I'm having a hard time taking it in. She's turned into such an amazing kid, I love her so dearly. But, I just pushed this kid out, like, last week, right? NO? How did this happen???? 5 years have slipped by, and now she's such a confident little girl, punching schoolyard bullies back when they give her a bloody nose, not caring if people tease, loving her little group of friends so loyally, wanting to make "treats" for her sisters and brother. The bossy one, the silly one, the very first one. Elisheva. My gift.
As I have considered making a cookbook over the years, I wondered if there were enough 5 ingredient recipes for main dishes to actually make a whole chapter. The jury is still out on that, but here is my favorite 5 ingredient chicken recipe, fancy enough for Shabbat! (remember that oil, water, salt and pepper don't count!)
You will need:
a big skillet
at least 2.5" deep glass or metal roasting pan
Bottle of dry or semi-dry white wine
container of button mushrooms, sliced (portabello mushrooms taste fine in this recipe, but make an
unappetizing sauce color)
one large onion, diced
oil for the pan
3 tablespoons flour (cornstarch or potato starch for Pesach)
whole chicken cut into 8 pieces
salt and pepper to taste.
Pour the oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. add the diced onions and sliced mushrooms, and saute until they are softened and the mushrooms are a light tan color. sprinkle flour, salt an pepper over the mushrooms and onions, stir for 2-3 minutes to cook the flour. pour the white wine over the flour to deglaze the pan and simmer until the sauce thickens to a light gravy consistency. Now, place the cut-up chicken into the baking pan. Pour the sauce over the gravy and cover with foil. put the pan into a 375 oven for at least an hour. uncover 15 minutes before serving. This works great with mashed potatoes! Yum!
So, here I am, one month later, sitting on my couch, waiting to give birth. My mom arrives this afternoon, so I managedto keep this kid inside long enough for her to be present, which I consider to be a major victory after 2 attempts and failures (first, 10 days early, missed by 24 hours, second, 4 weeks early, didn't bother trying for the 3rd).
Meanwhile, I'm left thinking about what I can make for the shisha after this little girl is born. Many people aren't aware of the very old Sephardic custom of welcoming a girl on her 6th day of life, not unlike having a brit for a boy on his 8th day, but with less blood and more casual. The naming ceremony is repeated, everyone says Mazal Tov (and hopefully they mean it!) and then we all have a nice chance to admire the baby and eat. My plan for serving food is to have lots of salads and spreads to go on fresh pitas, because most can be made days, if not weeks in advance. So, here is my first "don't panic" recipe-Olive tapenade! (we recently had a guest for Shabbat who loved this stuff and I told him I would post the recipe. I never thought it would take so long, however.)
You will need a food processor or blender for best results.
Ingredients:
Canned green olives
Garlic
pickled capers
oil (preferably olive, but any kind is fine)
How to: Peel your cloves of garlic (2 cloves per can of olives is my standard, but you can do more or less, depending on how much you love it) and put them through a garlic press or chop them up finely. Drain olives. put olives, garlic, a few tsp of oil and 8-10 capers into food processor and grind up liberally. Add more oil if needed to achieve a semi-smooth consistency. THAT'S IT! Seriously, wasn't that easy?
I love this stuff spread on challah, pitas, and it makes a really nice addition to grilled cheese. it keeps forever in the fridge (6 months) and gets more mellow with time. This recipe also totally invites ad-libbing ingredients. you could add roasted red peppers, cook the garlic, add lemon juice instead of some of the oil, add whatever fresh herb is lying around (basil or oregano would be nice), anything really, and come out with an AMAZING spread.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
My darling husband always encourages me to write. I never really know why. he's the talented one with words and thoughts in our family. I'm more creative, hand-crafty, free-spirited. Not the type who makes a good writer, which I believe requires a logical thought process that I genetically lack. However, I do love to think about food. I like to cook, too, and have always aspired to write a cook book of some kind. Again, lack of focus and accuracy will likely stymie any aspirations in that direction. However, my "big idea" is a good one, I think. the "Don't Panic!" cookbook. easy recipes suitable for Shabbat/entertaining, for people who host a lot, for people new to the idea of Shabbat guests, for folks (like me) who are eternally rushing around at the last minute with not everything done minutes before Shabbat has to come in. To this end, I have collected quite a number of recipes (and suitably altered them) that are either no-fail (even if you forget or don't have certain ingredients) very simple (5 ingredients or less), or simple and impressive.
