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The one where you don't eat...
Anyone who reads my blog even semi-regularly knows that when it comes to the Jewish Holidays, I'm all about tradition. There are special foods, special prayers, special rituals...you get the idea. Of course, my favorite traditions are the special foods. Especially if those foods involve anything with the word "kugel" in them. My least favorite holidays are the ones where you don't eat. The ones where we are expected to fast from one time to the other without even a drop of water. Me and not eating? Yeah, bitter enemies isn't a strong enough description. Ask any Tiara and she'll tell you exactly what happens if I'm not fed regularly...and it's not pretty. However, on those holidays where we don't eat, there is a shining bright light...FOOD! See, before the fast begins it's tradition to eat a big meal. Then it's tradition to Break the Fast with another large meal at the end. So tonight I'm off to Mom's for Kol Nidre dinner, which involved me baking an apple kugel. Hopefully this time the center will actually cook. And maybe, while we're at it, the cleaning fairy will come take care of my kitchen. Yeah, you're right...I better keep dreaming. So here's to an easy fast for those of you fasting. And to a happy and healthy new year. Shanah Tovah!Labels: food, Jewish musings
Well, that was unexpected...
Let's just say I'm a little dazed and confused this afternoon, folks. First I had plans for tonight. I even baked lemon bars! Then suddenly the plans are cancelled. Not sure what all changed in 18 hours, but I'm left with a quizzical look and the general feeling of, "Huh..."Needless to say, I started passing out the lemon bars to my coworkers, in an effort to not eat the entire pan for my dinner. Because really, there's no need to go on a total sugar binge to combat "huh." I even succeeded in getting rid of half the pan, but still ended up bringing the rest home. So far I'm resisting. I'm holding strong.But dang, those bars are yummy!Labels: food, random musings
Day 5
 Finally, we had a chance to relax a bit. Shabbat in Jerusalem is a bit like Sunday in a coal mining town. Nothing's open except for synagogues. Since it was Shabbat, and there was nothing planned for the day, we decided to sleep in before going down to breakfast. Afterward we headed out to the hotel pool, where we relaxed for a few hours. After 4 days of running around non-stop, it was wonderful to have a day to ourselves.(Brianne, me and Natalie in Ein Kerem)
In the afternoon we decided to try to explore a bit, and took a cab into an area of town called Ein Kerem. We wandered a bit, before grabbing a snack at one of the few cafes open and willing to use the stove. Since I wasn't that hungry, I grabbed some sorbet, but the others wanted something more substantial.  Like this pizza (which was awesome, by the way). It's one thing to be stuck on a bus with 39 other people, trying to get to know your fellow travelers. It's another to share pizza and laughs. We talked about all sorts of topics over our mid afternoon snack, before calling the cab for our return ride to the hotel. After Havdalah, the ceremony to close Shabbat, a group of us made our way into Jerusalem and the famous Ben Yehuda street in search of a very late dinner. Those of you who are close to me will understand the problem when I tell you that by the time we got into town, it was around 9:30. Needless to say I took charge, finding us a great little restaurant off a side street. Good food, several rounds of two truths and a lie, as well as various stories, made for a very fun evening. As for the truths and lies? Let's just say stories about kissing girls, living in a brothel, cop visits colored the dinner conversation. We'll leave it at that. Labels: food, travel
Day 3...
