In the middle, on the right

Stumbling blocks

2012-01-08T22:26:00.002+02:00

A few friends posted this to their Facebook and I refrained from commenting on their space, so I will in mine.

While I certainly don't agree with certain fanatics trying to erase women from the public, and I firmly believe that every man should be responsible for his own Shmirat Einayim (guarding your eyes), the above 'protest' is a perfect example of the prohibition of Lifnei Iver Lo Titen Michshol (do not put a stumbling block before a blind person).

I personally think flash mobs for a cause are silly and are usually not well done with regard to promoting the cause. And in this case, the vehicle of their protest.. well, I don't think they could have picked a worse way. I'm sure it was intentional.

What's next? Having them stand across the street from a shul during Mincha and sing?

Forgetting our history

2012-01-05T16:55:00.003+02:00

My timeline for anecdotal evidence is fairly short since I've only been in Israel for 14 1/2 years. However the Tanach is rife with lessons we seem to forget every seven years or so...

What the heck am I babbling about?

About 3 years after we made Aliyah, the 'Second Intifada' started. Six years after that, 'Lebanon War, Part Deux' flared up.

While I don't remember any details, I do know that just before these two escalations in Arab violence occurred, there was a HUGE amount of Jewish in-fighting and Sinat Chinam (baseless hatred) going on in the Jewish communities, both here in Israel and abroad.

I remember thinking, people... read your Bible. Whenever the Jews would turn against one another, God would bring in some conquering nation to enslave us or prevent us from practicing Judaism.

The stuff that's been happening here in Israel lately is Sinat Chiman on a level I've NEVER seen before.

People, Second Intifada was pretty bad. The Lebanon War Part II was devastating to the Land... Shape up because I shudder to think what God has in mind for us now...

Burial Crisis?

2011-12-31T23:21:00.004+02:00

The following was an advertisement in the Torah Tidbits:

Suitable for Kohanim: Burial rights for two adjacent front row plots in the Kohanim Section at the Sanhedria Cemetery, Jerusalem are available for transfer. Offers invited in the region of NIS100,000 and above. Please apply to...

This prompted a brief discussion with my husband at the Shabbat table about a couple things.

First of all, the utter gall this person has to auction this off. To me it just seems so... crass.

Second, real estate in Jerusalem per meter for the dead seems to be just as expensive as apartments for the living.

And third, apparently they're running out of burial spaces in the country... especially in Jerusalem.

My solution to number three by the way is to stop allowing Jews who don't actually live in Israel, to be buried in Israel. If the country wasn't good enough for you when you were alive and well and could appreciate the land and contribute to the country by say, paying taxes, then you shouldn't become a tax on the country when you're dead by taking up needed burial space.

Yes sir, that's my baby....

2011-11-22T14:47:00.002+02:00

A Mother in Israel posted about the Top Israeli Baby Boy Names of 2010 and had asked on her FB if folks would mind contributing a photo of their baby for the post.

I was quite happy to oblige and sent her this photo of EN, when he was a bald 10 week old baby.

Of course that was AGES ago, EN will be turning 3 in March (where DOES the time go????) so I figured I'd show folks an updated picture...

Of course after he turns 3, we'll need new post-Chalakeh photos...

Family Sukkah Project

2011-10-12T13:25:00.005+02:00

Last year, we started the Family Sukkah Project (that's a link, BTW) thanks to some ideas posted on other blogs.

This year, the boys were a lot more cooperative and thanks to the arrival of a son in law this summer, we've grown a hand!

Now I understand

2011-10-12T08:19:00.002+02:00

I finally 'get' the allure of crispy, fried cured meats.... Yesterday I was frying up 'pepper salami' (salami with whole peppercorns in it) for my potato knishes and I found myself unable to stop eating the hot, crisp, greasy morsels...

I really had to restrain myself because I was running out. I may go and buy more just to fry... ooooh... LUNCH!

I still can't stand the smell of cooking bacon... oh, where does a nice FFB girl get that from? That would be being on a fishing 'party' boats from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn with my dad by 6 a.m. A mate would be in the galley filling breakfast orders. The whole place would stink of cooking bacon, fish, diesel and salt water. It wasn't bad in the summer because I could sit outside and enjoy the fresh air. But in the winter (our last trip was usually on Thanksgiving), I'd sit at the stern, letting the galley protect me from the worst of the wind and spray, but it was still pretty darn cold. And sometimes raining. I seem to remember snow a time or two.

Shananana Tova!

2011-09-08T12:43:00.001+03:00

Taking stock

2011-08-07T12:47:00.004+03:00

Once upon a time, if you looked in my pantry, you'd find 2 large bags of soup mix. Chicken flavored for my soup and onion soup mix for chicken, rice and spinach kugel.

Since marrying a food snob (I love you!), you will no longer find the chicken soup mix. Instead, you'll find bottles of home made stock in my freezer.

It usually starts with a turkey carcass or two I've saved from a big turkey dinner (several times a year I'll buy a whole turkey for either Shabbat or holiday meal... and Thanksgiving of course). The bones with a bit of meat still on them, and yes, it's okay that there's some of the sweet gravy still stuck to the bird.

Then it's veggies - scrubbed but not peeled carrots, onions, celery, zucchini, sweet potatoes, a great big bunch of dill and parsley. Whole cloves of garlic. If parsnip were affordable, that would go in too. Once I even added kohlrabi.

The truth is, almost any nutritious, and aromatic vegetable is great for stock. The limit is simply how big your pot is.

I add a bit of black pepper, but not salt. Since I have it cooking for a while, I don't want to add salt and then have it become overpowering. Plus, since I use it as a base and add water, veggies and chicken when I actually make soup, I can add the salt then.

Fill the pot with water and then I bring the whole thing to a boil and then let it simmer for at least an hour and half, to two hours. Then I let it cool and decant into large soda bottles (here in Israel they come in 1.5 liter sizes) and then freeze. Next time though I'll also make a few 1/2 liter sizes for when I want to use it when making rice or kasha varnishkas or something like that.

2011-08-07T08:40:00.002+03:00

Dr. Jekyll

And Mr. Hyde

I've been a little busy...

2011-08-07T08:35:00.001+03:00

Click on the photo to see it full sized.

And if you'd like to see more,

Monkey in the middle

2011-06-26T12:00:00.002+03:00

Frequently, when I have an appointment with a specialist, I get a call the day or three before, reminding me that I have an appointment and confirming that I'll be making it. Often, specialists are at the clinic one day a week and appointments are hard to come by. If someone cancels, they can use that spot for an emergency or bump someone up.

So please tell me why Tel Hashomer and Beilinson hospitals (and I*'m sure many other hospitals in Israel, but I know first-hand about these two) doesn't have something similar for their various in-hospital clinics and departments?

I've been burned TWICE now because of this damn doctors' strike. The first time was at Tel Hashomer, I was scheduled for a surgery and after schlepping by buses and getting to the day surgery department by 7 a.m. (and fasting since 8 p.m. the night before), I was told my surgery had been canceled because of the strike.

I never received a call from the hospital telling me it had been canceled and arranging a reschedule. I never got a call from my doctor telling me the surgery was canceled (I had left the hospital 4 days earlier AMA due to appointments I HAD to keep, I was still sick and he knew this. Plus he'd been treating me for year already and I have his cell phone number,, but anyway, I digress). And the nurse at the clinic was unhelpful, she simply told me to call the doctor and go home and wait.

That was when I switched to Beilinson. It's a bit more convenient to get to, plus I heard their ENT clinic was MUCH better than Tel Hashomer's. So I showed up in their ER, was admitted and after telling them for 2 days that no, I didn't want to go back to Tel Hashomer, I spent an additional 4 days in the hospital. IV antibiotics, etc... whatever, that's not the point of my post.

What IS the point of this post is, upon being discharged, I was given an appointment for a follow-up visit, for today, June 26. The paper said show up between 9 and 11.

Since it's first come, first served, I figured I'd get there by 8:30.. which I did.

Only to be told by the receptionist that there was a strike and all appointments were canceled. She seemed shocked that I didn't know about it. She asked me "Don't you read the papers? Don't you watch the news or listen to the radio?"

I didn't have the energy to answer... but it would have been... no, no and no.

I don't own a TV and wouldn't watch Israeli TV anyway.. they talk a mile a minute (on both TV and the radio) and frankly, I can't keep up. And as far as newspapers go, when I look through the paper and try to read an article, I'm lucky if I understand about 1/3 of what I'm reading, which generally isn't enough for me to get the gist of the article. And since that frustrates me, I don't go out of my way to read newspapers.

I suppose because of all that, it's entirely my fault I showed up. It's also entirely my fault I didn't have a sign next to my computer, reminding me that I should call on Thursday to confirm my appointment is still on.

But you know, even if I had known about the strike, I still would need to call to reschedule the appointment.

So why can't THEY call ME to let me know my appointment's been canceled and to give me a new one??

(I did get a new appointment... for SEPTEMBER 4)

Doesn't the clinic have ANY responsibility towards their patients at all??

Is there ANYTHING Yossi Public can do to motivate the two sides to resolve this damn strike? We can't boycott the hospitals and doctors. Can I stop paying taxes? Will that get someone's attention without landing me in jail?

Needing Routine

2011-03-20T07:08:00.002+02:00

For people, and I think kids especially, who crave routine, certain holidays can be pure misery for them. Thankfully most Jewish holidays are enough like the weekly Shabbat that for some kids, like my son, it doesn't affect him.

My son Netanel (we call him Nati for short) will be 4 in May. We don't have an official diagnosis for him yet, but I'm not kidding myself that there's a good chance Asperger's will be mentioned. Possibly with a side-order of ADD or ADHD. I guess you can say I'm preparing for the 'worst' and hoping for the best. Nati is one of those kids that really needs routines. Pick-up from nursery has to be a particular way and when it isn't, the tears and tantrums begin and don't stop until concessions are made. While he has no problem getting into pajamas at bedtime, if I need to change his clothes in the middle of the day for any reason, he has a problem with that. He has a favorite hat he needs to wear when he leaves the house.

Because Shabbat comes once a week, it's routine; showering well before bed, shutting off and putting away the laptop, eating meals as a family and going to shul. And for the most part, Jewish holidays are exactly that. Oh sure, Rosh Hashana has the shofar blowing, Sukkot we eat outside in a special cloth tent-like structure and on Pesach there's no bread and we break our teeth on matzah. But there's still the going to shul, the complete cut-off from using electronics and actually seeing Aba for more than an hour or two in the morning.

That's not to say he doesn't have his moments. We have had a few Shabbatot where he asks to watch something on the 'puter' and saying no brought on the tears. Or shutting everything off sparked a tantrum. If he gets hold of a pen or crayon that escaped being put away, right now, we do allow him to color.

But then we have a couple other holidays that blow routine out of the water and can be a sensory overload of noise and sight. I'm talking about Chanukah and Purim.

Of the two, I think Chanukah, which is in December, is the more benign. Yes it lasts for 8 days as opposed to the 1 or 2 of Purim (which we celebrate in March), but it seems to be much less bombastic. Plus it gets offset by getting presents.

I didn't take the kids to any of the Chanukah parties but Nati did have one at school. Parents were invited and the kids 'performed' for us - doing a bit of song and dance for us to different Chanukah songs. For the most part, Nati didn't join in and unfortunately for a couple of the dances his teacher kind of forced him, which led to him almost breaking down. (He's in a mainstream nursery until we can get him evaluated. We're hoping that next year he'll be in a special-ed environment).

Purim though, is a bit more involved. We wear costumes, we do a bit of reverse trick-or-treating where we go door to door and we give food or baked goods or nosh to others. There's an issue about getting drunk. So the holiday is much louder than any of the others. I don't think Nati is sensitive to the noise yet but I think crowds give him pause. He definitely doesn't like strangers approaching him.

