Two Nice People Stories from Same Train Ride

Yesterday I was in Jerusalem. I only took the lightrail only one stop, but in that short time, I saw two examples of how nice people can be on the train.

Story #1

A man, a bit older than myself got on pushing a walker. Quickly, a woman of about the same age, sitting right by the door, got up for him. And he protested. He didn't like the idea of a woman, not at all young, giving him her seat.

"But you have a wa..." she stuttered, not even able to get out the word.

She prevailed, and he sat in her seat. This happened so quickly, and the train was full of people needing  seats that nobody interfered in their little "argument."

Story #2

Seconds later to my left I noticed a young woman reach for the Ravkav (transportation card) of an elderly woman, who was having trouble getting it to "pay" for her trip. The young woman deftly placed it in the right spot. It lit "paid," and she returned it to its owner.

Too often, all we have are complaints, so I wanted to write about nice people on the train.

Baked Vegetable Omelet

On Friday I had a Baked Vegetable Omelet. Since I had the oven going it seemed like a good idea to bake lunch, instead of using the stove top.

It's one of those things I couldn't even imagine doing before having my kitchen redone/renovated. I had spent the previous year without a functioning oven. Now, thank Gd, I have two turbo ovens, one for meat and the other parve, in which I can bake more than one thing at a time. Having two ovens makes a kosher kitchen very easy to cook in. We hardly eat anything dairy, so the second oven has remained parve, meaning neither meat nor dairy. I make lots of side dishes, fish, cakes and challot in it.

While vegetables for Shabbat were baking in the oven I took a smaller oven pan, covered it with baking paper, and then cut onion, squash, pumpkin, cabbage, tomato and two eggs. I topped it with a bit of vegetable oil, and then into the oven it went. Once I could see that the eggs looked cooked, I checked the vegetables with a fork, to see if they were soft. I don't pretime my cooking, since there are too many variables.

My lunch, Baked Vegetable Omelet, was delicious, and the pan didn't even get dirty.

Pull Out The Candles, Winter With a Bang

We've been waiting a long time for the rain. It's not even a matter of the chronic drought that has plagued the Land of Israel in recent years. Our neighborhood's sidewalks had been been dug up, replaced, recovered for "upgrading" which caused a definite deterioration in the air quality. For half a year, the entire dry season or longer, we've suffered from the resulting sand and dust. It has been so bad, that not only are our houses full of sandy dust, but I couldn't even eat my grapes straight from the vine.

Last night the blessed rains began, and electricity for miles around stopped. Periodically we had a much weaker version; only the new Led lights in the kitchen and the television worked well. Then it was black again, with the exception of the full moon. I lit candles and ended up sleeping in the living room.

This morning, after a couple of tries, bli eyin haraa, not to tempt the "evil eye," we're all lit up again. The flora, bricks, concrete and pavements are starting to shine. And now we'll discover whether or not the new white stone "covering" of the path is dangerously slippery or not.

Although the forecasts had been for daytime rain, we were blessed with a nighttime deluge. I say "blessed," because the first rain is a hazardous time to be on the roads here. The buildup of months of oil and sand combine dangerously with the rain contributing to serious car accidents. At least at night fewer people are on the roads.

Gd willing none of our or anyone else's electric appliances had been damaged/destroyed by the on/off power. As I write this I can see the clouds shrinking and the blue sky emerging. Tree branches are swaying like hyperactive dancers. Do you think I can do some laundry?

A Visit to The Israel Museum

Tuesday evening I spent some time in the Israel Museum. I hadn't been there for months. There was one exhibit I really wanted to see, and it didn't disappoint. That's the one about Israeli Fashion. It was amazing, and if I get there again, while it's on display, I'll spend more time there.

There was another exhibit I liked and highly recommend. Apparently, it had been commissioned by the museum. To Go - New Designs for Jewish Ritual Objects is stunning, practical and innovative.

Designers and artists from around the world were presented with a challenge: to create a collection of objects together with a case — essentially a travel set to accompany a Jewish holiday or lifecycle event..

If you don't have time for a long visit at the Israel Museum, just go to those two exhibits, and you've gotten your admission money's worth for sure.

What's your favorite department of the Israel Museum?

Merlot, Great Dairy Restaurant Here in Shiloh

Photo by Yisrael Medad

Thank Gd, we don't have to go far if we want to eat out. There's a wonderful dairy restaurant here in Shiloh, Merlot. It's just across from the main supermarket and Kupat Cholim Leumit. There are also bus stops in front and around the corner. And there's a parking lot, too.

The food is absolutely delicious, and Merlot is willing to accommodate for groups and those who have allergies/sensitivities. The hechshar in Merlot is Mehadrin dairy. You can call them for more information 02-6284601. Even though their site is all in Hebrew, there are menus in English, and the waitstaff speaks English.

I ate in Merlot twice this week with friends, and when we were redoing our kitchen, we ate there a few times.

I highly recommend Merlot. It's nice to have a pleasant, reasonably priced restaurant a short walk from home.

