Solving The "Puzzle," First Passover in New Kitchen

Without a doubt, I am extraordinary pleased with the relative ease I had switching my new kitchen into Passover mode, setting it up for Pesach. Even though I made no real/expense effort to plan/build cabinets special for Passover, there ended up being quite a bit of easy to reach/no need to switch cabinets. 

One of the reasons I didn't want to spend extra is because we're not getting any older--meaning that not only don't I host humongous s'darim anymore but even ad meah esrim-we don't have too many left. But that's also a reason to make the Passover switch easier. Yes, that doesn't make sense completely, but we managed to pull it off. And, no, I didn't hire a kitchen planner. Our son-in-law and I planned the kitchen, with one super brilliant tweak by the guy who was hired to be in charge of and do the shuiputz, renovation.

Our kitchen isn't all that big, but it's not small either. My priorities when planning were to have room for two standard Israeli ovens and two separate full-sized sinks. And I have them.

The dairy sink is an "island," and instead of an eating counter, there are closets underneath facing the dining room table. Those closets are full, actually were partially empty, of dairy and parve Passover dishes, pots, etc. They've been empty enough for me to have stored all sorts of Passover pantry items as we purchased them. That was convenient. 

We didn't need to to much switching. I had plenty of room in the big storage drawers to add my mugs and coffee paraphernalia. Then I cleaned and covered the shelves, filling them with Passover mugs, dairy dishes, etc. The only major cabinet switch was for the meat dishes. My husband was able to climb up for that after I emptied, cleaned and covered the shelves. 

My biggest challenge was covering the counters. I was overjoyed to discover that the "oil cloth" I had bought a couple of years ago was more than sufficient to cover all. Cutting to fit required a lot of brain power, engineering skills. I'm very proud that I pulled it off. Here are some photos.

Tonight is the Pesach/Passover Seder, Gd willing, and it is also Shabbat. Blessings and Joy to All.

Shabbat Shalom

Chag Kasher v'Sameach

May You have a Peaceful Shabbat and Joyful and Kosher Passover

Pesach Prep, A Little Entertainment

Since I'm not hosting the Passover Seder this year, I didn't have to rush to switch my kitchen to Pesach mode early. We can do it this afternoon, after lunch. But there's still a lot to do. Here are a few of this year's new videos for you to enjoy.

Mango, Apple, Prune Compote - No Sugar

This amazingly sweet compote doesn't have a drop of added sugar. Actually, almost all of the ingredients had been found hiding in the freezer when I began checking what needed to be thrown out or eaten before Passover.

FYI mangos freeze amazingly well. I have the super simplest way of making Mango Sorbet with just frozen mangos. But the mango I found tucked into the bowels of my fridge freezer had possibly been hiding there too long for me to just eat it raw. It looked and smelled perfect.

When in doubt about the freshness and safety of a food, frequently, all you need to do is to boil it for awhile. So, I checked about using mangos in cooked comptes, and discovered that it is done.

The usual partner for the cooked mangos is apple, and I just happened to have some apple slices frozen solid in the freezer compartment, too. Since there weren't too many apple slices I cut up a nice green one to add to my compote. I also discovered a bag of a few prunes, which joined the mango and apples in the pot. All I needed to add was water.

Ingredients:

• mango
• apple
• prunes

Yes, that plus water. The compote was amazingly sweet just from those three ingredients. Of course you can vary by using raisins, pears or other fruit. But I had needed to finish off the mango, apple and prunes. 

Your can't get simpler, tastier or sweeter, and not a drop of added sugar.

Remembering My Father

I just posted about my father, three years after his death, on Shiloh Musings.
My Father, Sidney Spiegelman, Z"L, 3 Years
You can read about him there.

BTW, in one of those strange quirks of Halacha, Jewish Law, I got up from shiva before he was actually buried.

Whether Weather? Which is Right?

I'm a bit of a nutcase. I'm super-highly sensitive to the weather. I'm horrendously phobic about housework and cleaning. I need just the right light and weather to clean my house. The sky must be clear and blue. I need the bright cheery weather to cheer me on.

Last week, when I checked the forecast app on my phone, I saw predictions of perfect pre-Pesach (pre-Passover) cleaning weather, even for my nutty standards. But this morning, when I looked at the sky, at what photographers call "Blue Hour," all I saw was a yellowy grey. I got gypped.

Could this be some temporary aberration?

Sitting at the computer, the view was even worse, and it wasn't just the dirty window panes.

So I checked the phone's weather app again.

IMHO that's a forecast for almost ideal weather.

There's another weather site on my computer, which is also calibrated to Shiloh, so I checked that one.

It predicts a different scenario. Which weather forecast is the correct one?

