Shebrew in the City
Shebrew in the City is a podcast exploring all things Jewish. Combining interviews and informational episodes, join Nicole Kelly as she discusses her journey with motherhood, spirituality, and everything from Hanukkah to the Holocaust. Giving a voice to modern Jews and spreading love and joy, whether you're Jewish, Jew-ish, or not anything resembling Jewish at all, there's something here for everyone.
Shebrew in the City
"I Can Cook Too!" - An Interview with Amy Kritzer-Becker
Guess who's at our Shebrew in the City table today? Amy Kritzer-Becker, the creative foodie behind the blog What Jew Wanna Eat, and co-owner of Modern Tribe. We take a ride down memory lane, exploring Amy's Jewish roots in Connecticut, her dynamic journey to culinary school, and ultimately, how she's shaking up the definition of modern Jewish culture. Learn how she spins tradition into innovation, bringing Jewish holidays to life in a contemporary world filled with unique Judaica and festive food.
Fasten your seat belts as we embark on a lighthearted, mouthwatering exploration of Jewish cuisine. From Amy's favorite Ashkenazi dishes to the quirky blend of diverse cultures that have shaped Jewish food, we savor every flavor. We also dig into Amy's adventurous life as a food blogger and entrepreneur, her experiments with unique Jewish recipes, and her intriguing escapades in Puerto Rico. Be prepared to chuckle over hilarious anecdotes about food-themed costumes, theme parties, and Amy's tireless quest to perfect her cooking skills.
Finally, we delve into the intimate side of Amy's life. Parenting, the joys of Jewish holidays, and the deeply personal traditions that radiate Jewish joy. The journey is not always rosy, as we candidly talk about the struggles faced by the Jewish community. We also dive into an open discussion about embracing Jewish identity, fostering it in our children, and the importance of being resilient in the face of anti-Semitism. So, join us in this heartwarming, endearing, and humorous conversation. Trust us, you won't want to miss it!
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Today's episode of Shebrew in the City is brought to you by Top Dog Tours. Whether you're visiting Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia or New York City, we've got something for everybody. Visit us at topdogtours. com to book your tour today and follow us on social media for any special offers and discounts. Hi, I'm Nicole Kelly and this is Shebrew in the City, and today I'm going to be talking with Amy Kritzer-Becker, who is the co-owner of Modern Tribe and the What Jew Wanna Eat extraordinaire behind the blog . Hi, Amy, how are you doing today? Hi, great Thanks for having me. I am so excited to talk to you. I feel like, after looking at your social media, like we'd be really good friends. Oh thanks, let's be friends. Yeah, so I'm excited to talk to you about your businesses and your Jewish background and what being Jewish means to you. So I think the question I start with most of my guests is what was your Jewish upbringing like? Where did you grow up? What kind of denomination did you grow up in? Did you have a Bat Mitzvah question? Yeah, things like that.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Sure, I love answering that question. I grew up in Connecticut and I would say I grew very Jewish but also very secular Jewish. So I went to public school but we got off for Jewish holidays because there were so many Jews there. But I did not grow up keeping kosher. I thought kosher was something from biblical times until I was like a teenager. I went to Jewish summer camp in Massachusetts and I grew up, you know, definitely I had my Batmitspa. I was confirmed, but my big, my upbringing was a lot of like bagels on Sundays and Hanukkah parties and we'd go to synagogue for the high holidays but also like just to see what people were wearing. So it was kind of a that sort of Jewish upbringing. I grew up feeling very Jewish but also feeling the Jewish, being Jewish was very normal. And then I went to college in Georgia and I realized like, oh, some people had never met a Jewish person before and had no idea what to expect there. So, so that was interesting.
Nicole Kelly:It's crazy we were. We had a company party last night and one of our employees is from the south and he said he'd never met somebody who was even a Catholic, let alone a Jew.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Oh I, yeah. That's crazy. I wouldn't even think about that as like being so different either, which is crazy. I'm not a Jewish.
Nicole Kelly:That's crazy. Was did the synagogue that you grew up in? Was it reform? Was it conservative?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I grew up going to a reform synagogue. It was a large, beautiful synagogue, a lot of stained glass, so I really enjoyed my time going there for Hebrew school and Sunday school and I had my bat mitzvah there, so definitely a positive experience.
Nicole Kelly:I grew up conservative, which I feel like the part for the course for my here a lot of people is. I grew up conservative but we weren't religious, which is kind of like a weird kind of thing. So I went to Hebrew school two times a week for two hours and then like every other Sunday. How often did you go to Hebrew school?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I think ours was. Ours was just once a week, I think it was on Tuesdays or Thursdays, depending on the year, and then Sundays. I guess we had Sunday school too. So Hebrew Hebrew school was just leading up to your bar, bat mitzvah. I think initially it was just once a week, but it was also a social thing. You know. You could see, see all your friends.
Nicole Kelly:I was very religious growing up. My mom talks about how she thought it was going to be like a rabbi or a canter, but my sister always. I went to socialize.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I like to be honest about my upbringing.
Nicole Kelly:You know like I'm obviously very proud of being Jewish.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:It's my whole business now. But I think some people like, especially people who grew up less I don't even like to say religious, I like to say observant, kind of apologize. Yeah, they like to apologize for how they are. I'm like you're still Jewish, it's totally okay if you don't keep kosher or if you don't go to synagogue at all, and there's other ways to celebrate being Jewish. If they're more meaningful to you, then that's all that matters.
Nicole Kelly:I was having a conversation with one of the cantors at our synagogue about being on the podcast and he he was like I talked to a lot of people who say I'm a bad Jew, like that's. You know, like I don't do this and I feel like I don't. I can't speak for other religions, but I feel like, especially in Judaism, there's kind of like a litmus test of like how religious you are. It's like, well, I don't keep kosher, but like I keep kosher. So that obviously means this, and there's like a lot of outside pressures to do all sorts of things. So I like that. You. You're like there's a lot of, there are a lot of different ways to be Jewish and I think a lot of people don't realize that.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Like definitely, and I'm friends with people who are all different levels of observance and I think that's what makes being Jewish kind of beautiful and interesting too.
Nicole Kelly:I definitely, definitely agree with that. So a lot of people listening will be familiar with the company. The Unirbrother owned modern tribe. How exactly did that come about? I know you said you didn't start the company, you took over it. So how, what was the? What was that process?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, so I'll start. I'll start a little bit with my blog, that I have my blog what do you want to eat? That I started. What was that now, almost 13 years ago? Oh, it's mine, my bomb. It's for a year, yeah, yeah. So I started that and I can talk a little bit more about how that was going.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:And so seven years ago I had my blog, I was doing sponsored content, I was just starting on my cookbook, so it was like going going pretty well for sure. And I saw that modern tribe was for sale and I had known the previous owner just through, like Jewish geography, you know, and I was one of her affiliates and she had sent an email out saying she really wanted someone passionate to be the owner. And I just felt this draw towards this. You know, even at the time, social media was becoming more popular and I just did not want to be rely on being an influencer is like my whole career, you know, like I was feeling the pressure to to make money. So I'm like, should I be promoting toilet paper, like or like, can I be a little pickier? Like you know what? Where am I falling into this?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So I just accept everything that comes my way, yeah, and I and I had these modern Jewish recipes that were twists on what I grew up eating but felt more, you know, in line with how I ate today. So I was like I have these recipes, I think the products to go with it could be really a cool next step in my business. So I approached my brother about buying it with me. He I was, I've always been like the creative, artistic, like. I quit my job to go to culinary school like we. I moved to Texas on a whim and my brother is like much more practical. So I was like, do you want to buy this business with me? And luckily, to my surprise, he said, after obviously doing research, he said yes. So we've opened a modern tribe for seven years and it's been wonderful to work here with my brother.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:My parents obviously are felling that we own a Judaica store Like, but it's brought us. We've always been close but it's brought us even closer and we've just completely re, like, rehauled the store from the previous owner did all the fulfillment herself. We moved to a warehouse, We've redesigned the site. We have like a thousand different products than you know then the previous owner had as well. So we've really made it, our own, and it has a lot of our, our personality in it as well. So it's it's become really a passion of mine and I just love hearing from customers and you know, my blog readers who have become customers who are just, you know, thinking that it kind of goes along with fitting Judaica into your life, being Jewish, in a way that makes sense for you. So you're like, you know, I never found a Mizzaza that I liked, and now I have this Kate Spade one I'm like.
Nicole Kelly:Yes, that's great.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:If this is a Mizzaza that you want, that this is that makes you feel connected to your Judaism, then I'm glad that I was able to find it for you.
Nicole Kelly:I love that, obviously with the name modern tribe, but I feel like a lot of Judaica is very like something you would find in your grandparents' house. There's a Judaica store in the neighborhood and it's very much like that, like it's all like sterling silver candlesticks and very, which is beautiful, and there's definitely a place for that, yeah. But I think people like my sister tends to like mid-century modern type furniture and decoration.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, me too.
