I should have quit after the chopped liver

Friday night, I went to bed feeling pretty sick. I had that "heavy, naughty, shouldn't have" feeling in my bloated stomach.

We're at the time of the year when the days are their longest. It gets dark late, OK, not as late as in Europe or Canada or Southern South America etc. But it gets dark later than my regular dinner time.

That means that our Friday night Shabbat meal, by the time my husband is back from shul, a one minute walk from the house, I'm not really in the eating mood. But I eat. Yes, I'm one of those. Put a plate in front of me, and I empty it, but not into the garbage, and we don't have any pets.

We started the meal with Yaakov's chopped liver. I'm on an Israeli food list, and whenever someone asks where to get the best chopped liver in Jerusalem, there's one answer.... Yaakov. Actually, he's our neighbor and he runs a butcher shop in Jerusalem. Chopped liver doesn't "keep." You must eat it within a couple of days, so no matter how much my husband buys, we must finish it and fast! Certainly in the summer, it must be ingested on Shabbat at the latest. Well, we had a lot of chopped liver and no guests. Half for Friday night and half for Shabbat morning; prayers are over pretty early here.

I had salad with the liver, and I did feel full, but I ate chicken and veggies afterwards anyhow. j What a mistake. That was a bad night.

The next day, I knew what to do. No food after the chopped liver. That was especially, since we sponsored a kiddush in honor of hubby's 60th. I didn't eat much at the kiddush, just a slice of the best Jerusalem Kugel, Rivka's, another neighbor, but she's based here, and some herring and salad. And remember, I had been sick and not eaten much during the week.

Yes, B"H, I did feel better.

Much later in the afternoon, I visited neighbors who said that in the summer, on Friday nights they can't eat the heavy meals and take in (start) Shabbat as early as possible, eating a dairy dinner.