Adding to my mounting panic is that yellowy tinge I see in the sky. It's a clear sign of desert dust storms. That's a weather phenomenon we never experienced on Long Island.

During our first spring in Israel I learned about dust storms and sandstorms, when the clean wet laundry morphed into awful, sandy yellow dirty laundry after hanging outside on dry but yellow days. Days like today.

If I'm forecasting correctly, from the color of the sky, this may be a very difficult and challenging week to clean the house. Spring cleaning must be done when I can safely open up the windows and hang out lots of laundry. True Passover, Pesach cleaning can still be done. I don't need the outdoors all that much to clean the refrigerator, just good music.

So, now I must motivate myself, recalibrate to plan my pre-Pesach cleaning differently. And that also means that non-kitchen, non-chametz cleaning must be after Passover, when the skies are clear and dust-free.

Most Important Passover Tip

Yes, it's good to empty the freezer, clean, polish, shop, but especially when restocking with Kosher for Passover food remember that:

Passover is only a week long!
Passover is only a week long!

PASSOVER IS ONLY A WEEK LONG!
PASSOVER IS ONLY A WEEK LONG!

PASSOVER IS ONLY A WEEK LONG!

PASSOVER IS ONLY A WEEK LONG!

Keep smiling 😃😍

stocking up

emptying

emptying

Trick to Polishing Silver

When I showed off my fantastically polished silver candlesticks to a friend last night, her reaction was:

"I had never noticed that you had silver candlesticks." 

That indicates that my silver candlesticks are usually so black and tarnished that she really hadn't seen them. And yes, she has been over many times, including Friday nights when the candles are lit.

Everyone knows that my housekeeping skills are horrendous, and at my age, I don't expect things to improve. So, when friends I hadn't seen in person for decades said, since they're not far from Shiloh for a few days, and they'd like to drop by, I welcomed them. They had apologized for the timing since it's pre-Passover madness season and asked what my plans were. I mentioned polishing the silver.

"I'll polish your silver. It's my favorite job." My friend replied.

I figured she was joking. She had no idea how disgustingly black and tarnished my silver was. But I set up the silver for me to polish and moved, cleaned the cabinet where my candlesticks are displayed.

I knew that if I didn't get the silver polishing done before Shabbat, it wouldn't be done before Passover. Shabbat HaGadol, the last Shabbat before Passover, is my general cut-off for non kitchen cleaning, even though this year with a whole week before the Friday night Seder, I'm making some exceptions.

My silver had been looking awfully black and tarnished for years, ever since I bought bargain priced Hepi silver cleaner, which seemed to have damaged more than shined them.

When our friends came in, she quickly rolled up her sleeves, donned the disposable gloves I offered, took the soft rag, applied a generous squeeze of Hagerty silver cleaner and began to rub off the tarnish. Suddenly I saw real shine. It had never happened like that when I tried to polish silver.

What had my friend done differently to make the silver shine?
She used a dry cloth, not the "damp cloth" recommended by the manufacturers of the various silver polishes I've bought and unsuccessfully used. Apparently, water not only dilutes the polish, but it's not good for the silver.  After polishing, she buffed it with a clean dry cloth. I was instructed that only the cups or other eating implements should be washed.

After my friends went back to their vacation tzimmer, I polished not only the rest of the candlesticks, but all the other silver I could find in the house. Even more amazing than the shine, was that I enjoyed doing it. The reason I enjoyed the polishing was that I had excellent results with very little work. Gd willing, with this new cleaning tip, my silver will shine all year long.

Easy to Make, Tasty Sandwich Rolls, Vegan, Parve

 Sandwich Rolls, Vegan, Parve
very easy to make, and you don't need a mixer

The basic recipe is from Mel's Kitchen Cafe,  FRENCH BREAD ROLLS, which I tweaked. I also doubled the recipe, since I had a kilo of flour to finish off.

These are very easy to make and tasty rolls. I don't have a mixer, just my hands, so they're low-tech too. I baked them with 100% whole wheat flour and brown sugar, which not only is supposed to be healthier, but I find it much tastier than white. I make a point of labeling vegan foods as such, since now I have a vegan daughter-in-law, which makes me more aware of ingredients, besides our being strictly kosher. Parve means neither meat nor dairy, not even the grease or oil.

handwritten version of Tasty Sandwich Rolls, which I worked from
My typed recipe below is more accurate and hopefully w/o spelling errors.

