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More than "Just a Meatloaf"

This is the meatloaf I served to guests Shabbat lunch.

It was very easy to make and meatier than musaka. The layer of squash and pepper on top make it fancier and more impressive. There's also a layer of squash underneath.

Here's what's in the meatloaf:

• 800 grams (2 pounds) of chopped meat
• diced onion
• diced garlic, a few pieces, but you can use whatever dried garlic you want if you don't have any fresh
• small container/half cup tomato concentrate, the 28% paste
• 2 eggs

Mix it all up, and put in your baking pan. I had a layer of cut squash underneath, but that's optional. Eggplant makes a good base, too. If you want to serve on a different dish, not the baking pan, then I recommend lining your pan with baking paper for easy removal and cleaning. Sliced tomatoes or onions also look nice on top. The important thing is color contrast, so it doesn't blend into the brown of the meat.

Bake in a hot oven until the meatloaf moves from the side of the pan. Then lower the heat a bit and keep baking. Make sure that the middle is cooked before removing it from the oven. You can cover with foil if the top is ready before the middle.

 

Of course, for me, the best thing about it is that it's a "bake and serve" dish, which I always love to make.

And if you try the recipe, please let me know how it came out and how you varied it. Thanks

"Coming and Going..." My Most Successful 52Frames Photo So Far!

I'm going to be perfectly honest, IMHO, some of my other photos are just as nice, and I don't understand why this one got so many great comments and likes. It's rare for any of my photos to break out of the teens in comments and likes, so I was rather surprised to see this one I took "walking home" in the airport taking off so nicely.

Batya Medad
"Coming and Going..."Greeting from Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport! Yes, I'm home, thank Gd. As you can see, the airport is designed so that passengers coming and going can view each other easily. I love photographing the airport; it is so beautifully designed.
Camera: Canon Canon IXUS 145
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A new photo challenge in your inbox, each week. Join this amazing global community. Start here:http://bit.ly/52f-fbstart — with Batya Spiegelman Medad.

During the week I could take photos for the "" theme, I was in Arizona and then flew home to Shiloh, Israel. And I took lots of pictures with the theme in mind. It was hard to choose. I like these airport photos:

And I also thought it would be nice to shoot the view from the plane, but it looked a bit boring, especially since I was on night flights and had very little opportunity to look through a window.

There were also some amazing photos I took in Scottsdale, Arizona walking to the memory center where my father lives.

When I asked other framers for advice I just included the Arizona shots with the one of the Israeli airport. Advice was mixed. Considering the praises I received, I guess I chose well.

What do you think?

PS until now, my most successful/popular photo was the self-portrait from  2015.

It's not a better photo. The popularity was more because people were interested in how much I've changed in the almost half century since my high school graduation.

New York Pictures

As much as I love living in Israel and Shiloh, I do enjoy my New York visits. And I love walking in Manhattan. Here are a few recent photos from my trip.

Kosher in Newark Airport

I had remembered reading something about kosher food in the Newark Airport, so since I had so much time in between flights, I went searching. I was in the terminal which has United Airlines, and since I was an "international traveler" only using United, my suitcase was sent directly to Israel from Phoenix. I did not have to retrieve it and go through security etc again. That gave me lots of time to search.

I looked at all of the food places but didn't find anything special, just the usual stuff. Then I went to the gate for my plane to Israel, which was still open to everyone, since it was too early. The gates to Israel flights are closed off and one needs additional security before a flight. There I saw all sorts of prepared foods, meals of sorts with a "star K."

I checked on facebook to find out about this "star K" and was told that it's a very reliable kosher supervision from Baltimore. In the end I didn't buy anything, because the prices were so high. I was full enough from my homemade airline food and the special coffee I had bought myself in the Phoenix airport.

Homemade "Airplane Food"

In the olden days, not all that long ago, airplane travelers were given meals on most flights. That is on all but the shortest flights. Nowadays, even if you're traveling over five hours, like the trip between New York/Jersey and Arizona, you only get water and some soft drinks. You can buy food on the plane, but nothing is kosher. When they first eliminated the meals, there were "snacks," crackers or nuts, but no longer.

