Thursday, April 28, 2016
Stove Top Passover Cooking, Good All Year, Too
On Passover I have to cook my chicken and beef on top of the stove, because I don't kasher the oven for Pesach. I do have a small Passover oven which I keep parve for all the baked vegetable dishes etc. At this point in life, I'm not in the market to buy one of those ovens for chicken. First, there's no room and second I look at my life/age and say:
In Israel, the bottom part of a chicken is the favorite, and I bought a couple of packages for the holiday. When cooking stovetop, it is best not to make too much at once. Four rather zaftig bottoms fit perfectly in this low pan. They were joined as you can see by carrots, onions, parsley, pepper, paprika and the wine that Eliyahu Hanavi didn't drink. Any wine can be used or nonne, too. I cooked it covered on a low flame until when poked and prodded it seemed completely cooked.
First I seared the beef in hot olive oil with the chunks of onion and garlic. Then I added the gorgeous red tomatoes and about a half a cup of sweet wine. I lowered the flame and covered it. I also added about half a cup of water, nothing else. I let it stew for a couple of hours. You may need a bit more liquid, but my pot is a good one.
Rami Levy was selling these tiny chickens on Tuesday when I was working. I wish I had bought lots more, but there's a limit as to how many I can carry. They fit perfectly in the pot side-by-side, and were cooked the same way as the "bottoms."
These recipes are easy, healthy and good all year round. And, of course, they are strictly kosher!!
"For just a few weeks use, it really isn't worth it."also:
"We've survived so long without one, we will survive ad me'ah vi'esrim until 120 perfectly well fed, too."The CPA daughter in me looked at my 60th birthday as
"OK, now you've hit the halfway point in the me'ah vi'esrim 120. Oops!"So, yesterday I did the messy cooking, the fleishig/meat stuff for the last of Passover, 5776, 2016. And here are some photos and instructions aka recipes. And why do I call these "instructions?" That's because one isn't to OCD trying to measure and count and follow exactly. I never know how long it will take to cook or how much exactly of anything I will add etc.
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| Chicken "Bottoms" with Parsley, Carrots, Onions and a Dash of Wine |
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| Beef Braised with Onions, Garlic and Ripe Tomatoes |
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| Two Baby Chickens with with Parsley, Carrots and Onions |
These recipes are easy, healthy and good all year round. And, of course, they are strictly kosher!!
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Sitting Shiva is Very "Macro"
Davka, just the week that 52Frames had "Macro" for its theme/challenge my father passed away. I had a strong feeling from what I had been told by my sister that his time was short, and I rushed submitting my photo, so it wouldn't prey on my mind.
And now that I'm both "up from shiva," the intense Jewish mourning period, which is usually after the burial,* and I was also about to write my usual weekly post about my the photo I had submitted to 52Frames, I feel a connection between the two.
For years I've seen the Hebrew word אמת emmet, generally translated to mean "truth," as a verb. The מ ת mem, tof are the root that means dead/die and the א alef when a prefix on a verb is first person future. So in my way of reading/understanding the word אמת emmet it means "I will die," and that is the truth for all of us humans.
I don't know of any linguists or theologians who have written in this direction on the word. I am interested in your feedback, thanks.
Links to the posts I wrote about my father, after his death:
* I guess that I still have to explain at some point, not this post, why I sat shiva before my father was buried. But today that's not the planned post.
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| "Flower Power" This tiny flower, less than an inch in diameter, is from a bunch given by a guest. I don't have a fancy camera with lenses and all, so this is the best I can do. Camera: Canon Canon IXUS 145 Location: Shiloh, Israel |
And now that I'm both "up from shiva," the intense Jewish mourning period, which is usually after the burial,* and I was also about to write my usual weekly post about my the photo I had submitted to 52Frames, I feel a connection between the two.
macro photographyWhen one is sitting shiva, one is supposed to concentrate one's energies and conversation on the dead person, the person being mourned, which consequently makes him or her "larger than life size." In death we are equal. Nobody can defeat it.
photography producing photographs of small items larger than life size
For years I've seen the Hebrew word אמת emmet, generally translated to mean "truth," as a verb. The מ ת mem, tof are the root that means dead/die and the א alef when a prefix on a verb is first person future. So in my way of reading/understanding the word אמת emmet it means "I will die," and that is the truth for all of us humans.