Thursday there was a Purim party for the kids which I bought tickets to. Nati was already 'off' his schedule from the previous day when we tried and failed to get him a sleeping EEG, which meant he (and I) had been up since 4 a.m. And it was taking him a while to recover from that. The teacher didn't remark on his behavior at school, but after, he was tired, listless and the smallest and even imaginary things set him off. He was also clinging to his oldest sister. While his younger brother happily got into his costume, Nati not only refused to change, but refused to even go. His sisters were taking him and his brother to the party and I told them not to push the issue. If he didn't want the costume, that was fine. If he wanted to stay home, that was fine too. My older daughter took the younger one to the party and the two 'middle kids' stayed home. Until Nati realized that his 'favorite' sister was gone, he decided to go to the party.

The next day was the school party and again, he refused to get into him costume (it was a long sleeved undershirt and leggings I dyed orange-yellow and painted brown spots on. He was Chester Cheetah). And again, we didn't make a big deal of it. We sent it along with him in case he changed his mind, but told the teacher not to press the issue. When he came home his face had been painted, but he was still in his regular clothes. I was happy to see at least he'd been willing to try something.

Today is the actual holiday of Purim. Everything from last week was just pre-holiday festivities. I'm not hopeful he'll wear his costume, but frankly, it doesn't matter because it's not about me. I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish he'd wear his costume to fit in, but I have a feeling he's going to spend a significant part of his life 'not fitting in' and that's just something I'm going to have to get used to and help him through as best I can. I'm taking the attitude of 'it's not worth it'.

Besides, he has an opinion and he's entitled to it. He doesn't want to wear a costume for Purim? So be it. It's not the end of the world.

Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread

2011-03-10T08:45:00.001+02:00

This recipe is from the Bread Baker's Apprentice. I used craisins instead of raisins and used all-purpose flour instead of bread flour. I think WW would work well too. In addition, I used oil instead of melted margarine and soy milk to keep it dairy-free.

Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread
Yield: 2 loaves
Mix Time: 20 minutes | Total Rise Time: 3½ hours | Bake Time: 50 minutes
3½ cups (16 ounces) unbleached bread flour
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
1¼ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 large egg, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) shortening, melted or at room temperature
½ cup (4 ounces) buttermilk or whole milk, at room temperature
¾ cup (6 ounces) water, at room temperature
1½ cups (9 ounces) raisins, rinsed and drained
1 cup (4 ounces) chopped walnuts
For the topping:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1. Stir together the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add the egg, shortening, buttermilk, and water. Stir together with a large spoon (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment) until the ingredients come together and form a ball. Adjust with flour or water if the dough seems too sticky or too dry and stiff.
2. Sprinkle flour on a counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mixing on medium speed, switching to the dough hook). The dough should be soft and pliable, tacky but not sticky. Add flour as you knead (or mix), if necessary, to achieve this texture. Knead by hand for approximately 10 minutes (or by machine for 6 to 8 minutes). Sprinkle in the raisins and walnuts during the final 2 minutes of kneading (or mixing) to distribute them evenly and to avoid crushing them too much. (If you are mixing by machine, you may have to finish kneading by hand to distribute the raisins and walnuts evenly.) The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77 to 81 degrees F. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
3. Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
4. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and form them into loaves. Place each loaf in a lightly oiled 8½ by 4½-inch pan, mist the tops with spray oil, and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
5. Proof at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the dough crests above the lips of the pans and is nearly doubled in size.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Place the loaf pans on a sheet pan, making sure they are not touching each other.
7. Bake the loaves for 20 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue baking for another 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the oven. The finished breads should register 190 degrees F in the center and be golden brown on top and lightly golden on the sides and bottom. They should make a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom.
8. Immediately remove the breads from their pans. Mix together the granulated sugar and ground cinnamon for the topping in a shallow plate. Brush the tops of the loaves with melted butter as soon as they come out of the bread pans, and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar. Cool loaves on a rack for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours, before slicing or serving.

Purim!

2011-02-27T16:19:00.002+02:00

So... this year, NS will be dressed as Chester Cheeta and EN will be the Bamba Baby. The Mishloach manot will be either peanut butter rice crispies or peanut butter oatmeal bars (need to find out what Bracha one makes on rice crispie treats) and muffin-sized no-bake cheesecakes.

For the Seudah, we're having 9 or 10 adults and 13 kids ranging in age from 13 to 18 months or so.

We're doing picnic. Blankets on the floor. The meal will be deli sandwiches, french fries, potato salad, pasta salad, cole slaw, veggie salad... and something else but I have no idea what.

We're also going to bake cookies with the kids. Chocolate chip cookies with the younger kids and stained glass cookies with the older ones.

In past years, I've covered the tables with paper tablecloths and put crayons in the middle for folks to color and doodle and play tic-tac-toe during the serving. I've been to meals that are 'v'na-ha-foch hu' and we started with dessert and ended with soup.

So, what unique Purim Seudah things have you seen or done?

Money where their beliefs are

2011-01-31T14:08:00.003+02:00

I don't eat foie gras or goose. I don't eat these things because I don't like the taste. As a matter of fact, I don't eat liver of any kind and if I can avoid eating the dark meat parts of chicken, I do so (goose and duck are all dark meat for those who don't know).

I don't avoid these delicacies out of politics, which is why I won't join PETA or Cry Fowl* or Birds of a Feather*. I'm not boycotting the goose. I don't like the goose.

So what does that have to do with anything?

Every couple of months or so, another report appears in the Israeli news about some musician canceling or possibly canceling their concerts here in Israel because of the 'apartheid'.

One of the latest ones (it's so hard to keep up) was Macy Gray taking it to her Facebook fans. In the end, she decided to come. But there have been others who gave in to pressure. Or buy into the whole boycott, divest, sanction movement (BDSM... unfortunate initials?).

The musicians who join these boycotts seem to actually stand to lose some money. After all, they miss out on concert opportunities.

But then there are the actors... The most recent uproar was when the Ariel Cultural Center opened and first you had Israeli actors refusing to perform at the center and then a bunch of Hollywood types voiced their solidarity.

I mean really. Why bother? As far as I know, none of these actors or playwrights were being asked to perform here (and I can easily find out if the center was planning on extending an invitation to Mandy or Jennifer since I live around the corner from the center). So what did it cost them? They're not losing any money.

Make it newsworthy guys. Come back when these actors and musicians who refuse to even come to Israel stipulate in their contracts that even their CDs, DVDs and other merchandising shouldn't be sold or rented in Israel or played in the movie theaters. Then I can see the point of signing in solidarity.

Until then? Pass the foie gras.

* Not real save the goose movements.

Corn Chowder

2011-01-02T15:17:00.001+02:00

I've had this recipe sitting in my in box for TWO YEARS!!! before I tried it and it's so super easy and so yummy, I'm kicking myself for not trying this sooner.

Corn Chowder
1 potato, peeled & diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp unbleached flour
2 c. fresh or frozen corn
3 c. lowfat milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1) in a large pot over medium heat, saute the potato, onion and green pepper in the butter until the onion is soft, about 6-8 mins.

2) add the flour and mix well. then add the corn, milk, salt, and black pepper, stirring thoroughly.

3. turn the heat to low and simmer for about 20 mins, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are tender and thechowder has thickened (do not let it boil). spoon the chowder into the blender and puree into a thick mixture. (do this in batches, according to how much hot liquid is recommended for your blender. But I use a stick blender anyway).

I substitute 1 cup of heavy cream for 1 cup of milk and do a mix of butter and oil for the sautee.

Islamodisney?

2010-12-22T18:53:00.001+02:00

"but mooooooooooooom, what do they mean, i have to be 42 inches tall to shoot the kaytushas?!?!"

Artists 4 Israel

2010-11-29T16:21:00.003+02:00

Over the long Thanksgiving weekend, we were visited by Artists4Israel who were kind enough to show their solidarity with Israel and purposefully came out to Ariel to protest against the actors and artists who are boycotting our cultural center since we're in the West Bank.

These are some photos I took. I'll most likely have a few more photos to post on Friday so you'll be able to see the finished murals they did.

Needed that like a hole in the head...

2010-11-24T12:29:00.001+02:00

Oh wait...

I was scheduled for surgery for Dec. 22nd and was actually in the process of getting the various paperwork approved from the HMO. Wednesday afternoon the ENT calls me and asks me how I'm doing. I told him it felt like my head was going to explode... and this was after 2 fulls days on antibiotics.

He told me that a surgical slot was available for Thursday afternoon and it was mine if I wanted it. I said yes. I may have even said HELL YES.

Then of course there was a flurry of getting things in order - Zach had to arrange to work from home to take care of the boys, I had to email my boss to reassign transcription work that was on a short deadline (yay for that!), after a brief hesitation, I accepted Rechelle's offer to arrange Shabbat meals for us (I was expecting to be home Friday, since I was sent home the day after the previous 2 surgeries but knew I wouldn't be up to making Shabbat) and then packed a small overnight bag.

I had to go to the health clinic the next morning to try the paperwork fast-tracked for approval and by 8:30 I was on the bus. Got to the hospital at 10:30, called the clinic for them to fax over the approval and by noon, I was in my room.

I had the CT done 2 weeks previously and blood work, so I had the CD and printouts ready to hand in.

And then hurry up and wait.

At some point I spoke with the doctors. They expected to do the standard endoscopic sinus surgery but my doctor did say there was a possibility that they'd have to drill into my skull, above my left eye to get to the frontal sinus cavity. He said the CT showed a film over the cavity, but they felt they could clear it the conventional way (via the nasal passage).

I was given a valium at 5:30 p.m., wheeled into the OR around 6 p.m. and after sliding onto the table, having the oxygen mask put over my face and the IV inserted, the next thing I know I'm asking whomever it was that was standing next to me reading my chart in recovery, what time it was.

She said it was 12:30. I touched my forehead and sure enough, there was tape on my left eyebrow... and the left side of my forehead was totally numb. I was back in my room at 1 a.m.

At 8 a.m., my doctor came in and said after trying to get things cleared out from the nose, they had to drill into my head. They found a fiberous mass in the cavity (due to scarring from repeated infections and probably from mucus having no place to drain) which they removed and he placed a sent into the sinus cavity to keep it draining properly. I'll have that for about 2 months. Apparently he had told me this after the surgery, but I don't remember that at all.

He wanted me on IV antibiotics, so that meant... staying over the weekend. Which meant more scrambling to get a babysitter for the boys on Sunday (thanks to Suri's school going to an anti-freeze demonstration, she was able to take care of the boys) and I had to buy toiletries and books and whatnot to last me through Sunday.

Staying over the weekend also meant a skeleton crew so I didn't see my doctor again... but on Saturday afternoon when the doctors were doing their rounds (and talking over me), I found out the surgery went until 11 p.m. and it involved a bit of 'MacGyvering' with regard to the stent and such. There was also a bit more bleeding going on than expected (although I did NOT need a transfusion or anything, thank God).
This morning the doctors tried to convince me to stay for another 24 hours for IV antibiotics, but I needed to get home for many reasons...

My head hurts, but what do you expect and it's not nearly as bad as when I was having sinus pressure headaches, my nose won't stop running and I can't blow it yes, I have little sense of taste or smell and my forehead is still numb... oh yeah, and the hole in my head.

But I'm home with my family and hopefully this will be the end to the sinus issues of the past 18 months.

Now on to planning a wedding.

The newest JPIX is up!

2010-11-15T07:57:00.002+02:00

Head over to Around The Island and take a look!

And don't forget to contribute to the next one!

