some misc.

Am I the only Jewish-Israeli blogger who has noticed a serious reduction in "hits" and "visitors" this past week? I figured it's the Passover vacation, and not everyone has as much computer access as I do. I hope it's not something personal, against me and mine.

Back at the ranch, as the saying goes, we got used to chametz really quickly, like traveling abroad and not suffering from jet-lag. Our first "taste" was at the Maimona, three doors down the road. We only got introduced to the custom since we moved to Shiloh. During our Jerusalem days, we had one good friend who is Moroccan, and they used to spend the holiday with relatives in another city, so we had no idea what we were missing. It's certainly added incentive to get all the kitchen back in order, so that we're free to go out at night.

The special treat at Maimona is the "mouflata," forgive my spelling. It's a very thin crepe, or pancake, which today would be called a "wrap." The host spreads honey and butter in it and then folds it. In recent years our neighbor does the spreading with special individualized "kavana," "intention/concentration" to give a blessing to the recipient. It's food for the body and the soul.

There are lots of goodies to eat, and all sorts of drinks, from Arak to milk. This year there was an irresistible vodka-strawberry drink. So the bottom line is, if you didn't go up a whole clothing size from the Passover food, you'll certainly get enough calories at the Maimona feast.

It's a tough year, this year, with Shabbat so soon after, but I know that out of Israel there isn't even a full day in between. That's it for now. So into the kitchen I go to cook some more, oy.