I don't know of any linguists or theologians who have written in this direction on the word. I am interested in your feedback, thanks.
Links to the posts I wrote about my father, after his death:
Sidney Spiegelman, 1920-2016, 5680-5776
* I guess that I still have to explain at some point, not this post, why I sat shiva before my father was buried. But today that's not the planned post.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Quick Passover Kosher Cooking Carnival
I had been planning on posting this Pesach/Passover edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival last Wednesday, while finishing my Pesach preparations at home. But, as John Lennon so famously said:
"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."
Or the Jewish saying:"Man plans, and Gd laughs."Yes, as many probably know, since I've been blogging about it non-stop and writing on facebook, my father died last Tuesday morning Israel time. He and my mother are now together in their adjoining graves, which they purchased in 1959.
My father's death put a hold on my KCC planning, and then Passover stopped the shiva, and now it's Chol Hamoed, and we still have to eat, so I decided that I'd do a very quick Kosher Cooking Carnival and hope I didn't lose any of the posts people sent me. I try to keep track and organize KCC on facebook, and you're invited to sign up there. I will just list a whole bunch, ok a few, post titles I think you'll find interesting, without naming the blog or site.
I'm pretty sure that this selection of Kosher for Passover recipes will suffice for a basic KP menu, at least in an Ashkenazi home. I'd appreciate your feedback. Unlike most editions of the Kosher Cooking Carnival, this time I accepted even older posts, not just recent ones, because I wanted it to help everyone cook for Passover. All the recipes are tasty and usable and servable all year long.
Please visit them, comment and share, thanks. Also, of course, please send out the link to this edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival!!
Easy-to-Make Kneidelach, matzah balls, for soup
Unleavened "Passover" Pound Cake
Chocolate Matzo Mousse Cake
Pesach/Passover recipes (vegetarian, dairy, fish)
One "Pot" Bake and Serve Meal!
Flourless Chocolate Cookies
Easy as 1-2-3 Macaroons
Spatchcocking a chicken for Pesach: the secret to moist, juicy, kosher chicken
A Pesach breakfast favorite
Pesach Banana Cake (pareve, non-gebrokts)
Easy, Tasty and Impressive Eggplant Recipe
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cake
Caramelized Onions and Three Cheeses Frittata
The Secret of Gefilte Fish
Li'ilui nishmatam, may their souls be elevated:
Shifra bat Chaya Raisia
Alexander Ziskind ben Tzvi Hersh
Monday, April 25, 2016
Modern Condolence Calls, Not F2F
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| My Mother, Shirley Spiegelman, Z"L, 1925-2013 A great beauty to the end... |
My mother,who suffered from senility in her final years, was not capable of a shiva for her younger sister a few months before her own death, which would have made her grand total for sitting shiva ten. As you can imagine, Jewish Mourning, the "shiva" was part of my earliest childhood, especially since both my maternal grandparents and my oldest uncle passed away in less than a year, before I had turned four. A couple of other of her siblings died before I got married and moved to Israel.
You must remember that even non-local phone calls were very expensive until a couple of decades ago, and email/internet/whatsapp could barely be thought of even as science fiction. Does anyone remember the telegram?
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| My father, Sidney Spiegelman, Z"L, 1920-2016 holding the invitation to the wedding of his grandson which my parents couldn't attend. My mother actually passed away just a couple of months before the wedding. |
Besides the surprising amount of people who managed to make the time to visit/comfort לנחם me here in Shiloh during my almost three day (Erev/Eve of Passover) shiva, dozens, or a hundred or more people either phoned or sent a wide variety of modern messages.
The beauty of the modern age, and easy communication is that not only family and friends can "comfort" the mourner and show respect, but even strangers who are inspired by the story, or as in my case those who only know me on the internet, facebook or read my blogs. And speaking of my blogs, last night dear friends, extended family (cousins of my father's cousins) called me up and told me that they had only heard of my father's passing from my Arutz 7 blog post. Unlike when my in-laws died, I didn't even think of putting ads/announcements in the Jerusalem Post and Torah Tidbits. There were so many other things/logistics to think about.