Ingredients:

3 cups warm water
2 Tablespoons dehydrated yeast
4 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 Tablespoons vegetable oil
pinch plus coarse salt
1 kilo* (approximately) 100% whole wheat flour

Instructions:

1. mix water, yeast, sugar, oil and about 2 cups of flour in large mixing bowl
2. cover and wait at least 15 minutes until bubbly
3. start adding the flour topped with the salt
4. mix with large strong spoon, or dough hook if you're using a mixer
5. keep adding flour until it doesn't stick to your fingers 
6. start hand (or dough hook) kneading for at least 7 minutes, a bit more if by hand
7. coat with oil, cover and leave to rise, double, (at least 25 minutes)
8. when doubled, punch down and shape on baking pan; I just made balls and squished them
9. let rolls rise and then bake at 400f or 200c, depending on your oven
10. between 17-20 minutes should be all they take to be ready, tap for hollow sound
11. Enjoy! They freeze well too.

*kilo = 2.2 lbs or about 8 cups flour

Ancient Beauty, Glass and More in The Israel Museum

One of my all-time favorite exhibitions in the Israel Museum is Glass through the Ages. During my recent visit, besides getting a last view of the Israeli Fashion exhibition, which has now closed, I entered the Archeology section to see the Glass exhibit and the giant Shiloh jug. For me visiting the jug is like paying proper respect to ancient ancestors.

Shiloh was the first Religious and Administrative Capital for the Jewish People, after the Return Home from slavery in Egypt. It was in Shiloh, and archeologists and Bible/Tanach scholars agree that my village Shiloh is that very Shiloh where Joshua had the Mishkan, Tabernacle erected to serve as a place for central Jewish prayer. The Tabernacle remained standing in Shiloh for 369 years.

This ancient jug/jar is much larger than others found in archeological sites, because Shiloh was a place of pilgrimage and had to be prepared to welcome large numbers of people to pray at the Tabernacle.

Following the capture of the Holy Ark and the death of Eli, the Head Priest, leadership was transferred to Samuel the Prophet who anointed the first two Jewish kings, Saul and David. King David decided to make the more central Jerusalem as Capital (main city,) the location of Mount Moriah, the "place," מקום Makom of miracles including Akeidat Yitzchak, The Binding of Isaac.

And now for some photos of the Ancient Glass. I truly find it ironic that something as fragile and delicate as glass could have survived thousands of years. We can liken glass to the Jewish People and Judaism. No other Ancient People/Religion has survived thousands of years the way we Jews have. We still celebrate the Holidays commanded to us thousands of years ago. We read the Torah and Gd's words. And we live in the same Land from which long dead nations had banished us. Please remember this on Seder night. Passover holiday is so soon.

Beer and Coffee Beef, Perfectly Delicious and Easy to Make

You may remember that I wasn't happy with the Malka "Stout" beer I had bought and even wrote that I saw it as the perfect addition to beef. Davka, that morning I had perked my coffee, and had some leftover, since the percolator is larger than even I need for my morning fix. So, I decided to google "beer, beef, coffee" to see if there were recipes or suggestions. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't going to actually follow a recipe; I just wanted to know if people cook their beef in those two delicious liquids. Apparently there is a whole genre of beef cooked in beer and coffee, so I got cooking!

Ingredients:
beef, one of the least expensive cuts from the freezer section
onion
fresh garlic
carrots
vegetable oil
stout beer* (any strong black beer would do)
strong coffee*

Directions:

1. soak beef in water for at least half hour, and then spill it in the sink
2. add vegetable oil to beef in pan
3. place on high flame to sear
4. turn over to sear all over
5. add cut onion and garlic
6. turn to expose garlic to hot oil
7. cut carrots, large-not small, and add to pot
8. pour in coffee and beer
9. add water** if liquid doesn't reach at least half way up
10. cover, cook on high flame until it reaches a boil, then lower flame to simmer.
11. Check periodically to see that there still is liquid. Add if necessary. 
12. Cook for at least an hour and a half, usually better if more. 

That's it. Beer and Coffee Beef is very easy to make. Don't be afraid to be creative. Potatoes or other long-cooking vegetables can be added to the carrots. Enjoy!

Tell me in the comments about how yours comes out or if you've ever made any beef dish that is similar.

*At least a half a cup of each, though even less would be ok; you can add water if there doesn't seem to be enough liquid.
**Most of the recipes I saw on google included tomato paste, so if you're afraid there won't be enough flavor/liquid from the beer and coffee you can add that or even tomato juice.

Simple Cooking: Using Up Bread/Challah - Stuffed Chicken

There are people who don't like to throw food out, and all sorts of kitchen and frugal experts suggest freezing or drying out leftover bread and challah to be used later. Two common usages for such bread are bread crumbs and croutons, neither of which I ever need.

Actually, I don't end up with much leftover bread or challah, since I don't buy bread much and only serve small home-baked challot or rolls on Shabbat and Jewish Holidays. Whatever is leftover is used for my husband's sandwiches when he goes to Jerusalem for the day. I supplement the leftovers with uneaten restaurant rolls, when out with friends.