On a personal note, soon I will be nailed to the couch for many hours a day, nursing our 4th child. My plan is to use this time to revive my blog and share some of these "winner!" recipes (as my mom noted in her recipe books). Hopefully someone out there can benefit from my hard-learned lessons (sometimes failures!) and be saved at the last second when they've discovered they're not hosting 2 but 10 guests on a Thursday night.
One of my husband's favorite foods in the entire world is Yellow rice. I can put anything on top of it and he will gobble it all up (hes a bit of a "discerning" eater). Yellow rice is easy. dice and saute an onion in 3 tbls oil, stir in 1.5 cups of rice and toast it for a bit, then add in 2 c water, 1 tbls salt and 1/8 tsp saffron soaked in very hot water. Cook until it's done. that's not the recipe in the title, though. I decided I needed to do something with the leftover rice from Shabbat, and that saffron and soy sauce wouldn't be complimentary, as fried rice is my usual use for leftover rice. Instead, I followed my usual cooking pattern for fried rice and added ginger, coriander and cumin. It was pretty good. it still needs a sauce of some kind, and for the life of me I can't figure out what. until I do, it will remain not quite a recipe. Oh well.
Passover made me crazy. Not as crazy as the lady I saw literally running through the grocery store on the day before the Seder, but crazier than normal. I procrastinated on the cleaning, and ended up pulling an old person's all-nighter (up until 4AM) to get it all done. The kids were so wound up from eating our sugar stash, it was ludicrous. as of 2 days before Passover all that remained was this: Which isn't really so much, considering I take away 90% of the candy they get given in this sugar-obsessed culture. I give it out as rewards occasionally, but we never eat even half of what we get. Some of it I just throw out because I don't want to deal with it (suckers, BB sized puffs of MSG), some I eat (the good chocolate!), and the rest gets binged on right before Passover. anything left 24 hours before bedikat chometz (the time you look for last bits of leavening in the house) hits the trash.
I'm sure you're wondering how and why my cornflakes are orange. I'm getting to that. In case you don't know anything about Passover, let me give you the skinny (or the kitzur, in Hebrew). At Passover we get rid of all food that has Chometz. Chometz is any substance derived from wheat, oats rye spelt or barley, and it hides in everything. Citric acid? From wheat. No kidding. it's in everything. not to mention the obvious forms: Bread, pasta, oatmeal, cereal, etc. anything that could even have a little speck of this stuff has got to go. So, processed foods for passover have a special kosher certification. If you are an Ashkenazi Jew (North and East European) you also have to get corn, rice and legumes out of your diet. HFCS? oh yeah. peanuts? them too. If you are Sephardi (Spanish, North African, and Middle Eastern Jew) like us, you get to keep these foods. Thus, my Passover Cornflakes. But to make certain that everyone KNOWS these are special for-passover flakes? they add Paprika extract (doesn't change the flavor) to make them orange. Sure, it's a bit unappetizing, but the passover cereals based on potato starch are so much worse, I'll eat my orange cornflakes and be grateful!
Passover is a huge subject. It would take a dozen posts to talk about it all, but if people have questions, write them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer.
I have a confession. I love saving money. I'm a skinflint. In my defense, we don't have a lot of money, so it behooves me to save what little we have. But when presented with an amazing deal for something we usually buy, I go a little bonkers. So, here's what happened: I burned the Challah. My favorite, yummy, wonderful challah. I put it in the oven to "proof" and then accidentally turned the oven on. The broken oven, which is either ON or OFF no temperature choice. The smell of burning plastic wrap tipped me off that not all was right. I panicked, because it was less than an hour and a half before candle lighting time. Would any bakery still be open? So I booked it off to the shuk and discovered the deal of lifetime. Bread for a shekel (about 30 cents). Huge bags of pita, rolls, bourekas, rugelach, and everything else, going at less than it cost to make (I know!). I cme home with 2 bags of 10 rolls each, 1 bag of mini panini rolls, and a huge bag of mixed rugelach ( cinnamon and chocolate) and potato bourekas. They were also selling strawberris at 3 kilos for 10 shekels, so I bought some of those s well. Not money I had planned on spending, but in the end, home made jam, chocolate bread pudding and whatever else I make from the stuff I bought will feed us cheaply for the end of the month. And, from now on, I'm planning my cooking to be done ahead so I can hit the Shuk late in the day on Friday and score more amazing deals on food treats for the fam!