A pressing engagement

2010-11-04T15:35:00.002+02:00

One of the things I really love about living in Israel is when there's a simcha, folks tend to pull together and contribute baked goods, salads, quiches and other foods. It makes the whole thing so much more heimish.

The date for the engagement party has been set, the place rented and now it's time to get food organized.

Hey, this is me. Of course it's gonna be about food.

I briefly spoke to AS (my ex-husband), and I'll speak to ABE (Chattan's mom). AS and I think we should make it with real food, as opposed to just desserts and nosh.

I already planned on making buckeyes, I also planned on making truffle fudge brownies and chocolate popcorn.

I'll add fettucini alfredo and a pasta marinara.

AS said he may ask friends to make quiches.

Someone will make either salads or veggie platters.

Any other suggestions and/or recommendations?

Winter Sky

2010-10-31T22:06:00.001+02:00

The Pesky family is expecting!

2010-10-18T22:50:00.002+02:00

b'Ezrat Hashem the Pesky family will be welcoming a new son-in-law into our ranks at the beginning of the summer.

The young man is from Shilo.

2010-09-30T21:17:00.001+02:00

Only in Israel moment...

In shul today 2 on-duty soldiers came in for their Aliyah. One guy had the huge radio pack on his back with the antenna rising about a foot over his head. Rather than taking it off and then having to put it back on, they simply draped the Tallit over him, radio and all. So all we could see in a sea of white Tallitot was an orange beret and a black radio antenna....

Our Sukkah

2010-09-21T07:36:00.002+02:00

Inspired by the ideas in A Mother In Israel's post about decorating the walls of the Sukkah I decided on a plan for at least one of the plain white walls of our own cloth Sukkah. After staring at them for 4 or 5 years and mulling over one idea after another (one idea was to paint the 7 species of Israel onto part of a panel, another idea was an Ushpizen-inspired mural) I hit upon a plan with the help of the ideas in the post.

So right now, one panel sports the yellow hand prints (and smudges that goes along with having a 3 year old) of the Pesky household in a vague sun-like shape.

Each year we'll be adding to the mural and b'Ezrat Hashem (God's Will) we'll add more hand prints as the Pesky family expands to sons- and daughters-in-law and grandchildren.

One of the saddest posts I've seen

2010-09-19T07:01:00.003+02:00

The following has got to be one of the saddest posts I've seen in a long time on Imamother.

Titled "Attention Litivish or Chassidish Mothers and FS" (FS being a poster)

My 12 year old Charedi daughter came in to me this evening and asked me if husbands and wives are allowed to hug and kiss. Turns out she was standing on our porch and speaking with her friend who lives 2 floors down. The apartment directly under us has a newly married couple living in it. Their blinds were completely open and dd watched for a few minutes while the couple made out on the couch. Obviously I'll never know just how much she saw but she was in total shock that this couple were "behaving like chilonim" and she was nauseous over the whole thing. Needless to say, my dd is very sheltered and could not imagine that anyone Charedi would do something so disgusting!

I am curious about how Charedi (Litvish or Chassidish) mothers would deal with this.
FS -What do you think?

I probably made the biggest mistake of my life and told her that husbands and wives can do that but that it's not tznius to have the windows open. She was not happy with that answer and of course, started to ask me about her father and myself I didn't give her a straight answer but I did let her know that it's normal and natural.
When DH found this out he was not a happy camper. He would rather have her think that the neighbors are pervs or something. Oy.

I'm not sure which is sadder... that the girl, at 12, still thinks intimacy in marriage is something only non-religious people do, that she has never seen her own parents even hug, that the mother thinks TELLING THE TRUTH might have been a mistake or that the father would rather his daughter think intimacy is perverted....

Nursery Dilemma

2010-09-05T23:54:00.000+03:00

2 issues.

First issue: Do I be honest and tell the teachers that NS really isn't toilet trained and risk them telling me they won't accept him?

Second issue: Looking at the calendar, I can either send him starting Sept. 12th, right after Rosh Hashana. He'd then have 5 days of school, be off Friday, Sept. 17th since Yom Kippur starts and then he'll go to school Sept. 19th - 21st. and then he's off until October 3rd because of Sukkot.

So that means my non-toilet trained son will have a grand total of 8 days in nursery.

Or do I keep him home until after all the holidays and hope that in that time either he'll become completely toilet trained or at least a lot better at it....

Training woes

2010-09-05T08:41:00.002+03:00

My 3 year old is still fighting the toilet training.

He'll sit to pee with little problems but pooping is a whole 'nother story.

He should be toilet trained before he starts school and today I'm registering him for nursery. I'll keep him home tomorrow and Tuesday (since they'll start vacation on Wednesday) so I'll have an extra week to get him to sit on the toilet but honestly, I'm not hopeful.

I'll talk to the teachers for their advice but I'm not sure what to do.

Send him in a diaper where he'll spend a chunk of the day in a dirty, smelly diaper? Send him in underwear he refuses to wear and send 6 changes of clothes?

What do I do????

Been a while

2010-09-05T08:25:00.002+03:00

Been busy.

I did the smart thing and started cooking and freezing for Rosh Hashana last week.

August 15th I went to the Misrad haChinuch (Board of Ed) to finally sign my 3 year old up for nursery. I was told that all the dati (religious) gannim (preschools) were full and why did I wait so long to register him. I was told I should either put him in the secular gan (which is right across the street from us) or wait until after the holidays and usually spots open up.

First of all, it's not really your business. Pretend I just moved here.

Second of all... it is my legal right to send my kid to public gan and the Mishrad haChinuch is obligated to accommodate me.

Third... I don't want to send my child to the secular gan, even though it's so much more convenient to me than the religious ones. While I have no problem with my son having secular friends, I think the Kashrut issue would be too much of a problem in the Gan. YOU try telling a 3 year old not to eat someone else's sandwich or pre-cut apple.

Thursday night (school started Wednesday), hubby and I were eating at one of the local restaurants and one of the nursery teachers who also Davens at the same shul asked what we were doing with our 3 year old. I told her I'd been told there was no room and she said that was baloney. At least 3 spots were open in the nursery I wanted to send the 3 year old to and another 3 spots opened in the other nursery.

So today, once the 1 1/2 year old wakes from his nap, we'll go to the Misrad haChinuch and get him into nursery.

When I was first told about the no room in Gan problem, I contacted two people responsible for getting people to move to Ariel.... the problem isn't just about finding one spot for my son, but for spots for future residents. The sooner they get the problem fixed, the better off everyone is.

Not quite there

2010-08-20T10:40:00.002+03:00

My second child's birthday is 29 Av or August 27th, depending on which calendar you go by.

This year she turned... err... turns... 18.

Which means she can finally open her own bank account.

Well, not according to the Post Office.

Today's dates are 10 Elul or August 20th. So according to the Hebrew calendar, she's been 18 for more than a few days but according to the secular calendar, she's a week short.

But we live in Israel. Where the Hebrew (and Arabic) dates are legally recognized.

Except, apparently if you want to open a bank account with Bank haDo'ar (the bank run by the Israeli Post Office). According to the teller we tried to deal with, in order to have an account with them, you need to be 18 according to the secular calendar.

They'll accept checks and other legal documents dated with the Hebrew (or Arabic) date. But not allow you to open an account.

Yarmulke Goal!! Itay Schechter goal celebration - Hapoel Tel Aviv v Salz...

2010-08-20T09:09:00.000+03:00

Help someone return a camera!

2010-08-05T18:46:00.000+03:00

Please help spread the word and repost this:

Please, help someone find the Friedman family from New York with a son named Shloimy (9-10 years old). They visited the Arch Stone Bridge in the Catskills on July 25th and lost their Sony camera there. I'm determined to find them and return the camera. Please, pass this along.

My email address is elinaz@aol.com.

Thank you.

Army/Sherut Leumi Guide for Parents

2010-07-19T13:31:00.000+03:00

Please pass this along.

The Givat Sharett Chesed Committee of Beit Shemesh is distributing for FREE its “Serving Our Nation” Army Preparation Guide for those young men and women preparing for the army and FOR THEIR PARENTS!

The Guide, in Hebrew and English, provides detailed information and tips regarding the process itself and items to acquire in advance of serving. It is a MUST READ particularly for PARENTS of future army participants.

The Guide is the second in the “Serving Our Nation” series of preparation guides. The first guide, the “Sherut Leumi Preparation Guide”, is also available for FREE in English and Hebrew. The guide contains a wealth of information for the young men and women preparing for sherut leumi service. .

Please contact Susan Barth 054-7294-964 or write servingournation@gmail.com
to request either or both Serving Our Nation preparation guides.

Latest JPIX

2010-06-27T14:22:00.000+03:00

JPIX is now up over at Leora's blog!

Kol haKavod!

It finally happened!

2010-06-20T08:13:00.002+03:00

Before:

During:

After:

Kosher Cooking Carnival

2010-06-14T14:16:00.002+03:00

The latest Kosher Cooking Carnival is now up.

Take a look, have a read, contribute to next month's carnival!

Daniel in the lions' den draws fangs; Muslims deny flotilla lynch-mob- t...

2010-06-02T16:16:00.000+03:00

Support the IDF today!

2010-06-01T16:28:00.001+03:00

There will be demonstrations supporting the IDF all over Israel starting at 6 PM today. A partial list is as follows:

Kiryat Shmona: Next to Egged Bus station
Teveriya: Lev HaGalil building
Hadia: Bat-Galim train station
Hadera: "kikar hadera" intersection
Afula: Next to Egged Bus station
Jordan Valley Highway 90: Hakibutzim intersection
Beit Shean: Binyamin Mall
Netanya: Coastal Road Netanya Interchange
Krayot: Tzabar intersection
Nahariya: Next to train station
Raanana: Tzomet Raanana, merkaz.
Bar Ilan University pedestrian bridge over highway 4.
Tel-Aviv'; Azreili Mall
Modi'in; Tzomet Shilat
Beit Shemesh: Tzomet "BIG"
Gush Etzion: Tzomet HaGush in the roundabout
Bat Yam: Next to Abarbanel Hospital
Ashdod: "Ad Halom" bridge
Ashkelon: Tzomet Ashkelon
Ariel: Next to the University
Ramat HaSharon: Kfar HaYarok intersection
Maalot: entrance to town
Jerusalem: Main entrance
Rishon LTzion: Rishon intersection
Sederot: Next to the shuk
Netivot: City Hall
Ofakim: Entrance to city
Kiryat Melachi: Kastina Interchange
Rechovot: Tzomet Bilu
Eilat: Next to shopping center.

The true intentions behind the "humanitarian" flotilla to Gaza (May 2010)

2010-05-31T09:53:00.000+03:00

Take 2!

2010-05-30T16:35:00.002+03:00

Since I was in the hospital when we were supposed to do Nati's Upsherin, we've rescheduled. If anyone thinks they can make it, please PM me for the details.

Some humor

2010-05-28T14:22:00.001+03:00

Worth a thousand words

2010-05-25T18:51:00.002+03:00

What does the above photo say to you? What message do you think the artist was trying to get across? And what message to you get from the hospital that has this in front of their GYN/OB/maternity building?

Does anyone know where I could find c-section rates, by hospital, in Israel?

Crazy 2 weeks

2010-05-25T08:37:00.001+03:00

The cliff notes:

Went to the hospital Tuesday, May 11th for 4 days of IV antibiotics for a month-long 'sinus infection' that wasn't responding to oral antibiotics.

Sunday, May 16th I had a CT scan. I was told the CT showed something and I was scheduled for surgery on Monday the 17th.

Which I got bumped from... and because Tuesday night - Wednesday night was the holiday of Shavuot, it means light rotation and they weren't going to reschedule the surgery until Thursday.