Nicole Kelly:So I think it's nice that there's a lot of that on the website. I love that you started the company with your brother and that it's brought you closer, because I feel like sometimes running a business, so somebody can be a little chaotic and stressed.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I know every year at our anniversary of buying the company, which is in the summer, we're like this really could have. Not, we didn't really think about it like not working out, you know, if, like, one of us wasn't pulling our weight or if we were fighting about things. But luckily we have very complimentary skills and we trust the other person. So it's been a really good partnership for sure.
Nicole Kelly:I think that's one of the reasons why the walking tour company my husband I own operates as well as it does is because, like you said, we have complimentary kind of skills and I feel like that's super important to that, definitely. Speaking of modern tribe, I love the fact you, like you said, you have like a thought, you have a thousand products. I love that. There's literally everything from a blow up unicorn for your lawn, which, yes.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:And I had a lot. I would definitely.
Nicole Kelly:I know it has been a big problem to really amazing fine jewelry. I know you work with a lot of different artists and brands. How do you go about choosing who you offer on your website?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I think that's one of the things that sets apart our site is that we have items you can't find anywhere else. So you know we have people apply to sell on our site. Luckily, we get a lot of applications and it'll be someone you know they're a teacher by day and they make you know like Jewish, or they make Misses or Jewish jewelry by night and it's just like a passion of theirs and like I love to have and they don't know how to market themselves. Maybe they're an Etsy and I love like having those types of artists on our site. It just makes it really unique. It's really helping out small businesses and it's just working with creative, interesting people and I love like working with the people. But you know that's definitely a challenge because you're working with. You know we work with over 100 different artists. I'm always communicating. They have different ways of ordering, different ways of sending things, so that's definitely a big part of my job and a big challenge. But honestly, if it's anything that I like, I want it on the site.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:You know and it's not everything on the site is like 100% my style, but if I'm like, all right, this is something I could see people loving, then I want it.
Nicole Kelly:You have most of the stuff that's on the site, because I feel like I don't own a. I don't own a business that has actual products, but I feel like, if I did, my house would just be everything from my business.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I do have. I have like a box for every holiday with stuff you know, and then I have in my closet. So my office is also my closet and you can see this like close. So but we do have like a separate closet here that has like all my you know, evergreen Judaica, if you will, the stuff that I use all year. And then I have a box for every holiday that I take out. Hanukkah is the biggest, so I can decorate the apartment, but I do not live in a large space so you know, I don't have an attic or a garage. I can store tons and tons of Judaica. So, luckily, you know, I'll get samples of things and I could donate them sometimes or I'll do giveaways and I can't, you know, you can only have so many Shabbat candlesticks.
Nicole Kelly:So I feel like we we moved into a different apartment last year and the old apartment had more space to put like holiday shachis, and now I don't have that and I'm very sad.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So it's sad. Yeah, we have some beautiful like built. This is a very old apartment. We have some beautiful buildings, so I do love that, and we have two non-working fireplaces so I put all my menorahs on there and stuff. So we have some space to spread out, but not as much as I would like city, city problems, what is?
Nicole Kelly:your favorite stuff that you offer. I, as my husband, is producing and listening to this. I really like the diamond star of David necklace.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:It says love and the O is so popular, I know it's very popular, I love it so much.
Nicole Kelly:And then, of course, the hollow necklace, because I'm wearing it.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I was like. So I was going to wear earrings. I was going to wear my Ariel T T Tarr giant star of David glitter earrings that I forgot I was going to wear headphones. I couldn't wear those, so I was like, which? Those are one of my. We don't offer those right now but she has them on her site but we offer other Ariel T Tarr items.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:With this hollow necklace, I just I love because it combines my love of Jewish food and, obviously, jewish Jew. I have a lot of jewelry and jewelry does not take up a lot of stuff, so that's something that's something that I have a lot of. I have another. It's like a floating star of David. That's diamond that I love too. It's just really delicate. That's by a lot of that. That's one of my favorite items. You mentioned the inflatable unicorn. We also have the dinosaur, the Dinoca both of those I'm obsessed with and I wasn't sure how it would do. Like, do people want a six or seven foot tall inflatable item that says I'm Jewish their front yard? And apparently they do, because it's and you can have it inside too. You do not need to put it in your front lawn if you don't feel comfortable with that, but a lot of people did and they sent us pictures and I just I love that.
Nicole Kelly:So I love the weird obsession with dinosaurs and Judaism that I feel like I'm finding kind of a cross-section of this, like there's songs about a Shabbat dinosaur and I've seen we have a dinosaur, but Nora too, yes.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So there is a thing. I don't know what it is. It's like, maybe because it sounds so good, like good, like Dinoca, I don't know. I'm not sure what it is, but you're right, I have to research that more.
Nicole Kelly:You guys sell a lot of holiday items. What is your busiest time of year? Is it Hanukkah? Is it the high holidays? Yeah, we have.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Luckily, the Jewish holidays really worked out well for my business in terms of their spread out evenly. So Hanukkah is by far the busiest. So right now we're in like the middle of craziness. I'm not sure when this is going to air, but Hanukkah is very busy.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I think these people it's just a very joyous time of year. Even everyone's always like it's a minor holiday. I'm like, yeah, but who cares? Like if people are happy and it's like a time to give gifts, if people love like I think for Passover you can have one Seder plate. People will have multiple menorahs in different styles and they love just lighting all of them, and people will send me pictures and they'll have like eight menorahs lit and I'm like it's a mild fire hazard but it's beautiful and it's just.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I think it just brings a lot of Jewish joy, which I think we especially need this year, and people are really looking at ways to still be like I'm proud of being Jewish and I want to celebrate even amongst hard times. So Hanukkahs definitely are busiest, I think, because people are buying ritual objects and also gifts. Then Passover is the second busiest. I think we don't sell, you know, seder plates. You can only have so many, but every year I think people are wanting to buy fun things to have at Seder, whether it's 10 planks, headbands or something fun like that matzah leggings to be comfortable. And then Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot would be the third most popular in terms of purchasing, so not in terms of holidays.
Nicole Kelly:At least for me, being a millennial Jewish child. Obviously it's usually around the same time as Christmas, but thinking about like a time as a kid where you couldn't buy stuff for yourself. So Hanukkah is obviously a big time where you would get presents. So I think maybe there's a little bit of nostalgia there and that's one of the reasons that American Jews like Hanukkah.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I'm a millennial too. I think we love nostalgia, like you know. Of course, I would go through like the Delias catalog and like circle. You know everything I wanted for Hanukkah, yeah, so I'm sorry about that because I went to a JCC camp when I was 14.
Nicole Kelly:And there was a girl who this is so terrible she had used her mother's credit card to buy a bunch of stuff from the Delias catalog and had it delivered to camp.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Oh, that's creative. I had to beg to go to apricot me on like what. Do you call it the visiting day?
Nicole Kelly:Yes, so she had like all this stuff delivered to her and I was like horrified and impressed that she had pulled this off, that like because clearly, like her mom didn't want her to have this clothing or whatever. And she's like fine, well then, I will seal from you and have it delivered to camp.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I didn't even. That didn't even occur to me, so I don't know. Yeah, I know.
Nicole Kelly:I was just kind of like that's not even something that I would have thought about. I love I used to love the Delias catalog.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I'm just nostalgic about catalogs in general and like we would circle everything. And although, now that I have a daughter who's almost one and like, of course, probably through my phone, like the internet's know that you have a kid, so I started there. There's catalogs. So I'm getting catalogs for like toys and American girl dolls and I'm like, oh, finally, this is great.
Nicole Kelly:This is another question I hadn't thought about. If someone was interested in becoming more Jewish and trying to add Judaica to their Jewish home, what would be the first things that you would suggest they get if they had?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:basically no, yeah, that's a great question, I think. To celebrate the holidays, you want the certain ritual objects, and then Shabbat too. So if you want to start with Shabbat, that's every week. But what do you really need? Ok, do you need a challah board? No, you can use anything. Do you need a challah cover? Probably not.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I would get some Shabbat candlesticks and some candles, that's. I think that you can use any cup for a kid-ish cup. Start with that. Get a menorah, maybe a mazaza, if that speaks to you. Do you need a Seder plate for Passover? No, you can use a plate and any plate and just have the different items on there. You don't need a mazaza cover, you don't need an api-komen bag. But I mean, all these things are fun, so I sell them, so you should buy them, but I don't think. I think you need the minimal ritual objects to be able to participate. So just kind of think what kind of things are you looking to do? Are you looking to do the high holidays? Are you looking to host a Passover Seder? Are you looking just to do Shabbat every now and again? Maybe you just want to get a good recipe for challah and some candlesticks and then you're good to go.
Nicole Kelly:I saw a video on Instagram of your mom literally giving a gift from your company. Does she really do her gift? Shopping at Modern Shibes? Oh yes, she does.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:People are like oh, what kind of advertising do you do? And I'm like oh, I just tell my mom and my grandma we have new products and they tell everyone they know, and that's how it goes. I mean, they're typical Jewish women who are very proud of their kids and grandkids. My mom does a lot of shopping. I give her gift cards so she's like you can use the gift card, you don't have to use your own money. She's like no, no, I want to support you, but Shiba is.
