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Dance a little, nosh a lot

April 30, 2023

By Penny E. Schwartz

Correspondent

The aroma of Jewish foods and the lively sounds of klezmer music will fill Clubhouse 1 in Laguna Woods as the Jewish Food Festival returns Sunday, April 30, with a cornucopia of traditional and favorite palate pleasers.

The third edition of this popular fest is back after a three-year pandemic hiatus. It was last held in 2019, with more than 1,200 hungry eaters in attendance. The festival takes place from 5-8 p.m. in the Clubhouse 1 Main Lounge and patio.

Sponsored by the Reform Temple of Laguna Woods, the festival includes the participation of other Village Jewish organizations such as ORT America, Hadassah, the National Council of Jewish Women and the Shalom Club, as well as the Chabad Jewish Center of Aliso Viejo and Laguna Woods and the Laguna Woods Friends of Jewish Federation of Orange County.

“It’s an opportunity for all the Jewish organizations in the Village to cooperate in providing a good three hours of food and fun,” said Lynne Rosenstein, chair of the event.

The Jewish Food Festival in Laguna Woods drew more than 1,000 people in 2018 and 2019. This year’s festival, scheduled for Sunday, April 30, in Clubhouse 1, will have food, music, dancing and magic.
(Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)

An assortment of bagels sits on a tray at the Jewish Food Festival, organized by the Reform Temple of Laguna Woods, in April 2018. This year’s festival will offer brisket on a Kaiser roll, pastrami on rye and, of course, bagels and lox with a schmear of cream cheese, plus many more delicacies.
(Photo By Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)

A bagel with lox at the Jewish Food Festival in Laguna Woods.
(Photo By Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)

A pastrami sandwich with coleslaw and a kosher pickle at the Jewish Food Festival in Laguna Woods.
(Photo By Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)

Rugelach, filled baked pastries
(Courtesy photo)

Mandelbrot, traditional Jewish cookies
(Courtesy photo)

Sour Cream Coffee Cake
(Courtesy photo)

Israeli dance lessons are on tap at the Jewish Food Festival, along with a klezmer band and, of course, lots of food and drink, at Clubhouse 1 on April 30, sponsored by the Reform Temple of Laguna Woods.
(Courtesy of Lynne Rosenstein)

Faye Alexiev selects a bagel with lox at the inaugural Jewish Food Festival in Laguna Woods in 2018. The food festival returns this year Sunday, April 30, to Clubhouse 1, sponsored by the Reform Temple of Laguna Woods.
(Photo By Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)

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Diners can nosh on delicatessen delicacies to the upbeat music of the Shtetl Menschen Klezmer Band from Long Beach. Close-up magician Nate Kvetny, a temple member, will also entertain the crowd, with intervals of Israeli dancing led by temple member and dance instructor Rebeca Gilad.

A silent auction will feature around 100 gift cards for restaurants, stores and markets as well as donated artwork and jewelry.

Rosenstein, former president of the Reform Temple, participated in a similar festival in her previous home in Bakersfield.

“It was fun and successful and served as an introduction to the Jewish community in a place where not many Jews lived,” she said. “Here it provides an opportunity for all the Village Jewish groups to do something cooperative and makes for a wonderful feeling of togetherness.”

It also introduces people not familiar with Jewish food to a great variety of it, she said.

The sandwich menu includes brisket on a Kaiser roll and pastrami on rye, both served with coleslaw and dill pickle. Lox with a schmear of cream cheese on a bagel is dressed with tomato, onion and coleslaw. Barbecued kosher-style hot dogs will be accompanied by chips.

The brisket and coleslaw are being purchased from Jolanda’s Cafe & Catering. Kosher Bite Deli is donating the pickles.

Home-baked goods will feature traditional rugelach (rolled pastries filled with fruit), sour cream coffee cake and Mandelbrot (sweet crispy biscuits) made from recipes provided by temple members.

Also for sale will be chicken soup with matzo balls and small challahs (braided breads) made by Chabad, noodle kugel (pudding) from ORT, halvah (a sweet, sesame-based dessert) from the National Council of Jewish Women, and traditional East Coast egg cream drinks from the Shalom Club. Hadassah members will be selling the club’s signature Jewish cookbook.

The festival is open to all Village residents and their guests, and admission is free, with food tickets sold at at the event for $1 each for purchase of items ranging from $1 for a soda to $14 for a sandwich.

Food tickets are also being sold in advance. Get them at the Clubhouse 1 Drop-In Lounge from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. today, Thursday, April 27. They’ll also be available there from 10 a.m. to noon. Friday, April 28. Menus from which to choose will be available.