Well, you've waited long enough. So here you go, day 3... We started off our day a little later than day two. We didn't have breakfast until 7:15! Wahoo! A note here: the breakfasts were amazing, and especially the first few days in the North. They had everything you could imagine. Israeli salad, eggs, croissants, challah, halavah, fruit (OMG the fruit!)...the list goes on.  After breakfast we left for Tiberias, a town about an hour south of where we'd stayed. There we visited a school who receives help from the Jewish Agency for Israel (or JAFI). The visit was made even more special because of the number of teachers in our group. It seemed everywhere I turned, I met another teacher. We joined the kids for their last day of school, their equivalent of field day. After their performance, and playing a few games, we went  around to the other side of the school where we helped to plant trees. Planting trees in Israel is kind of the thing to do, especially in a country where vegetation can be so hard to come by. Just as we went to leave, a few of the boys started asking some of our group for their autographs. They were very persistant. Sadly, mine was not asked for, no matter how much I tried to insist that one day I'd be a famous author. From Tiberias we moved on to a town called Zichron Ya'acov, for lunch at a winery. Oh, my, goodness. This was one of the best lunches we had. One thing I noticed was that food was often served tapas style, small plates of each item to share with the whole table. We enjoyed more Israeli salad, hummus (I think I almost turned into a chick pea), vegetable lasagna, pizza and other items I can't possibly remember. In answer to the inevitable question...no. One of my friends asked if we ever actually ate Israeli food...and the answer is, not really. We had Israeli breakfast, and falafel. But between the Bedouin dinner, the Brazilian dinner and the Italian lunch, I'm not sure where the Israeli food really came in. *** There's still time to enter the contest to win Dating4Demons!! Comment now! Labels: food, travel
Passover fun...
 Let's be honest. Passover and fun rarely go in the same paragraph let alone the same sentence. But last night, they did. I invited about six of my friends to join me in celebrating the first night seder. I spent most of the weekend cleaning and cooking in preparation. See? Here's what my dining room looked like Sunday night, before everyone arrived.
I have never laughed so hard in my life, during a seder. All I can say is: Cabbage Patch Kids, Evil Troll armies, outstretched arms, G-d v. He, and a darn stubborn bottle of wine. The chicken soup I made came out fantastic, despite not using a real chicken. The charoset? Fantastic. And I have so many leftovers, my fridge won't stop rattling. We even did the whole seder, frankly an unheard of concept in my family o ver the last few years. Low blood sugar and little patience has led to the 30 minute seder (and tonight might have even set a new record).
By the time everyone left, I was beyond exhausted, but at least I could eventually fall asleep knowing the night was a success.Labels: food, holidays, Jewish musings
More Passover fun...
 First off, I should apologize to Ms. K., and anyone else confused by my interchanging of words for Passover. Passover, or Pesach, are the same thing. I tend to slip into the Yiddish for it, simply because it's easier for me.
Anyway, on to the latest. I stopped by our local grocery store yesterday, to pick up a few more items for Monday and Tuesday. As part of the symbolism, we are required to have a Seder plate set up for both meals. The plate includes (I believe) six items, each one is supposed to mean something different. For example, horseradish is used to represent the bitterness of their lives as slaves.
One of the items needed is a shank bone. It represents the Paschal lamb, which in turn represents the blood that was placed around the doors of all the Jewish homes, so that the Angel of Death would know which homes to pass by (pass by, Passover, get it?) during the 10 plagues. So I went up to the meat counter, and asked for the bone. No meat, just the bone. Lucky me, I got a man about 20, who gave me a look that kind of said, "You're odd, but you're a customer, so I have to act like I get this question all the time." Up and down the cooler we walked, looking at different pieces of meat that I might be able to remove the bone from, without having to pay an arm and a leg.
Needless to say, after all that, I decided that I'm not purchasing a bone the size of my fist, just to put it on a plate to look at. Instead? I bought a turkey wing. I still have to pull off all the meat, and I'm feeling very wasteful. But it was the cheapest, and it'll have to do.
It's all about the symbolism, right?Labels: food, Jewish musings
Only four more nights...
 Until the Great Passover Seder (or GPS as it will be known for at least the next few weeks). In light of the fact I've had a very yucky day (I knew I should have sent that chain letter on!) I've decided to enlighten you all about one of the more traditional foods for Pesach. And the one Ms. K. finds either the most amusing, or the most disgusting. Yes, I've probably told this story before, but it makes me laugh, and like I said, I had a yucky day.
So our lesson of the day is Gefilte Fish. See, this is one of those foods you tend to grow up with when you're Jewish. It's a mixture of different white fishes, ground up, formed into balls and then boiled.
