Faith Kramer loves the experience of cooking with others, as well as sharing meals.

“We all enjoy eating,” Kramer, author of “52 Shabbats: Friday Night Dinners Inspired by a Global Jewish Kitchen,” told the Journal. “You layer on the Jewish food symbolism and food history, and it becomes a very important event.”

According to Kramer, there are different ways to share the responsibilities and joys of preparing a meal. You can have a potluck, where everyone brings a different dish, or you can do a cooking session.

“I’ve had people come over to make the challah before dinner, and everyone’s braiding or making the shapes they want,” she said.

When Kramer recently visited friends in Arizona, their grandchildren, ages three and six, helped her make meatballs.

“It was incredible,” she said. “The 3 year old was the best little meatball maker I have ever seen. Each one was perfect, each one was done with love. And then, when we had those meatballs, he had such a sense of pride.”

While community cooking is great for those who want to learn, it’s also an asset for those recipes where you need another set of hands. Kramer’s Fruit and Salad Rolls is one such recipe. She uses fresh rice paper and they have two dipping sauces: tahini pomegranate molasses and an Asian peanut sauce.

“Wrapping those for a crowd can be really hard,” she said. “So why not have everybody prepping their rice paper, filling it and rolling it together.”

Everyone would have a beautiful bonding experience and a wonderful sense of a shared accomplishment.

The recipes in “52 Shabbats” are the same food Kramer serves her friends and family.

“Some of it is Ashkenazi, Eastern European,” she said. “Some of it is very American. Some of it is informed by the travels I’ve taken all over the world.”

Kramer’s late mother-in-law always served a fruit compote for Friday night dinners, holiday dinners and family get-togethers.

“She put Tang on her fruit compote, so it wasn’t like my favorite part of the meal,” Kramer said.

When Kramer was at a night market in Thailand, and saw a woman make fruit rolls with a little bit of lettuce, she saw it as a version of fruit compote she would love to eat. It evolved into her Fruit and Salad Roll. Recipe is below.

For those who want to be better at cooking – and enjoying the experience or preparing food – Kramer says to cook often, read through recipes, so there are no surprises, and be sure to try new things.

“The more you educate your palate and the more you gain the muscle skills, the better and easier it will be to cook,” she said.

Her biggest tip: Don’t set yourself up to do too much, when preparing a meal, especially when you are entertaining.

“I talk about intention, and if your intention is to have a nice meal, whether it’s a Shabbat meal or not, you don’t necessarily have to make restaurant perfect food,” Kramer said.

That means you can make an easy green bean recipe, serve a rotisserie chicken and/or buy brownies for dessert.

“It’s still an occasion … if you outsource [some of the] elements or you do it as a potluck,” she said.

Your guests would rather have you relaxed, happy and joining them, than to have a perfect meal.

“I like people to look at the intention and not get caught up in perfection,” Kramer said.

Learn more about Faith Kramer and 52 Shabbats.

For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:

Watch the interview:

Fruit and Vegetable Rice Paper Salad Rolls

Adapted from “52 Shabbats: Friday Night Dinners Inspired by a Global Jewish Kitchen” (The Collective Book Studio) by Faith Kramer

Makes 4 rolls

My mother-in-law always started her dinners with a fruit salad. After a trip to Southeast Asia, I was inspired, and transformed her chopped fruit salad into these rolls wrapped in rice papers. The rolls make a great appetizer, starter, or side dish. If you’ve never worked with rice papers before, try practicing with one or two rice paper rounds first until you get the hang of it.

Make either or both dipping sauces. Extra sauces refrigerate well. Tahini-Pomegranate Dip is lovely on morning toast. Toss leftover Dipping Sauce with Peanuts with noodles for a quick Asian noodle dish.

Find pomegranate molasses online, in kosher, Middle Eastern or specialty markets and in some supermarkets. Look for the rice paper wrappers online, in Asian or specialty markets and in some supermarkets.

For the Rolls

1 large ripe banana
1 cup thinly sliced mango, divided
1 cup thinly sliced strawberries, divided
1 cup thinly sliced fresh pineapple spears, divided
1 cup chopped fresh mint, divided
4 (81/2-inch) round rice paper wrappers
3/4 cup packed chopped romaine lettuce
1/4 cup grated fresh or dried unsweetened coconut, optional
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or Thai basil

For the Dipping Sauce with Peanuts

1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon Chinese chile garlic sauce or Sriracha sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped green onions, white and green parts
2 tablespoons chopped roasted, salted, and skinless peanuts

For the Tahini-Pomegranate Molasses Dip

1/4 cup tahini
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon pomegranate molasses

To Make the Rolls

Cut the banana crosswise, then cut each half into 4 long pieces. Set aside 1/4 cup each of the mango, strawberries, pineapple, and mint.

Fill a small bowl with lukewarm water. Place a rice wrapper on a clean work surface. Dip a pastry or basting brush into the water. Brush the wrapper from edge to edge with water until it is very wet. Flip over the wrapper and repeat. Let the wrapper rest for 30 seconds.

Starting 1 inch from the left-hand edge, spread out one-quarter of the mango on the rice wrapper from top to bottom and to just past the midpoint. Top with one quarter of the strawberries, 3 tablespoons of lettuce, 2 banana slices, one quarter of the pineapple, 1 tablespoon of coconut (if using), 3 tablespoons of mint, and 1 tablespoon of basil.

Pull the left side of the wrapper up and over the filling with one hand while using your other hand to compress the filling into a tight log as you roll the wrapper over it. Continue rolling until the wrapper has sealed on itself. Transfer the roll to a serving platter seam side down. Repeat with the remaining rice paper wrappers.

To Make the Dipping Sauce with Peanuts

In a small bowl, mix the vinegar, soy sauce, oil, ginger, and chile garlic sauce. Set aside. Stir in the green onions and peanuts just before serving.

To Make the Tahini-Pomegranate Molasses Dip

In a small bowl, mix the tahini and 1 tablespoon of pomegranate molasses. Set aside. Just before serving, drizzle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of pomegranate molasses over the top and, using a dinner knife, swirl it through the dip so it looks marbleized.

To Serve

Finely dice the remaining fruit and scatter it over the rolls. Sprinkle it with the remaining mint. Serve with your choice of sauces on the side.

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: tastebuds@jewishjournal.com.