Nicole Kelly:We have a product that's a wooden block named Minora.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:That's very popular for kids, so she buys one for every new grandchild that she knows it's for, and so she finds out the name she's on getting the Minora. She buys gifts for other people too, but she did buy me that necklace. I was like, oh, I got to record this.
Nicole Kelly:That was when we did some videos for Food Network together.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So that was our hair, and makeup was already done. So I was like, let's just do this while we're here right now and we look our best.
Nicole Kelly:So I have to ask about the $36,000 KEEPA. Anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about. You have to go to moderntribecom and check this out. So according to your site, it is made with navy leather from Italy, custom sewn by an expert KEEPA maker in Australia. The 14 karat white gold is cast in Mumbai and the diamonds are placed on the leather in Chicago. It takes 40 hours to hand place the 873 diamonds and it takes six months to make. It also comes with its own display case, which I love. I need to know the story behind this and, more importantly, I need to know has anyone bought this?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So, yeah, no one has bought one yet. My brother and I are always talking about new creative ideas and we just had like why can't we have like the ultimate? I think we were talking about maybe other ritual objects out there that are like extreme and we're like I don't know. It just came to us Like we should have this amazing diamond KEEPA. And then he knows a jeweler, so we reached out and then we collaborated on this.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Actually he worked with to get his wife's engagement ring, so kind of a full circle Jewish moment, and we kind of collaborated on this together and just it was something fun to have, kind of create a little press from. We got featured in a few news outlets and I think some people are like this is really ridiculous, like this is the opposite of being Jewish, and other people are like this is amazing, this makes me proud to be Jewish. So I think maybe it's a little controversial, but it was all in good fun and we could definitely still make one, for I think it's perfect for a wedding. I think I'm picturing like an over the top wedding, one of those like you know, chupas that have just like flowers everywhere. I feel like that's. I think that the groom needs this.
Nicole Kelly:Yes, I'm actually surprised no one has bought this. I feel like there's a lot of very wealthy people that buy things that are very unique, like this, yeah, so there's a market for it, for sure.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So we just maybe haven't found the right owner yet, but we're here when they're, when they're ready.
Nicole Kelly:Well if you're listening and you're in the market for a very ornate Kiba. You know where to go now.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Exactly.
Nicole Kelly:We're going to kind of switch to talking a little bit about your blog and your cookbook now. So I love the story on your website, what you want to eat, that you wanted to challenge yourself, to try something new and you're asked your baby to send you her best recipes, and a few days later you got literally hundreds of recipes in the mail, which was probably a little overwhelming. How did you know where to start? What did you decide to start with? How did that work?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, so I was living. I moved from New York City where I lived, after college. I moved to Austin, texas, kind of on a whim during the recession of whatever year.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:What year was that? 2009. So I was, like you know, I need to change a pace. But then I found my job there wasn't as creative as my job in New York. So I was reading a lot of blogs at the time which were just getting more popular food blogs and I decided to start my own. And again I approached my brother to help me build a website, because I didn't know how and he's very technical and at the time I was going to do a cupcake blog. That was my first idea because I love to make cupcakes for different theme parties that I would host for my friends. So I'd have like a 90s party and some guinea and cupcakes and, like you know, that was my thing, I love cupcakes.
Nicole Kelly:That's like all I want to do, I know. Yeah, it was a very peak 2010. Yeah, but I still love cupcakes.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:They're perfect.
Nicole Kelly:So there's nothing not to love about a cupcake.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I think I agree, so maybe I'll still start my cupcake blog one day.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:But that was my first idea, my brother said it was not a good idea and I would get tired of making cupcakes. And it was his idea to do Jewish food and to me. I lived in my town of Connecticut with a lot of Jews. I lived in New York City. I did briefly go to college, not briefly. I went to college in Atlanta, but I still had a good Jewish community there and it was Emory, so it's this Jews there. But when I moved to Texas again I was like Jewish food just seemed normal to me and I realized that people had just not had the kind of food that I grew up with. So I was like all right, this is something I think I would love to share. No one's had a connoisseur and no one, even you, know Latka. They're like oh, you mean hash brown? I'm like no, no, there's kind of a banana.
Nicole Kelly:And there's a difference between Latkas and potato pancakes, and I'm adamant about that. Yes, I think so too. They're different. I think so too.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I think. I think potato pancakes are more uniform, I think when I think of that, but I'm not sure what you think.
Nicole Kelly:I think for me it has to do with mashed potatoes versus shredded potatoes. Oh yeah, ok, I think is kind of how I feel about that. I went to Katz's with a co-worker and they were advertising him as Latkas and I was like this is not Latkas, this is fried mashed potatoes. Yeah, yeah, I think that is more.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I guess when I was thinking uniform, that is kind of what I was thinking too, Maybe somewhere in between with some shreds and some mushy parts.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, I like my Latkas super crispy. But anyway I digress.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So I didn't really know where to start, and my bubby is the kind of person of you're like I have a new hobby. I think I'm going to start playing tennis. She'll go to Marshall's and buy tennis balls, buy you tennis skirt, and she'll send it in the mail. She's like I got you stuff.
Nicole Kelly:So I was like I'm going to take a cooking and she sent me all.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:She went to Marshall's and got me spatulas and cherry pitters and everything and I was like I'd love some of your recipes. So she had my mom scan them Like they're all index cards and of course they're really not recipes. It'll be like brisket season, it, cook it. Maybe there's a can of soup, whatever the French-Chinese soup mix, in the mix and I was like, well, this is not a recipe. So I had to connect the dots, call her to get some more feedback. But even like that, she was like it's done what it's done. I'm like what does that mean? What?
Nicole Kelly:does that mean I?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:went to culinary school and that is also what they say in culinary school and I was like, well, someone tell me how long this takes to cook. But then I learned to kind of more what that means, and for my blog I have to be a little more specific on the time, even if it's a range of time.
Nicole Kelly:I never understand the ranges Because I don't cook at all. I will go to Trader Joe's and get one of those rosemary marinated chickens and I'll say 60 to 75 minutes and I'm like that is a 15 minute difference, just because ovens are so different.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, that's the tricky part, I mean some stuff maybe chicken could be forgiving but like cookies it's also how mo Well, you like them done, but like a cake can take a little longer depending on your oven, depending on your altitude and stuff. So you do have to have a little bit of a range.
Nicole Kelly:Altitude affects. I guess that makes sense that altitude would affect cooking time. I never really thought about that.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I mean in measurements too. So yeah, if you're cooking somewhere like in Denver or something, it kind of changes how you're how you're baking specifically.
Nicole Kelly:But yeah, yeah, yeah, cooking, you know when I cook, not for my blog.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I don't measure, I'm not, you know like I'm not setting a timer, I'm just like tasting and seeing how it goes, my husband's like yeah, he kind of just he's like he creates the.
Nicole Kelly:He's amazing, he creates these things like he'll see what we have and he'll make it where it's like I literally can't boil water properly.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:You only need one cook in the family, so that's great that you have your husband. Do you like to clean or not?
Nicole Kelly:I don't. I like cleaning more now that we have a dishwasher.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Oh yeah, that's a must.
Nicole Kelly:It's been I. We got a portable dishwasher in our old apartment when our daughter was born and it was like a marriage saving thing.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Or a washer and dryer was like a must for me too.
Nicole Kelly:It's. We don't have a washer and dryer right now, but we do a washer and dryer in the building.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Okay, that's, that's fine, but yeah.
Nicole Kelly:But, as you know, in New York you are, you have made it. If you have an Indian washer and dryer.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah.
Nicole Kelly:Oh yeah, that is how you know you have made it. I feel like people have started relationships because the other person they met had a washer and dryer.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Oh, absolutely Obviously a garbage disposal in your sink.
Nicole Kelly:that I would like you know what I found out is garbage disposals were outlawed in New York until 1980. I think in like 1985 or 1986, which is why no one has garbage disposal. That's crazy. It was like literally against the law and I think my husband sometimes forgets we don't have a garbage disposal because it'll be like peeling something and I'll go to clean. There's just like a bunch of carrot peelings. Oh yeah, we don't have a garbage disposal.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Oh yeah, when I moved out of New York and got a garbage disposal I was like that is, that is life changing.
