Behind the Scenes with the Family Table Team

Every week, the Family Table team has been offering you recipes and tips to feed the family. What goes on behind the scenes for this team of expert cooks and recipe developers?

Try, Try Again

Faigy Grossman

As surprising as it might sound, not all recipes that I create actually make it to print. One recipe in particular stands out: I was trying to create a dairy flower-shaped pinwheel pastry with a cream cheese center. I must have tried the recipe over ten times, sure that I could get it to work; the picture was that clear in my mind! No matter, each time, the pastry dough puffed up in a lopsided way and the filling also oozed out of the center. I had tried a lotus flavored version, a hazelnut, chocolate, you name it! I was left with hundreds of awkwardly shaped “flowers” and filling all over the place. Suffice it to say, I finally gave up and changed my game plan.

The Vision

Chanie Nayman, editor of Family Table

Before I moved back to America after living in Israel for a few years, I was on a mission to compile every last hard copy of recipes printed in the magazine. I spent hours in the archive room, searching the shelves for every last copy, dating back to issue two, long before the weekly Family Table recipe section existed. I easily found the 200’s, even lots of the 100’s. Getting into the single digits was harder, and I lowered my head and agreed to go home with the well-organized index as a last resort. Since then, we’ve had one goal: anticipating what you will want to make every single week — Shabbos, Yom Tov, and snacks in between. At this point, I think the greatest challenge is creating one very decisive product for so many different kinds of readers. I’ve always wanted everyone to be able to pull out at least one recipe weekly. My grandmother always says, an entire cookbook is worth it if you find one recipe that you make again and again. My ratio is a lot tighter, but I still believe it’s possible.

Brutally Honest

Rivky Kleiman

Before submitting any new recipe, I make sure to test it. And the most discriminating taste testers for Family Table are none other than Family Kleiman. They are brutally honest and let me know which dish deserves a thumbs up and which needs more work. I guess it’s a true family enterprise….