Parking at Clubhouse 1 during the festival will be at a premium. The Reform Temple has contracted with Age Well for a bus to shuttle attendees from the Clubhouse 4 parking lot to Clubhouse 1 at no cost to riders beginning at 4:45 p.m. The bus will run a continuous loop, with the final run leaving Clubhouse 1 at 7:45 p.m.

The inaugural festival in 2018 drew about 1,000 people, much to the surprise of the organizers, who ran out of food.

“In 2019, we made sure to have enough food for everyone,” Rosenstein said.

The committee is preparing for the numbers that showed up that year. “We are very conscious of not running out of food,” she added.

Around 130 volunteers from the temple will help staff the event, each wearing a distinctive gold T-shirt with the festival logo.

“Some volunteers may have signed up just to get the T-shirt,” Rosenstein said with a laugh.

This festival serves as a major fundraiser for the temple, Rosenstein said, promising it “should be a fun-filled, feel-good event for all.”

For questions, call Rosenstein at 562-773-5107.

RECIPES

Rugelach, from Susan Gaile Bain

DOUGH

½ pound cream cheese (room temperature)

½ pound unsalted butter (room temperature)

Cream together in bowl with beaters until well blended.

¼ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt (use coarse salt)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Add these three ingredients and mix in.

2 cups flour

Add flour and mix in until mixture pulls together.

Dump onto a lightly floured board, flour hands and gently make a large ball. Flatten somewhat. Cut in quarters and roll into four balls. Chill dough for about a half hour (will be easier to roll out).

FILLING

1 cup well-chopped walnuts

6 tablespoons brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¾ cup dark raisins (If doing log-shaped dough, raisins will need to be chopped or cut in half.)

While the dough is chilling, mix the walnuts, brown sugar cinnamon and dark raisins together and set aside.

Prepare the jam* and set aside, the cinnamon sugar mixture* and set aside and the egg wash*and set aside.

*Apricot jam: Mix about ¾ cup jam and 1 teaspoon water combined with a fork until smooth enough for spreading.

*Cinnamon mixture: 1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed with 3 tablespoons white sugar for sprinkling. (I put this into a jar that sprinkles.)

*Egg wash: Crack egg and put in bowl. Add about half a shell filled with some water. Beat with a fork. (This is used for brushing onto prepared rugelach.)

Once the dough is a little firm, roll into approximately a 9-inch circle on a floured board.

Spread on apricot jam gently so as not to tear dough. (If jam needs more thinning so as not to tear dough, add a little more water.)

Sprinkle nut mixture over top. Gently press into dough.

Sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar mixture on top of that.

Cut a circle of dough gently in half and each half in half.

Then each quarter gets cut into three pie-slice shapes (triangles.)

The fun begins. Roll up from outside edge to middle. Curve ends a little (kind of like a crescent) and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and chill.

Brush egg wash onto each piece. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mixture on top.

Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned, about 25 minutes, maybe a little more. Rotate cookie sheets if the top is browning faster than the bottom.

Remove from cookie sheets and cool on racks.

*****

Mandelbrot, from Lynne Rosenstein

INGREDIENTS

1 cup oil

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1tablespoon almond extract

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 cup toasted slivered almonds

Mixed cinnamon and sugar

PROCEDURE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla and almond extract.

Add dry ingredients and mix well at low speed.

Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour or overnight.

With floured hands, shape three logs 2 inches wide on a lightly greased cookie sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cool for about 15-20 minutes.

Cut ¾-inch slices and place on side on cookie sheet and bake for an additional 10 minutes on each side.

Watch to make sure they don’t get too brown.

*****

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Use three 8” x 8” square foil pans

Or one tube pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups sour cream

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ pound butter = 2 sticks (room temperature)

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs

3 cups flour

FILLING

½ cup sugar

2 teaspoon cinnamon

4 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Mix sour cream and baking soda together and set aside.

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla together. Add eggs one at a time and sour cream mixture.

Sift flour and add to creamed mixture.

Mix filling together.

Fill each greased pan half with the batter; sprinkle half the filling on top, fill with remaining batter and top with remaining filling.

With a knife cut through batter to swirl.

Bake Tube pan at 350 for 50 minutes or until done.

Bake 8-inch squares at 350 for 30 minutes or until done.

Orange County Register

News Details

Dance a little, nosh a lot

By Penny E. Schwartz

Correspondent

RECIPES

Rugelach, from Susan Gaile Bain

Mandelbrot, from Lynne Rosenstein

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

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