According to Jewish Law, the mourning and comforting periods for a parent last a year, so no doubt I'll be blogging more about the topic and about my parents. And it's never too late to express one's condolences לנחם linachem.
Honestly, I have found comfort in the calls and notes. Thanks.
*When the burial is just before a Jewish Holiday, the shiva is reduced to barely an hour (maximum it could be a few hours until just after noon/half-day), and not continued/resumed afterwards.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Re: My Father's Father's Family "Three Minutes in Poland"
While I was sitting shiva for my father on the Eve of Passover, my friend dropped a bag next to my chair:"There's a book and coffee."Later that day, during a lull in the shiva, when nobody was there to comfort, I opened the bag and found "Three Minutes in Poland." Now that I'm "up from shiva" I'm reading it. It's the amazing saga of Glenn Kurtz, who tells how he discovered and researched the short film his grandfather took in pre-World War Two Poland.
I plan on reviewing it after I finish reading it.
Now why is it so exciting and so fitting as reading material during the mourning period for my father? It was even one of the props/tools/visual aids I had at my service when sitting shiva along with pictures.
So many of my neighbors are immigrants or children of immigrants, including Holocaust survivors, so a common and favorite question one asks a person sitting shiva for a parent is about the family background:
From where was your father/mother or his/her parents?When someone is a good few generations in Israel it's rare. With the help of this book I was able to talk about my father's father's family, their European background and their way of thinking. "Three Minutes in Poland" is about the Jewish community of Nasielsk, where my paternal grandfather's family had lived until well before the Holocaust. Unlike many Jewish families from Europe, it seems that the Spiegelman clan, my father's father's family, were not optimistic about life in Europe. They were ambitious businessman and decided that their futures would be better in America.
Not just my grandfather and some of his siblings left Nasielsk, but his parents, aunts, uncles and cousins were also in the states. Most arrived before or after World War One. My father was raised in a large clan including both sets of grandparents, because even my grandmother's parents and most of her siblings had left Rogotshov, Belarus prior to World War Two. Not that long ago I was contacted by descendants of cousins of my father's mother, and we are now in touch pretty much daily on facebook.
All of this is rather amazing, as far as I'm concerned. I'm very glad to have an amazingly suitable book to read after sitting shiva. Here's a video about Nasielsk, Poland, 1938, and the author of the book:
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Reflecting on Sitting Shiva for My Father
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| My Father, Sidney Spiegelman, Z"L, 1920-2016 Photo I took just a few months ago, during my last visit with him. |
During the almost three days I had to sit shiva for him, I tried to describe him as accurately as possible, the father he was to me when he was young, the man many of my neighbors knew when he lived with us, and the person he became afterwards when in Arizona.
Shiva is a wonderful thing and so helpful for the mourner. I'm sorry that my brother and sister didn't have the experience I did. That's for a few reasons.
The first is that my father's death was less than a week before Passover, so I couldn't attend. Because I stayed home in Israel I sat shiva pretty much from when I got notice until just before the holiday started. Actually I had ended the shiva even before he was buried. My brother and sister had no real time for a shiva, not even a short one, like I observed. And another reason is that they aren't involved members of a Jewish community.
"Shiva" the mourning period is a complex time according to Jewish Law. "Shiva" comes from the word sheva, seven and is that because under normal conditions, for seven days after a person is buried, the close family members, children, siblings and spouse, are supposed to take a break from their normal routines and responsibilities. The community and family members not required to "sit shiva" are to take over and take care of the mourner. Food and household chores are to be done by them, so the mourner can concentrate on being together, when applicable, and telling those coming to comfort לנחם linachem about the person who had passed away.
Those coming to comfort are to remember not to bring up other topics unless the mourner specifically asks. Generally, one isn't supposed to speak unless the mourner initiates conversation. But it's acceptable to ask about the dead family member, like:
- How old was he/she?
- What did he/she do?
- Where was he/she born?
- How old?
Yes, questions that will facilitate talk by the mourner. Most of the time, the people who came to comfort really kept the conversation on proper target, and I did find it very comforting. But I must admit that the rare times when visitors were too busy trying to "entertain" with their own news got not only me, but others in the room annoyed and upset. Sometimes I could get it back on track by starting to distribute pictures of my father, especially from his service in the U.S. Navy during World War Two. People usually got the hint and started asking good questions.
