Cooking while fasting - genius idea or huge mistake?

This past Yom Kippur, I had a few friends over to break the fast.  For those of you who don't know, Yom Kippur is a Jewish holiday that is 10 days after the Jewish New Year.  It's the "Day of Atonement," when you're supposed to repent for all of your sins of the past year, and then you start the new year with a fresh slate.  You're supposed to fast to help clear your mind and focus.  And then you get together with your friends and stuff your face :)
I probably technically could have made some of the food in advance, but I wanted everything to be fresh.  Which means that I made most of the food while fasting.  For someone who tastes as she cooks, this was extremely difficult!  Not only did it make me really hungry, but I couldn't check to make sure everything tasted okay.
For some reason, the food at break the fast parties resembles breakfast or brunch food.  There is usually an assortment of bagels, with cream cheese, lox and other toppings.  So I made homemade bagels, and had my friend bring cream cheese and lox.
Kugel is an essential Jewish food.  It's kind of like a bread pudding, but with egg noodles.  The custard is a combination of eggs, butter, sour cream, cottage cheese and cream cheese.  I added in apples and raisins.
Even though kugel is almost a dessert, I needed a real dessert.  I had some leftover buttermilk from a pie (post coming soon), so I used it to make buttermilk chocolate cupcakes.  They were so good!  Not too unhealthy, but really decadent-tasting.  I paired them with a coconut cream cheese frosting - not too sweet, and completely delicious.
So what do you think?  Is it horribly cruel to cook when you can't eat, or is it a great idea to have a ton of food ready for when you can eat?

Kugel with Apples and Raisins:
Ingredients:

4 oz cream cheese, 1/3 less fat (at room temperature)

6 oz unsalted butter, melted

8 oz cottage cheese, reduced fat

1/2 cup sugar

6 eggs

1 pint sour cream, reduced fat

1 tsp vanilla

1 lb medium egg noodles
2 apples, thinly sliced
1/2 cup raisins
cinnamon sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Combine the cream cheese, butter, cottage cheese and sugar and beat until smooth.  Add the eggs and beat in, one at a time.  Mix in the sour cream and vanilla and set aside.
Parboil the apples ~2 minutes, until tender.  Drain and set aside.
Cook the egg noodles in boiling water ~6 minutes, until al dente.  Drain, and mix with the creamed mixture.  Add the apples and raisins, toss until mixed well.

Pour into a 9x13 pan, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.  Bake 45 minutes-1 hour, or until the custard is set.  If starting to brown too much, cover with foil.

Let sit ~30 minutes before serving.  Enjoy warm or at room temperature (with a freshly baked bagel).

Recipe: Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes (from Picky Eatings)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup dutch processes cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F and line a standard cupcake tin with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Add eggs, water, buttermilk, oil and vanilla, and beat until smooth.
Use an ice cream scoop to fill the cupcake liners.  You may have a little extra batter.
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is springy, about 20 minutes.  Put on a cooling rack, and then frost once at room temperature.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting:
Ingredients:
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp coconut extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, divided

Directions:
Beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth.  With the mixer on low, add in the powdered sugar.  Beat until smooth.  Fold in the extracts and some of the coconut.

Smooth on top of the cooled cupcakes, and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

Surviving Passover

This is the 3rd night of Passover, and I've made it through so far!  Last night I was craving sweets and the only thing I could find that was kosher was a bag of chocolate chips.  I had to change that, so today I cooked a few things.  I made some stuff last night as well, but those were all dinner dishes.

First, I made matzah ball soup.  Unfortunately...I cheated - I bought a mix.  I added some spices to the matzah balls and cut up some carrots to put in the soup, though!  So I felt like I added a little extra to it.

Then, I made broccoli and cheese casserole.  Really easy recipe.  My mom got recipes years ago off matzah boxes, so I don't know where the credit goes.   It's probably really easily adaptable based on what veggies you have.  I would maybe mix in the broccoli with the liquid ingredients next time.