I was totally going to do this post last week, but everyone in the house got a terrible cold, so I was on double-duty! Oh well. These are just a few pictures of one of my favorite places: the Shuk in Jerusalem. I never go there without thinking, wow, that would be an amazing picture, but I rarely go with my camera, because I end up not doing as well when I negotiate.
bulk spicesfresh meat brought in daily
Shevy wandering free
Gramma and girls
I can't seem to find my really good shots just now, but maybe I'll take my camera out next week to try for a few more.
Ah, shopping in he shuk, you either love it or hate it. For those who have never visited Israel, the shuk is like the loudest, most crowded crazy farmer's market you've ever been to. You can score outrageous deals on just about everything, but it can be a challenge to navigate, particularly for non-Hebrew speakers. I both love and hate the Shuk. it depends on the day and my time. As long as I'm wise enough to stay away during peak hours (after 4 any day and pretty much all of Thursday and Friday) it's a fun experience to go and pick my lovely produce, baked treats, and whatever else you're looking for. The girls always demand treats, which are usually the nice-looking apples or bananas. Sometimes we are tempted into buying the lovely strawberries, and just this week I bought fresh peas in the pod as a fun project. I'll put up some of my favorite shuk photos next week. It's a lovely place, as long as you know when to visit.
Well, not really, but it's big for me anyway. I'm actually writing a guest post at Mother in Israel this week. Crazy, right? The first half of the full story about David's birth is on her site, this is just the part about my c-section.
It took 2 hours to get me checked into a bed after my water had broken, and I was subsequently ignored for the next 4 hours, as I wasn't in active labor. Finally someone stopped in to check my dilation. An hour later they applied some gel to help me along and then ignored me again for 4 hours. Finally 12 hours after my water had broken, they decided to put me on pitocin. I was OK with this, having had it on both prior births. I started having gentle contractions over the next hour or so. They upped my dose to hurry things along, and the next time I was checked, the midwife got the "panic" look on her face. She felt not a head, but an elbow. not the end of the world in my mind, but she seemed to think it was VERY problematic. So, they backed off the pitocin to give the baby a chance to re-adjust. Then they (the 2 on-duty midwives) felt again and still felt what they thought was elbow, and one doctor who also said elbow but the doc they called in said it was a heel. They brought in the mobile Ultrasound (my nemesis) to look at the baby's position, and one said the baby was head down, one said he was feet down, one said she couldn't tell. They were all yelling at each other in the delivery room about what should be done and who was the most incompetent. It was a nightmare for me, having gone through so much to get to this point and being so opposed to surgery. They decided to do another ultrasound, my 3rd in less than 24 hours, and this time the one doc overrode the midwives and said I needed an emergency c-section. It was 3 AM, I'd been awake for almost 24 hours and I was worn down. So, I signed the papers and was wheeled, sobbing, into surgery. They refused to let my husband come in with me, which only made things worse. I spoke with the anesthesiologist and he told me he'd give me something to calm me down as well as for the pain. from that point on, I remember only hearing the baby cry as he was born, being told I couldn't touch him, and even if I had tried I realized my arms were strapped down to boards and spread out crucifixion-style. All I wanted to do was comfort and nurse my crying baby, who was instead being held by this stranger-doctor. I still have nightmares that the baby is crying and I can't get to him because my arms are strapped down. My only comfort at the time was that my husband would be able to hold him, which I later found out was not what happened. They let him only touch the baby for a moment before wheeling him away into the nursery and telling him he couldn't come. It would be another 14 hours until they would "let" me have the baby.
The next day I was even more upset to have one of the consulting docs tell me in a very superior way that the baby had been head down after all, so I probably could have given birth normally. The day after that, the doc who had tried to convince me to abort the baby came in while I was nursing. I didn't even want to speak to her, but I did want to show her that my boy was just fine thankyouverymuch. All she had to say to that was, "we'll see" in an ominous tone.