Sitting shiva on my own was particularly exhausting. It also meant that when someone called me own the phone as a "shiva call" I had to speak even when the room was full. Those calls were important, as important as those who had been able to come to the house. Everyone understood that.
Neighbors brought food for me to eat while I was sitting shiva. Normally, in previous times when my husband sat for his parents and I sat for my mother, the kids and I took care of all the meals. But this time, since it was just before Passover, and the cleaning and Passover cleaning had to continue, as I sat, though not by me, my children were very busy in the house. I didn't want to ask them to also make me food. My Israeli children, the grandchildren and my husband got the house all ready for Passover. At most I gave some instructions, especially about where things were or where they should be put.
If it had been possible, my children would have gotten a lot out of being part of the talk during the shiva. They would have found it a comfort, as I had.
I had really been hoping that my father would somehow have died during a time in the year when my sister could have come home to Shiloh with me and we could have sat together here for a few days. Many of my neighbors knew him and have very fond memories.
Now it's already Passover, post-seder. One of my daughters did all of the cooking for us, though she wasn't with us for the seder. We were with two other children here at home. They did their best to make me a comfortable as possible.
Yes, life must go on...
Friday, April 22, 2016
BDE, Sidney Spiegelman, Z"L, 1920-2016, As An Israeli
My late father and I on the plane to Israel when he made aliyah in 2009
One of the reasons I was glad to be privileged to sit shiva for my my father here in Shiloh is because he lived here with us for close to a year and had many friends.
Around Rosh Hashana of 2009, my mother had fallen badly and needed to be in rehab for a month. My father was in no condition to live on his own, so it was decided that I would bring him on aliyah, which is blogged about quite a bit way back when.
Aliyah To The Land of Israel At 89
It certainly wasn't an easy thing, but with the help and support of my children, husband, cousins and neighbors, I think we gave my father a wonderful experience. His brains cells may not have remembered it for long, but for sure my family here and neighbors certainly do. Many of the neighbors who came these past few days to menachem avel, comfort the mourner told me how much they had liked him and admired him.
Casting A Shadow
We had planned/expected/hoped to have my mother along with him here in Israel within a few months, but it just didn't happen. That's why after less than a year, we packed all but his heavy winter coat and took him to live in Arizona, with my mother and near my sister, who then had responsibility for both my parents.
I Explained That They Were Like Spies
But while my father was here in Shiloh he joined in all of our activities. One was the annual visit of "the spies."
Dementia is a very strange and variable condition. I'll have to blog more about it at a later time, but I must say that although my father hadn't been able to take full responsibility for himself for many years before he came to live with us, his "social genes/brain cells" were unaffected. Many people who got to know him during the time he had lived with us were completely unaware that he suffered from dementia. He could still win playing cards. His game of choice was "Casino," which requires planning and addition. That was a favorite in his family for kids and suited his CPA mind.
Keeping Busy, Arts, Crafts and Exercise
I must say that the father I had live with us was not the same father who had raised me. When I was growing up he was busy and stressed out working, supporting the family. But decades later--remember that I was already a grandmother--I got to meet a really wonderful loving person. I had to stop working that year, and although we really didn't have enough income to live on, it was a year of great value for the entire family and our Shiloh neighborhood.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
My Father, Sidney Spiegelman, Z"L
I am sitting shiva for my father until Friday noon. His funeral will be in New York on Friday, but I'm not traveling in for it.
My parents and I over ten years ago or more, maybe even twenty years ago. In a few months it will be three years since my mother, Shirley Spiegelman, passed away.
I was always certain that my father would live forever. He was a powerful person in his way, and he survived war and illnesses, even recently. The doctors were amazed by him. But in the end, he had enough. He never liked being idle. He wasn't a spectator and didn't watch sports at all. I remember that a cousin's husband kept trying to convince him to bring my brother to watch a baseball game with him and his sons. He finally did it once, but that was it. My father liked to be active. Once he and I went with a friend of his and his daughters on a fishing trip. They rented a boat and we caught fish to bring back home to cook. I wouldn't touch the live bait, so he'd put the bait on on the hook, and I fished and even caught some. That was fun.