Tuesday one of the doctors recommends IV steroids to see if that will clear things up. It didn't help.

On Wednesday I'm told they will most likely do surgery on Sunday.

Thursday morning I let the doctors have it. I was tired of getting different answers to my questions depending on what doctor answered... it seemed like 5 doctors had 10 opinions and each one was reading the CT differently - I had a sinus infection, I didn't, I did but not so bad, I had a tumor and they want to biopsy and the best - the CT shows issues on the right side but my symptoms were mostly on the left side.

But in the mean time, they weren't sending me for more tests, they weren't changing my protocol... just jerking me around.

So they gave me a furlough to go home Thursday and I had to come back Saturday night for surgery Sunday morning.

Near as I can tell, they first had to cut away a deviated septum in order to even see the sinuses... so the surgery took almost 2 hours... all of which I was awake for. My sinuses seem fine. I go back in 10 days to discuss the results of the biopsy.

So I'm almost at square one with what my headaches are.

אחים שלנו

2010-05-25T08:18:00.001+03:00

English translation:
This is what our brothers in the north see every day.

And this is what he hears...

And this is the view our brother sees in Netanya.

To frequently hear this.

And our righteous brothers in Jerusalem see this.

And these are the sounds/voices that fill our brothers.

This is what our brothers in Tel Aviv see.

And hear...

And there is another brother.

We don't know where he is.

But this is what he sees every day.

And this is what he hears.

It's been long enough. (Enough time has passed)

To return Gilad.

Been MIA

2010-05-20T16:19:00.002+03:00

I've been in the hospital (Tel haShomer) since May 11th. Suspected sinusitis that wasn't responding to regular antibiotics. Went in for 4 days of IV antibiotics... that started around midnight on Tuesday.

IV antibiotics did nothing. CT on Sunday was inconclusive to I was scheduled for surgery (FESS) on Monday. Got bumped off the schedule. Because of Shavuot though I was told I'd have the surgery Thursday.

On Wednesday I was told I wasn't having surgery on Thursday, they were thinking of trying a new protocol (aside from IV antibiotics, a CT and 1 day of IV steroids I have had NO other tests or treatments done) so if I have surgery it won't be until Sunday... probably.

This morning the doctors came in and talked over my head (basically part of the problem is the CT says I have issues on the right side but the doctor can see and I can feel the issues are on the left side) and I was told I could go home for Shabbat but I need to be back Saturday night for the surgery on Sunday.

I'm still in pain.

So that's how I spent Shavuot and Nati's Upsherin is postponed.

Egg Cream Photo Essay

2010-05-11T15:03:00.002+03:00

Cast of characters: A fresh bottle of cold seltzer, cold milk, a good brand of chocolate syrup, a tall glass and a spoon.

Fill your glass almost halfway with milk and add a generous squeeze or two of syrup.

Holding your spoon over the cup, pour the seltzer over the spoon so it splashes and foams.

The tricky part is mixing the syrup with the milk and seltzer. It's called an 'egg cream' probably because of the white foamy head that looks like meringue when made correctly.

Don't stir the milk. Put the spoon into the glass and with short whipping motions, you're going to mix it - keep an eye on the foam though and make sure you keep the foam white.

Drink immediately.

Coming to terms...

2010-05-09T22:48:00.001+03:00

I'm pushing 40.

There, I said it. b'Ezrat Hashem I'll be 39 at the end of the year. My oldest will be 19 in August and has a somewhat serious boyfriend. She's in 12th grade but will be doing a certified daycare course through the high school next year in addition to taking 2 Bagruyot (Israeli matriculation exams).

Then there's the 18-in-August year old daughter who has decided to go to the Army when she graduates next year. Next week, we're making an Upsherin, b'Ezrat Hashem and the 14 month old keeps me busy by needing PT, having eating issues and 'failure to thrive'.

If I weren't so chronically exhausted, I'd say I don't FEEL like I'm almost 40... I 'feel' like a... oh, 32 year old :)

Hubby and I have basically decided we're done having kids and the next 'babies' will be grand...

So I'm trying to come to terms with that on well, two levels.

The first is from an 'end to my fertility' perspective. I had a bout of IF after being diagnosed with PCOS soon after I married hubby. Our Upsherin celebrant was the happy result of a year of treatments... and then a surprise spontaneous pregnancy. So I had the roller coaster of being fertile, then IF then back to fertile and now... well who knows. But we're basically done... although I don't show any signs of being anywhere near perimenopausal.

And then there's the fact that my 19 year old is dating... and all that entails.

So (and this is mostly for the ladies)... how do/did you deal with 'having your last' (and KNOWING it would be your last) and having your first child enter the dating scene (and all it eventually entails)?

We're having a party...

2010-05-04T10:41:00.002+03:00

This is the evite I made for Nati's first haircut/third birthday.

I can't believe he's almost 3!

אני יהודי

2010-05-03T13:58:00.000+03:00

I posted this a while back but this version has subtitles.

A whole new world

2010-04-25T08:11:00.002+03:00

Last week I did a system reinstall and when I downloaded and installed FireFox (my default browser of choice) I started getting crashes. I think I narrowed it down to a Flash issue but I couldn't find a fix. Even downloading an older version of Firefox didn't help.

So I've now moved over to Chrome.

Thanks to XMarks (xmarks.com) all my bookmarks came with me with no fuss (well, almost no fuss. Unfortunately they alphabetize the bookmarks to I have to get used to the new order of things).

Now i just have to get used to the new interface.

Well, I'm off to the doctor.

Yom ha'Atzma'ut

2010-04-21T07:51:00.005+03:00

At the ma'ayan near Har Bracha (I'm sitting at the far left. The next 3 kids are mine. The little girl isn't). (we also went to Tel Shilo but we didn't take pictures :( )

Dessert.

Newest Scarves!

2010-04-20T16:27:00.001+03:00

Click for a close up. Buy 3-pack scarves. Buy it now for $14.99 or bid as low as $9.99! (Shipping is free)

אני יהודי

2010-04-18T06:58:00.002+03:00

So this video has started making its way around the internet. I don't have a TV or listen to the radio but I'm sure it's been played.

The message is nice and timely.

The only thing that leaves a poor taste in my mouth is the only women singing are part of a larger choir. I know, I get it, 'kol Isha'. But I also understand that there are acceptable Psakim that say recorded voice is exempt. Or having three or more women singing together is also fine.

Rethinking getting stuff from the US

2010-04-16T15:33:00.003+03:00

My parents are making arrangements to visit us for a little bit the end of June.

My almost 18 year old has been looking at getting a netbook and we'd been planning on having my parents bring it from the US.

But with Israeli customs confiscating American iPads (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/04/15/israel.ipads/index.html) claiming it doesn't conform to israeli Wi-Fi standards, I wonder if having my parents bring in a netbook will have the same problems.

Does anyone know? Does someone know who I can call to find out?

2010-04-16T15:29:00.000+03:00

Newest Kosher Cooking Carnival is now up!

Priya's Cheese-filled spinach rolls

2010-04-14T10:37:00.003+03:00

They came out SOOOOOOOOOOO good. I made a pizza-type tomato sauce for dipping and it became a whole meal. Warning though... they are NOT that good room-temp or cold. The cheese really needs to be gooey.

2 cups Whole wheat flour
1 cup Rolled oats
1/4 cup Spinach puree
1/4 cup Olive oil
2 tbsp Active dry yeast (yes, you use 2 tablespoons because of the heavier flour and the oats)
1 tsp Sugar
1 tbsp Salt
1 tsp Red chilly flakes
1 tbsp Flax seeds
1 tsp Dry parsley leaves
1/4 tsp Pepper powder
8 pieces Babybel cheese or any other cheese of your choice (I used baby Gouda)
All purpose flour for dusting

Combine the oats, whole wheat flour, red chilly flakes, flax seeds,dry parsley leaves, pepper powder in a large bowl..meanwhile in a cup of lukewarm water, add the active dry yeast, sugar and salt and let this mixture sit for 5 minutes, to get a foamy yeast...Add this foamy yeast ,olive oil and spinach puree to the flour and spice mixture and knead as dough until you get a soft and smooth dough..arrange this soft dough in a greased bowl and keep this bowl in a warm place for an hour with lid closed until the dough double their volume..

Preheat the oven to 350f..After an hour, knead the dough,dust with all purpose flour and divide them 8 medium sized balls...knead the balls one by one, flatten them with ur palms, place a babybel cheese ,bring the edges together and roll them as round buns, arrange the cheese stuffed buns over a baking sheet lined over a baking tray..bake these cheese stuffed buns for 25-30minutes until the crust turns golden brown..

Read more: http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/03/stuffed-cheese-spinach-oats-buns.html#ixzz0ktNTTBt7

Visiting Yehoshua tomorrow night

2010-04-07T16:18:00.001+03:00

Once again, we have to opportunity to visit the Kvarim of Yehoshua ben Nun, his father Nun and Calev ben Yephuneh.

http://www.shomron.org.il/_Uploads/3472hilula.pdf

Schlissel Challah

2010-04-07T10:03:00.001+03:00

I make Challah on a regular basis, all by hand. I love the feel of the wet and dry ingredients as they come together. The velvety feel of the sifted flour, the creaminess of the beaten eggs and oil. The satiny smooth texture of dough perfectly balanced in sticky to dry. And the smell... oh... the smell of the yeast gives my Shabbat kitchen just the right earthiness. And when I'm ready to punch down the dough, the first and second time... I put my ear to the huge mass and listen to Hashem's [God] creation at work as the yeast interacts with all the other ingredients as it pops and crackles.

And then... just when I think my appreciation for Hashem's creation can't get any better... I get to make a bracha! On dough! I get brownie points (pun intended) for doing something as basic as baking!

Now, with regards to the Schlissel Challah (Key Challah) it's a segulah [lit. virtue] for wealth and a happy home. often people will bake the key to their front door into the challah.

1. Based on "Pitchi Li Achoti, Ra'ayati..." ("Open up, my darling..."--Shir HaShirim 5:2), on which the Medrash states "Pitchu li petach ke-chudo shel machat...," (cf. Shi HaShirim Rabbah 5, s.v. "Kol Dodi Dofek") = something like "Open your hearts (in teshuvah) like the eye of the needle, and I (God) will open the rest like [a very large opening].

2. According to Kabbalah on Pesach the gates to heaven were open, and following Pesach the lower gates are shut, and it's up to us to open them again, therefor on the 1st Shabbat we put the key on the challah to show that through the mitzvah of Shabbat we are opening the locks [original source?].

3. In the desert the Jewish people ate from the manna until after Pesach upon entering the land (with the bringing of the Omer, see: Josh. 5:11), at which point the ate from the produce of the land, and became dependent on their livelihood for the first time (now they had no manna). The key in the challah after Pesach is a request the God should open the Sha'arei Parnasah (gates of livelihood). Alternatively, the manna began to fall in the month of Iyyar, and this Shabbat is always Shabbat Mevarchim Iyyar.

And as far as knowing if it has worked for anyone? Who knows... when I get a Bracha from Hashem, I have no way of knowing WHY I received it. I just thank Him that did.

Sounds like...

2010-03-26T11:04:00.003+03:00

Rafi G. over in Life in Israel has had a couple of posts in the past few days about 'The Askonim', making them sound like.. well...

(For anyone who hasn't watched TV in the past... 10 years or so, take a look here.)

Thumbs Down

2010-03-26T10:07:00.001+03:00

A week or so ago, someone posted a link for an Israeli company selling 'quality childrenswear delivered to your door'.

The clothing looked promising, the prices affordable and well, 'delivered to your door'! Plus they were advertising a special - order before Pesach and it's 10% off orders of 300NIS or more.

