Twas The Night Before Shavuot

it's 2:00 a.m. on monday night/ tuesday morning in the holy city of zefat. i have just left my kitchen. i also just tossed an entire lasagna into the garbage. i made it a couple of hours ago. i spent the entire day taking care of my grandson. i looked forward to getting into the kitchen to cook for tomorrow night's holiday. i started to get into my preparation's 'groove' at about 6:00 p.m.

i prepared my batter for the blintzes, and i made the filling. i also started grating the mozarella and other cheeses for the lasagna on a 2-3 inch hand grater. i whipped up the cheeses for the tiramisu cheese cake and i started to split the lady fingers. guess what? israeli lady fingers don't split. they also do not keep their shape.

anyhow, i was on a roll when my son brought down the baby for me to watch. his mother went for a stroll and his father had to go to synagogue. i figured, it was a good time to take a break. the parents came home finally and took the baby upstairs, and once again, i got really busy. i tried out my new non- stick blintz pan and it was really easy. i don't know why i've been avoiding making blintzes for all these years. i put the cheese cake into the oven. i started to get out the lasagna noodles when, i was interupted, once again.

my daughter-in-law came down to make her icebox cheese cake. they are missing a light in their kitchen which makes it difficult to function, once it's dark. they also didn't want to wake the baby up with the noise from the electric hand mixer. i got out of the way and left her the counter space. i started to assemble my blintzes on the kitchen table. i must say that the blintzes looked great. that was before i overbaked them in the toaster oven. they're kind of dry and rubbery now. i guess that's why i've always bought the frozen prepared ones.

i was just about to start the lasagna sauce when my son brought the baby back down for his mother to nurse. the mother kept on making her cakes and chocolate balls while i ended up watching the baby. they finally went upstairs for the night and i made a vat of tomato sauce. i also baked a chocolate cake in the shape of the 'ten commandments'. unfortunately, the hebrew letters are imprinted on the back side of the cake and not on the shiny, top side. now i'll need to buy some type of white frosting tomorrow to fill in the hebrew letters.

i rushed to get the lasagna sauce made and i didn't taste the tomato puree. this turned out to be, one giant mistake. i don't know if i diced up way too much garlic, which could have rendered the sauce to be bitter; or if the tomato puree was rotten from the start. all i know is that i kept on tasting it and it got more bitter with each tasting. i breaded and fried the eggplant to make eggplant parmesan, but i didn't use the rest of the sauce. i tossed it out with the lasagna and made a new sauce. why ruin another dish.

i can't believe that i have to make another lasagna tomorrow. i have the baby until 2:00 p.m. and i still have a ton of laundry to do. i also have to clean up the house and wash the floors. they're trashed from all the baking. i almost feel like chucking the blintzes too, but i'll just have to find a way to doctor them.

i must get to bed now because i have to be up at 8:00 a.m to get the baby. are we having fun yet? HAPPY HOLIDAY to one and all! good yom tov! please pray that i don't get botulism or food poisoning from the bad can of tomato paste.