Tzom Gedalia
2 October 2008 | Family, Food, Life | 1 Comment
Today we are remembering the unfortunate event of the assasination of the Judean governor Gedalia. The way we remember this is by fasting from sunrise to sunset.
I wish everyone an easy fast and to add a bit to the sadness of the day, I wish to inform my friends, who won’t be able to make it over to my place for dinner, that at our house there will be delicious banana-bread tonight for the break-fast.
Hang in there!
Tags: Bananabread, Fast, Tzom Gedalia
Shana Tova, 5769
29 September 2008 | Family, Life | 1 Comment
In all brevity and yet warm-heartedly:
Tags: Family, friends, holidays, New Year, Rosh HaShanah, wishes
Pumpkin-Season
25 September 2008 | Family, Food, Life, Travel | 1 Comment
Pumpkin Season is here and we are making the most of it. Pumpkin Soup, Stuffed Oven-Pumpkins, and whatever else comes to mind.
Other than that Dushi decided early last Sunday, that we needed to go to Amsterdam, in order to stock up for the Holiday season. It was fantastic!
There is quite a nice Jewish community building up in Amsterdam. We had some delicious kosher Pizza and afterwards went shopping for the most important things, like Halva, Soup-Mandles, etc.
Upon returning we were greeted by our fantastic daughter, who had been safe and well with her grandparents, while we were gone. That’s her “Glad you’re back”-face.
Tags: Amsterdam, Community, Kosher Pizza, Pumpkins
Herbal Fight
12 September 2008 | Family, Food, Life | 1 Comment
The rosemary and sage that I planted in the garden several months ago are growing wild. Unfortunately it seems I planted them too close to one another. They look like they are involved in some serious territorial conflict. The other herbs have already lost. Dushi will probably be quite relieved that there won’t be any more Coriander-orange-pasta for a while. No Challa this week. Chief-Rabbi Yona Metzger is visiting Cologne and there will be Tschulent in Shul. So we’ll make Kiddush there.
Miracles
5 September 2008 | Challah, Family, Food, Work | No Comments
do happen, it seems. It is 4 pm and I am finished with my Shabbat preparations. Unbelievable. Levia is playing contently on her own on the floor by my feet. Incredible. It looks like I will have a moment to sum up the events of the past week.
Last week’s Challah turned out to be only slightly burnt and it was still edible. Dushi was sweet about it and thus all was well.
We purchased a sand-water-action table for Levia which turned out to be produced in Hertzliya, Israel. Longing, missing, homesickness… Levia is loving it and had it not started to rain for the rest of the week right after we brought the table home, she would have played much more with it.
On Wednesday, my newly acquired friend Rachel and I went on a little trip to Antwerp, which was really nice. We went for a meaty meal and I had Schnitzel. Special Occasion for me with my milky kitchen. Can’t wait for that to change. But until then, meat is definitely very valued with me. The goal of the excursion on my side was to buy the Artscroll Siddur Nussach Sefard, in order to be able to improve KosherMe, which is probably the most wonderful project I have ever worked on, not counting Levia.
Today’s Challah turned out great! Now wonder since Levia helped. The recipe for “rich sweet Challah” can be viewed in the book The Secret of Challah which I strongly recommend to anyone fond of Challah and other kinds of bread. This one contains dried fruit and nuts, the idea for which I got from Rachel. She was telling me how much she dislikes dried fruit and while listening to her I remembered how much I like it.
Now, I just hope it will stop raining, so we can get to Shul in a somewhat dry fashion. Have a good Shabbes all of you, my two readers! 
PS: This is not a blog about Challah. Even if it might seem so at times.
Tags: Antwerp, Challah, Family, New Friends, Shabbat
Today’s Challah
29 August 2008 | Food, Life | 1 Comment
This morning while baking Challah for tonight, things went a little crazy, when suddenly all the ingredients developed a personality of my own and I started recognizing members of my family in them.
The flour was Dushi, my husband, working hard to sustain our family. Without him I would lack stability.
The water was me, working hard to make us a unit. Without me, he would probably be all over the place.
The olive oil was Zdenek, my Dad in law, making life smooth for my family. Without him all the times flour and water have clashed would have left the dough all lumpy.
The honey was Vera, my Mom in law, who adds healthy sweetness to our life. Without her we’d all just be- well- empty calories.
The yeast was Levia, my daughter, who lets everything spring to life. Without her we’d all just hang there meaninglessly.
And then I added in loving memory of Mom and Dad, a hint of sweet tarragon and bittersweet oregano.
Let’s see how it turns out! Have a good Shabbos!