I posted a link to the catalogue in my own FB and posted to the Ariel Yahoo group, asking if anyone would be interested in ordering. Figure we'd make it to the 300NIS for the discount. Plus, according to the literature, delivery was free for orders over 400NIS. (They advertise 18NIS for deliveries in Jerusalem and 28NIS 'outside Jerusalem').

I got two responses. All total, the bill was just under 650NIS. I called it in and the saleswoman was very nice and helpful. A couple things weren't in stock so I made a couple calls, made some adjustments and the order was finalized. She said she (or someone else) would get back to me with regard to just when delivery would happen.

The next day I get a call, I think it was one of the owners. There was going to be a problem with delivery. Their driver (I later found out it's the owner's husband) felt that our order wasn't really worth his time to come out to us (we're about an hour from Jerusalem. Door-to-door, it would have taken him 90 minutes each way).

The woman made some suggestions.

1. Send it by mail. Yeah except with Israeli post, it could take 2 days or 12 days or they could go on strike tomorrow. Plus they were only willing to pay up to a certain amount on postage. We'd have to cover the rest of the cost.

2. Have someone pick it up from them in Givat Shaul. Um... it's a couple days before Pesach, no one making an order has a car and there aren't very many people with a car who work in Jerusalem (that we know and could call) who would be willing to schlep to Givat Shaul.

3. Cancel the order.That was definitely a possibility... and was looking more and more likely.

4. Find someone in Jerusalem they could deliver it to who could bring it to Ariel.

There's one person I thought of who works in Ein Kerem (we'll call her Y). So I called her up and she was willing to have them deliver it to her. I gave her the number so she could call them and arrange with the driver the logistics of getting the stuff. Basically she told them he should call ONE HOUR before he was due to arrive so she could finish her labwork for a few minutes and meet him by her car in the massive parking lot. Plus she made her own order.

In the meantime one of the other women who had gone in on the order called them to complain. I mean really... if you're going to advertise delivery 'outside Jerusalem' with no caveats, then you need to expect people to call you an hour or three outside Jerusalem who expect to get what you're advertising. The woman said that if we could get '10 orders', we could have the delivery (although I'm not sure if they expect us to pay the 28NIS or we'd get it for free). Like the way she planned her advertisement, I think she was just pulling figures and suggestions out of the air without thinking things through because '10 orders' could be as little the 650NIS they refuse to deliver for, or it could be 2000NIS (which I think was what they were aiming for).

Anyway, we now have someone in Jerusalem for them to deliver to and you'd think the saga would be over.

Uh no.

First, the guy called Y FIFTEEN MINUTES from delivery time. Then he had the nerve to say we had to pay delivery fee. AND he was charging us the 'outside Jerusalem' fee (and he argued with Y about this).

First of all, Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital/Campus is IN JERUSALEM. And second of all, it's a 20 minute drive through the Jerusalem forest from their offices to the hospital. It's not our fault the guy decided to make our order the last delivery of the day.

In the end, they didn't charge us anything... but it meant yet another call to their offices.

And now for the order itself... um... one thing was missing (and we were charged for it), another item (which someone ordered 3 of) was out of stock and no one called me to let me know and they incorrectly wrote the quantity on another item so we got 1 instead of 2 (and were only charged for 1).

With all this hassle, I'm not sure if any of us will be ordering from this company any time soon.

In addition, this whole thing was very 'small picture' for the company. The first order was 'only' 650NIS... but if they had given us good customer service the next one could very likely have been 2000NIS. Now... I'm not so sure they'll even get another 650NIS worth of orders from us again.

(If anyone in Israel wants to know which company it is, PM me and I'll tell you. You can decide whether or not you want to give them your custom, or in the very least you'll know some very specific questions to ask them regarding their delivery policy).

New scarves!

2010-03-24T08:16:00.002+02:00

Some of the new scarves! Click to see a larger image.

Entering a whole new chapter...

2010-03-22T21:09:00.002+02:00

My daughter officially has a boyfriend now.

I'm not ready for this. Although neither is she or him for it to be even more officially anything so I think I can breathe easy for about a year... and lose some weight for the inevitable wedding (whether to him or not, one will be coming sooner than I'll expect)

So some stats...

The daughter in question turned 18 in August. She is in her last year of high school - technically. I say technically because the school is offering one more year which will be a certified course for daycare. It's not something she thinks she wants to do but they're offering it for free and it's a great fall-back.

I was 18 1/2 when I married her father. A year later she was born. And the year after that her sister was born.

My mother was 43 when she was born. I'll be 39 at the end of the year.

As for the young man... he's 21 and is from Shilo. Chances are Batya knows him. You'll forgive me if I don't offer any more information :)

It's Me!

2010-03-22T18:04:00.000+02:00

My interview on Cooking Manager.

Buying and Selling

2010-03-15T07:36:00.002+02:00

For the past month, I've been selling Israeli scarves on ebay. Yesterday I made my very first purchase(s). My almost 3 year old needs summer clothes and unfortunately the clothing Gemach (Goodwill) here is terrible for kids clothes. Since I don't have a car, getting to out of town Gemachim is difficult.

So I took the plunge and did some ebaying.

Man, shopping on ebay is a full time job! First there's searching for what you're looking for. Then it's looking over each listing to make sure the items are in good condition (we're talking little boy's clothes here). Then you want to calculate how much your final bid should be and add the cost of shipping.

Then there's deciding on whether you're going to bid right then and there and possibly drive the bidding even higher or simply watch it and come back to when the auction is almost over and make your bid then. (Oh, and I'm bidding on lots so it's comparing one lot to another and their prices).

And you need to sleep at some point, right?

Well, I won 2 bids and lost a third. Which was annoying since I went to bed as the only bidder, there was 2 hours left on the auction and the final bid was 2.5 times more than my highest offer (granted the highest I was willing to go was $5.00, but still).

So then it was back to the drawing board and I'm watching several new auctions. I'm hoping if I can win one more lot, Nati's summer wardrobe will be done - other than sandals.

New scarves... just in time for Pesach!

2010-03-12T08:47:00.002+02:00

(Click on the photos to see a larger, better version)

New stock up for sale at my ebay site! http://myworld.ebay.com/headscarfseller

And yes, there are colors other than purple. I also have black and white 'kippah snoods' to wear under hats, transparent scarves and bandannas.

Pesach Humor

2010-03-10T22:19:00.001+02:00

From my mom who got it from my sister who got it from...

The Short Vort

Good Morning!
Today is Tuesday the 23rd of Adar 5770 and March 9, 2010

Kosher for Passover

With Hashem’s help, I am privileged to send out to my loyal readers this unique opportunity.

I am sure that many of you will take advantage of this unique offer and you will no doubt place an order for this special Pesach product today.

Women!

* Are you tired and fed up with your kids messing up your house after you already cleaned for Pesach?
* Are you about to scream when your three year old treks cheerios back into the playroom after you spent three hours cleaning it?
* Do you feel that you are fighting an impossible battle as just when you think you have finally finished cleaning the living room; your two year emerges from the room clutching a cookie in each hand?

Well, we have the answer you have been davening for!!!

From the originators of the Kosher Klock and the Kosher Krepel, we are proud to present: Kosher Kids!

That’s right, now for the first time ever in America, Krume Chumeras Incorporated is proud to present Kosher Kids!!!

It’s simple and it’s easy.

Just dial 1- 888- MESHUGA and press ‘one’ for a female operator or ‘two’ for a male operator and just say the words: “I want Kosher Kids!!!”

And we do the rest. (After you supply us with your credit card number, that is)

It’s so simple here’s how it works.

Kosher Kids will come to your house beginning this Friday and we will pack up your own kids and place them in hermetically sealed Chometz Free storage bins at our Chometz Free cold storage area for the duration of Pesach.

1) Your children will be packed away after being totally disinfected and sanitized and sterilized by our staff of competent and responsible kosher guardians.

2) All of their hair and teeth will be seared clean and their little finger nails will be cauterized and expunged from all dirt and Chometz.

3) They will then be packed away and sold with all of our Chometz to our good friend and ally Mahmoud Abbas- or as we call him Uncle Abu Mazen.

After your child has been packed safely away, we will deliver to your home a batch of clean, sterilized and best of all- B’datz Kosher L’Pesach Mehadrin Kosher Kids.

Our Kosher Kids are B’datz certified sterilized, clean, kosher children.

Here are some of the advantages of Kosher Kids:

* We guarantee that they have not been in contact with Chometz for at least thirty days.
* Our Kosher Kids have been thoroughly ‘brain-cleansed’ before we bring them to your home.
* That means you don’t have to worry about them even gravitating to the Chometz.
* These children have been raised in special Chometz Free units in Meah Shearim where they have never ‘seen’ nor ‘found’ (Bal Yiraeah U’val Yimatzeh) any Chometz their entire lives!
* These children have been programmed to seek out and destroy any Chometz which is in the Eiruv of your neighborhood.
* The children come with packets of stones which they will happily throw at anyone who brings Chometz within twenty feet of your home.

The packets of stones come in two sizes:
1) B’datz size with 1 pound rocks – able to break the skull of any person carrying Chometz.

2) Chazon Ish size with two pound boulders (please allow an extra week for delivery). These boulders are able to smash the armor of an Israeli tank – if the tank is found to be concealing Chometz.

If you don’t believe the greatness of our new product see our ‘off-line’ reviews from two of our many satisfied customers:

1) Mrs. Ima Shoteh from Ramat Beit Shemesh writes: “Thank you Krume Chumeras for making this product. It was so easy. After I realized that there was no way in the world I could possibly keep every Chumrah which I needed to keep in order that no one would ever realize that I am a Baal Teshuva, I decided to order Kosher Kids for Pesach. Am I glad I did!

It was so simple, I called, gave my credit card number and the next thing I knew, six Shtriemel wearing, striped bekishe clad,- cigarette smoking, Yiddish speaking Tzaddikim showed up at my door.

They quickly tied up my kids in cellophane wrap- which of course had the hechsher of the B’datz, and they dumped my kids in the back of truck which was being driven by a Palestinian Arab.

An hour later, three wonderful, Yiddish speaking, rock throwing, and cigarette smoking little Tzaddikim arrived at my door.

At first there was some confusion as the children kept asking where are the policemen whom they are supposed to beat up and where are the women to throw bleach on?

However, the nice man from the agency came and he quickly re-programmed them and now all is fine.

Of course when we went out on Erev Pesach to burn the Chometz, they started burning all of the garbage bins they could find and unfortunately our next door neighbor’s husband was accidentally burned up when he was returning from ‘miluim’ (army reserves) and the Kosher Kids mistook his green uniform for a green garbage bin; however, that is a small price to pay for the peace of mind of knowing that your house is Chometz Free! Thank you so much for Kosher Kids!

Mrs. Imma Shoteh, RBS

2) Mrs. Wonna B. Afrumme formerly of Passaic NJ (now in Tzfas) writes: “Thank you Kosher Kids!!! You have made my Pesach! However, if I can just suggest two things:

Last year I gave you three kids and after Pesach I only received two kids back.

Of course I know I am not allowed to complain because I know everything you do is a Kiddush Hashem and all is done with Dass Torah, however, perhaps this year you could find my child and return him?

If you can’t I understand and I will make do with whatever Hashem gives me through you.

The program works so well; perhaps you can add this year a “Kosher Husband” addition as well? I mean it would be great if I could just have my husband packed up in cellophane and sealed away until after Pesach. Please let me know.

Your trusted and trusting fan,

Mrs. Wanna B. Afrumme.

So don’t delay! This offer will not be available for much longer!

Call today at 1-888-Meshuga to order your Kosher Kids!

Remember, Kosher Kids is B’datz approved, Gedolim supported and most importantly- you will look and be looked at as really frum!

