About
About The Site
My family loves food. We love to cook and we love to spend time together in the kitchen. At home my sister and I often spend our Sunday afternoons trying something new in the kitchen. My boys (8 and 10) are able sous-chefs, handy with a sharp knife for chopping (though we have made one sprint to the ER as a result of kitchen-knife accident), capable of whisking, blending, beating, stirring, and tasting. Family holidays often center in and around the kitchen. A glass of wine in hand and a story to tell, my father never tires of pulling a meal together, whether for 4 or 14. My mother sails in, particularly in times of trouble, quick to make a pot roast and some homemade applesauce (recipes to follow). My maternal grandmother could out-cook folks a quarter of her age. We’d be in our sixth hour of making jam or baking cookies, the rest of us slumped on one chair or another and my grandmother would still be standing, not a word of complaint.
This blog is loosely based on a family cookbook I edited and photographed two years ago. The cookbook, “Inside the Kaganoff Kitchen,” brought together recipes that we, as a family, have made again and again over the years. Some are festive holiday foods and others are simple fare suitable for a busy weeknight with homework to do and instruments to practice. My hope is that you’ll try a few of these recipes and that one or two will make it into your family repertoire (and please leave a comment and tell me if they do), but more importantly – I hope that you enjoy your time in the kitchen. Gather your friends and relatives around you, grab a recipe and a glass of wine and get cooking!
About The Author
Rachel Kaganoff Stern is a wife, mother of two, daughter, sister, friend, political activist, volunteer, photographer, avid cook, writer, book maker and blogger. She lives in Los Angeles.
Read her other blog focused on her family’s travels hither and yon, The Not-Quite-Daily Dispatch
About The Photos On This Site
All of the food photos on this blog are mine, for better or for worse. I have never dressed up my food, filled the soup with marbles, or sprayed the vegetables with shellac. I make all of the recipes, exactly as they appear here, put the completed dish in a bowl, or on a plate and I shoot with available light. My hope is that my photographs are beautiful, but that in the end they still represent what the food will look like when you make it at home, in your kitchen. The photos that show up on the upper right hand corner of the blog are all mine as well, shot primarily in Farmer’s Markets on our travels around the world. If you want to see more of my photos go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rkstern The food photos are in the food blog folder and are all tagged with where they were shot.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Rachel, your site is gorgeous, and the recipes enticing. Can’t wait to try almost all of them. The photos are terrific, too. The dedication poignant. Will be visiting often. It seems we have more in common than a love of books.
Good luck and thanks! Marilyn
Hi Rachel, Your site is great! Love your stories, photos and recipes! We’ll be doing “goodies” for March Guild meeting – look forward to cooking (sort of) with you!
xo
Sherry Buch
Rachwel, Joan gave me your sight.. I went out the same day. (today) to make the Quick Indian Soup. Rick & I just loved it. Thanks Marillyn
Hi Rachel,
Tatiana, one of your keen, who lives in Hanover, Germany once asked me to connect her with your father… I think we even exchanged emails then. Anyway, kudos to your beautiful site and photography skills, as well as amazing family recipes you are sharing. Thanks, Yelena B.
Hi Yelena: Yes, we spoke on the phone and you helped make the connection between us and our long lost relatives. We are very grateful for the small but important role that you played. Thank you so much! I’m glad you found my site. Visit often!
Hi – I don’t see any contact info anyplace, so have to resort to leaving a comment I guess. I stopped by to invite you to check out our new food photo submission site, DessertStalking.com. Hope you will stop by and give us a try. -Donalyn
Greetings from a couple of Orange County gardeners! Came across your site today and I think it’s lovely. Cheers! [K]
Hi Kim: I’m in Orange County even as we speak! My Mom lives down here. Glad you found me!! RKS
Dear Rachel,
I’ve found your blog once endlesly browsing the internet thru the culinary pages and since I’ve stop at yours I always get back to see your new postings. I am absolutely amazed by the food you present also by every picture of yours. All things seems so delicious and I have already tried to make few of them.
I am Lithuanian but currently live in Israel due to my husband’s dipplomatic mission to Israel. Having plenty of free time I can spend it all in my beloved kitchen. My friend knowing my passion for food making created my own food blog http://www.nidosreceptai.lt which became my new toy. As a begginer I take a lot of inspiration from your excelent blog.
Congratulations on your marvelous job!
Nida: Thanks so much for the kind words. I’m glad you found me!!
Rachel,
Please forgive me for leaving this message in your comments section, but I did not find other contact information. You have a beautiful blog and I would like to invite you to register it at http://www.foodiefeeds.com. Foodie Feeds is a free blog that updates your readers, twitter and Facebook every time you publish a new post. No charge. Check out the site and I hope you join.
Thank you.
Larry Gaian
The BBQ Grail
Hello!
Your site is so, so beautiful and everything that I’ve seen so far has been so charming!
And I love seeing big chunks of California in everything you make!
Hello, Rachel
I, too, am a Kaganoff, an avid cook, and a mom. Are we related?
My husband’s father’s name was Nathan M. Kaganoff and his grandfather was David Kaganoff who immigrated from the Ukrain e to Chicago between WWI and WWII.
Glad to have found a Kaganoff kitchen other than my own.
Please do be in touch!
…and is there an email address through which you can be reached?