Sitting in an audience watching wasn't his thing, except if it was to accompany my mother to a play. She loved the theater. I don't know how much he enjoyed watching plays, but he loved my mother and would go wherever she went. During one of my visits to New York without my kids, when my parents were still functioning pretty well, we went to a folk music production on the shore of Steppingstone Park in Great Neck. It was one of those settings in which you sat in your own picnic/beach chairs you had brought along. My father immediately fell asleep and slept through the entire show. Afterwards he complained about the music, but he would not have been happy staying home alone. He liked people and was never put off by strangers.
We have my father's album from the time he was in the US Navy. He was on the western, the Pacific front and went to Japan, Manila and more. He returned home rather cynical about war and fighting. Before being drafted he had rushed himself through City College, NYC, because he knew that war and military service was imminent. He wanted to be an officer in the US Navy, to enlist and be able to choose the basic type of service, rather being drafted and be at the mercy of the military bureaucracy. For that he needed more than the university degree, he needed to find a way to hide the fact that one of his eyes was much weaker than the other. And that, too, he succeeded in doing.
The US Navy trained my father in electrical engineering, and on the ships he had to figure out how to assemble, use and repair radar. "Problem solving" was a specialty. Also when he did his CPA exam as an accountant, the first section he managed to pass was the "problem solving," not the laws and basic calculations. He could figure things out.
My parents and I over ten years ago or more, maybe even twenty years ago. In a few months it will be three years since my mother, Shirley Spiegelman, passed away.
I was always certain that my father would live forever. He was a powerful person in his way, and he survived war and illnesses, even recently. The doctors were amazed by him. But in the end, he had enough. He never liked being idle. He wasn't a spectator and didn't watch sports at all. I remember that a cousin's husband kept trying to convince him to bring my brother to watch a baseball game with him and his sons. He finally did it once, but that was it. My father liked to be active. Once he and I went with a friend of his and his daughters on a fishing trip. They rented a boat and we caught fish to bring back home to cook. I wouldn't touch the live bait, so he'd put the bait on on the hook, and I fished and even caught some. That was fun.
Sitting in an audience watching wasn't his thing, except if it was to accompany my mother to a play. She loved the theater. I don't know how much he enjoyed watching plays, but he loved my mother and would go wherever she went. During one of my visits to New York without my kids, when my parents were still functioning pretty well, we went to a folk music production on the shore of Steppingstone Park in Great Neck. It was one of those settings in which you sat in your own picnic/beach chairs you had brought along. My father immediately fell asleep and slept through the entire show. Afterwards he complained about the music, but he would not have been happy staying home alone. He liked people and was never put off by strangers.
We have my father's album from the time he was in the US Navy. He was on the western, the Pacific front and went to Japan, Manila and more. He returned home rather cynical about war and fighting. Before being drafted he had rushed himself through City College, NYC, because he knew that war and military service was imminent. He wanted to be an officer in the US Navy, to enlist and be able to choose the basic type of service, rather being drafted and be at the mercy of the military bureaucracy. For that he needed more than the university degree, he needed to find a way to hide the fact that one of his eyes was much weaker than the other. And that, too, he succeeded in doing.
The US Navy trained my father in electrical engineering, and on the ships he had to figure out how to assemble, use and repair radar. "Problem solving" was a specialty. Also when he did his CPA exam as an accountant, the first section he managed to pass was the "problem solving," not the laws and basic calculations. He could figure things out.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Sidney Spiegelman, 1920-2016, 5680-5776
Baruch Dayan Haemet ברוך דיין האמת
He was born in Brooklyn, NY, to parents born in Nasielsk, Poland and Rogotshov, Belarus.
During World War Two, my father served in the United States Navy and was involved with early radar systems, assembling and running them from the ships in the Pacific Ocean. He was saved from almost certain death when unexpectedly transferred from the USS Indianapolis just weeks before it was torpedoed. He told me that his transfer had been due to the fact that he was a good card player, learned from his father. Apparently there had been informal gambling--playing for money among the crew, and some higher up officers owed him a lot. They had him transferred to avoid payment.After the war, he married my mother, Shirley Shankman, also of Brooklyn, whom he had met briefly before being drafted. They were married from March, 1948 until her death in June, 2013, sixty-five years. He adored her to the end.
