Last week we visited a farm and bought way too many apples. So anyone have any good apple recipe ideas? I’ve already made apple cake (I skipped the nuts), and I plan to make apple pie. I cooked some apples with raspberries for my daughter last week when she wasn’t feeling well (no added sugar – I’ve been convincing her sugar is no good for the healing process).
Here’s a link to Flamingo Musings’ brisket. She soaks hers in coffee. I’ve done wine in the past. My kids don’t like when I use a lot of cloves. Hers has no cloves. It does have garlic cloves. That would work for them.
I’m planning to make a Moroccan carrot salad – the kind where you steam the carrots briefly, then add the spices and bits of parsley at the end. My middle son said he is mostly likely to eat the simanim for carrots if the carrots are cooked, so I’ll leave some unspiced in the hopes our children will join us for this one.
I saw a recipe for quinoa salad among Rosh Hashana recipes in a local paper – it had pomegranate seeds and nuts. I will skip the nuts, as it is our family custom not to eat nuts on Rosh Hashana. Do you eschew nuts for this holiday, or are you like some of my friends who poo poo this custom as superstition or plain false?
Zucchini (or squash or gourds) are one of the simanim. Ordinarily, I would cook the zucchini (we have some new baby zucchini growing in front of our house, just in time for the holiday) with onions, but it seems more appropriate to skip the onions for the simanim dish. I will add some spices to some sauteed zucchini. No point in trying to get my kids to eat zucchini unless disguised in a cake.
More side dish ideas: as a friend who is a vegetarian will come one of the days (when I am serving meat), I will consider making kasha with mushrooms and onions. Maybe potato salad, too – that could be a side dish at any meal.
Finally, I might try Mrs. S.’s blondies. At first, I was tempted in my mind to add blueberries (before carefully reading the recipe and realizing this would be a vulgar addition). But as this is really for my kids, chocolate chips will remain the only flavoring.
Elul: Shofar, ram's horn blown during Elul and on Rosh Hashana and at Yom Kippur's end
The Jewish month of Elul started last week, and it is a special month in the Jewish calendar.
Shofar in Elul
One does not have have to wait for Rosh Hashana to hear the shofar. Every morning (except on Shabbat) it is blown in the synagogue. If you are fortunate to attend a Jewish day school, you may hear it blown in school. In Elul shofar is an important reminder and symbol.
Repentance in Elul
Elul is known as a month of repentance (in Hebrew: tshuva – more explanation of tshuva would require a whole book). Introspection and reconciliation are themes of this period. For example, I like how the family of Ima 2 Seven is using this as a time to be kind (one would hope the trait will continue beyond Elul).
Mrs. S. reminds us: “Sephardim begin reciting Slichot (the penitential prayers) at the start of the month. Ashkenazim wait until closer to Rosh Hashanah.”
Food in Elul
Ah, finally, you say. Some are already prepping for the holidays ahead (see challot by G6). I’m trying to remember the simanim or symbolic foods to display on the Rosh Hashana table:
need a post on dates!
I see I am missing dates. Painting project for the upcoming weeks?
Fox standing in the ruins… too much color. I copy the layer, desaturate, make it a revealing mask, highlight the fox, select the inverse, and allow all color to come through for the fox but not for the rest of the painting.
Now the fox stands out in the grayed background.
The story:
Shortly after the destruction of the second temple, a group of rabbis went to visit Jerusalem or what was left of it after the Roman conquest. When they saw the destruction, they ripped their clothes in mourning. On getting closer, they saw a fox coming out from the site of the holiest part of the Temple. This was too much for the rabbis. They all broke out crying. Rabbi Akiva, however, started to laugh. “Why are you laughing?” they asked, in amazement. He replied: “now that the destruction prophecy of Micha has been fulfilled, we may look forward to the prophecy of Zecharia that Jerusalem and the temple will be rebuilt!”
Mrs. S. adds: ‘The end of the story is that the other rabbis said in response, “Akiva, you have comforted us; Akiva, you have comforted us.”‘ (thank you, Mrs. S.)
If I have time tomorrow, I’m going to put up a post telling the story of Rabbi Akiva and the fox with cartoon bubbles – update: no time this morning and no energy this afternoon – I’ll aim for next summer.
Leora Presents 100=20 While Kindergarten Son Hides Under Table
Way back over ten years ago, my then kindergarten age son and I were supposed to do a presentation to the rest of his class on a topic related to the book of Breishit. However, my ever social son never took a class with Janice Tomich on presentations skills, so he hid under the table. Instead, I gave the presentation myself.
It seems I started to blog about 100 20 and 7 back in 2008, but I never completed the post. Can anyone explain in the comments how 100 equals 20?
Thank you to Batya for hosting JPiX, the Jewish Photo Bloggers Blog Carnival, Feast Your Eyes Edition.
Cosmic X: The Whole World is Like a Narrow Bridge
I will be hosting the fall edition of JPiX. If anyone wants to host a winter edition, please let me know. If you have an appropriate post, please submit the post for the fall edition.
Congregation Agudath Achim in Bradley Beach, New Jersey may not be the most picturesque part of the Jersey Shore, but for those who attend services at this little shul, it is a special place. My in-laws’ friends threw us a Sheva Brachot (party after getting married) for us here way back in 1993.
Batya will be hosting a JPiX carnival this coming August 4 – if you have any posts with photos relevant to a Jewish Photo Bloggers’ Carnival, please submit them to http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_987.html.
Yesterday Rabbi Bassous talked about the split vav in the parsha of Pinchas. It is the only case in the Torah of a letter being split.
יב לָכֵן, אֱמֹר: הִנְנִי נֹתֵן לוֹ אֶת-בְּרִיתִי, שָׁלוֹם.
Wherefore say: Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace;
The rabbi explained that it is to show us one cannot achieve peace through violence. (Of course, he said much more, but I can’t repeat what he said without misquoting or taking it totally out of context. So I will leave just this piece for you to ponder and explore on your own).
Our table, set for Shavuot, with flowers from our yard
On My Blog
As you can see, I haven’t had time to blog a lot recently. I do have photos of some curried chickpeas and curried zucchini – hope to post recipes soon.
Rayna Eliana reviewed Miriam’s Kitchen: “Ehrlich presents a strong message for the Jewish kitchen, memories and familial connections.”
A Mother in Israel asks: Who is Responsible for Your Children’s Homework? Of course, it’s my kid who owns the homework – but who is responsible for making her doing it before 9 pm at night? (sigh)
In honor of Jerusalem, I am posting a few pictures from our 2008 trip:
This is a synagogue that was destroyed by the Arab Legion in 1948. Here it is, in the Old City of Jerusalem, being rebuilt. The original Hurva synagogue was built in the 18th century and destroyed by Muslims. As it lay in ruins for 140 years until being rebuilt in 1864, it became known as the Hurva, which means ruins.
Migdal David (Tower of David) is now a fun historical museum by the Jaffa Gate. It wasn’t a museum when I first visited in 1980. You can see the winding tree sculpture on this photo of mine.
These flowers are growing by the arch in Migdal David – you can see my photo of the arch here.
If you think the “Old City” of Jerusalem is old – actually, it is new compared to the City of David. Pictured are excavations at the site. If you visit Jerusalem, I highly recommend a City of David tour.
