Before we redesigned Family Table, I had a few rotating pieces that I wanted to include on this page each week. One piece was what I called “Overrated/Underrated,” where I’d spotlight a trend and evaluate if it had lasting power. There are plenty of food trends that are overrated, but I was more curious about the underrated ones, and my most iconic examples of underrated foods are Muddy Buddies and Rice Krispies Treats. These ’90s trends never went out of style in my book, and proved to have lasting power.

We’re obviously influenced by food trends that we hear about from people around us, and we saw a lot of trends come and go from last March to this March. As part of our Purim Spoof section in this week’s magazine, we laughed about those trends, and people’s habit of following them, regardless of their merit.

I always welcome the opportunity to make fun of ourselves in the annual Purim issue, and invite you to laugh along with us, because if there’s one message I try to get across all year, it’s this: we don’t take our-selves too seriously around here. Or, verbalized better, what I’m going for is for our authenticity to shine through. Of course we like to experiment, try new things, and hope to land on a new item that will have lasting power. But at the end of the day, you can have fun, but be real.

CHANIE NAYMAN
Food Editor, Family Table

Over the last few years, I fell into drying salamis to put into my mishloach manos. It’s very appreciated, and super easy for me. I think I’ve finally graduated from the cookie sampler boxes with a dozen different homemade varieties and the like that used to be my go-to!

Here’s How I Do It:

Unwrap the salamis and hang them up to dry. Make sure none of them touch each other so that they’re in a completely dry environment and there’s no moisture whatsoever. If the salamis don’t have a string, place them on a wire rack, making sure there’s enough room in between each one so that they can dry properly. Depending on the size, they may need two to four weeks to dry out

(Originally featured in Family Table, Issue 732)