T

he JN online video series Bubbie’s 
Kitchen Detroit is back! Kicking off 
the second season is featured bub-
bie Cookie Lachover baking hamantashen. 
(Access the series using the QR code on the 
previous page or search for 
Bubbie’s Kitchen Detroit on 
YouTube.)
It was fitting for us to 
bake hamantashen since 
they’re cookies, right? Well, 
sometimes they are; more 
on that below. As for Cookie 
Lachover, she was born Eileen 
Markofsky but immediately 
nicknamed “Cookie” by her father. 
Bubbie’s Kitchen Detroit is about the bub-
bies and the recipes, so let’s explore each. 
On Feb. 1, Cookie Lachover and the cookie 
hamantashen converged for a taping of 
Bubbie’s Kitchen Detroit. Cookie chose a 
recipe she made when her daughter Rachel 
was growing up. But first, let’s learn about 
Cookie, the bubbie.

COOKIE’S HERITAGE
Cookie’s grandparents came from Eastern 
Europe and ended up in Detroit. Her pater-
nal grandfather, Ellis Markofsky, passed away 
before her birth. Her paternal grandmother, 
Nettie Markofsky (maiden name, Kahn), was 
sick as Cookie was growing up, so though 
they saw each on Sundays, they weren’t able 
to have a close relationship.
She did have a close relationship with 

her maternal grandparents, the Gormans. 
Her grandpa, Joseph (Joe) Gorman (origi-
nal surname Gershtenman), owned Grand 
River Auto Parts and served as president of 
Congregation Bnai David from 1948-1954; 
during this time, Bnai David was Detroit’s 
largest Orthodox synagogue. (In later 
decades, it identified as Traditional, remain-
ing to the right of Conservative. Today, the 
congregation no longer exists). 
Cookie grew up attending services at Bnai 
David on the holidays.
Cookie’s grandma, Anna Gorman (maid-
en name, Yancher), “made the best kreplach 
ever, the best chicken soup, and her rice pud-
ding was wonderful,
” as Cookie put it. 
They would sometimes cook together. 
When Cookie asked how much of an ingre-
dient to use, her grandma would say “a shit 
arayn of this and a shit arayn of that. “Shit 
arayn” is Yiddish for “pour in” (when refer-
ring to dry material, in this case, dry ingredi-
ents), and was a common phrase when those 
cooking didn’t use precise measurements. 
Cookie’s father, Samuel (Sam) Markofsky, 
owned Markofsky Furniture Co., a small 
furniture store in Detroit on Michigan 
Avenue, and her mother, Sara Markofsky 
(maiden name Gorman), was a homemak-
er. Cookie has an older sister, Elinor, now 

living in Columbus, and a younger brother, 
Michael, now living in Los Angeles. The 
family didn’t just use their legal surname of 
“Markofsky” though; they regularly used the 
shorter “Marks” instead, which Cookie grew 
up doing without thinking twice. Only as a 
student at Mumford High School in Detroit, 
when it came time for her driver’s training, 
did the differing names become an issue. 
That’s when she had hers legally changed.

TO CHICAGO AND BACK
After graduating Wayne State University 
with a degree in elementary education, 
Cookie sought teaching jobs for lower grades 
 
to no avail. Then a friend who’
d moved to 
Chicago and worked at the Chicago Board of 
Trade (a futures exchange for commodities), 
suggested that Cookie apply for a clerk posi-
tion there and join her in the Windy City. 
Cookie got the job. She worked at the 
Chicago Board of Trade for a decade, and 
then stayed to pursue other opportunities. 
All the while, she dated Jewish guys but 
didn’t fall in love.
In 1982, a former neighbor suggested she 
go out with Dr. Leonard (Lenny) Lachover, a 
psychiatrist, while she was home in Detroit 
for Pesach. 
“I was just in town to visit family and 

continued on page 36

Joshua 
Goldberg
Contributing 
Writer

OUR COMMUNITY
COVER STORY

Bubbie’
s 
 
Kitchen

Popular series relaunches with a new 
look and a favorite Purim recipe.
is Back!

TRIPP AUDIO VISUAL

MARCH 21 • 2024 | 35