I'll write more in later posts, Gd willing. My father's funeral will be on Friday, before Passover, in New York. Since I can't travel in for it, I'm sitting shiva at home in Shiloh at present until before the Holiday.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Kosher KP Food for 52Frames
For this week's 52Frames challenge/theme we had to photograph Food, Extra Credit for a "favorite recipe." So I made a "one pot meal" version of my baked vegetables by adding pieces of chicken breast.
Give it a try, and tell me how you made it and how well and tasty it came out.
This week, I just had the one shot. I haven't had time to spend on photographing various foods. Yes, it's almost Passover, and this recipe is good for Passover, strictly kosher for Passover, as well as for all year long. No Kitniyot (legumes,) no "Gebrochts," which if you don't understand the term, you don't have to worry, no chametz etc.
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| "One "Pot" Bake and Serve Meal!" This is one of my very easy "one pot, bake and serve" recipes. Add chunks of chicken breast, onion, squash, pumpkin and whatever else you want, like mushrooms, cauliflower etc into a baking pan. Add a bit of oil and bake in a medium to hot oven until the chicken looks done and the vegetables are soft. For a vegetarian option, leave out the chicken. |
This week, I just had the one shot. I haven't had time to spend on photographing various foods. Yes, it's almost Passover, and this recipe is good for Passover, strictly kosher for Passover, as well as for all year long. No Kitniyot (legumes,) no "Gebrochts," which if you don't understand the term, you don't have to worry, no chametz etc.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Those Free Sefira Count Reminders!
Every year I sign up for a few Free Sefira Count Reminders. Which do you recommend and how do you sign up for them? Please reply in the comments, thanks.
And besides all that, in recent years I simply program my phone alarm to "wake me up to count" every evening. The problematic times/days are Friday Night, Shabbat, and Erev Chag Acharon--last Eve of Passover, when the phone is off, ditto for computer etc. I don't go to shul at night, so the counting during dovening does not help me. Does anyone have any "tricks" or "hints" for that problem?
PS I'm planning a special Passover edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival. If you have something to contribute, a link, recipe etc, please email me with KCC as subject by 6am Israel time, tomorrow, Tuesday. Thanks
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And besides all that, in recent years I simply program my phone alarm to "wake me up to count" every evening. The problematic times/days are Friday Night, Shabbat, and Erev Chag Acharon--last Eve of Passover, when the phone is off, ditto for computer etc. I don't go to shul at night, so the counting during dovening does not help me. Does anyone have any "tricks" or "hints" for that problem?
PS I'm planning a special Passover edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival. If you have something to contribute, a link, recipe etc, please email me with KCC as subject by 6am Israel time, tomorrow, Tuesday. Thanks
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Tolerance, Acceptance, Pesach Can Be Complicated
The Passover (Pesach) Holiday is the most complicated time on the Jewish Calendar, in Jewish Life, which is pretty complicated compared to other religions.
We have all these food and cooking rules besides the no fire, drive and buy on Shabbat etc. Most of the year, and even most holidays it's pretty clear. Most who consider themselves Torah Observant Jews aka Orthodox do the mitzvot, keep the Gd Given Laws pretty much the same. Way back when, in the days I was enthusiastically learning all this, it seemed cut and dry. I was given the impression that everybody did it exactly the same.
On Pesach I figured all good Jewish housewives cover their kitchen like this. But I was very wrong. In Israel this sort of covering is more popular with Ashkenazi households, especially if from America or Europe.
While American rabbis took for granted that almost every surfaces or material used for making dishes, pots etc was too porous to be koshered for Passover, necessitating covering everything or buying special "only for Pesach use" kitchen tools, dishes etc, here in Israel many rabbis insist pretty much everything can be koshered.
