46. Make Pesach Fun Again with Chanie Apfelbaum of Busy in Brooklyn

I am so excited about today’s guest because it is Chanie Apfelbaum of Busy in Brooklyn.

If you are not already familiar, Chanie is a food writer and photographer who has a really unique way of blending traditional Jewish foods with modern flavors. She started her blog, Busy in Brooklyn, in 2011 so it’s been giving us delicious recipe ideas for all occasions for nearly 15 years now. She is also the author of two cookbooks, Millennial Kosher and Totally Kosher where you can get even more recipe ideas from Chanie as well as tons of tips about cooking, how to stock your kitchen, plan a meal and more.

As we all know, Pesach is a stressful time on the Jewish calendar, but the more I get into making and hosting Pesach, the more I’m determined to take the stress out of the process. This episode with Chanie will do that for you. It’s genuinely fun. I felt lighter and excited after recording it and had that same feeling after listening through again and editing it. It just got me actually excited to cook for Pesach and feeling blessed for the opportunity to do so versus overburdened with chores. 

In the episode, we talk a bit about:

-Chanie’s background and how her spirituality has evolved over the years especially throughout various challenges she has gone through

-Then, about halfway through, the ideas start FLOWING when it comes to easy foods you can make this Pesach mainly out of fruits, vegetables nuts and seeds and it is both mouth-watering and easier than you think.

-She also shares tips that can help you in the kitchen and streamline your cooking experience.

-We go through how to plan a meal — whether it’s seder night or a third day lunch and it’s just so awesome to see how her brain works in that way.

Her ideas are simplified yet do not skimp on the flavor. In fact, they are bursting with flavor and because so many of the ingredients are just fruits and vegetables or repurposing something you have, you will be saving tons of money not having to buy all the processed pantry products and too many extras because as we all know Pesach can get really expensive really quickly.

To help you out further, I made a companion document where I typed up all the ideas for easy access — view it here!

Wishing all of you a beautiful Pesach.