Nicole Kelly:It is it's kind of impressive how, when you live in a city like New York, the little things that you you don't even realize are things in the suburbs are big or a big deal in New York City oh, definitely Things. It's so funny. So, talking about culinary school, you left your corporate job to go to culinary school at LeCordon Bleu in Austin, texas. What was culinary school like? As I said, I'm not someone who really cooks. I can make maybe like three dishes, so this process sounds really daunting and I'm curious what it was like, what the application process was like. And you know, I remember I took cooking in high school and I cleaned. I just don't know who did the dishes, but our teacher talks about like having to learn how to cut certain ways and being graded on how you cut certain things. Is that, is that something that you had to do?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I loved culinary school. So when my blog started to like get a little more popular, I realized I wanted to do something Food related full time. But I couldn't. I wasn't making any money on my blog, so I couldn't just like quit and like figure it out. Obviously I needed to make some money and my parents would freak out, but I was like they would not freak out if I go get more schooling.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So, I was like I'll go back to school, my parents won't freak out about that, and later I found out they were freaking out a little bit but they didn't. But they were very supportive. And so so the culinary school I went to I don't think they reject anyone, I think anyone can, anyone can go. So it was an intensive one year program and there was everyone from, like, recent high school graduates, like 18 year olds in my program, to people like in their 60s. That there was like this is just something they've always wanted to do. So that was super fun to me. I just like loved the mix of people and personalities.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:And then we had, you know, every I forget it was maybe every six weeks you switched classes. So first there were knife skills and then you were, you know, learn sauces, all the mother sauces, the basic. You know there's just sauces that are the base of everything in French cooking that we make. And then, you know, there was a class all on meats and then we had pastry and stuff. So every class was like more something specific that we were learning. And then there was like an international cuisine class. So I loved it. You're just going in and cooking all day. And then I worked at a supermarket doing cooking demos and cooking classes part time, so that's how I made money. And I also worked at a bar selling jello shots, so that was most. That was really how I made money.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Supermarket did not pay well but I loved working there, it was super fun. So that was kind of my my life for years like very intense. I was working a lot between going to school and working actually, but I loved it and I thought it was like it just taught me a lot about cooking in techniques more than recipes. So you were saying you know, like, how is the recipe have like 60 to 75 minutes, like how do I know? Like I, when I was like practicing cooking this way, you kind of just get used to seeing how it should look and then that that's how you know, which is kind of what my bubby said. You know what, what they say in culinary school is you just kind of get used to not having it be an exact time. Or you know, when you're cooking onions in the saute pan, you're not like, or has it been six to seven minutes? You're just like, all right, they look the way I want them to look, yeah so.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I think that was a lot. And like why, why do we braise brisket instead of saute it? You know like which like that's kind of stuff is you? Then you kind of figure out like how to make recipes because you know the science behind it more than just like assuming or like basic it off of a recipe and I think that recipes were made.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, I see my husband going.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:yeah, yeah yeah, that's right.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, I guess that makes sense, the kind of trial and error of how you know how you want something to look, and yeah, it makes sense.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, my husband likes to cook. We both like to cook. We neither of us like to clean, which is maybe an annoying thing, but everyone's always like, oh, your husband must be so lucky to be married to you. I'm like, no, he does like more of the cooking than I do and he love. He's really into like experimenting with different techniques to get like how you get chicken crispier and you know how do you get eggplant less bitter. So he's always trying new things that he reads about or like sees a video on. So I love that too, that part of cooking.
Nicole Kelly:So nice that you guys have that passion that you share, and I've yet to find someone who's like yes, I love to do the cleaning, that's true.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:No, one likes to clean, we both like we both clean, we both. He does more of the cooking honestly these days because we have a young daughter, so I feed her, he feeds me, it's you know, it's a nice circle.
Nicole Kelly:I'm sure there is somebody who loves cleaning. I feel like the dad in full house.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yes, Danny Tanner likes yeah, my mom actually loves. My mom is a good cleaner when she visits, she loves to clean our kitchen for us and I never complain. So she's a. She's a baker more than a cook, but she's also a really good cleaner. So I'll say that.
Nicole Kelly:Is that how? I did not. It's not genetic.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:It did not pass down to me.
Nicole Kelly:No, no, no. So your blog is is about Jewish food, and I feel like this is something that I we give a low recite tour and talking about Jewish food, exactly what that means. I think maybe it means different things to different people. So if you you met someone who'd never tried Jewish food and didn't really know what it was, what would you tell them? How would you explain what Jewish food is.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I think Jewish food can be a little hard to define and when I first started my blog, like I grew up, you know, on East Coast of the United States, all my family is very Ashkenazi. I did my, my 23 me. It's like you're 94% Ashkenazi and that was less than I thought I was like, what's the rest of me?
Nicole Kelly:I haven't even bothered because I feel like it'd be a moot point, because it'd be like gradually yeah, I know my whatever my DNA is out there.
Nicole Kelly:But yeah, we have a little, a little Greek and a little Italian, but it's like the rest is no no, the Greek might be, because around the time of Christ, a lot of Greeks converted to Judaism and I feel like they move and that moving into Europe and that's why a lot of Ashkenazi Jews, the Greek, so that might be what it is connected, but so I grew up like very Ashkenazi.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:All the food was Ashkenazi, so I wasn't as familiar with like Sephardic and Mizrahi flavors until, honestly, until I started my blog, so I think you know you have. Jewish food is obviously like the rules of keeping kosher have dictated some of the food, even though we don't keep we didn't keep kosher growing up but we like never ate pork and like I remember I went to my friend's house and she had a glass of milk with a hamburger and I was like that is the weirdest thing.
Nicole Kelly:And I don't know why that was so weird.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:It was just, you know, just like probably no one taught my mom, no one taught my grandma, no one taught my great grandma, you know. So there's like these kosher laws that I think, even if we didn't keep kosher, have dictated Jewish recipes. And then there's all the holidays and rituals. We have challah for Shabbat, lachas for Hanukkah, and then, of course, different you know, jews from different countries have different rituals as well. And then I think there's, you know, jewish food that has evolved as we've had to live in different places, as we've gotten forced to live in different places. So I have, you know, jewish friends who grew up in Mexico who put chilies in their matzahval soup.
Nicole Kelly:So I think, you know, it's evolved, it's evolved that way too.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So we have, you know, these recipes that have been passed down, that have been, that have evolved with, like, different food customs and different, you know, cultures that we've been exposed to as well. So I think it really makes for a unique cuisine. I think it makes for a cuisine that people are like there's no Jewish food, you know, which I think is something we hear a lot too. But I think there, you know, food could definitely overlap. Food could be Jewish and also can be, you know, middle Eastern, or, like you know, lebanese, or can be Greek, I think you, italian, it could be both of those things. I think. If you, if you understand that, then you can be really open to what Jewish food is.
Nicole Kelly:Do you have a favorite what we I guess we would call traditional Ashkenazi Jewish food?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I love Ashkenazi food. I think it gets a bad reputation and I'm like it's. It's very brown, I think, and and I and I always add more. You know, I like to think my ancestors so they had access to more spices would use more spices. I love using spices, but I mean, I love chopped liver, I love latkes, I love matzabal soup. Yeah, I love all these things are are very delicious. I love stuff. Cabbage Well, really, I there's. There's not much. I love gefilte fish. There's not much I don't love. You know, I'll say I like gefilte fish. I don't eat it like all year, yeah.
Nicole Kelly:No, no, no, I definitely. It's definitely one of those things that when Passover came around, I was very excited to see it on the, because my my aunt would have these huge satyrs with like 30, my great aunt with 30 plus people and they'd put like a little salad with gefilte fish at each place setting and you just have to sit and look at it at the beginning part of the satyr. So I think because I was so hungry I kind of maybe overinflated. How good gefilte fish was?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I don't know? Yeah, I like it. Did it have a little carrot on top? I like the carrot. Yeah, yeah.
Nicole Kelly:And. But I'd always had to because the people who were setting would know whether a person would want one or two, and I'd always ask for two. But it wasn't like I'd eat gefilte fish just to like, yeah.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:And a horse ride. I should like. Yeah, I don't, I like it, I like. I think it's just. I don't know why people it gives such a bad reputation. It's just like a fish patty, which is not that weird, yeah.
Nicole Kelly:I mean, I guess it's an acquired taste.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah.
Nicole Kelly:Um. Do you, did you growing up, have nuts in your horoset at Passover?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Oh, yes, yeah, we did, I think, while while nuts, yeah, we did dice apples. So, yeah, I didn't like horoset can be like so many different types. Right, so we did dice apples. Um, can't remember, probably brown. I can't remember is brown or white sugar, cinnamon, manichevates wine, walnuts, and I think that. I think that was it Very.
Nicole Kelly:They know, not everyone uses nuts, so I, I, yeah, so there's probably like a million different ways you could do horoset.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Some people did it more like shredded apples ground then obviously just like the ones you know, sephardic, with like dates and that kind of thing in it too. So I think it can be a very, a lot of different things. And so now I like to like toast my almonds, or sorry, but toast my walnuts. Sometimes too, to give it a little extra flavor I've used candied nuts too is really good. So different spices, but yeah, I love it.
Nicole Kelly:You're making me excited about horoset which is not a friend.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:No also, but I think there's something special about you know, saving. I'm like why don't I make latkes all year? I'm like there's something special about having it just for the specific holiday too.
Nicole Kelly:I think that's one of the things that I loved about Passover and why in my family, thanksgiving was never really a big thing, because I think Passover was the big communal eating holiday.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, we didn't care about Thanksgiving.