As a special one time incentive, if you order before midnight tonight you will receive a 10% coupon to try our new product The Kosher Kup!

· The Kosher Kup which is being offered for the first time in America this year- is designed to rid your ‘kup’ (head in Yiddish) of any Chometz.

· Just tell the operator when you order your Kosher Kids that Rabbi E. from The Short Vort told you to call. (If a rabbi did not tell you to call- you might be acting without Dass Torah)

· Then mention your 10% coupon- available exclusively to readers of The Short Vort – and tell the operator you also want to try The Kosher Kup!

· Our professionally trained ‘kup cleaners’ will be at your house in no time and we will ‘clean’ your head from all impurities.

· We guarantee that after just one treatment with our professional ‘kup cleaners’ you will have nothing but fresh air from ear to ear!

· Think of how beneficial that will be:

i. No more having to make decisions on your own. We will control all of your thoughts.

ii. Your mind will be free of disturbing and distracting thoughts as your mind will be empty!

iii. Everything you think, say and write will be directed by our team of competent and recognized G’dolei Yisroel!

iv. Your life will be manageable as you will become a robotic thing who no longer thinks on their own.

v. You will be free of having any opinions- we will control and dictate all of your thoughts and actions.

vi. All of this and more for a one time fee of $19, 999.00

Don’t Delay call before Midnight tonight!

1-888-MESHUGA-

OPERATORS (MALE AND FEMALE) ARE STANDING BY- 24 HOURS A DAY!

HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARD READY!

GET RID OF THOSE CHOMETZDIK KIDS TODAY!

SO YOU DON’T FORGET- CALL NOW!!!

1-888-MESHUGA-

1-888-MESHUGA-

1-888-MESHUGA-

On top of spagheeeeeeeetti

2010-03-09T16:36:00.003+02:00

I think we all know that little song.

So how do you make your meatballs? Fry them up in a pan, toss onto some pasta and ladle sauce on top?

Or do you make them like me... get a sauce started in a pot then drop balls of seasoned chopped meat into the bubbling pot. Cover and simmer for an hour or so... then ladle the contents over pasta...

New bill would make conversion insufficient for Israeli citizenship - Haaretz - Israel News

2010-03-08T09:07:00.000+02:00

New bill would make conversion insufficient for Israeli citizenship - Haaretz - Israel News

So now 'Daas Torah' know better than The Torah?

Wow.

Shabbaton in Ariel

2010-03-03T17:34:00.001+02:00

Looking for that perfect place? Trying to find the best fit for you and your family?

Young, central, and affordable, these have made Ariel a very attractive city for those in search of a place they can call home.

Ariel is a city with stunning views and a great climate located in the center of Israel- half an hour from Tel Aviv and 20 minutes from a large Hi Tech area. With a population of 20,000 and a large university with over 11,000 students, Ariel is a microcosm of Israel with religious and secular, young and old, Israelis and immigrants. It is a model of Israeli society all embedded in a warm and welcoming English speaking and Israeli community.

If you are looking for the right place for your family- Ariel is the city to consider!

In a good location and with a wonderful community it can become your home in Israel.

To fully experience Ariel come join us for Shabbat on April 23 and 24th.

Interested?

For more information and to RSVP: arielshabbaton@gmail.com

(Please help spread the word and let folks know about this in your own blog... thanks!)

Israeli Childhood Milestone

2010-03-02T14:40:00.002+02:00

My 11 month old has met a very important Israeli childhood milestone today.

He's had his first Bamba.

One last Purim post

2010-03-02T08:58:00.003+02:00

When I read threads other people post about their Mishloach Manot-giving there is usually a very telling common theme.

Giving to their friends and neighbors who more often than not, attend the same shul (or one similar), attend the same (or similar) schools... in short, are more often than not just like them.

A few years ago my husband and I decided that instead of making a list of all our friends on the Yishuv to give our Mishloach Manot to, we'd cut 4 off our list and give those 4 to other people in the community that we don't socialize with (and the fact that my husband doesn't speak Hebrew made it easy to find folks we simply nod hello to and have nothing else to do with).

One year the Yishuv arranged a 'Gamad Anak' (think secret santa) type of exchange for Shabbat Zachor. We got a very Sefaradi family so I made them an 'Ashkenazi Kiddush Club' basket - herring, gefilte fish, crackers, potato kugel and a bottle of vodka.

They didn't like it.

Last Purim was our first in Ariel and we were in a larger community where the majority aren't religious. I was also 39 weeks pregnant and feeling a million weeks pregnant. I made very simplE roasted garlic hummus and lavash crackers to give out and while my daughters went out and delivered, for the most part I gave to whomever came to the door. Our random giving was to the Russian taxi drivers who took us to Megilla reading and brought us back home.

This year we're still in Ariel but in a different house. I know many of our neighbors by sight and the fact that the boys and I go out almost every day, we have a 'hello, how are you?' relationship with some of them. We're also one of the few religious families on this section of street. (The street is made up of a series of row houses. The houses have 8 attached units).

The weather for Purim was terrible. Torrential rain, hail, thunder and the wind was bad. There was a break in the weather enough for the boys and I to get to Megillah reading (5 minute walk with a double stroller) and on the way home, I gave a Mishloach Manot to one of the neighbors we often see caring for her garden. At least I think that was her house. A man (most likely her husband) answered the door...

A few units down on the other side is a house we pass almost every day. They have a white wrought iron fence and some nice lemon trees in their front yard. Nati likes looking at the lemons and smelling them.

I knocked on their door to deliver the Mishloach Manot and one of the older sons answered. I handed him the small package and wished him a Purim Same'ach.

About an hour later there was a knock on the door. It was the guy and he handed me a shopping bag. He wished me a happy Purim and told me that everything had a Badatz hechsher (one of the more ultra-Orthodox kosher certifications) and then left.

I looked inside and it was 2 bags of salted pretzels and a bag of sesameed pretzels.

I have to say, I'm rather proud of getting this. In all likelihood, this was probably the first Mishloach Manot this man has given in many years... if ever.

My policy of going out of the box for a bit paid off. Giving Mishloach Manot shouldn't be about giving to the next door neighbor whose own table is full of brightly wrapped or bagged goodies. It should be about taking the opportunity to expand your 'cookie cutter' circle of friends to find new, interesting and different Jews by handing them a bag of nosh. It should be about giving to someone who otherwise wouldn't be Yotzeh the Mitzvah (granted, finding a secular Jew might be easier here in Israel).

Purim Same'ach!

2010-03-01T10:47:00.006+02:00

The Dread Pirate Elchanan

The Captain and his First mate

Such a gray, wet, cold, windy day... really put a crimp in our Mishloach Manot delivering.

Yo ho hum

2010-02-28T08:42:00.004+02:00

One morning on my way to shul with the boys I hit upon the perfect Mishloach Manot to give dressed as pirates... ho hos and rum... yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

Granted it would be home made ho hos and I'd never made a jelly/cream roll cake before but the recipes I found online (and the photos that went with them) were promising and seemed easy enough.

Yeah... well...

My first clue that I should abandon the idea came after looking in 4 different liquor stores and not finding the tiny bottles of rum I wanted. Heck, I couldn't even find SMALL bottle of rum. So I settled for... cup o'vodka.

Yo ho ho and a cup of vodka? Uh... ok.

Then it was time to make the ho hos. Rather than use any of the recipes I found online, I decided to go to my trust Spice and Spirit cookbook. I know roll cakes are pretty popular and figured they'd have a great recipe. I had Tzippy make it and um...

This is what we ended up with. It was like a Pesach cake disaster when the ingredients separate and you have a crust of sugar on top and this 1/2 inch thick layer of what looks and feels like what ballistics gel should. The only good thing about it was it rolled well and was thin.

So we went with one of the online recipes. Which rose too much. And then it stuck... the directions said to roll the cake once it's out of the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes. Then unroll, schmear and roll up again.

So I rolled it up but because it was so thick there was no way I was getting ho ho shaped slices. And then when I went to unroll it... it started coming apart and/or sticking. But I pushed through, got it unrolled, schmeared it and rolled it back up, using the cream to keep the bits stuck together.

So here's what it ended up looking like...

So... it's not a very ho ho and bottle of rum Mishloach Manot. But the cake is tasty and the cup of vodka is Kosher for Pesach...

Happy Purim everyone!

And speaking of Carnivals...

2010-02-25T09:13:00.003+02:00

The latest Kosher Cooking Carnival has been up for a few days. Excellent job!

JPIX - V'Nahafoch Hu!

2010-02-25T08:56:00.003+02:00

When I volunteered to host the February JPIX carnival I was coming off the high of having hosted my first successful Kosher Cooking Carnival and having just seen Leora's JPIX carnival in all its thumbnaily glory, I was excited to step up to the challenge.

And then reality hit me upside the head when it became apparent that blogger has.. well.. 'teh stoopid' when it comes to certain HTML capabilities. Specifically having an image as the link.

Crazy, I know! The only thing people could suggest was for me to move my blog to another host such as Word Press... well, that's not going to happen at the moment.

So I resigned myself to posting the JPIX carnival less efficiently and less prettily than my predecessor.

This morning as I was planning this post in my head, I came up with 2 gimmicks that makes me feel better about posting an entry about photos with no actual photos... First of all it's Adar so we're all about "v'nahafoch hu" - doing opposite things! And second... Now you'll have to click on ALL the links to see the photos rather than simply squint at a thumbnail and see if it's something that interests you.

Oh wait. You mean you don't do that? Uh... anyway, on to the links!

phyllis has a beautiful Chanukah photo with Don't Let the Light Go Out posted at Ima on (and off) the Bima: Real-Life Jewish Parenting. This may have been featured in the previous JPIX, but it was sent to me too. In any event, it's worth the second look.

Batya has become a picture-taking addict it seems. And she's got a wonderful eye so they're all a pleasure to look at. Here are her submissions... Yes, It's A Jerusalem Landmark, A New One, Building, Natural Growth, Reflecting on Tel Aviv and Grey Days, Winter in Israel posted at Shiloh Musings and Great Room, Though Not For The Superstitious and "Seize the Day." Shoot! posted at me-ander.

Israel has great photos from a family trip to Mexico at Ech omrim “Trajineras de Xochimilco”? posted at The Weissers' Journey to Israel.

Leora presents a beautiful series of photos of Feeding da Birds posted at Here in HP.

G6 takes us back to Purim past... very past in Purim in the 1930's posted at Guess Who's Coming To Dinner.
Sharon A shows us More White Stuff - but not the kind you're probably thinking about posted at The Real Jerusalem Streets. In addition, she takes us to the Old City with Progress...Jaffa Gate.

And finally... there's my contribution... here's the aftermath of a 'Chefetz Chashud' and a little bit of excitement today posted at In the Middle on the Right. In addition my son has a pull up your pants moment while Investigating with Nana.

The next JPIX is in JUNE!!! So start snapping your photos and post away! Leora will once again be hosting so please submit your entries at the JPIX submission form.

All the news that's fit...

2010-02-23T12:52:00.002+02:00

How to Be Israeli has a great post about the content on English-language Israeli news sites vs. the Hebrew Israeli news sites. She says to read the English sites one would think that all we care about is the Israeli-Arab conflict (not to mention politics, the 'settler issue' and the in-fighting among the religious).

My observation is that the English language sites are more like the NY Times while the Hebrew sites are like the NY Daily News...

So does anyone know where I can get a Daily News type English-language Israeli news site?

Little bit of excitement today

2010-02-16T14:45:00.003+02:00

The boys and I went for our daily walk a bit earlier than usual because I needed to buy ingredients for the cheesecake I was planning on making for tonight's women's evening. On our way back I noticed a large insulated bag across the street that looked full.