But, davka, this year, close to Passover, when I must rid the house of bread I ended up with almost an entire store-bought white challah in the freezer. It had even been sliced for easy sandwich making, but I really didn't need it. I had decided to use what whole wheat flour was stored to make sandwich rolls, yes, to be blogged about in a couple of days, Gd willing.

Nu? What could I do with all that leftover challah? I decided to stuff a chicken for this Shabbat. I buy whole chickens, which is the most frugal there is here in Israel. Now that I think about it, cutting the chicken into the usual six pieces takes about as long as it took to make the stuffing. Yes, making bread-stuffing for chicken is really easy.

Since I hadn't stuffed a chicken in decades, I googled to make sure I remembered how. Then I just did what seemed right to me. Remember that pretty much everyone has different methods and recipes for various dishes, whether Chocolate Cake, Vegetable Soup or Stuffed Chicken, so you don't have to follow everything exactly. Cooking isn't Mathematics.

 1- Just before preparing your chicken for cooking, put the bread or challah in a bowl and add some water. Usually when I get the chicken ready to be cooked I pull out and throw away all the fatty pieces, but this time I kept them for the stuffing.

2- Squeeze out the water, either by putting the mush in a sieve and pressing down, or just by hand and tipping the bowl.
3- Add seasonings. Egg optional- I remember adding an egg, but since the recipes I saw didn't include it, I decided not to. You can use all fresh seasonings, all powdered or a combination. I used chopped onion then dehydrated dill (because I have a lot in the pantry,) pepper, paprika and garlic.

4- Place the chicken in the baking pan and then stuff it.

 5- Since I ended up with more stuffing than could fit in the chicken, I added it around the chicken. This solved a problem. The recipes had warned that wings and drumsticks could be burnt and should be protected with foil. By covering them with stuffing, they're safe. Also, contrary to all the recipes I saw, I don't tie, pin whatever the chicken together/closed. My chickens don't flap their wings and fly away when being baked/roasted.

6- Optional to top with sliced onions, carrots, peppers or whatever. I recommend using a bit of vegetable oil on top.

7- Start the baking with the chicken covered. Hot oven, just over 200C, about 400F. My oven is turbo, meaning has a fan, and I had the heat from the top. If you don't have a fan, then, I suggest cooking it longer. Depending on the size of your chicken*, it must bake at least an hour like that. When it seemed almost ready, I took off the foil and for the final 20-30 minutes, I baked it uncovered.

*Stage 1 of being fully cooked is when liquid quickly comes out if you pierce the chicken with a fork. When it reached that point, I uncovered it. Then once liquid was coming out on its own, I turned off the oven. There are online sites that give you charts for recommended cooking times according to weight of chicken and whether stuffed or not.

Beer as Fruity as Wine

Tonight I finally drank the third of the three Israeli craft beers I had bought a number of weeks ago. Of the first two, one, Shapiro "Jack's Winter Ale," was great and the other horrid. I'm going to cook beef with the Malka Stout beer tomorrow. It should be perfect in that role. 

Tonight I drank the Shapiro IPA, Citra. Not only is the woody orange-ish brown beer almost red enough to be a rose wine, but the taste is so fruity, I'd prefer it over many wines. It would certainly go well with a Shabbat or other festive meals. I'll have to try to buy some after Passover.

Doug, the Beer Maiven who, has been mentoring me in the drink genre of Israeli craft beer and beer tasting, uses words like "fruity" to describe beers. But in all honesty, until I drank this Shapiro IPA, "fruity" wasn't a word I'd use to describe a beer.

 As you can see in the photos, there was lots a foam, quite a head, but it dissipated quickly enough for me to drink it.

The beer went well with the cupcakes, which are leftover from Purim. NO, I didn't eat all three, only one!

On the whole, and from this small sample of three Israeli craft beers, I'm very impressed by the Shapiro brewers, and it's not just because they use a lion in their logo that resembles my favorite Israeli tackle football team. I definitely recommend the two Shapiro's I drank. What's your favorite Israeli craft beer?

Do You Still Watch/Have This?

A lot of people are in shock that this is our television. I'm curious to know who else still watchs one of these. If you do, please let me know in the comments, thanks.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as it still works, it's a shame to get a new fancy modern one. The "companion" is the DVD player on top right. I have an enormous collection of DVDs, some of which I've seen dozens of times. There are people who like to reread books; I like to rewatch movies. Who else watches DVDs?

One of the reasons I don't want to rush into buying a newfangled television is that I'm afraid it won't fit into our special cabinet space, although our sons measured and insist that there's a small size that will. Of course, buying a newfangled television will require signing up for a "deal" and learning all sorts of new tricks.

I never say never... Will it be sooner than later?