high heat. After several minutes, and the tofu plus all the marinade.. Lower the heat to medium and contiue to stir fry another several minutes(until everything is hot and bubbly). Remove from heat and stir in the cashews.

Source: Moosewood Cookbook

Spicy Peanut Noodles

3 Tbs Sesame oil
1/2 Tbs Hot oil
3 Tbs Oil
1   Dry Red (hot) pepper, crushed, w/o seeds
1/4 tsp Cayanne pepper
2 slices Ginger, chopped
1/2 Cups Peanut butter
3 Tbs Soy sauce
3 Tbs Honey
1 Tbs Vinigar
1/2 Cups (Chicken) Broth
1 pkg Pasta
  1. Heat the first 6 ingredients oils together in a pan on a low flame
  2. Add the peanut butter, soy sauce, honey and vinigar, stirring until smooth
  3. Add the broth to thin the sauce to "pourable" consistancy, let cool
  4. While the sauce is cooling, cook the pasta. When ready, combine with the sauce and mix well.

Can be server hot, warm, or cool. (It loses its flavor when cold)