I am still very upset about the way things went down. I definitely want to do VBAC next time, even if I have to hire a private doctor to ensure it happens. After 3 years here and 3 births here you would think I would know how to work the system, but I still don't, and now I'm more nervous than ever about medical intervention during pregnancy and birth. My husband isn't excited about the idea of a home birth, so that's not really an option either.
Any one used to the Israeli medical system care to weigh in?
I edited this to add these links to my Husband's reactions at the time. Part one, Part two.
My DH decided he is doing a post a day on his blog and he challenged me to write a post per week. I think I can do it. I hope I can.
This week was dominated by my second daughter's second birthday. I did some balloon decor, which I think turned out pretty well. And I made a cake, which always turns out well because it is an awesome recipe. Thanks to Hershey's for coming up with it! Perfectly chocolate cake: 2 c sugar 1 3/4 c flour 3/4 c cocoa 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt Whisk these ingredients together in a large bowl then add: 1 c milk 1/2 c oil 2 eggs 2 tsp vanilla. mix until smooth. then add: 1 c boiling water stir until just mixed
pour into 2 greased and floured 9 inch round cake pans and bake at 375 F for 30-35 minutes. I also put rounds of baking paper into the bottom of each pan, as this is a very moist cake and sometimes sticks despite my best efforts at flouring.
I make a different frosting from the one in the recipe. you can use either, both are wonderful.
I took some neat pictures on the way home from the Shuk (Open market) last week and thought I'd put them up here and see what you all think. (that is, if there's any "all" left after months of neglect!) Winter here is cool and clear. It ought to rain more, but we are in the midst of a drought. Having grown up in Washington State, I miss rain, and I get so excited every year when the rain starts. But the nice sunny days when it isn't rainy are a nice change from the constantly overcast skies I was used to. And it makes for some nice pictures.
Wow, time flies. I had my boy. There were some complications (too much amniotic fluid, they thought), and one Doc offered me a late-term abortion (40 weeks and 3 days!) based solely on that. Twice. We said absolutely not the first time, but she persisted. What?? it was crazy, and I cringed every time I saw her after that. the whole birth thing was traumatic, the medical staff reminiscent of the 3 stooges, ending with a c-section that was very likely unnecessary. We'll go to a different hospital next time. The baby was a bit too yellow, but we took him out in the sun a lot and were able to circumcise him on the 8th day! (as a side note, concerned people actually yelled from their car across 2 lanes of traffic that I shouldn't have him out in the sun. Thank you, complete stranger for judging me!) My DH was able to be his Mohel and we named him David Yitzhoch. We put the video of the brit on youtube and got SO MANY negative comments, we finally disabled them. Crazy. People seriously called me a child abuser for allowing my son to be circumcised, as per our religious tradition. This has been a crazy time.
But he is a wonderful, sweet baby; worth every crazy thing.
I've been pretty quiet since Passover, the reason mainly being that I am dealing with an amazingly tiring pregnancy. It wasn't like this with my first two. I think much of the change is because I'm finally having a boy, not a girl. I knowpeople say, well, you have two kids now, so of course you're tired, etc,but seriously, the whole experience is different. I'm carrying different, craving different things, having different difficulties (low blood pressure? what??), everything seems different this time. Honestly, the whole idea of having a boy seems a little strange. I had always planned on having ALL boys. I love the way they interact, playing boy games, everything about boys. So, I had to really change my thoughts about my girls, although I can't imagine having anything else now. Girl clothes and toys really are quite fun. So, to go from all the pink, frilly, girly-ness to now thinking about someone growing inside me that is so fundamentally different than I am, well, it's a whole paradigm shift that I'm still working on. I've got 8 weeks left to wrap my head around it, but I figure it won't all really come into focus until the moment I hold the little guy in my arms. And remember that I have to avoid getting "sprayed" while changing diapers.
