Blog

  This spring, Interfaith Philadelphia is sharing stories and recipes from across the region. Today's vegetarian recipe comes from Queenie Quynh Nguyen. Do you have a recipe or a story you'd like to share? Email Liz Royer at er@interfaithphiladelphia.org. Here’s a dish I enjoyed a lot growing up. It’s a very simple fried  tofu  and tomato dish (đậu sốt cà chua) that is one of my favorite comfort foods!  Coming from a Vietnamese Buddhist family, my mom and I usually cook vegetarian dishes together on the new moon and full moon each month. We offer these dishes first to the Buddha and our ancestors, who reside on the altar. This fried tofu and tomato dish is always our significant spiritual dish, and it is a good source of protein for a vegetarian diet.  Ingredients 1 package of extra firm tofu (or fried tofu if you have access to it) Oil for frying (unless you have fried tofu) 1 tbsp cooking oil  1 shallot, diced (about 1/3 cup) 1...

This spring, Interfaith Philadelphia is sharing stories and recipes from across the region. Today's post about making Passover recipes in the time of coronavirus comes from Anneke Kat. Do you have a recipe or a story you'd like to share? Email Liz Royer at er@interfaithphiladelphia.org. I often feel that there’s a myth that food needs to be homemade to be special. In my family we have a range of cooking abilities and patience for crafting everything from scratch. There are some foods that are sacred to our holiday gatherings which are homemade (cue my mom and aunt’s brisket recipes or my mom’s apple cake) and then there are things we get a little help with (frozen latkes or matzo ball mix from a box). I think those foods are just as important. They can still embody all of our positive memories and associations of togetherness, regardless of the fact that they weren’t created in our own kitchens.  This year, while observing Passover during the COV...

This spring, Interfaith Philadelphia is sharing stories and recipes from across the region. Today's post about sourdough bread comes from Rev. Margaret Somerville. Do you have a recipe or a story you'd like to share? Email Liz Royer at er@interfaithphiladelphia.org. I started to get anxious when there was no yeast left on the grocery store shelves. I had been to three stores. Sharing my panic that I would not be able to bake fresh bread in isolation, I received a message from a friend who had a sourdough starter. I could pick up a jar from her mailbox when she divided her starter the next day. Kneading the bread dough is one of my spiritual practices, learned from a Jewish friend, who kneads her prayers into her challah. Into my first sourdough loaf, I kneaded gratitude for my friend who shared her starter, for the connection, for my children quarantined with me who would share this loaf, for my children quarantined in their own home, for those with whom I could...