I'll never forget the most difficult homework assignment my eldest got. She had to answer:
Over the decades, as Israelis have become more affluent, there are many who no longer kasher their everyday kitchen items and just take special ones out of storage. There are also many, especially the younger ones, who don't bother buying or kashering dishes etc and use disposables for almost everything. Gone are the days when people thought that it wasn't proper and formal enough to use disposable dishes. Now, instead of having a few miss-matched sets, like I have, they buy gorgeous disposable dishes even with matching serving dishes and impressive holiday wine cups. And they claim that by not having to wash dishes, it's good for the environment. And of course they set an exquisite table!
There was a time, when I'd say that I wasn't willing to go anyplace on Passover that didn't do what I did or more, but that changed. I've changed. I discovered that so many people more knowledgeable than myself, who, unlike yours truly, come from families that had always been religious, don't cover things up like I do. I still cover up my kitchen. And as we're still Ashkenazim we still don't eat kitniyot, legumes. But my now Tunisian daughter and her family bring rice to our house on Passover, and we eat in their house, though not the rice and kitniyot, legumes.
We have all these food and cooking rules besides the no fire, drive and buy on Shabbat etc. Most of the year, and even most holidays it's pretty clear. Most who consider themselves Torah Observant Jews aka Orthodox do the mitzvot, keep the Gd Given Laws pretty much the same. Way back when, in the days I was enthusiastically learning all this, it seemed cut and dry. I was given the impression that everybody did it exactly the same.
On Pesach I figured all good Jewish housewives cover their kitchen like this. But I was very wrong. In Israel this sort of covering is more popular with Ashkenazi households, especially if from America or Europe.
While American rabbis took for granted that almost every surfaces or material used for making dishes, pots etc was too porous to be koshered for Passover, necessitating covering everything or buying special "only for Pesach use" kitchen tools, dishes etc, here in Israel many rabbis insist pretty much everything can be koshered.
I'll never forget the most difficult homework assignment my eldest got. She had to answer:
How does your mother kosher the following items:All I could tell her was that I didn't kasher any of those things. I had special for Passover ones in the upper cabinets stored away to use on Passover.potsand the list went on and on...
silverware
Over the decades, as Israelis have become more affluent, there are many who no longer kasher their everyday kitchen items and just take special ones out of storage. There are also many, especially the younger ones, who don't bother buying or kashering dishes etc and use disposables for almost everything. Gone are the days when people thought that it wasn't proper and formal enough to use disposable dishes. Now, instead of having a few miss-matched sets, like I have, they buy gorgeous disposable dishes even with matching serving dishes and impressive holiday wine cups. And they claim that by not having to wash dishes, it's good for the environment. And of course they set an exquisite table!
There was a time, when I'd say that I wasn't willing to go anyplace on Passover that didn't do what I did or more, but that changed. I've changed. I discovered that so many people more knowledgeable than myself, who, unlike yours truly, come from families that had always been religious, don't cover things up like I do. I still cover up my kitchen. And as we're still Ashkenazim we still don't eat kitniyot, legumes. But my now Tunisian daughter and her family bring rice to our house on Passover, and we eat in their house, though not the rice and kitniyot, legumes.
Chag Pesach Kasher v'Sameach!
Have a Happy and Kosher Passover!
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Again, 3 out of 6 are Mine!!
I've noticed a lot of very "angry" comments on some of the posts. Take a look if you want. Anyone can comment there.
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Someday, Gd willing, we will learn how to make money from all this....
Friday, April 15, 2016
From The Days When We Hosted Humongous S'darim (Seders)
These two shelves are full of Passover Haggadot, the books read from during the Pesach Seder. (And there are lots more Haggadot in other parts of the house, too.) There were years of double tables, and I just don't know how I pulled it off. With five kids, we were seven people without guests, but we always had guests. We were one of the families that always said "yes," when asked if we could take neighbors and strangers in need. And my in-laws came quite a number of times.
The Haggadot are Hebrew only and Hebrew-English. I think we also have some Hebrew-Russian ones from the days we hosted new immigrants olim chadashim from the FSU-Former Soviet Union.
Those were the days...
להבדיל.... lihavdil... not the same, but...
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Magic- Gold!
The weather and sky cooperated this year when I needed to photograph Magic Hour or the Golden Hour for 52Frames, which is really possible twice during the day, dawn and dusk.
Here's the photo I chose. Following are some others I really liked.
It was nice to have a big choice but hard to choose.