Yeah, I know. Not the most appetizing sounding.
But when you stop thinking of how it is made, it's actually fairly good.
Unless you're Ms. K. and you're sitting in on your first ever (and probably her only, though she'll make that final call) Seder. A seder is the special meal we share on the first two nights of Pesach. Literally, the word means Order, and the meal gets its name from the fact that everything in the meal has a meaning. An order.
Anyway, back to the fish. First off, Ms. K. only agreed to come after I promised she wouldn't offend anyone. Then she ran into one of my mother's oldest rules. You can't say you don't like it if you don't try it. (This would be the only reason I've eaten a brussel sprout...ever.) Mom told her she could not claim she didn't like Gefilte fish if she didn't at least taste it. We promised her she wouldn't have to eat the whole thing, which I think she found only slightly comforting.
Ms. K.'s opinion? Taste like tuna with the texture of Spam.
Seeing as how I've never had Spam, I'll have to take her word for it. But it does NOT taste like tuna fish. Labels: food, holidays, Jewish musings
Wandering in the desert for 40 years...
 I realized something last night. When the Israelites were running for their lives through the Red Sea, they never anticipated that the search for the appropriate Kosher for Passover foods would take nearly as long as their 40 years wandering.
Okay, I'm exaggerating, but not by as much as you'd think.
I'm sure many of you are tired of my comparisons between where I grew up and the Seattle area, but this is the one that makes me the most crazy. At this time of year, you can walk into just about every grocery store in Michigan and find a huge Kosher for Passover section (and yes, this is different from simply the Kosher section, but that's not what this post is about).
Here, I walk into my local grocery store, and they still don't know there is a difference between the two. I basically have two options at this point. I can drive over one of two bridges either to the University District of Seattle, or to Mercer Island in search of the two grocery stores in the Greater Metro Seattle Area that actually know what they are doing when it comes to Passover.
It's just not right.
So last night Mom and I drove out to the Mercer Island Albertson's in preparation for the holiday that is still two weeks away. Not really the way I intended to spend my Tuesday night. But I have macaroons now.Labels: food, Jewish musings
Why I shouldn't be allowed to talk to waiters...
 Poor guys. All they are trying to do is help me out. They just want to serve the food, and I go and ruin their fun. Now, to be fair, ruining his fun was not part of my plan. I simply wanted my salad with the dressing on the side. Not an uncommon request, in these days of weight conciousness. So when the waiter arrives at the table with our food, I foolishly assume he'll simply hand me my plate as he as done with the rest of my group, and leave the dressing of my salad to me.
Silly, Erin.
No, apparently I ordered the fancy salad. The one they toss at the table in front of you, so as to somehow prove to you that they are cool, and you aren't. Cuz really, we all know what would happen if I attempted to toss the salad myself. It likely would have landed across the room on some poor, unsuspecting fellow diner.
So the nice waiter tries begins to pour the dressing on to the salad before tossing it. Thankfully I managed to not yell, "STOP!" at the top of my lungs, but it was a close call. I managed to cease his actions before the salad was completely ruined with too much dressing. "But don't you want me to toss the salad?"
"No, really, that's okay. I'm picky about how much dressing I put on my salad."
"But I washed my hands!"
Yeah, he really did say that. Poor guy. I think I really ruined his big moment, his chance to shine. Frankly, I should have let him toss the salad. Maybe then I wouldn't have noticed the serious lack of lettuce in my salad. I actually had to ask the waitress for more. It's just not right.
*shaking head* Poor waiter. I really am sorry. Labels: food, life
Family and food...
 Friday night my bubbe invited the whole family over to dinner. What began as my cousin stopping by to say hello, became both cousins, my uncle, my aunt, Dad, Bubbe and me. I realize some of you think I'm joking when I talk about my family (okay, most Jewish families) and food, but I'm not. Case in point? Friday night dinner.