Since I had a very long flight and travel day plus, I ended up making myself an airplane meal. I was very nervous about it, because I didn't know if security would allow the aluminum tray, but thank Gd it did.

The night before I flew, I made two of these, one to eat that night and the other for the flight.

• chicken breast (Empire kosher)
• onion
• zucchini

I baked them all covered with lots and lots of layers of foil, and then I cut up a tomato, one for each. 

The only other food I took with me was a nice big juicy apple and some almonds. And on the plane I took down the tray and set up my meal to eat. It was delicious and filling, just perfect. 

Non-Diet Treats

Granted that I've been keeping my weight "down," that is lower by about 15 kilo (30 pounds) than it once was, for the past seven years or so, but every once in awhile I do need a treat.

First of all there's my not so secret craving for Haagen Daz mint ice cream. I limit it to my trips to the states, generally just once a visit. I used to have no problem finding a Haagen Daz place in all sorts of malls and stations and if not that the mint ice cream was in every supermarket all over. But the last couple of times I looked for it in Arizona, I couldn't find it at all. So I began scouting around for it while still in New York. I saw that the Duane Reade near my friend had a container and began fantasizing about having an entire container for lunch before flying to AZ.  I sort of hinted the idea to my friend who knows me all too well and suggested we go to the Haagen Daz place not far from her and just buy myself a couple of scoops. 

And that's what I did. A cup with two scoops of my mint and one of the special run peppermint (not as good) cost me more than a container that had lots more (and lots more calories, too.) But I certainly do not need the calories, and my cravings were satisfied with the scoops. 

Since I had been so good about just getting scoops of ice cream, I allowed another craving to win. In the international chain Coffee Bean, all of the coffees are kosher, not just the plain ones. There are even branches with kosher foods, sandwiches etc. But the branch in the Phoenix Airport is not one of the kosher ones. But I wanted a fancy coffee, so I bought one there.

Yes, it was good! And I got it before getting on the plane to Newark which was the "stopover" before the plane to Israel.

And now that I'm home, back to the diet...

"The Pater," A Book Review

As soon as I had heard that Elliot Jager had written a book, The Pater, a memoir, I knew I had to get a copy to review. To be honest, I must admit that we're acquainted through mutual friends, and I remember their excitement at his and Lisa's meeting and marriage. Also, it was Jager who is responsible, indirectly and unintentionally, for my blogging. When he was working for the Jerusalem Post, he was the editor who told me that the op-eds that I had been submitting would be held for days (or longer-- one wasn't published for months) and I couldn't submit to multiple publications until I got an official rejection. After hearing that, I knew that I needed to find a much better way to get my views out. And I've been a blogger ever since.

Now back to the book, The Pater. It is focused on the fact that Jager and his wife Lisa are childless. Years ago, I had thought they had a child, but it must have had been because I had seen Lisa holding one of those of the mutual friends.

From Bible stories to Hasidic folktales to contemporary media, the discourse on infertility is becoming an increasingly widespread topic for open discussion. However, it largely remains within the context of womanhood. In THE PATER, writer and journalist Elliot Jager tackles what has until now been an almost taboo subject: what it feels like to be a childless Jewish man...

This is a topic that many people don't talk about, especially the men. And in his book, Jager tells more than his own story. He searched for and interviewed other Jewish men who never had children.

Elliot Jager: "No man has ever written a book about the meaning of life without children. This is that book. I try to blend my personal story about my relationship with my Holocaust-survivor father. He abandoned me on the Lower East Side when I was a boy. We did not see or speak to each other for 30 years. Then, our reconciliation was overshadowed by his religious obsession over my childlessness. I also tell the stories of other childless men often touching on their relationships with their fathers. And, throughout, I grapple with the quest to find meaning--Jewish and otherwise-- in a life without children."

The Pater isn't an autobiography written in a clear sequential order. It is more like a box of  old treasures you find in "the attic," and as you pull things out you're taken back to various non-sequential events in your past. At times it was a bit confusing, but I was able to follow. And I actually liked the fact that it wasn't organized in a logical sequence, nor is it divided in sections/topics. The interviews with other men are dispersed throughout the book. It's very possible and probable that Jager has a system, possibly according to how similar or dissimilar the stories and conclusions were to his own.

