Can I Come Over?

Probably the most frustrating thing about kosher is the inconvenience it places on others who just want to show hospitality. Every stage adds a new level of burden for people who want to share food. Nonetheless, for most of the journey it can be accommodated. So we’ll have a turkey instead of ham. So we’ll get a kosher turkey. So we’ll leave out the butter.

But when you make the final leap to a fully kosher kitchen with separate meat and dairy dishes, properly kashered and toiveled, people who have been helpful, encouraging, and generous are now at their wits’ end.

I have been meaning to do this for a long time, but here it is: some ideas about how to accommodate a guest that has a strict kosher standard.