Bubbe planned the menu (with my help), and we were off to the store for fruit. Upon arrival we discovered tasting stations set up around the store. The first one offered up some kind of Asian noodle dish that tasted yummy. So we bought the ingredients, and decided to make it for dinner. I thought we were making it for dinner instead of the other items we had discussed.
I was wrong.
See, Bubbe worries about having enough food. The woman can have a fully stocked freezer and fridge, and still be worried there is not enough food for everyone. It comes from a very logical place, and so it's mostly a beloved quirk at this point.
But Friday it was reality. To give you an idea? Here's what all was made:
- Salmon Patties (see pic above). If you haven't had them, they are similar to crab cakes, only made with salmon. Bubbe, being the good Eastern European that she is, makes here's with lots of onion. The house smelled of it for at least 5 hours. My eyes were tearing up at one point.
- Asian noodle dish. This one I made in two batches after Dad discovered the recipe called for mushrooms. Apparently he doesn't appreciate a good fungus among us.
- Salad. Because all dinners must include a salad.
- Corn on the cob. No reason for this one, other than apparently we needed another vegetable. I did manage to talk her out of the asparagus, though. I think I get a point for that.
- Farfel. This one is hard to describe. Farfel is made of crushed matzo and mushrooms that are boiled until the water is completely absorbed. The matzo becomes kind of like a couscous/noodle thing.
- Pie. It's kind of like a pudding/custard type pie. It was very yummy and creamy.
I swear I'm missing something in this list, but can't remember what. I should probably point out here, that all of these items were made in enough quantity to qualify as a meal all their own. Is it any wonder I'm never hungry when I'm visiting?Labels: family, food
Ms. K. started it...
with all her talk of food fetishes and the like. Now I ask you, is that nice? Is it nice to remind me of all the lovely food-type things I'm trying very hard not to eat? Hmmm? No. It's just plain mean to make me think about things like sourcream and bananas, with just a touch of sugar. Hey, stop laughing! It's good I tell you. Very good. Mmmm...maybe I need to run out and get me some of that. I could buy a really small container of the lowfat sourcream, and subsitute splenda for the sugar. It would be so easy! But I will resist. You'll see. I'll sit here and sip my no sugar added hot cocoa with minimarshmellows and I won't think about the yummy bananas covered in smooth, creamy sourcream. Nope, not gonna think about it... Labels: food
Sometimes you just need Mac & Cheese...
The Seattle area has seen more rain in the last week than it's seen all year, it feels like. At one point I had students quoting "It's been raining for 34 hours straight!" Now to put this in perspective, this isn't normal Seattle misty-rain. No, this is like a good old-fashioned Mid-West thunderstorm, only minus the thunder and lightening. All over the news we hear about this city or that town suffering through major flooding conditions. On top of that, the balmy temperatures of earlier have given way to the normal winter conditions of the low-40's. But before you start to think this is all about the weather, let me explain why this all is important. It's fall. Fall is officially here, with the cold, the wet, the mud and the colds. It's also the time of year built for fires in the fireplace (check), hot tea (check), hot apple cider (on my way to go buy), dinner with friends (tonight), baking (in a couple of hours) and...comfort food. Comfort food...we all have them. For some it's Mom's homemade spaghetti, for others it's Bubbe's chicken soup. For me? It's the mac & cheese in the blue box. Rarely will I allow myself to have it, as it doesn't exactly fit in with the "healthy habits" I try to live by. But sometimes, usually when I have a cold and my resistance is down, I just have to buy a box. Today was one of those days. I stopped at the grocery store after an early morning drive to the airport to drop off Ms. K., so that I could pick up the last minute ingredients for tonight's chili dinner. And as I walked down the aisle with the soup, and the canned goods (I needed tomato paste), I passed by those little blue boxes sitting in a row. And I had to buy one. So what are some of your comfort foods? What are those little treats you allow yourself only once in a while? The ones that are really bad for you, but you have to give in to every so often? Labels: food
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