When we decided to keep Kosher we did so with a lot of planning and a lot of preparation. We received a lot of help from a Chabad rabbi in St. Louis who runs The Source Unlimited located at 11044 Olive Blvd (available by phone at 314.567-1925) who was always willing to give us advice and more importantly optimistic encouragement. At The Source I purchased a book entitled Going Kosher in 30 Days by another Chabad rabbi by the name of Zalman Goldstein that was helpful. I also found another very detailed series of lectures online in mp3 format by yet another Chabad Rabbi by the name of Dovid Bendory that was simply outstanding with suffienct detail to help guide us through a very detail oriented process. Rabbi Bendory is a very gifted teacher and his attention to detail is a great asset when converting a kitchen to kosher. The one thing about the Chabad people is that they were always encouraging and optimisitc and viewed the process as something that was very doable for us. And, it was.
We got rid of a lot of stuff, bought some new stuff, and made our kitchen kosher. I estimate that at least 70 - 80 percent of the food in a normal grocery store is kosher and probably even more than that. For example there is an OU certified bacon bit salad dressing which is kosher although it contains no pork but rather a marvel of modern chemistry that supposedly mimics the taste of pork - but we do not use it at our house. You can even buy kosher bread (mostly from Schnucks), a few kosher chesses (one from Sams and a few from Clovers while cream cheese is pretty much kosher no matter where you buy it) , and kosher fish here in Columbia but meat is a problem. By the way, Schnucks used to carry some kosher chicken items but at least for the time being has stopped that practice. The Conley street WalMart even had a Kosher section, NONE of the other WalMart stores here in Columbia did, although it was very limited and certainly did not heave meat (but they did have kosher chicken broth from time to time). Unfortunately I do not know what the Conley store will have after the remodeling is finished. What to do?
We planned our kitchen conversion carefully and on our way back from a family vacation to Florida last winter stopped at Kohn's (combination grocer, deli, and most importantly kosher butcher shop) to stock up. Before leaving for the trip we had completed all the preparation and work on our kitchen so it was ready to go. During that stop we purchased about six hundred dollars worth of meat, the staff helped us pack it in ice lined boxes, we covered it with blankets, and we drove home in the crowded van. Since then we have learned a lot and have ordered items from other meat suppliers in Chicago and New York but we continue to buy nearly all our meat from Kohn's. Most of the time though we order it on the internet and then have it shipped by Federal Express to our front door. The quality of the meat from Kohn's is very good and the chicken has the taste and texture of what chicken used to be like before producers started relying on growth hormones and other questionable production practices. Here is a pictorial essay of our last delivery:
The doorball rang and the dogs go crazy. We placed an order the day before yesterday so we have a good idea what is going on. It is the first order we have received while the kids are home so it is good to have them see how the process works for us.
To guard against thieves, kosher meat is expensive, we use specially trained and bred guard dogs procurred through the local Humane Society.
Here is our order. We tried a couple of new things this time around and it worked out great. We are slowly learning what to order and what to avoid to suit our taste. This is a photo with the box opened and the top removed from the Styrofoam container that helps keep the stuff frozen. That along with the dry ice is a pretty efficient system:
Here we are packing the stuff away into the freezer. My parents bought us the freezer which helps to make this all possible. If your going to keep kosher in a community that does not have a local butcher buty a freezer. This smaller one does very well.
A lot of people thought that keeping kosher here in Columbia was impossible or would be difficult. That is not true at all. With the internet and the efficiency of services like federal express along with the proliferation of material on keeping kosher available through the internet and in regular print sources it is actually not hard to do at all. It can be more expensive but we have adjusted and eat more parve or dairy meals and we are doing just fine. It has been a wonderful experience.
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