The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

The Royal Recipe by Elana Rubinstein, illustrated by Jennifer Naalchigar Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org Saralee Siegel is back again in The Royal Recipe ! We last met Saralee with her super nose at Hanukkah, when she traveled back in time to meet her great grandmother, in A Donut in Time . Now we are back at the Siegel House Restaurant with Saralee and her family. Her grandfather, Zadie owns the restaurant and Saralee assists him in the kitchen. In this novel the family is getting ready to hold a Purim banquet at Siegel House. Zadie wants everything to be authentic to the historical time of Esther and Mordechai in Shushan, Persia. He asks Saralee to use her special nose to figure out the most genuine hamantaschen recipe she can create. As Saralee starts sniffing, she feels herself connecting with the Purim story. Then an unusual and very controlling party planner named "Herman"...

A Donut in Time: A Hanukkah Story by Elana Rubinstein, illustrated by Jennifer Naalchigar Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org In A Donut in Time , Saralee helps out in her Zayde's restaurant, Siegel House. Noses play a very important role when Jewish holiday meals are involved. Saralee knows very well how important it is to distinguish the different smells when you work in a restaurant kitchen. Especially for Hanukkah, there are all the delicious fried foods with very distinctive smells.Everyone in the Siegel family joins in to get ready for customers on the first night of Hanukkah. They are cooking latkes and sufganiyot. This year they are going to use Saralee's original recipe for peanut butter and jelly donuts.  Saralee has an unusual talent, a super nose, which Zadie says she inherited from her great grandmother, Golda or Gigi. Saralee has always felt unusual because of her extr...

Starlight Soup: A Sukkot Story by Elana Rubinstein, illustrated by Jennifer Naalchigar Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Bridget Hodder Buy at Bookshop.org A girl with a super-sniffer nose, her loving Jewish family who own a restaurant, and her friend whose family own a rival restaurant -- this magical Sukkot tale is pure delight!   Saralee's family has built a wonderful sukkah entwined with leaves and vines and flowers, and they are ready to celebrate the holiday by welcoming diners to their restaurant for joyful feasting. But young Saralee is a bit tired of the usual traditional foods. Standing in the sukkah one evening, under the stars, she decides to use her incredible gift, her super-powerful sense of smell, to capture the scent and taste of starlight and infuse it into a magical soup. When anyone tastes this Starlight Soup, that person instantly experiences their favorite flavor. It's wonderful! It's miracul...