On Nov. 8, Jewish Family Service is hosting a virtual all-day food festival. The Great JFS FoodFestFaire will raise funds to support the JFS Community Food Pantry and Mazel Meals, their monthly kosher meal outreach to older adults.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., videos featuring cooking demonstrations from friends of JFS and the work of JFS and its volunteers will be shown every half hour on the JFS Facebook page and website. This portion of the day is free of charge, and the community is invited to like, comment and share these videos.

The day will kick off with Naomi Schachter making breakfast smoothies at 11 a.m. Then at 11:30 a.m., you can get a peek inside JFS with “Welcome to Our Community Food Pantry.” At 12 p.m., Jannie Kay shares her recipe for a cheese souffle, followed by Devorah Halperin at 12:30 p.m. making a cranberry apple kugel. Learn about part of JFS’s older adult outreach at 1 p.m. with “Making a Difference: Mazel Meals.” Then join Eileen Fischmann at her outdoor pizza oven at 1:30 p.m. “Kids Cook” with Rebecca Wilson at 2 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. will take a look at “Our Amazing Volunteers.” Wrapping up the free portion of the day will be Sandi Teplitz at 3 p.m. baking brownies. 

Tickets are required for The Food Pantry Throwdown, the festival's main event at 4 p.m. via Zoom. In a "Chopped"-style challenge, three rounds of cooks will attempt to prepare the best dish from ingredients taken from the kosher section of the Community Food Pantry. Home cooks Terrence Baker, Jane Levine and Judith Rodwin will create appetizers, professional chefs Mary Grube, Leslie Goldsmith and Eric Rappaport tackle the entree portion, and local kids Jackson Bub, Thalia Levine and Shelby Tenzer will whip up desserts. Naomi Schachter will host the live Zoom event where the contestants and judges will chat with her live about the competition before the winners are revealed.

Tickets available here. Thank you gift options of cookbooks or aprons are also available with an additional donation.