Recipe: Broccoli and Cheese Casserole
Ingredients:
2 heads broccoli florets, chopped in bite-size pieces (~4-5 cups) and parboiled for a few minutes
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup sour cream (I used 2% greek yogurt)
4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 eggs
1 cup hand cracked matzah (I used farfel)
2 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup grated parmesan

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan.  Drain the broccoli florets well, pressing out all the moisture.  Spread the florets in the pan.  Beat sour cream (or yogurt) with cottage cheese, butter, and eggs until well blended.  Fold in matzah and pour mixture over broccoli.  Arrange tomato slices on top and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake about 45 minutes then let stand about 5 minutes before serving.

So that was what I made last night.  Tonight I decided to first make something sweet.  So I used another one of those matzah box recipes.  It's a nice hearty and sweet snack.

Recipe: Raisin Walnut Pudding Cake
Ingredients:
4 matzahs, broken into small pieces
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled slightly
cinnamon sugar (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325.  Soak matzah in water for 10 minutes and drain.  Add beaten eggs and let stand another 10 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Pour into greased baking dish, 8x8 or 9x9.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, until set, but not dry.

This last recipe was delicious!  I searched through my bookmarked recipes to find something that was kosher for passover, but DID NOT INCLUDE MATZAH!  And I found it in this great recipe.  I think it's my new favorite way to cook potatoes.  It's a little more time consuming than a simple roasted potato or mashed potatoes.  But it's worth it, I promise!  And it really isn't bad for you at all.  Oh and added benefit - I got to use my mixer to beat the egg whites :)  I think the next time I make it I'll try experimenting with different spices and different cheeses.

Recipe: Parmesan Potato Puff (from Lisa's Kitchen)
Ingredients:
2 lbs potatoes (I used baby yukon golds)
2 tbsp butter (I used unsalted so I could adjust the salt myself)
s&p to taste
1/3-1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp paprika
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Boil some lightly salted water.  Wash and peel the potatoes, cutting them into uniform pieces.  Cook until they are tender.  Drain, mash, and return to pot.  Season with s&p, and add butter and milk and mash until they are light and fluffy.

Grease a small casserole dish (I used a pie plate and it worked out perfectly).  Beat the egg yolks well.  Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.  Stir the spices and cheese into the potatoes.  Now beat in the egg yolks.  Fold in half of the egg whites.  This helps loosen up the potatoes a bit.  Fold in the rest of the egg whites, being careful not to deflate them.  Transfer the mixture to the prepared dish.  Bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the potatoes have formed a golden brown crust.

Snow and Sweet Potatoes

It has been snowing ALL day long. I somehow woke up at 8 am (even though it's a snow day) and it was already snowing then. When I moved to Charlottesville, I figured I would be safe from the snow. Definitely not the case. At least not this year. But that's okay - as long as I don't need to go anywhere, I am completely content. I've been sitting in my pjs all day, watching tv. By the time dinnertime came around, I figured I should do something productive. I have a lot of cooked sweet potato leftover from my burritos the other day, so I really wanted to use that up. Of course, I didn't find anything dinner-related to make with it. But I did decide to make a sweet potato casserole. While this was cooking, I made a frozen Indian dinner from Trader Joe's with some naan - delicious.

I can't wait until Charlottesville gets a Trader Joe's! I heard it's still a few years away though...
But back to the recipe - it's another weird flavor combination using sweet potatoes. If you don't like sweet potatoes, you won't like this recipe! And another warning - it is much better at room temperature. I tried some right when it came out of the oven and wasn't impressed. But after an hour or two, it's much better! So this isn't one of the best things I've ever made. But I think it was a good use of leftovers.

Sweet Potato and Banana Casserole:
Ingredients:
1 MASSIVE sweet potato, cooked and mashed (about 1 1/2 - 2 cups)
2 medium-large bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup skim milk
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 inch piece of ginger - grated
Cinnamon sugar
1/4 cup raisins

Directions:
Pretty simple - mix all of the ingredients together from the sweet potato to the ginger. Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease an 8x8 glass baking dish. Pour the mixture into the dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and the raisins. Cook for about 30 minutes, until set. Let cool before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

* Update: After refrigerating overnight, it is delicious! This should definitely be served cold.