In a continuing effort to amaze my non-Jewish readers, I am going to discuss the most stressful event of the Jewish Year, Passover. Why is this holiday so stressful? you would think Yom Kippur would be the stressful one, not eating or drinking, 5 prayer services in 24 hours, your last chance to get in good with the higher power for the year...but no. It's the cleaning for Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) that nearly does in every Jewish woman, and many Jewish men, every year. Let me explain what has to be done. Everything you own must be gone through, cleaned and/or gotten rid of if it contains Chametz (any of the 5 grains or their derivatives, like grain alchohol, citric acid, etc.). Pasta, unopened bags of flour, most medicines, and a whole host of other things must be used up or thrown out or possibly ritually "sold" to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday. All your dishes, utensils, pots, pans, and appliances must be cleaned thouroughly and put away in sealed cupboards. every surface in your entire home must be wiped down with caustic cleanser (bleach works well) including under the beds, Under the Washer and dryer, under the refrigerator and stove, on top of the fridge, etc. All books taken from bookshelves and shelves wiped down (I found 6 cheerios and a ton of crumbs on our bookshelves this year). Strollers cleaned out, high chair completely cleaned, the list goes on and on. after everything you own is perfectly clean, you go into your kitchen and really get down to work. All counter tops have boiling water poured over them, all cabinets are wiped out, your sink gets really boiled and bleached, your stove and oven treated by torch to burn away any remaining chametz after cleaning them. If you can, you torch your pots to make them perfectly clean of chametz, although many people just have a Passover set of dishes, utensils, and pots. then you cover everything in heavy-duty foil (heaver than anything I've ever seen in a regular grocery store, like tin-pan heavy) until it feels like you're cooking in a space ship. Buy new dish drainers, sponges, and other kitchen accoutrements (if it's touched hot food during the year, it must be replaced for Passover) then you're ready to start cooking for Passover, which is it's own challenge. But that's another post... Just so you can see, here is what a passover kitchen might look like (not my kitchen, but a good example)
I really enjoy blogging. But I feel like I have so much other stuff going on that is so much more important than blogging, I just don't know what to do. So, if I post, I post, if not, tough luck. That is all.
The anniversary of 9-11 just passed, and, not living in America, I almost missed it. And, on top of that, I don't feel bad about missing it. you see, now that I live in Israel, terrorism is a daily thought, not an annual one. I barely even notice the metal detectors and guards at malls, restaurants, and hospitals any more. Want to look in my purse? Fine, whatever. Last year there were 3 separate attacks in my city using bulldozers. there were countless other attacks also, but you tend to look for trends to keep yourself safer. I still wince at the sight of an Arab driving a bulldozer. Just like I watch to see who is on the buses I ride, are they too 'bulky' looking; do they look nervous; have a heavy package? I get off and wait for the next one. But even with these (and many other) precautions, I don't have an overwhelming sense of fear, either. all the above is just a way of life. We're careful, but not paralyzed, and we can't commemorate each event because there are too many, but we have a word for it. Pigua (pi-goo-ah). It seems to incorporate all our tears, all our apprehensions into one word that is never said in the same tone as the rest of the sentence. We can't remember every name, every time, but we memorialize each victim with the word we invented to tell of your tragedy.
I can't believe it's been so long since I posted anything. In truth, getting adjusted to having 2 instead of one child has been huge! But now Devorah is 6 months and Shevy is 21 months, and I'm feeling like I've got my feet under me again. However, I'm beginning to think this whole potty training thing isn't all it's cracked up to be. Well, another adventure. So, I'll try to write more about our crazy life and Israel and whatever else pops into my head. Meanwhile I can at least put up a few pictures... Shevy at the Zoo July at the park June telling her sissy what to do
Father's day is tough for me. My Father in law has passed away and my own wonderful father is thousands of miles away. I think about my dad a lot lately. I watch the special relationship develop between my own daughters and their father and I know how wonderful it will be as they get older. I subtly (or not so subtly) encourage my husband to do the wonderful things I remember my dad doing with me. Being silly. Special trips out together for just the 2 of us. Making me laugh until I cry. That stuff...Stuff that emphasizes the special relationship between father and daughter and also sets the tone for all relationships with men in the future. You see, I had a wonderful father. There were some tough times for all of us, but he always worked hard to provide for us, went without extras (like his dream car so I could have braces), and protected me as best he could. He gave me the best gift a parent can give a child--themselves. I can remember having my dad's time, undivided attention, and love from, well, forever. And he and I connected in a very real way: same kooky sense of humor, same outlook on life, same physical constitutions. And even as an adult, he has continued to be there for me, supporting my dreams and ambitions even when they carry me half way around the world from him. Following me on that path half way around the world himself, when he'd be far more comfortable in his own familiar environment. So, on this Father's Day, even though I can't give my dad a physical present, I'd like to let him know that I'm doing my best to give him the best present a child can give to a parent. Adoring Grandkids.