Nicole Kelly:Where my husband's family Thanksgiving is a very big deal, so it was interesting marrying into his family where Thanksgiving is like a. He will baste the turkey for multiple. He'll literally buy like a bucket from the dollar store and all sorts of stuff in there and baste it, and he's the only person I've ever met that makes a turkey that isn't dry.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Oh wow, and I'm not a big turkey.
Nicole Kelly:It's very impressive but it's not much a bigger holiday for his family. But I feel like growing up with Passover that kind of superseded.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Thanksgiving, which I don't know. I had never thought about that. But yeah, Thanksgiving was also not important to me growing up. I think we always had like a big Rosh Hashanah and like definitely a big, a big Passover Seder. And then I like to do that. Growing up as well, I think during the pandemic, we didn't do anything for Thanksgiving, so we ordered a Peking duck and then that became our new tradition. So now we've gotten just Chinese food since the year 2000 for Thanksgiving. I guess it's not that many years?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Oh, you know, we started the year before actually so the year before I got married in 2019. And we weren't. We were going on our honeymoon right after Thanksgiving, so we weren't going anywhere for Thanksgiving. So we ordered Peking duck that year and then we just continued every year. So that is our new tradition. At least we have Chinese food on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I thought you also have Chinese food on Christmas, and yeah, but it's nice when your husband don't have to fight where to go for Thanksgiving, like it sounds like his family's where to go. Yeah, it's always a family thing, always a history thing.
Nicole Kelly:I wonder if for a lot of Jews Thanksgiving isn't as big of a deal as because a lot of our holidays are evolved, are kind of revolving around food and it becomes a big part of that. So maybe Thanksgiving, as like an American holiday, kind of becomes secondary yeah.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I have to ask. Yeah, I mean, and maybe between like the high holidays and like Hanukkah or like another holiday, Like you know.
Nicole Kelly:So like I don't need to do this, Starting in September and kind of ending in January. If you're Jewish, it becomes like a plethora of just food and holidays.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, there's some like cheesy meme where you know it's like, you know it's like cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for like 30. It's like I do this every Friday night, like kind of a thing, so it's like Jews are used to cooking feasts, I think.
Nicole Kelly:I want to talk about your wedding haul up, because it was. It was gorgeous, thank you, but there was also a bit of a journey. Yes, you did a rainbow haul for your wedding and you made it with your puppy and I know she was a huge inspiration for you getting involved with cooking. So what was I like to make that with her? What was the process of getting a call into the wedding and why did you choose a rainbow? Yeah, so so we got engaged in May 2019.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:We were, husband and I, were living in Puerto Rico at the time and we decided to get married. Yeah, we decided to get married in Detroit, where he's from originally, because it was just an easy. Like we like Detroit, we have a lot of his friends and family are there, but it was easy for everyone else to get to. Like I have family on the East and West Coast, there was direct flights for everyone.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So it seemed like a good, convenient thing. So we were like all right, it's gonna get cold here, so we either plan this wedding now or we like wait a year. And luckily, because we didn't know the pandemic was coming, we decided to pick now. So we got married in. September, like four months later. So it was kind of a whirlwind. Yeah, like maybe I am religious, but people were like that's crazy. And then my observant friends were like that's so long.
Nicole Kelly:So I think it depends.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:It was nice, I think, because there are things down. You just had to pick things right.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, you didn't have to get things done.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So it was important to me to add our personality in as many things as we could. But it was we were flying into the wedding, so there's only so much you could like physically do. And my mom had the idea to make the challah and I was like I love that but like why am I gonna do it? Like I don't want the stress before the wedding. And she was like why don't? I was going to Connecticut to try on some wedding dresses. So she's like why don't we make it? We'll freeze it and I'll bring it to the wedding. And I was like all right.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:And so the rainbow challah was one of the early recipes I did. I always was like putting twists on my recipes. So when I was being challah I was like I can't just do a normal challah and I've always just like loved rainbow things and unicorns and glitter. It's just like always been a part of my personality. So you know I was making a six strand challah. I was like, well, I can't each one be a different color, like a rainbow. And I think I Googled it. I think there was like maybe one other reference to rainbow challah on the internet, or maybe not even. I don't think I this was, like you know, like 12 years ago, so there was like a lot less stuff on the internet. So I was like, oh, no one's done this, I should do it. Or maybe just someone did like a colorful challah. So I did that and it was always like one of my signature things. I made it all the time. I made it for I made a challah for a lesbian wedding that you know that wanted that. I just I loved how inclusive it really felt, like it kind of symbolized my brand and who I am as a person too. You know, it's like colorful and fun, but also inclusive and also Jewish. I just loved it. So I was like, all right, I'm gonna do a rainbow challah. I was like, of course my bubby has to help, and she was.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:We didn't really make challah a lot growing up, to be honest, but we did. You know she was her matzabal soup delightful her rugala, her blinces those were her signature recipes. But she was happy to help me make the challah and it was just like a meaningful full circle moment too, since she helped me when I was starting my blog. So we made the challah, froze it, and my mom carried it on the plane flying to Detroit from Connecticut, like it was like a baby, you know, like holding it. She's like. I got the goods and then it, you know it defressted on the way there and everyone said it was delicious. I didn't even get to try it because it was, you know, it's your wedding day. It was like running around like crazy, but my friends who are honest to me said it was good, it worked out.
Nicole Kelly:I love that you found a way to, like you were saying, make it personal, yeah, and I feel like I would never make my own food at my wedding.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I would have. I didn't make my own cake or anything. I'm not crazy, yeah, yeah.
Nicole Kelly:And the people who make their own cakes, and I think that's this is a nice kind of happy meeting, yeah, yeah, I think I mean I love to cook and it's an important part of my life, but it didn't stress me out.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I wasn't trying to like cook two days before my wedding or anything.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, yeah, I don't mean too much. So a big part of what you do is you take traditional foods and you turn them into amazing, unique things, like Rupin Latkes and Biali Hamantaschen, which I am definitely going to be attempting to make. I don't know if it'll turn out good. Where do these ideas come from? Are they inspired by things you grew up with, or just kind of brain musings about what you think might be interesting?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I mean everything. You know, I think they're inspired. If I'm like going out to eat and I try a new flavor combination I haven't tried before, I'm like, oh, that would actually make a really good hamantaschen. You know, I'm like, oh, I had this like lemon lavender cake. I'd love that as a hamantaschen. So that traveling, like reading different recipes, I'll just like pick up. I'm like, you know, just an idea here and there. You know, I'm like, oh, someone did you know a bagel like crouton? I'm like, what about a challah crouton? What if I did it with a satar on it? You know, I just kind of like pinballs from there, I don't know. You know it flows from there. So I have, you know, my notes section, my phone. I just always have different notes going and some of them don't make sense, just like they're, just like flavors and ideas and things that I think would work together.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:The nice thing about having a Jewish food blog is that there's always a holiday coming up. I've been a little less consistent with the blogging since I had my daughter. It just I was like all right, I can't like do everything 100% right now, but I, you know, I would always do at least my first time I blog, I did a new recipe every week. So that was intense, but luckily there's always, you know, a holiday. So, like, maybe Hanukkah's coming up. I'm like I definitely need to do a twist on a latke, which is something I do every year. So I'll kind of think of maybe it's a Jewish flavor that goes with latkes, like you know, maybe it's an everything bagel latke, or maybe it's just a food trend too. That's what's like a trend right now, or I don't even know. You know, so something that's going around on TikTok.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I'm like, how can I make that a little Jewish too? So yeah, like a few years ago I did the fried pickle latke, which was just inspired by. Like Jews love pickles, I love pickles and that's one of my favorite bar snacks, and I was surprised no one had done a fried pickle latke. I always try to find things that no one's ever done before, and it's getting a lot harder. Like there's just so many recipes on the internet now and I'll think of something. I'm like surely no one's done this. And then there's something out there, and so that's getting a little more challenging is I'm trying to come up with new recipes still, but, yeah, how long does it take you from kind of notes in the phone to perfecting the recipe?
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, so for like a new idea, like, let's say, for this year, you're coming up with a new version of a latke. From the idea to trying it out to perfecting. How long does that process take?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, it depends. Like latke, I've made so many latkes over the years. I feel very comfortable making latkes, so it depends on how complicated the twist is. Like I tried to do eggplant parmesan or maybe it was something eggplant parmesan latke. I tried to do that. I could not figure out how to get it so the latke wasn't mushy. I tried different things so I just gave up on that. But I tried like three or four times and I'm like this isn't working. So sometimes, especially with baking to, if I add a little more sugar or if I bake it a little longer, it changes the recipe. Those are more complicated than if I'm doing a dip or a salad. So it depends on the recipe. Like it goes back to that technique. You're like if it's not working, you're like what's not working and why? How can I improve this? Or can I improve it, or is it just not a good concept?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:When I did the fried pickle latke I think the first time the inside was like a little soggy. So I dried off the pickles and coated it in some potato starch and then that cured it so it had a little extra protective layer on the pickle. So I think sometimes it takes me just two times. I'll make it one more time. I did for Food Network. I made these mozzarella sticks. They were like mozzarella sticks but with like mozzarella on the outside, and those I probably made like 10 times Because I just like could not. They were fine and then I was like I need to perfect it. It was like too much coating and then the right temperature because the mozzarella would leak out, but sometimes it wouldn't and I wanted to be right. Those were driving me crazy. So it depends on the recipe.