Feast your eyes on the photos:

As you can see, presentation is also top class.

Recycling, Don't People Read?

Here in Shiloh, recycling is on the "honor system." It's not like what my parents had to deal with in Great Neck, where people had a multitude of color-coded trash cans. Each can was for a different type of trash, and each can had a different day to be put in an easily accessible place. They also had to tie down the lids, or animals would enter and spread the garbage all over the place. They could also be fined for filling the cans incorrectly. And if they missed the day, they'd be stuck with the trash.

I like it much better here. People are responsible for putting their recycling trash in the correct containers. Some people just use the giant garbage and don't recycle.  But many of us make an effort to recycle our trash.

There are large garbage containers all over the neighborhood and smaller orange ones for Some, like this one for papers and light cartons, such as cereal boxes, have easy to read labels. Other containers are much older, and the labels have long worn off.

Of course, there are people who don't pay attention and fill all the receptacles with whatever, instead of carefully following instructions. Today I saw a milk carton sticking out of the paper bin. So I carefully read the instructions. After listing all the permitted things, paper, letters, cereal/food/cometic/medicine boxes... very clearly it says:

Don't throw in milk and juice cartons!

Super Easy Way to Add Flavor to Meat/Fish/Poultry

There are two condiments that almost everyone has in their kitchens, catsup and mustard. Adding them to your cooking is the simplest, easiest way to add flavor to meat, fish, poultry and other foods.

I know that they all have additives, salt and sugar, but most recipes ask you to add those evils separately. There are times when even the most "natural health" cooks, like yours truly, need to cheat.

The other day when I was in a big rush to cook a couple of meals before leaving home, I put a couple of spoons of mustard and squirts of catsup on this chicken breast vegetable dish before putting it in the oven (covered) for baking. The result was stupendous, delicious, just perfect.

Sometimes we all need shortcuts. I draw the line at powdered soup mixes, jam and straight sugar. Even salt is rarely used for cooking in my kitchen. And when I use salt in soup and kugels, it's coarse, not table salt. What are your little cooking "cheats?" Please let me know in the comments, thanks.

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake, Like No Other

The other day I had to replenish my cake* supply. I bake a few cakes and freeze all but one. As usual I did a version of my very simple, basic cake. It really is the easiest cake to bake and very amenable to variations. For the basic recipe, click above on the embedded bold links.

My plan was to use perked coffee I had put in the fridge a few weeks ago for the liquid, but it didn't look usable. I had thought it would go perfectly with chocolate chips. It would be a bit more sophisticated than just the vanilla.

Then I got another idea. I added some instant coffee and some of the morning's leftover coffee grounds from the French Press.

The cake was absolutely delicious. There are three more in the freezer!

*I bake with 70% extra fine ground whole wheat flour and brown sugar. Besides the health value, I think it has more flavor than white flour and white sugar.

Jerusalem Walk, Yesterday

Yesterday was Wednesday, and any Wednesday* you'll find me in Jerusalem studying in Matan. Click here for class schedule and more information.

For the past few years, my study partners/friends/chevruta and I meet early for breakfast chat and learning. Then most of us go on to class with Yael Ziegler. After that lecture, I have a break of over an hour and a half before Yael Leibowitz's class. During that time I usually, weather permitting, take a walk and buy something for lunch.

I used to bring lunch with me, but now since I sleep the night before in Jerusalem, that's more difficult. It's also such a pleasure walking around the neighborhood, the walking trail, by the old train tracks, or to Talpiyot, Emek Refaim, etc. And of course, I need and love a walk.

*except for school vacations

Simple Kitchen "Repair"

From the very beginning of my new kitchen, there was no water pressure from the dairy sink. And it went from bad to worse. I called in the kitchen guy and told him that he must have made a real mistake and had to fix it.

He couldn't understand why only drops were coming out. So he did what I should have done immediately and/or what my kids could have done when they visited. He got a tool to unscrew the little filter at the opening of the faucet.

Without that little filter the water flowed nice and strong. Simple cleaning didn't clean the filter, so he put it in a cup with vinegar and told me to rinse and screw it back on in the morning. That's what I did. Now I can easily wash the dishes, and the hot water comes out quickly, too.



PS In all honesty, I had been thinking of it, but the filter didn't unscrew easily. I should have tried harder, but I never would have thought of using vinegar to clean it.

Season Change: Hot Coffee

I'm back to drinking my morning coffee hot. No more cold brew for the next few months or so from my French Press. I also deleted the nightly reminder on my cell phone/smartphone to remind me "Make Coffee."

back to hot coffee
no longer drink ice water
winter approaching
#morningcoffeehaiku

At the same time, I found myself drinking my water with lemon sans ice.

Nights are getting colder and longer. The water is coming out of the faucets much colder than just a couple of weeks ago.