I definitely recommend reading The Pater and also giving it as a gift. As difficult as the topic may be, the book is very easy to read and did not take me long at all. It's not a "heavy book," nor is it depressing. I found one small mistake in Jager's Biblical examples. He stated that in the Biblical cases of infertility all of the men had children with other wives. That isn't so; Isaac had no other wife nor children except the later born twins with Rebecca.

Parallel to the subject of Jager's infertility, is his religious evolution from the Yiddish based Orthodox Jewish education of his childhood, to secular American university to labeling himself as a Conservative Jew and finally admitting that he never was a strong believer.

In today's world, in which marriage and children and large families are less common than they once were, there are many cases in which people find themselves the "last of the line" from either one or both parents. By writing The Pater Jager also mourns his mother and her parents, because both she and he were "only children," and there are no more from their direct line. His mother was an amazingly strong woman who managed to support and raise Jager on her own under very difficult circumstances. I see this book as a tribute to her. And no doubt it will be read for generations to come...

Looks are So Deceiving: Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Senility...

Far from their native New York, in Arizona and Florida, two former neighbors are in very similar conditions. As I've written many times, my father is in a "memory care center," since although he can still walk around, feed himself and enjoy company and all, he can no longer "take care of himself." And our former next door neighbor in Great Neck, Ruth, who had also been a neighbor in Bell Park Gardens, Bayside, is in Florida, also needing care. Her daughter Lisa writes about what they are experiencing.

Looking at photos like these, you wouldn't have a clue that something was amiss or missing in his brain. Even though he can walk around, for safety uses a "walker," feeds himself and carefully wipes his face with a napkin, he can't be left on his own.

Apparently there are dozens, if not hundreds of types of dementia and in many cases, they are combined. Nothing about old age is simple. And people don't die from dementia as a primary cause. If they aren't in a proper setting with readymade food and caregivers, they can die of starvation, malnutrition, not caring for injuries or taking too few or too many medications.

In actuality, dementia only affects the brain, not anything else. And of course there are other people of his age who "have all their marbles" but are incapable of moving around independently...

Grrr.. Complaint about my Flights

As you know I just came back from two weeks plus in the states, and on the whole it was a great trip. The two aims were to be at a special wedding on my husband's side in New York and to see my father and sister in Arizona. And those two things went well, thank Gd.

In terms of family, I just didn't see enough of my many relatives who live in the states, but I did see a couple of cousins and some old dear friends. And my shopping was pretty successful, too. That's what these visits are full of family, friends shopping, right?

In terms of safety and logistics, comfort, timing etc. my traveling by United (Continental) Air was fine, though the landing skills of the Newark-Phoenix pilot, who also took us to Albuquerque for refueling, was the worst in my memory. His landing felt almost like crashes, Gd forbid. But there was no damage/injuries, thank Gd. And davka for that flight I didn't see a questionnaire in my inbox.

But my real complaint was that for both the flights to and from Phenix-Newark that only didn't staff at the gate properly count and measure all of the suitcases, bags and carryons people were bringing into the plane, the flight attendants didn't keep them from filling the overhead bins with their winter coats.

That resulted in their announcing that all of Boarding Group 5, yes, yours truly, had to check in our carryons. Since blankets are no longer provided on domestic flights, they went the way of free meals and even snacks--not that I always used/use them, people should have had been told to cover themselves and not be bin hogs. The first time it happened I had to go off to the side and take out some things I did not want to lose and stuff them in the backpack.

And on the final leg, when I had five hours to kill in Newark Airport my back and shoulders were killing me from schlepping and taking on and off the backpack, which I couldn't put on my wheeled bag, which was in a special bin going to Israel with my suitcase.

I told the staff that I'd be submitting a formal complaint, and I did. Of course everyone else just passively following orders, while I complained both times. My bag was small, well within regulations, and I purposely wore a coat that has seen many winters, which came in handy when a steward on the last leg spilled milk all over me. That didn't bother me as much as the fact that my carryon wasn't carried onto the plane with me.

If this happens to you, please complain, too, thanks. And share the post to make people more aware and brave...