Nicole Kelly:It sounded really good, much better. Yeah, yeah I like a good pun. You've moved on a lot, but you said your husband and you lived in Puerto Rico. How did that happen and what was it like living in Puerto Rico?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, we loved living there. So I had moved. I lived in Austin, texas. I lived there for over seven years after New York and then I was just like running out of Jews to date in the whole state of Texas. I was like I kept expanding my J-Swipe radius and I'm like, all right, I'm like basically in Oklahoma now, like what am I going to do? So my brother was living in San Francisco and at that point we had owned a modern tribe just for a year, maybe not even a year, and my roommate was moving in with her girlfriend. So I was like, all right, I need to move, basically. So I was like if I'm going to move, I might as well just move to another state. So I moved to San Francisco. I got to work with my brother in modern tribe in person more.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:And then I met my husband my now husband six months later and right after we met he had an opportunity to move to Puerto Rico for work and he's like I won't go unless you want to come with me. And I said let's do it. So we moved to Puerto Rico and we lived there, I guess two and a half years, maybe three years. So we moved there. We loved it, especially initially, before the pandemic. We just met some really good friends. We explored the island, the food's amazing, the people are nice, we lived on the beach, the weather was warm, we had a ton of visitors. The pandemic was obviously terrible for everyone, so that was kind of a bummer. And then he got a different job opportunity. So we moved back to San Francisco and so now we're back here. What?
Nicole Kelly:a unique experience.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, it was great, it was a good, you know, like we like moved in together, had to like buy furniture together, like in Spanish, you know it was definitely like all right, this is like a make or break kind of situation and luckily it was a really great bonding experience and we just got close really fast.
Nicole Kelly:Was the language barrier a big problem, or did a lot of people speak English, or did you guys have to learn?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I speak some Spanish, so I could like get by with speaking Spanish. We lived in San Juan. Like a lot of people spoke English, but then you'd go to you know smaller towns and people spoke Spanish. My husband got a fluid in food words. Like he knew more food words than I did. He just like knew every food word. So we were no problem at a restaurant. But he has a really good memory for food. So by the end, like his Spanish was even was getting better too by the time we left, and mine also was like improving that. I could like have a conversation in Spanish, but you get by too.
Nicole Kelly:So your first cookbook, sweet Nosheng's New Twists on Traditional Jewish Desserts, came out in 2016. What inspired you to write this book and why did you specifically choose desserts?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So the dessert thing was kind of cookbook-bechert I guess, like. So I grew up more baking with my mom and my bubby, so like ruggalo was probably the first thing we made. We made a lot of mandel bread, the apple cake for Rosh Hashanah. So I have fond we definitely had cooking. But I definitely have fond memories of baking and I had a few cookbook opportunities that like kind of came and like disappeared and it was like kind of a stressful time. And then this one the publisher approached me about doing this cookbook and it just seemed like the perfect kind of first cookbook since I started baking and that's kind of how I grew to love Jewish food. So they wanted a cookbook on Jewish baking and I said I can do that for you, no problem.
Nicole Kelly:No fun. I loved it. It was sentimental and kind of nostalgic. Yeah Well, did you do a whole book tour and get to meet people? I did. Yeah, that was the best.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:It was a really good time Like that came out right before I moved to San Francisco, so I was like single, I could do whatever I wanted to. So I went to, I think, like 30 or 40 cities from Seattle to Berlin, and it was fun. And I had met people that had been reading my blog since it started, people that I emailed with over the years, so that was just like really fun and rewarding. It can get kind of lonely just being at your computer all day talking to your internet friends, so this was like really like oh yeah, this is, these are like real people who make my recipes and who have followed my journey, so it was really fun. So I did everything from like some cooking demos to cooking classes. I cooked for hundreds of people and it was just all. Everything was like different so I spent time like arranging that and that was just a really fun time in my life, for sure.
Nicole Kelly:You talked about meeting some of these people on your book tour. Like everywhere, from Berlin to the United States, do you communicate a lot with your followers.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, definitely some people. There was one woman who she's Jewish and her husband's no, she's not Jewish, her husband is Jewish and she made all my recipes for him and she would email me and tell me how he liked them like every time, and like he doesn't like eggplant. And she'd still make eggplant recipes but she'd say like he liked it. Obviously he doesn't love eggplant but he like he said for eggplant it was pretty good. I'm like you don't have to make him that non eggplant once. And she said she had made my noodle kookle for her mother-in-law who said it was good and she was like she's never complimented my cooking ever. So some people email me regularly, either with comments or questions, and on social media people will like tag me in their recipes. So they become kind of like friends. You don't talk all the time, but you have these kind of like online relationships.
Nicole Kelly:You're brokering relationships between non-Jewish daughter in-laws and Jewish mother-in-law.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Oh, yeah, yeah, Everyone should get along, true, true. But of course at the time I was single too, everyone was like are you dating anyone? Like I know someone? I was like no, I'm good. Very good question.
Nicole Kelly:You're like no, yes, what advice would you give to someone like me who does not have a lot of experience in the kitchen but wants to learn and especially get creative with food, because I will do things like buy cookbooks and I'll follow them and my husband's always like you don't need to take it so literally. But specifically for someone who wants to get a little more creative and try to combine different things the way that your recipes do.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I think a question I always get is someone's like this recipe is cilantro and I don't like cilantro. What do I do? And I'm like don't use the cilantro. So I think don't take a recipe, as you have to follow, include every single step. But if it's something like baking, you can't just like someone's like I left the sugar out, it didn't work. I'm like, yeah, that's not going to work, so to kind of I think, not take it so seriously because it's just food, like if you burn the whole thing, you could just order pizza. It's not a big deal, so not worry about it too much.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:And then maybe pick a recipe or two and get very comfortable with it, like latkes. Latkes are easy. It's a little intimidating because it's frying, but it's not deep frying. And then, once you get comfortable with latkes, you can think like, oh, maybe I could put something stuffed in here, or I can experiment with different toppings, or I could try different vegetables besides potatoes. So I think once you get comfortable with a recipe, then you can. I would do that first and then take some liberties with tweaking it. But there's literally no shame in following your recipe to the tee. You don't have to go crazy with the recipes, or you can follow one of my recipes that I went crazy for you and you can still follow the recipe and make it a little creative.
Nicole Kelly:Do you think with certain things, like for people who don't like certain ingredients, sometimes it changes the what is the word Like it compromises the whole recipe. I know there's certain it depends on the recipe.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:If it's, maybe, I made a taco-inspired lacquer and I topped it with cilantro. If you don't like cilantro, definitely don't do cilantro. You know you could do green onions or don't do anything. Or, you know, do parsley or whatever you want. So I think it depends on the ingredient. But if it's something you don't like, don't do it. Or, but sometimes a recipe too, it's like you know, I'm making an eggplant and they're like I don't like eggplant. I'm like they're like what should I do? I'm like do not make this recipe. The main ingredients eggplant. Like maybe it could work with zucchini or something, for example, but I'm like I don't know, pick a different recipe, Don't do this one.
Nicole Kelly:With Halloween coming up Halloween as you call it I love on your Instagram all your costumes that are food themed. They're so adorable and so fun. Do you make these yourself?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yes, I make. I love theme parties. I love Halloween, Obviously the least Jewish holiday of all the holidays, but besides Christmas maybe. But I don't know. I think I start when did I? I guess the first one I made was the bagel, and then I just was like somehow, I was like I'm just going to do this every year. So, yeah, I make them all. One of my life goals, which is a very achievable goal, is to learn how to sew. So everything now is put together by hot glue and a prayer.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:But once I can sew, it's game over. It's going to be life changing for my costumes.
Nicole Kelly:So what is actually not as difficult as you think it is.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I don't think it is either.
Nicole Kelly:I just need to get my act together and take a class, or I can sew a button, but I can't.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Actually so my challah, which actually is over here. I did some hand sewing on that, so I'll show you that if you want to see, yeah, yeah, I love it when it's challah related. I got yelled at. Actually, I can't reach it because my headphones One second, one second.
Nicole Kelly:Take your time.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:OK, I'm back.
Nicole Kelly:So this is my challah.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So this I actually did. So it's like white fabric and I stuffed them as I was braiding and then I sewed kind of the back to make a tube. But I just hand sewed them.
Nicole Kelly:Probably called to braid a wearable challah than a real challah.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yes, I'd say this was harder because I was kind of stuffing it as I was going to.
