The bestselling author and Food Network star comes to DC in celebration of the release of her latest cookbook, Weeknights with Giada: Quick and Simple Recipes to Revamp Dinner. Giada will be interviewed by Bonnie Benwick, interim Food Editor of The Washington Post.

Providing a sneak peek into Giada’s day-to-day life with her husband Todd and daughter Jade, the book—full of go-to recipes to get a delicious meal on the table in a flash—is, as Giada says, “for everyone who comes home after a long day and wonders what to cook for dinner.”

All of the dishes come together quickly, most in half an hour or less. The recipes are predominantly Italian, though some California and global influences emerge.

De Laurentiis, the star of Everyday Italian and Giada at Home, attended the Cordon Bleu in Paris and has her own catering company, GDL Foods. Book signing to follow.

Sandor Katz is on a mission to get you to eat more fermented foods. He has pickled, preserved, and brined his way to the forefront of what he calls the “fermentation revolution.” Newsweek calls his book, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods, “the fermenting Bible.” Katz, who was the subject of a 2010 New Yorker profile, will lead an interactive seminar on the role of fermented foods in various cultural traditions, and explain how you can benefit from the “fermentation revolution.”

Featuring samples from DC’s own Artisanal Soy.

Cooks and musicians from Beit Shemesh-Mateh Yehudah offer tastings, live music, and insight into the experience of being young and Jewish at the forefront of the emerging Israeli cultural scene.

Sponsored by JFGW and Partnership2Gether project of the Jewish Agency

Do you think you have what it takes to reach sacred levels of gastronomy and be hailed as a “holy chef”? In celebration of Chanukah, our cook-off series will pay homage to the ever-popular, starchy staple – the POTATO. With over five thousand varieties worldwide, chefs can cook any dish as long as it includes potatoes. Think latkes, gnocchi, potato vodka…the possibilities are endless!

If you are interested in registering as a chef, please read the instructions and email the title and ingredients of your dish to Max no later than Wednesday, December 14th. Not a chef? Come test your foodie knowledge and sample the diverse dishes. Rate them based on taste, creativity, and of course, overall holy awesomeness.

For those in their 20s and 30s

For anyone who has ever been intimidated at a farmers market, overwhelmed by seasonal offerings, or relegated an heirloom squash to the back of the fridge for weeks on end?this book is for you. From the New York Times “A Good Appetite” columnist and James Beard award winner, Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can’t Wait to Make demystifies the principles behind cooking seasonally with a range of savory and sweet recipes for an entire year of good eating.

Clark, who has written 32 cookbooks, encourages cooks to experiment with seasonal items such as kale, parsnips, mustard greens, leeks, cabbage, rhubarb, radishes, pea shoots, figs, rutabagas and dozens more. Follow her tweets @goodappetite.

When Bobby Flay looks at a map of the U.S., he doesn’t see states—he sees ingredients: wild Alaskan king salmon, tiny Maine blueberries, fiery southwestern chiles. The Food Network celebrity and renowned chef-restaurateur created his Bar Americain restaurants to celebrate America’s regional flavors and dishes, interpreted as only Flay can.

Now you can rediscover American cuisine at home with the recipes in *Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain Cookbook. This collection of America’s favorite flavors includes soups and salads, family-style entrees, brunch dishes and irresistible desserts. With more than 110 recipes and full-color photographs, Flay shares his passion for American food and will change the way any cook looks at our country’s bounty.

The program will last approximately 45 minutes, including audience Q&A. Book signing to follow.

*This cookbook does not reflect kosher dietary laws.

Re-think your bubbe’s iconic casserole dish by creating your own kugel recipe with sweet and savory “mix-ins” and regular and whole wheat noodles.

Reflect on your personal “recipe” for the New Year with an exercise on intentions as your kugel bakes in the oven. Taught by Meredith Jacobs.

Not Your Bubbe’s Sisterhood: For women in their 20s and 30s

Made possible by the generosity of The Lerner Family Foundation
Lerner Cohen Tanenbaum families

Inspired by the produce at your local farmers’ market? Join Leah Koenig, author of The Hadassah Everyday Cookbook: Daily Meals for the Contemporary Jewish Kitchen and former editor-in-chief of the award winning food blog The Jew and the Carrot to make eco-kosher portobello mushroom burgers and basil two-bean salad.

When the aroma of smoked corned beef and the distinct crunch of a salty pickle are flooding your senses, rest assured that the Sixth & Rye food truck on the corner ahead is finally more than just a craving-induced mirage.

Sixth & Rye, DC’s first Kosher deli on wheels, will dish out deliciousness for the very first time on Friday, May 20 at 11:30 am outside of our building – 600 I St. NW – and we want you and your palette to be there to experience the excitement and the unbeatable taste of old-fashioned deli cuisine.

For the menu, pricing, and other tasty details, click here.

Find us on Twitter @sixthandrye.

Celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, by cooking with Mediterranean flair. Enjoy a variety of Israeli wines while learning to make hummus, pita and chicken schnitzel – staples of Israeli home cooking.