Now for those of you who have never been to Israel there are a few things you need to know... abandoned bags are taken seriously here in Israel. You're supposed to call the police and often it ends up with the street being cordoned off and a sapper team called in and a little robot rolls up to the bag and sometimes it ends in a boom.

Usually, it's someone's forgotten groceries or lunch or laundry or backpack. Sometimes though it's much more sinister.

Now the truth was, when I saw the bag, I really didn't think it was anything serious but abandoned bags are a serious issue in Israel. So first I called a friend to make sure it's the police I need to call. And then I did. About 5 minutes later a couple of security trucks came by and then for the next hour at least (maybe even more), the street was blocked off while They decided what to do.

How do I know it was an hour?

Because soon after we got home (we only hung around until security showed up) I heard a commotion in the neighbor's front yard.

Now our neighbors have a dog they keep tied up in their front yard. The lead is only about a meter and half long. And the dog is a Shepherd of some sort. And the dog spends about 7 hours or more every day tied up like this.

Needless to say the poor boy is BORED. And like many dogs, he destroys anything he can reach when he's bored. For this pooch, it includes his dog house, the planters and the house's propane gas balloons and the metal connections.

Sunday and Monday it only was the dog house and the metal hood that goes over the gas balloons but today he managed to knock both of them over and disconnect one of them.

Did I mention this is propane?

Unfortunately I don't have any contact numbers for these neighbors (heck, I don't even know their last name) and I couldn't get into the front yard. And I didn't want to stay in the house with two tanks of propane laying around.

So I put the boys back into the stroller and off we went to the center to go to the police station in person and try and get them to help.

On our way there, we saw a police truck blocking the street and I looked back and sure enough, there was the bag I had called about an hour earlier. We got to the police station, I told them what happened with the gas tanks and the woman dispatched someone to take care of it. Just to give them some time though, we hung around for almost an hour before heading home.

Someone had removed both tanks into a corner but the dog had managed to tangle himself up in the metal pipes that feed the gas into the house. I saw there was a latch on the inside of the gate so I opened the gate, untangled him, gave him some water, moved the ruins of his dog house out of the way and ignored the poo and pee.

About 10 minutes later the man of the house came home and when I went outside to talk to him, he was of course blaming it all on the dog and saying they were most likely going to get rid of him.

Which really annoyed me because it's not the dog's fault he's bored.

Oh, and on our way back from the center, we saw this...

JOOC, for those of you reading this who live in Israel... would you or have you called in a 'chefetz chashud'?

Spinach Noodle Kugel

2010-02-14T17:11:00.001+02:00

This is so easy to make and my kids love it. Feel free to substitute frozen broccoli for the spinach.

8 oz elbow macaroni (or small shells)
2 10 oz packages frozen spinach
3 eggs
1 1/2 packages onion soup mix (about 6 tablespoons)
3/4 cup soy milk
1/4 cup margarine or oil
1 can of mushrooms (optional)

Cook the macaroni and drain. Thaw the spinach.

Mix all the ingredients together. Pour into a loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or into individual muffin cups and bake for 30-45 minutes.

Chicken-wrapped Kebabs

2010-02-14T17:10:00.001+02:00

Whether you call it a cutlet or a schnitzel, here's an easy way to beef up (or lamb up?) your ordinary breaded chicken breast.

To feed 4-6 people you'll need:

2 pounds chicken breast that's been butterflied and pounded flat (usually will be 6 pieces)
1 lb package of defrosted, prepared kebabs - beef, lamb, spicy, whatever strikes your fancy and tastebuds (usually will be 9 pieces)
1 egg
breadcrumbs
oil
water
seasoning - my favorites are garlic powder, sweet paprika and black pepper. Feel free to use whatever you like.
12 toothpicks

In a bowl, whisk the egg, about 1/8 cup or oil and 1/8 cup water and the seasoning.

In a plate, pour the breadcrumbs.

Take a chicken breast and wrap it around a kebab. Secure the chicken with a toothpick at the top and bottom.

Dip into the egg, shake off excess and then roll in the breadcrumbs.

Place on a well oiled cookie sheet.

When all the pieces are done, bake in a 350 degree F oven for 15 minutes then turn over and bake for another 15 minutes.

That's it!

Just be sure to remove the toothpicks before serving.

Ebaying Momma

2010-02-10T10:53:00.000+02:00

In an effort to bring in some much needed income, I've started to ebay Israeli headscarves.

http://myworld.ebay.com/headscarfseller

New stuff goes up on Tuesdays.

I am Israel

2010-02-04T13:30:00.001+02:00

Weather or not...

2010-02-04T10:20:00.005+02:00

Since I usually get my local weather from Israel Meteorological Service, it didn't really bother me per se that Yahoo Weather stopped showing Ariel, Israel weather. I noticed they reorganized things so it became less convenient to get Ariel's weather (and try as I might I couldn't get it to save as my default weather. It kept giving me Sunnyvale, California).

What DID bother me though was it kept giving me Jenin, PA Occupied Territories as my nearest location.

Uh.. Jenin doesn't have a weather station. The nearest one to Jenin is... Ariel.

Well look, I could go on about this, but Omri Ceren over at Mere Rhetoric does it better.

If you'd like to see Jenin weather, look here. It's weird because I don't see any way to get to any of the "Pal.OccTerr" from the Yahoo weather page. When I click the link, it says "Weather > Palestinian Occupied Territories > West Bank > Jenin". If you click on the first weather, there's no POT choice. Plus on the 'West Bank' list, there's no Jenin...

Curiouser and curiouser...

People Magazine: Duggars “won’t rule out having baby #20″ « No Longer Quivering

2010-02-03T07:39:00.000+02:00

People Magazine: Duggars “won’t rule out having baby #20″ « No Longer Quivering

Very interesting POV from a former 'Quiverfuller'.

I wonder what the cases of pre-e, increased c-sections, complication, uterine rupture, micro preemies, etc. are int he Ultra-Orthodox communities where many women have more than 10 children.

Everyone seems to have this issue

2010-01-31T08:54:00.002+02:00

Apparently 'Hot Fatimas' are an issue in Islam like Hot Chanies are in Judaism...

KCC is up... number 50!

2010-01-28T13:30:00.002+02:00

The 50th edition of KCC is now up.

Great job as usual Batya and thanks!

Need to breathe

2010-01-26T11:48:00.002+02:00

I deal better with Events in my life by sections.

Up until Monday I couldn't think past EN's surgery (internal hernia and undescended testicle he was born with). Until Zach's case is settled, I can't think past February 22nd which we THINK might be the final decision.

But there are some fun things going on in my life... this Saturday we're having a pot luck lunch by us with a few of our friends. 3 single guys, a young couple with no kids, an older couple with a 19 year old daughter and the Rabbi and his family. They have a 3 year old daughter and a 1 1/2 year old daughter so that will keep NS nice and happy... and the noise level bearable.

This weekend is the Jewish holiday of Tu b'Shvat, which literally means the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat. In practical terms, it's the Jewish Arbor Day and since there are MANY Jewish laws pertaining to trees, fruits, fields, the vine, etc. it has significance. Less so now that there is no Temple, but it's still important if you're a Jewish farmer living in Israel.

Basically we take this day to celebrate the fruits of the fields, the vine and the trees. There are '7 species' that are commonly attributed to the Land of Israel and they are wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranate, olives and dates.

There is a somewhat common tradition to have at the beginning of the meal on Tu b'Shvat a showing, if you will of these and other fruits. Almonds, walnuts, peaches and berries to name a few, in addition to wine are served and each food has some sort of symbolism (mostly Kabbalistic) attributed to it. There are various passages said with regard to the particular food, a blessing is said and then the item is eaten. There are also 4 cups of wine. Starting off with a white wine, which symbolizes the fallow, barren fields, the second cup has a bit of red wine added to it, the third cup has even more red wine added and the final cup completes the seasonal cycle and we're in the full ripeness of harvest.

I searched online for a Tu b'Shvat seder that 'spoke' to me and unfortunately nothing did. So in the end, we decided that the food itself would have components of the seder. One woman will be making 'drunken pasta', which is pasta that is partially cooked in wine (although wine will be served with the meal), I'll be making a turkey breast cooked with a variety of dried fruits and almonds and I'll be making a tomato salad with olives and pine nuts. For dessert we'll be having peach cobbler.

So yeah... I'm looking forward to this. And then in a month or so is Purim and I've got some great ideas for that... even though it will be just me and the boys.

The internet for good

2010-01-25T12:32:00.004+02:00

As proof that the internet is not the Devil's tool that many of the religious 'leaders' would have us believe, I'd like to offer this rather inspiring story that unfolded on Imamother in the matter of... basically an hour.

A woman wrote (at 1:47 a.m.... WHY was she awake?) The bag says Daniel Ephraim Gromis (gimmel reish vav mem yud samech). Do you know this person?
The tefillin are very damaged after being in the rain.
Found in yerushalayim in the rain by an arab cab driver last week who gave them to a friend.

She bumped it up at 11:31 a.m. (much more reasonable time) and several of us gave her suggestions to where she could advertise having the lost item (posting to Janglo, I suggested FaceBook) and at 11:44, a woman posted that it's highly likely that this person is her husband's student.

By 12:29 things were confirmed and the lost Tefillin will be returned to their owner tomorrow.

(BTW, my husband and I met through the internet... I posted to Janglo about starting the Society for Creative Anachronism (sca.org) in Israel, he had made Aliyah about a month previously and had been involved in the SCA in the US and the rest, as they say... is medieval history).

Tu b'Shvat Turkey

2010-01-22T08:44:00.003+02:00

The first time I made this recipe was 2 Rosh haShanas ago. Next Shabbat is Tu b'Shvat and we're having a pot luck Shabbat lunch/Tu b'Shvat seder at our house. And I plan on making this. The nuts and fruit, even the seasoning lends itself to the holiday.

6 pounds Turkey breast
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1 (12-oz) can frozen orange juice concentrate; thawed and undiluted
1 cup water
2 tablespoons Brown sugar
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon Curry powder
1 (8-oz) can pineapple chunks drained
1 (2-oz) pkg slivered almonds
1/4 cup Raisins
1/4 cup Currants
Cooked wild rice
3 tablespoons Cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Directions:

Rub turkey breast with salt and pepper; brown in a large Dutch oven. Combine orange juice concentrate, 1 cup water, brown sugar, and spices, mixing well. Pour over turkey; add pineapple, almonds, raisins, and currants. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 hours. Remove turkey, and place on a bed of wild rice.

Combine cornstarch and 1/4 cup water; gradually stir into juice mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Serve sauce with turkey and wild rice.

Honey Barbecued Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

2010-01-22T08:38:00.002+02:00

I made this for the first time a couple weeks ago for Shabbat. It came out fantastic! SO tasty... and I'm not a fan of ginger. But it was really good.

3 cups peeled and sliced sweet potatoes, about 2 medium-large sweet potatoes
1 cup (8 oz.) pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
¼ cup finely chopped onion
½ tsp ground ginger
2/3 cup thick barbecue sauce
4 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp dry mustard
4 to 6 chicken leg quarters, skin removed

In 3½ to 5 quart slow cooker, combine sweet potatoes, pineapple with juice, chopped onion, and ground ginger. Stir to blend well.
In a measuring cup, combine barbecue sauce, honey, and dry mustard. Stir with a fork to blend well.
Coat chicken generously on all sides with barbecue sauce mixture. Arrange coated chicken in single layer over sweet potato and pineapple mixture, overlapping if necessary. Spoon any remaining barbecue sauce mixture over chicken.
Cover; cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours (or on HIGH for 4 to 4½) or until chicken is fork tender and juices run clear, and sweet potatoes are tender.