Nicole Kelly:So I love anything challah related.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yes, that was challah Halloween. That was the costume I've always wanted to do. So two years ago I did it Last year I was very pregnant, so I was matzah ball soup, so I made the bump, was the matzah ball, and then I made a papier-mache soup bowl. So yeah, I always make my probably my easiest costume, which is when everyone thinks is the best is.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I was flying somewhere for Halloween, so I had to have a costume I could either bring with me or make right when I got there. So I was a black and white cookie. I just took poster board. Anyone can copy this, you can have this idea. So I just took a poster board and painted half black, half white, and then I took another one, did the same and then I think I did just like tape with duct tape to make straps. Everyone's like oh my god, I took me like an hour to make that one at most, and then I think I made it. I like to make a little headpiece so that one said look to the cookie. And then I carried around a plate of black and white cookies. So that was an easy one.
Nicole Kelly:Do you already have your? Obviously have your costume planned for this year.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yes, this year I've been very busy with a newborn, so we have two costumes. So I wanted a costume that she really likes. She's very into flowers, which is obviously not a Jewish thing, so we're going to be flowers for trick or treating. But then I have one. I want to do a Jewish one too, so I have a Jewish one I'm working on as well, which is a simple one, because this year I'm just busy.
Nicole Kelly:The things that I used to just find time to do like read or watch television. How did no one used to do with them?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:My free time. Yeah, I had a few hours. The other day my husband took my daughter, so I was like home alone for a few hours and I was like what do I do with my time? Like I did a clean.
Nicole Kelly:I did some work.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I watched the Bachelor and I was like now, what do I do? I don't know. I forget what I did with all my free time.
Nicole Kelly:I have said the same thing.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So you talked about theme parties.
Nicole Kelly:I am also a huge theme party person. Yay, my daughter's first birthday was her name is Alexandra, it was Alex in Wonderland Cute. And her second birthday was Tutu, Cute, cute. I love the kinds of holiday decorations like in storage and stuff like that. What is your favorite theme party you've ever thrown?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Oh, that is a great question, but I've moved a lot and my one regret is, every time I move I don't bring my theme stuff. So I should have a lot more stuff, me. Probably. The one that comes to mind was for my 30th birthday. I had a Jardie, which is a jeans party, so everyone had to wear head to toe denim.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:And we got a party which is like a pretty like. I like a theme. That's doable. You know, if you're not a theme person, do you have jeans in a denim shirt? Probably you go to Goodwill and get a denim shirt. You're good to go. So, obviously, my outfit was much more complicated, with like a fringe denim jacket and bustier, but I had denim cowboy boots, but you could wear whatever. And I made denim koozies for everyone with like punny sayings on them. They said like Jardie, like a jock star, something you know, all jeans related. So that was fun. That was like a hard birthday because I was like 30. And I'm like what am I doing with my life?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Like I was, like you know, I definitely like it's not a third life crisis or something, but it was also a very fun party, so that's a recent theme I really enjoyed.
Nicole Kelly:I do like that. You're like what's accessible. I think a lot of people for theme parties. They get a little overwhelmed with theme.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I know not everyone's into it as much as I am and I kind of joke like if you're not in theme you can't come. But I'm like, but I'm kind of serious about that too. So I was like all right, this is my birthday, just wear a pair of jeans, like this is an easy theme. But like some people went way over the top. Some people were like just in jeans, which was fine.
Nicole Kelly:My husband was at this bar in LA we were visiting my parents called residuals, which if you've ever seen the show, Barry, it's on HBO, I think.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I watched the first few seasons. Then it got really dark and I'm like, oh, I don't know, I'm not interested anymore.
Nicole Kelly:They go to residuals. So he came home and he tells me he's like, this girl got up to sing karaoke and she looked like Shrek. So I had to leave and I said, patrick, that's really mean, and he normally he doesn't say things about people's appearance, he goes no. Literally she looked like Shrek and I guess this girl had a Mike Myers themed party. Oh my gosh, there were a bunch of wanes and Austin powers and Shrek.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:That's very creative. Yeah, it's very creative. Yeah, people got very creative with the themes Like. I think I've seen other ones where it's like like dress, like different mics even, or something. So you could be like someone could be Mike Myers, someone could be like Michael Jordan, I don't even know. So there's.
Nicole Kelly:I see a lot of dressed like the bride bachelorette parties. Oh, I've seen that too. Yeah, I know. On TikTok.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I feel like people on TikTok do that. I'm not on TikTok, but I did a lot of. Save your time.
Nicole Kelly:I'm tired of this. A round of a hole. I don't need to go down, you don't? I also saw people that was dressed up like different types of grandmas for bachelorette parties.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Oh, that's funny.
Nicole Kelly:They're like the coastal themed grandmother and they gave up like grandma names and stuff and I just love the opposite of like dressing sexy. Yes, I think it comes from me as an actor. My favorite day when I did a show was always the first day we were in costumes. So, I feel like it just kind of comes from my. I love costumes and I'm very excited about anything where I can dress up in a costume.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Me too. I think so too. I just make some more.
Nicole Kelly:It's just a little more fun. It's. It's like, though I we were just at Comic-Con and I think who caused like that. I don't think I could do.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:No, that's intense, that's intense.
Nicole Kelly:I think it's very serious.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I'm serious too. I'm not that serious.
Nicole Kelly:People who make like literal superhero costumes that probably weigh a lot and they have to walk around in it all day and I think it's the kind of thing that sounds really fun, but after about 15 minutes you're kind of like, no, I don't want to wear a jet pack anymore.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, no, I like most of my costumes involve spandex and they're comfortable, stretchy, like I always.
Nicole Kelly:Comfortably.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I've purchased the same Unitard from Amazon, different colors like six times. So definitely, definitely Unitard related.
Nicole Kelly:Unitard are very comfortable. Yeah, so talking with theme parties, I want to talk about your Bat mitzvah. Oh yeah, I have seen pictures on Instagram and I feel like all millennial girls wore similar suits to their services.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Why was that a thing? Why I remember when I saw more modern day Bat mitzvahs and it struck me that they weren't wearing suits, I was like that's so unprofessional. I was like, wait, do you have to wear a suit to synagogue? I would wear. Like growing up, too, I'd wear suits to synagogue for the high holidays I remember I got when I came home from college I had this like black pants suit that I thought was so, which was sleek. It was definitely like fancier than I dress now, and I wore that with like a red clutch and I was like, oh, this is my Rosh Hashanah outfit. Like suits were the thing for sure. So yeah, mine was a baby blue.
Nicole Kelly:My sister. My mom had a whole fight about her and the suit because she didn't want to wear it. If you saw the, you're still not invited to my Bat mitzvah.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:That whole scene. I didn't see that I need to see it.
Nicole Kelly:There's a whole scene where they're trying on outfits and they get into a fight. My sister and I saw it. I was at home when we watched it. We were like laugh crying. It was so funny. So you're saying you wore a baby blue suit?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, mine was baby blue and Taylor suit and I had matching baby blue nails, which was not like it wasn't a thing to have like different color nails as much during that. This was like before even hard candy was a thing, so if you had that. But this was like just before the nail art trend. So I like to think I started that. I remember to my cousin's bat mitzvah. I had a suit that was. The top was half hot pink, half white, and the bottom was the opposite, like half white, half hot pink, and then I wore a giant hot pink bow that I would like definitely wear this outfit today. It was very stylish. So that was my outfit for my party.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I got an outfit that, honestly, I also still wear. So I have it here. This wasn't planned, I can reach it. This was the top. So I haven't grown since fifth grade. I was like, oh, it's amazing, you could fit into your bat mitzvah stuff. And I was like, no, I was like a chubby five foot two, like 12 years. I was the same. I wasn't like I was like so skinny then or anything. I'm like no, I'm basically the same size.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So this says you can see like it's a black velvet with rhinestones, and then I don't know where the skirt, somewhere over here it's a hot pink taffeta skirt, and so I remember I picked this out at like one of those stores that had like all the fancy you have to like go in person before online shopping and like it was like a wedding dress store and they also had like prom and stuff and this was 90% off. My mom and it was still like $100 for this outfit. My mom was like that's hideous, like you have to use your babysitting money if you want this. She's like you're going to regret it. Here's the skirt. She's like you're going to regret it, but this is, like you know, not a timeless look and I'm like why I don't care about being timeless.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:This is what I want to wear and I still don't care about being timeless. Oh yeah, this is the skirt. So I still wear it. It's so cute and my wedding dress was pink, so I'm like you know what she's since apologized. She's like you were always who you were, you're right. So that was my party. That was my party, look.
Nicole Kelly:Did you have a theme?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, my theme was candy, so I had like M&M what do you call it? Like kind of like Gumball machine, but they're M&M machines is the centerpiece. And then rainbow balloons and the rainbow balloons on the dance floor. I remember being very upset because I wanted a rainbow. This is also very, very. I was maybe a little spoiled. It was a rainbow, I wanted a rainbow balloon arch and they said I could get that and then the ceilings were too low so at the end they just had like a little column and I was like I wanted balloons everywhere. But so I was a little upset about that at the time.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:And so the gifts, people like the favors I gave everyone beanie babies and with a little candy kind of box attached to it, and some of these beanie babies, if you still have them with the tag, are worth a lot of money. I gave all the boys tie-dye dinosaurs, which are apparently rare. Dinosaur back to dinosaurs, yes, full circle, but apparently those are rare ones. So if you kept that one for my Batmitzva with the tag in place, that was a good investment.
