Stop and smell the rosemary.
“Little moments of joy make all the difference,” Jewish romance author Jean Meltzer (“The Matzah Ball,” “Kissing Kosher”) told the Journal.
Last week, Meltzer, the founder of Jewish Joy LLC — which includes the Jewish Joy Book Club and the Jewish Joy Box — announced the inaugural Jewish Joy Con. The three-day cultural convention, set for March 13 to 15, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will celebrate Jewish pop culture, storytelling and creativity through the lens of joy.
“This is a time right now where we need joy, especially Jewish joy,” she said. “I just thought, ‘Let’s get together and throw ComicCon meets Jewish summer camp.”
A romance author by trade, Meltzer has long been an advocate of joy. She said romance authors only have one rule in their books: “Your story must have a happy ending.”
While a lot of Jewish stories are focused on trauma — and rightly so — Meltzer tries to focus her stories on joy. She has been chronically ill since age 18, so holding onto joy has helped her get through the most challenging moments.
When asked for her definition of Jewish Joy, Meltzer said it’s different for each person.
“For me, I love wrapping my hair as a married woman on Fridays before Shabbat, making Shabbat dinner,” she said. “I love writing Jewish books and planning Jewish Joy Con.”
In her Jewish Joy Book Club group, she said, some women connect to their Jewish joy by making a Hanukkah wreath, others by using a product that is from Israel; some do so through reading a Jewish romance. All of those are good.
“We don’t have to know all the Halakha, the Jewish law; we don’t have to be the person who does everything,” she said. “Whenever you connect to your Judaism through joy, you are connecting to a bigger power.”
Food also falls into the “joy” category.
“Baking and romance go hand in hand; that’s a big trope seller in romance,” Meltzer said. “So if you’re ever thinking about writing a Jewish baking romance [there’s] definitely an audience for it.”
One of Meltzer’s earliest food memories involves the love her grandmother put into the meals she cooked. She would make fruit kugel, and other traditional Jewish foods, especially around the holidays.
“You can see the points of your life [through food],” she said. “It kind of travels with you like a history.”
While Meltzer hasn’t made a fruit kugel in years, due to her health issues, she holds onto the beautiful memories.
She calls her particular cooking style, “easy gourmet.”
“I can make all these recipes that seem and look really fancy, but take like 15 minutes,” she said. “I have a whole repertoire, and I always pull it out when I’m visiting family or they’re coming to visit us, and especially for the holidays.”
One of her favorites is lamb kofta.
“What I love about this is it’s delicious – there’s never a bit left, it’s super healthy, it’s gluten-free,” she said. “It takes literally. 10 to 15 minutes to make; 20 minutes, 30 minutes to cook and you are good to go.” The recipe is below.
Her other easy recipes include a black bean salmon and rack of lamb (“I use a black bean sauce with extra ginger, throw some scallions on the top and bake it,” she said.) and za’atar potatoes (“It’s really just smashed potatoes that I nuked in the microwave and then baked, but I dumped za’atar on it,” she said.)
Just because you’re busy does not mean you can’t eat fancy things.
“I cut corners – I use the steamed potatoes, I buy the salmon ready to go — and it tastes great,” she said. “They’re foolproof recipes.”
To bring more joy into your life, Meltzer suggested taking a few seconds every day to be present doing something you enjoy; recognize the beautiful moments. It could be playing with your children, walking your dog or seeing someone you love laughing.
“And if it can be Jewish, even better, but it doesn’t have to be because joy is what will connect you to your universe,” she said.
The same thing is true for food. Treat whatever it is you’re eating like a gift.
“Enjoy that ice cream, enjoy that meal, enjoy the sensation of going to a grocery store and smelling the rosemary fresh,” Meltzer said. “These little moments of joy make all the difference.”
Follow @JeanMeltzer on Instagram and Threads and JeanMeltzerAuthor on Facebook. Check out JeanMeltzer.com, Jewish-Joy.com and TheJewishJoyCon.com
For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:
I’m the queen of quick and easy food that tastes amazing, feels gourmet, but takes almost no effort to prepare. One of my favorite recipes — for both special occasions and Shabbat — are these super flavorful lamb koftas. As a chronically-ill person, I also like that they can be eaten by those on a variety of health diets. I serve them with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes from the farmers market, and some Israeli couscous.
Ingredients
1 pound ground lamb
1 entire cluster cilantro
½ white or yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Bathe/wash the cilantro. In a small food processor, grind the herbs, along with your chopped onion and garlic until it is blended well together. The mixture will be slightly liquid-y.
- In a bowl, combine the herb blend with lamb, cumin and salt.
- Spray a baking pan. Shape koftas into cylinders, and place on the pan. Bake at 400° for 20-30 minutes, turning once part way.
- Remove and serve with your favorite accoutrements.
Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.” Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: [email protected].