Um... I don't think so

2010-01-21T13:48:00.002+02:00

I got an email in my FaceBook inbox from someone from a group called 'America Kan' (America Here) http://www.facebook.com/pages/America-Kan/191006430263

I skimmed their website, who they are, what their platform is and frankly I'm left wondering why.

First of all the name annoys me. America is such a "goldena medina" (golden state/country) that everyone should strive to be like her? Puh-leze.

And second of all, IMO everything they seem to stand for is a giant bang your head against a brick wall. In order for pretty much ANY of their proposed reform to take place, you'd basically have to call a time out and then a do-over... of the past 70 or so years. Then take a match to the banking/financial system, the government, the judicial system... the whole shebang... and believe you-me lately I've had many a day when I wished I could do just that.

Look, there are things, many many things I'd love to change about how Israel is run and operates. And yes, there are some things that I wish were done 'more American'.

But there's also plenty I'm quite happy with and I LEFT America for many reasons. It was never about ideology.

ETA: 2 out of the 5 party members listed on their site... including the guy that plans to run for Knesset live in the US!

Investigating with Nana

2010-01-19T21:53:00.004+02:00

Yes, that is my son with his diaper hanging out of his jeans. My mother in law is visiting us and she and the 2 1/2 year old were checking out the guinea pigs at the pet store.

Tomorrow we're all going into Jerusalem and I'll buy him a belt...

Hump-day satire

2010-01-06T17:37:00.003+02:00

This spoof is funny in a sad kinda way. It says a lot abut the sad state of things in the 'Jewish velt' these days...

HTML advice

2009-12-30T22:33:00.002+02:00

February I'll be hosting JPix.

In December I hosted my first carnival and it was pretty straightforward with the linking. For the most part, the blog carnival notification came with the HTML code and I just had to copy paste.

With a photo post it's trickier. I want a thumbnail posted in the carnival post and the thumbnail to also be a link to the original post in the original blog. AND I want to be able to resize all the photos to a uniform thumbnail size.

And I can't seem to find the right combination of code.

When I use this (obviously without the various spaces and the [ is a < or >): [a href="http://yeshasettler.blogspot.com/2009/12/hot-and-sour-soup.html"> [img src="http://1.bp.blogspot. com/_AjqvE-2F28o/SzRyyqB052I/AAAAAAAAAns/ rUNRTJMLxH0/s1600-h/DSCF6183A.jpg" width="200" alt="soup" /[ I don't get the image posted. If I use the URL from Photobucket it's fine, but that's not the link I have posted in the post. And I really don't want to have to download and then upload all the photos submitted for the carnival for the linkage.

Anyone have advice?

2009-12-30T20:28:00.002+02:00

Of course the irony of the following article is the world vilifies Israel for the security measures she takes in protecting her borders yet it seems Israel should be taken as a positive example on her success in airport security.

'Israelification': High security, little bother

December 30, 2009

Cathal Kelly

While North America's airports groan under the weight of another sea-change in security protocols, one word keeps popping out of the mouths of experts: Israelification.

That is, how can we make our airports more like Israel's, which deal with far greater terror threat with far less inconvenience.

"It is mindboggling for us Israelis to look at what happens in North America, because we went through this 50 years ago," said Rafi Sela, the president of AR Challenges, a global transportation security consultancy. He's worked with the RCMP, the U.S. Navy Seals and airports around the world.

"Israelis, unlike Canadians and Americans, don't take s--- from anybody. When the security agency in Israel (the ISA) started to tighten security and we had to wait in line for — not for hours — but 30 or 40 minutes, all hell broke loose here. We said, 'We're not going to do this. You're going to find a way that will take care of security without touching the efficiency of the airport."

That, in a nutshell is "Israelification" - a system that protects life and limb without annoying you to death.

Despite facing dozens of potential threats each day, the security set-up at Israel's largest hub, Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, has not been breached since 2002, when a passenger mistakenly carried a handgun onto a flight. How do they manage that?

"The first thing you do is to look at who is coming into your airport," said Sela.

The first layer of actual security that greets travellers at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport is a roadside check. All drivers are stopped and asked two questions: How are you? Where are you coming from?

"Two benign questions. The questions aren't important. The way people act when they answer them is," Sela said.

Officers are looking for nervousness or other signs of "distress" — behavioural profiling. Sela rejects the argument that profiling is discriminatory.

"The word 'profiling' is a political invention by people who don't want to do security," he said. "To us, it doesn't matter if he's black, white, young or old. It's just his behaviour. So what kind of privacy am I really stepping on when I'm doing this?"

Once you've parked your car or gotten off your bus, you pass through the second and third security perimeters.

Armed guards outside the terminal are trained to observe passengers as they move toward the doors, again looking for odd behaviour. At Ben Gurion's half-dozen entrances, another layer of security are watching. At this point, some travellers will be randomly taken aside, and their person and their luggage run through a magnometer.

"This is to see that you don't have heavy metals on you or something that looks suspicious," said Sela.

You are now in the terminal. As you approach your airline check-in desk, a trained interviewer takes your passport and ticket. They ask a series of questions: Who packed your luggage? Has it left your side?

"The whole time, they are looking into your eyes — which is very embarrassing. But this is one of the ways they figure out if you are suspicious or not. It takes 20, 25 seconds," said Sela.

Lines are staggered. People are not allowed to bunch up into inviting targets for a bomber who has gotten this far.

At the check-in desk, your luggage is scanned immediately in a purpose-built area. Sela plays devil's advocate — what if you have escaped the attention of the first four layers of security, and now try to pass a bag with a bomb in it?

"I once put this question to Jacques Ducheneau (the former head of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority): say there is a bag with play-doh in it and two pens stuck in the play-doh. That is 'Bombs 101' to a screener. I asked Ducheneau, 'What would you do?' And he said, 'Evacuate the terminal.' And I said, 'Oh. My. God.'

"Take Pearson. Do you know how many people are in the terminal at all times? Many thousands. Let's say I'm (doing an evacuation) without panic — which will never happen. But let's say this is the case. How long will it take? Nobody thought about it. I said, 'Two days.'"

A screener at Ben-Gurion has a pair of better options.

First, the screening area is surrounded by contoured, blast-proof glass that can contain the detonation of up to 100 kilos of plastic explosive. Only the few dozen people within the screening area need be removed, and only to a point a few metres away.

Second, all the screening areas contain 'bomb boxes'. If a screener spots a suspect bag, he/she is trained to pick it up and place it in the box, which is blast proof. A bomb squad arrives shortly and wheels the box away for further investigation.

"This is a very small simple example of how we can simply stop a problem that would cripple one of your airports," Sela said.

Five security layers down: you now finally arrive at the only one which Ben-Gurion Airport shares with Pearson — the body and hand-luggage check.

"But here it is done completely, absolutely 180 degrees differently than it is done in North America," Sela said.

"First, it's fast — there's almost no line. That's because they're not looking for liquids, they're not looking at your shoes. They're not looking for everything they look for in North America. They just look at you," said Sela. "Even today with the heightened security in North America, they will check your items to death. But they will never look at you, at how you behave. They will never look into your eyes ... and that's how you figure out the bad guys from the good guys."

That's the process — six layers, four hard, two soft. The goal at Ben-Gurion is to move fliers from the parking lot to the airport lounge in a maximum of 25 minutes.

This doesn't begin to cover the off-site security net that failed so spectacularly in targeting would-be Flight 253 bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab — intelligence. In Israel, Sela said, a coordinated intelligence gathering operation produces a constantly evolving series of threat analyses and vulnerability studies.

"There is absolutely no intelligence and threat analysis done in Canada or the United States," Sela said. "Absolutely none."

But even without the intelligence, Sela maintains, Abdulmutallab would not have gotten past Ben Gurion Airport's behavioural profilers.

So. Eight years after 9/11, why are we still so reactive, so un-Israelified?

Working hard to dampen his outrage, Sela first blames our leaders, and then ourselves.

"We have a saying in Hebrew that it's much easier to look for a lost key under the light, than to look for the key where you actually lost it, because it's dark over there. That's exactly how (North American airport security officials) act," Sela said. "You can easily do what we do. You don't have to replace anything. You have to add just a little bit — technology, training. But you have to completely change the way you go about doing airport security. And that is something that the bureaucrats have a problem with. They are very well enclosed in their own concept."

And rather than fear, he suggests that outrage would be a far more powerful spur to provoking that change.

"Do you know why Israelis are so calm? We have brutal terror attacks on our civilians and still, life in Israel is pretty good. The reason is that people trust their defence forces, their police, their response teams and the security agencies. They know they're doing a good job. You can't say the same thing about Americans and Canadians. They don't trust anybody," Sela said. "But they say, 'So far, so good'. Then if something happens, all hell breaks loose and you've spent eight hours in an airport. Which is ridiculous. Not justifiable

"But, what can you do? Americans and Canadians are nice people and they will do anything because they were told to do so and because they don't know any different."

More sneaky food

2009-12-30T08:55:00.000+02:00

I'm in the mood for meatballs and spaghetti so I'll be making that for Friday night dinner.

NS's version will have pureed cauliflower and zucchini in the meatballs (and I'm considering making 'porcupine meatballs' with brown rice) and making a sauce that's mostly pureed baked sweet potato with some tomato sauce to make it redder.

Tonight's dinner I think will be veggie soup with barley and I may take a stick blender to it and let NS drink it. Also give him a grilled cheese sandwich to go with it.

Tomorrow night's dinner will be home made pizza. The sauce will be sneaky sauce.But shhhh... don't tell Zach.

And tomorrow is black and white cookie baking!

Wonderfully said

2009-12-29T22:27:00.003+02:00

After reading this guest post by Rabbi Yossi Ginzberg, I almost stood up and applauded.

Kol Hakavod for saying what needed to be said and saying it so eloquently.

Hat tip: The Wolf

Oy

2009-12-28T10:25:00.001+02:00

Anti-Semitism czar's first target is Israel

I'm not sure where to even begin with this one... Oh I know... how about the irony of calling the head of Obama's anti-semitism somethingorother a 'czar'... although technically she's a czarina...

Hot and Sour Soup

2009-12-25T10:06:00.002+02:00

6 cups chicken stock
1/4 lb chicken breast, julienned
2 cups carrots, julienned
2 tablespoons garlic and red chili paste (Pereg makes a great paste I use)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 teaspoon white pepper, ground
3-4 eggs beaten
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup each bamboo shoots, julienned and sliced water chestnuts (I leave this out since I can't find it)
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced and stems removed
1 cup straw mushrooms
1 (12 oz) package cake tofu, 1/4 inch dice
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup dried black fungus, soaked for 1 hour (I leave this out)
scallions, finely chopped for garnish

Bring stock to a simmer
Add soy sauce, chicken, carrots, mushrooms and chili paste. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Add pepper, vinegar, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, fungus and tofu.
Simmer for 5 minutes.
Mix cornstarch with 5 tablespoons water and add.
Bring back to a simmer and pour the eggs in a very thin stream over the surface. Let stand 10 seconds before stirring in the sesame oil.
Serve with a garnish of chopped scallions.

NOTE: the pepper, chili paste and vinegar can be varied for taste.
NOTE 2: I will also add either shredded cabbage (Napa or regular is fine) or shredded beet leaves to add body and flavor to the soup (since bok choy isn't readily available here and when it is, it's a fortune). I'll also add mung bean sprouts just before adding the egg.

Chanukah, Day 8

2009-12-25T10:03:00.002+02:00

Aftermath. (FTR, this was NOT taken on Shabbat)

Growth

2009-12-23T22:57:00.003+02:00

Obama and the rest can just kiss my settler tuches.