Nicole Kelly:Coming to my Batmitzva, I'm obsessed with people's Batmitzva themes. I wish that people would want more. Yes, I know.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So I post about my Batmitzva every year and I ask people what their themes were and I just read all the comments. I love seeing what themes were and people way older than me to people who are having their Batmitzva today. It's just like people are still doing themes which.
Nicole Kelly:I love. I wonder when the themes started, because I feel like I've talked to people of my parents' generation. They're like our theme was being Jewish.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I don't even think they didn't have a party, so probably it's something around the party's got out of control, especially in the 90s. This was peak consumerism, I think. Or, of course, growing up in Connecticut, people would bring in dancers from New York because you wanted the best dancers at your part, like what. That seems crazy now, but I didn't do that. But I went to ones where they did.
Nicole Kelly:So I know you welcomed your daughter at the end of last year. How has becoming a mother changed how you feel about being Jewish, if it has it all, and what traditions do you hope to pass on to her?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I mean, I've always loved celebrating the Jewish holidays. I think it's even a little more fun when you have kids. In modern tribe we have all this fun stuff for kids. I'm just excited when she's old enough to be able to play with the toys and the games. So I think it just. I've always loved celebrating the holidays and, of course, being Jewish, I think it kind of renews your excitement introducing this stuff to a child who's like it's all new and exciting.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:So she was born right before Hanukkah last year, so she was still a blob, so I just put her on the floor and I made latkes. I was like, was there our first latkes? I made Hanukkah cookies and stuff. So this year, though, I'm like she could eat latkes and it's going to be so fun. She'll really start to understand what the holiday is a little bit too. So my husband can blow the shofar. So he blew the shofar for Rosh Hashanah. So she was just in awe of looking at. She obviously loves her dad too, so just seeing him like what's Dad doing? So I think the older she gets, the more fun. The holidays are even going to be too. Just like, kind of like anything, just seeing them through a child, seeing things through children's eyes or just kind of inspiring and makes life a little more fun. So I think having the Jewish holidays with her is going to just even be more exciting too.
Nicole Kelly:I can say from experience as they get older, it does get more fun.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yes, yeah, just a little. So she, yeah, she's almost a year now and just like every day she just grows and changes and it's like so fun to watch, so I'm excited, Enjoy it, it goes so quick.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:This year went crazy, no, no, but this year went so fast and I'm trying to like be in the moment too and I'm like you're growing so fast and like trying to enjoy the little things. But it's also so exciting seeing her learn new things. It's no one totally you can't totally warn someone, but no one totally prepares you for like the mental mind games of like being a new parent. You know they warn you about like others. You know it's like oh, you're in a loose sleep and like you know this and this and it's just like emotionally a very hard thing.
Nicole Kelly:It's constant. It's constant Especially with everything that's going on right now. I feel like I've kind of read things about like there's a lot of things about being Jewish that are very sad, like a lot of people focus on the sad, terrible things, but I think there's a lot of joy in being Jewish. I think that there can be a lot of joy. So, talking about like Jewish joy, what are things that you find joyous about being Jewish?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I think it's something that's always been important to both my brands is like finding the joy and being Jewish and even in, like, I feel like a lot of Jewish stuff is like navy and like dark and like steadily. You know, it's just like it just comes. There's a lot of sadness about being Jewish and I think of course, we have to acknowledge our history and our present and it's all you know, never ending. But you know, you, you have to take time to. What's the point in all these sacrifices if you don't appreciate all there is about being being Jewish? So I mean, I love, I love the holidays, the food, of course. Something that's always cool to me is when cool is not the right word but whenever there's uptick anti Semitism, people buy more Jewish jewelry.
Nicole Kelly:And I love.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I just love the community aspect of being Jewish, kind of like the club. You know, you say something to someone who's Jewish and they get it. You're in this like kind of club of similar humor and similar, similar stick and similar you know experiences. So I love that. I love the holidays, I love the food, I love the rituals. You know, I think, our traditions. So I used to host a Seder. I started in college when I didn't go home for Passover and then I, when I lived in Texas, I hosted Seder's. So I started doing Seder's like every year. I did all the cooking, I wrote my own Haggadah and I invited people like all religions and everyone's like. I remember when I moved out of Texas, my friend was like where are we going to do Passover? And I was like you're not Jewish, you don't have to do Passover and like. But I was like you know, they really enjoyed the rituals and thought that it was a fun holiday to participate in. So that's very meaningful and important to me too.
Nicole Kelly:I think it's interesting you say there's an uptick in buying Jewish jewelry when there's a lot of anti Semitism going around, because one of the first things my mother mentioned to me two weeks ago was not to wear jewelry. So I feel like some people become very afraid. But I think you know you're right, there's are some. There are some people who that it kind of almost wants them to make some wants to double down in their Jewishness.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, I think you know, to show your pride for sure, and some people, like you know, we've sold more of this hollow necklace, which is a little more subtle way of being Jewish. You know it's. I don't think not everyone would even know what it was. We have another necklace which is interesting. It's it's a star of David, like Chris, like fake diamond necklace, and then it expands and it looks like a bunch of butterflies and the design for, yeah, the design first came from the Spanish Inquisition when people were hiding their Judaism. And it's kind of sad that people are buying that necklace and using it in the same way today, you know, wearing it outside as the butterflies, maybe when they're back home, putting it back together as a star of David. It's it's a cool necklace and that it represents history. But it's kind of just sad. People are like feeling like they shouldn't be using it the same way today.
Nicole Kelly:Do you guys plan on sending your daughter to Hebrew school and encouraging her to have a bat mitzvah?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yeah, definitely. I mean, you know, whatever something you know, I've always been encouraged to to be myself my parents except, except with my bat mitzvah outfit, but she apologized. But in general, in general, yeah, my parents really encouraged me, my brother, to be ourselves and find a religion in our own way. My brother was they called him a bar mitzvah fade away because after his bar mitzvah he just was not interested in participating anymore, but now he does more stuff than even I do, Like he, you know, he goes to a lot of Jewish events and obviously we own the Judaica store together. So I think it's kind of like having her find her own path, you know, when she's young, yes, we're going to send her to Hebrew school and Sunday school and as she gets older, whatever kind of path she follows will support.
Nicole Kelly:All right. So this next section is done in the style of the actor's studio. So just quick answers to kind of some fun questions. What is your favorite Yiddish word?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Oh, I love a lot of your words, shlep.
Nicole Kelly:What is your favorite Jewish holiday?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Passover. Definitely I love the food.
Nicole Kelly:If you were to have a bat mitzvah today, what would the theme be?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Um unicorns and glitter.
Nicole Kelly:What profession other than your own would you want to attempt?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I've always loved clothing and design.
Nicole Kelly:I love to be a designer, but once I learned how to sew, If heaven is real and God is there to welcome you, what would you like to hear him say?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Well, maybe God's a woman and like to say the buffet. The buffet is open. Hopefully there's a lot of good food in heaven.
Nicole Kelly:I hope so too. I hope so too. Is there anything else that you think anybody listening should know about modern tribe, about what you want to eat, about you?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Why you've asked very thoughtful questions. I definitely I feel like out of any interview I've done, I was like, oh, she definitely like looked at my website. That's really surprising to me. Yeah, no, it's. There were very thoughtful questions and I think you definitely did your research, so I appreciate that. So I was maybe excited to talk to you because I was like, oh, this is gonna be fun and she definitely has put some effort into this.
Nicole Kelly:So yeah, I think I.
Amy Kritzer-Becker:I don't think I talked a lot. So you know people can. If anyone has any questions about you know Judaica or food, they can. I'm very accessible on the internet Amy at what you want to eatcom, or Amy at modern tribecom, or message me on Instagram or anything like that. But I think you know, I think just. I always like to reiterate to people that they're Jewish enough and they're. Whatever they do and whatever they feel comfortable doing is the perfect amount of Judaism and it can change. You know you can be more observant at times in your life and less observant, and if you fade away from celebrating Jewish holidays, you're always welcome back.
Nicole Kelly:Do you have some sort of discount code for first time modern tribe buyers?
Amy Kritzer-Becker:Yes, yes, we have. Yeah, it's so if you sign up for our email, you get this code. But you can just I'll just give it to you anyway. It's just, it's. I am new in all capitals.
Nicole Kelly:So thank you so much for taking the time to talk. Of course, Thank you this is so great to get to know you and, again, if you're interested in checking Amy's blog out, it's what you want to eat and, of course, visit at modern tribe. If you like what you hear and want to hear more of it, you can subscribe and also follow me on Instagram at shebrewinthecity, to see what my life is like day to day. I'm also on Patreon if you'd like to have access to some special episodes and offers.