52Frames from New York, Didn't Miss a Week!!

Last night Yesterday afternoon I finally landed home in Israel. I had been away for just over two weeks. I did my best to blog on this blog and Shiloh Musings. And I also managed to submit photos to 52Frames the photography group of weekly challenges/themes I've been in for almost two and a half years.

At 52Frames we start the year with a self-portrait which isn't supposed to be a quick smiling/mugging selfie. It's supposed to have more thought out composition and artistic pizzazz. I ended up posing in the well-mirrored bathroom in our Blakely Hotel room, New York City, where we spent New Year's Eve, since the timing of the visit had been timed to allow us to attend a big family wedding that night in Manhattan.

"Dedicated Framer"
Self portrait on the go. I am traveling and refuse to miss a week. All I have is a phone with minimal memory.

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Start 2016 right. A new photo challenge in your inbox, each week. Begin your 52-week journey anytime! Tell your friends! Start here:http://bit.ly/52f-fbstart

 — with Batya Spiegelman Medad.

The photo is unedited, since it was straight from the telephone, an overtired Galaxy II which freezes and needs lots of "undoing" if I try to edit photos.

The second week's photo, also taken in Manhattan, was supposed to be black and white. And again since my phone is too overloaded and crotchety to play with, I was afraid to "tell it" to photograph black and white, so I "bleached out" the color on my friend's computer after mailing it to myself and then downloading on her computer and seeing what photo-editing program was easily available.

"New York! New York!"
At present I'm in New York City and do not have my usual computer. Enough with the excuses; this is a lovely neighborhood as you can see.

--------------

Start 2016 right. A new photo challenge in your inbox, each week. Begin your 52-week journey anytime! Tell your friends! Start here:http://bit.ly/52f-fbstart

 — with Batya Spiegelman Medad.

This was the best I could do in editing (cropping, color change and whatever) on the unfamiliar computer, an Apple.

For the upcoming weekly challenge, I've taken a gazillion pictures, which I must go through, edit a bit and choose. Sometimes life is easier for a gypsy...

Lunch of Sorts

On my last full day in Arizona, lots of walking and shopping and visiting my father. My lunch was a small, if you can call 12 oz small, cup of Americano coffee in Target and lots of unroasted, unsalted almonds.

Nothing like that Selfie Stick

I had an easy time taking a photo of me and my father.

My New Toy

I had planned on buying myself a new cellphone, one with 64 memory, but as of yet I haven't taken the plunge and shelled out the money. So if you have tips and recommendations please let me know.

But I did get myself something I needed. Actually my husband nudged me to take the plunge.

Yes, it's a selfie stick. I haven't yet used it much. It required using something new on my phone, the bluetooth. Yes, that round thing communicates with my smartphone via bluetooth. So far I've done one experiment with it while still in New York.

 

More to follow Gd willing until it becomes routine.

Goodbye New York for Now

 

I am at the next stage of my visit to the states, Arizona.  Of course I didn't get done all I had wanted to do nor saw all the people I had wanted to see in New York. But we were there for a gorgeous family wedding, which was the reason the clan flew from Israel.

I arranged Shabbat at a Scottsdale synagogue. Yes, total strangers, but the Jewish heart and hospitality. More of the travel saga to continue Gd willing.

Shabbat Shalom to all

An Advantage to Being Old

...People get up for me in buses and trains. That's a reason I don't mind looking my age. The other day in the subway someone gave me his seat, so I took this photo...

My husband is on his way...

in the train to the train to the plane

waiting for the elevator

There's still more on my itinerary. 

The One Food Item/Custom Better in America

On the whole I find Israeli food far superior to American, and that is the lowly vegetable to dairy to lots of other things. The one thing I do prefer in the states is that many people and restaurants offer half and half or cream with coffee.

This is not universal, and the down side is that in too many homes and places skimmed milk is offered, rather than regular.  And ironically many of the same places have both skimmed and cream.

In the meantime I'm taking advantage whenever I can...

Why The Silence?

Even though I did set up blogging rights for a number of friends, nobody has risen to the challenge so far. I am in the states for family stuff. B"H all is well so far. Here are some photos. Enjoy.