I also set up the house's hot water boiler to go on for about an hour before we wake up. The very dusty solar panels aren't heating the water sufficiently anymore. Since it doesn't rain here in the summer, and I don't have anyone to climb on the roof to hose down the panels, it's just easier to use a bit of electricity. I just have to remember to turn off the automatic timer before Shabbat each week.

It's funny that the hot coffee, which didn't taste right a month ago, now tastes just perfect. I guess we, too, change with the seasons.

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #30, Speedily Out of Order at New Train Station

This is a continuation in my ongoing series about public toilets in Jerusalem. See #29, #28, #27, #26, #25, #24,  #23, #22, #21, #20, #19, #18, #17, #16, #15a, #15, #14, #13, #12, #11, #10, #9, #8, #7, #6, #5, Saved by The First Station aka #4a, #4, #3, #2 and #1

In my post about my adventure on the new Jerusalem High Speed Train, I mentioned that my friend and I found that getting back up to street level in Jerusalem was difficult. We couldn't find "up escalators," and there were terrible crowds trying to get on the much too few elevators immediately after the train arrived.

While looking for "up escalators" I noticed the public toilets, so of course I had to try out the ladies loo.

The good news was that there was toilet paper, but the bad news was that it didn't flush. The bowl was full of paper, and I couldn't get it to flush at all. The mechanism was already broken, just a few weeks after the train service and station had opened to the public.

I should have tried the train's WC, but I was too busy trying to take pictures of the countryside as we sped by. There was very little time, since the entire ride was just over twenty 20 minutes.

If you can update the information about the public toilets in the new Jerusalem train station, please comment, thanks.

Xiaomi Smartphone, Saga, Update, Customer Report

Less than two months ago, I bought myself a Xiaomi Mi A2 without very extensive research about it. I knew that I didn't want to spend an awful lot, and I was totally disgusted with Samsung, because my J7 hadn't even lasted two years before dying suddenly. Instead of buying a low price phone from a good (expensive) company I bought a top of the line from an inexpensive one.

So far the big pros of the phone are

• the two year warranty versus one year for my Samsung phones
• and the camera
• the size, very similar to the J7, so no adjustment

They are both superior to the Samsung J7 and the previous Samsung I had which was a Samsung Galaxy II Plus, a not too bright but hardy workhorse.

Now for the cons.

• An annoying disadvantage was/is that I couldn't find a selection of cases, just clear ones which showed off the boring black phone. First I decorated the free case which came with the phone with red and white sparkly stick-ons. 
• The serious problem is that many people say they can't hear me clearly when we're trying to have a conversation. Others have no problems talking to me on the phone. And I discovered that some of them are convinced that I talk when washing dishes or some similar noisy pursuit. But I must admit that some of my kids complained that towards the end, they hadn't heard me clearly on the J7.
• It doesn't come with a choice of ringtones. I'm pretty good at figuring out various devices, and although the phone wake-up alarm has choices there are no choices when someone calls. I asked on facebook, and someone suggested Zedge, which gave me a Beatles tune. Yay!

Last week I did find a better/stronger and more "attractive" case, which gave me two choices of  "decoration." They are actually pieces of paper shaped to fit inside the clear protective case. I can live with the sparkly silver one. 

I haven't had a major problem getting used to the different system and figuring things out. Yesterday I did panic a bit when it stopped ringing, but after searching a variety of set-up options, I succeeded in solving that problem.

An annoying thing is that it doesn't use the same plug for charging, but I bought an inexpensive piece to add to one of my old chargers. Of course, it comes with one free charger.

Now for the sixty four thousand dollar $64,000 question...

Do I recommend the Xiaomi Mi A2? Is it a good/great smartphone for the price?

Honestly, I'm still not sure. I don't know any other users. If you have the phone, what do you think?

Babysitting Help

One of our grandchildren is being raised with two rather hairy "older siblings," aka dogs. We have other grandchildren who get rather "nervous" around them, but they accept that visiting their cute little cousin requires that they accept the dogs in the bargain. Considering that I was rather phobic/terrified of dogs and cats as a child, I like the idea that there are now dogs in our family.

The other evening I was asked to babysit for the adorable little boy as he slept, and I had company to do it, too. Yes, they seemed pretty bored. No television, and I didn't share my phone with them.

Let's Go To The Show!!! HIDDEN - The Secret Jews of Spain

My great disappointment is that I'm not acting/singing/dancing in  "HIDDEN - The Secret Jews of Spain." I ended up suffering severe hip pain the week of my audition and had to cancel. By the time I began feeling much better it was too late. I took that as a "sign" that being in a musical show was really too much for me.

Opening night is November 11, so get your tickets now!

Join us for "HIDDEN - The Secret Jews of Spain," an epic historical musical about an outwardly Christian, secretly Jewish family who struggles to keep its true identity amidst the ever-watching, merciless eyes of the Spanish Inquisition. Based on the beloved historical novel The Family Aguilar by Rabbi Marcus Lehmann, with permission of Feldheim Publishers.
Recommended from age 10 and up ~ For women and girls

For ticket information click here.