These would have given me the Extra Credit since it's sunrise, but I thought the sunset was a better photo. Was I wong?
Here's the photo I chose. Following are some others I really liked.
 |
| "Setting in Gold" I managed to be out just as the sun set and the sky turned a warm gold. That doesn't happen everyday. We have some of the most gorgeous sunsets here in Shiloh. Camera: Canon Canon IXUS 145 Location: Shiloh, Israel |
These would have given me the Extra Credit since it's sunrise, but I thought the sunset was a better photo. Was I wong?
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Bad Timing for Winter's Return, Pesach Cleaning
Yesterday was a rainy day. Ok, not very rainy, but rainy enough to cancel the laundry plans.
And yesterday I was home and it's also pre-Passover with all the stress of cleaning and getting organized for the Holiday, rain isn't welcome. I always function best with a nice day, and I like to be able to open the door and windows when cleaning. And there's so much laundry, especially if I'm cleaning one of the bedrooms. So, I changed my plans and pulled out the fridge and cleaned up the niche where it lives.
I also cleaned away more of the grime in the stove area, even though, once it (the dirt even chametz based) morphes into grime, it can be considered as non-chametz...
I also cleaned the doors of the kitchen cabinets with those "magic sponges." I had gotten them years ago and didn't think they were all that "magic." Just like with any other cleaning the key to its success is what my mother used to call "elbow grease."
And instead of enjoying the fresh air and sunshine, I put one of my favorite movies on the DVD, "Guys and Dolls." I sang along at times, too. There's so much great music and acting in that movie. When I was a kid we had the album from the show (or was it the movie) and I knew all the songs by heart.
In terms of cleaning for Passover, I still have a week to go, Gd willing. That is my schedule.
Do you like music to clean by?
And yesterday I was home and it's also pre-Passover with all the stress of cleaning and getting organized for the Holiday, rain isn't welcome. I always function best with a nice day, and I like to be able to open the door and windows when cleaning. And there's so much laundry, especially if I'm cleaning one of the bedrooms. So, I changed my plans and pulled out the fridge and cleaned up the niche where it lives.
I also cleaned away more of the grime in the stove area, even though, once it (the dirt even chametz based) morphes into grime, it can be considered as non-chametz...
Elbow grease is an idiom for working hard at manual labour. It is a figure of speech for humorously indicating nothing else but manual work is required.To be honest, I used them just to get them out of the closet. And there's more left. It's not that I don't have rags, but I'm glad to use the white disposable sponges, too.
In terms of cleaning for Passover, I still have a week to go, Gd willing. That is my schedule.
Do you like music to clean by?
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Easy, Tasty and Impressive Eggplant Recipe
This past Shabbat we had a guest who is on a "no nightshades diet," so I had to separate the nightshade vegetables from the others in cooking and also in the salad. I have a number of friends who find their lives better sans nightshades. One of them wrote a bit of it up for me awhile ago:
A Jewish Grandmother : Here it is! The First Person Anti-Arthritis By Not Eating Nightshade Vegetables ReportSince I did have eggplant and other nightshades to cook, and my husband expected to eat them, I cooked them separately. As you can see here, I took the eggplant, sliced it and placed slices of tomato and fresh garlic. Then I poured a bit of oil on top, wrapped them well in foil and baked them until soft, in a pan, so the juices wouldn't drip all over.
It was very easy to make, impressive to serve and delicious, too. Also Kosher for Passover!!
Monday, April 11, 2016
New Photo, Yes I Listen to My Readers
Last week I got a letter from a reader/fan that he had been avoiding my posts, because the photo I had been using didn't look the reader in the eye. But when he, actually started to read what I wrote, he realized that he does enjoy my writings. And he decided to write to me to tell me. I took what he wrote to heart and looked fr a different one, deciding in the end on the facebook one.
I had used that different one, because I thought I looked good in it. Actually the previous photo made me more more like my mother who was a great beauty. And my face looked much thinner. As you can see.So I switched photos. I will also have to do it for my Jerusalem Post blog, because in the picture there I am also looking away. You should all know that I do listen; I do read what you send me. And I appreciate it.
So please don't be shy if you have something like this to tell me, thanks.
PS Again three out of six of the favorite blog posts are mine on Arutz 7!
