Thursday, June 21, 2018

Just Anither Shabbat

it is 8:00 a.m. in the holy city of safed.   the grandkids just got picked up for school.  I will go to town a little later to pick them up and go home on the minibus.  the older kids torment me on Fridays.  I  even cursed one of the brats once, after they were making fun of me.  I finally told one of the teachers and they got a bit of a chastisement.  kids here are very disrespectful.  however, no one is bringing an automatic rifle and killing anyone, either.

my feet are hurting badly.  standing all day is not helping matters at all.  yesterday, I was getting ready to leave work at 3:00 p.m.  I had to get the kids by 3:45 p.m.  I wanted to buy some hamburgers at a local store before I got the kids.  the manager asked if I could make a vat of tuna salad for the night's Chassidic 'get together.   they were having ,yet, another evening of vodka, snacks and inspiration.  I hadn't washed the stovetop or the floor but I went to work on a salad.

I simply, dumped two industrial size cans of tuna into a huge bowl with 5 cans of chickpeas and cut up a few onions, tomatoes and cucumbers.  I didn't have any eggs to boil and I decided not to add canned corn, olives or mushrooms.  I made a vinaigrette like dressing and made a mad dash to clean the stove top and floor.  I arrived at the school late.  the kids were waiting with a teacher who gave us a ride to town.  their backpacks are like heavy rocks.  it is quite a schlepp to town from the school.  we stopped off for some frozen coffee drinks.  I have been avoiding sugar but I had one and finished my granddaughter's.  I felt like throwing up afterwards.

we ended up food shopping and taxied it back home.  I did some much needed laundry and changed all of the sheets.  I did some more laundry this morning.  I have fresh towels and sheets now.  everything is still wet.  I hung all of my jeans skirts outside on the porch.  after cooking all day, my clothes stink of sweat and cooking oil.  even my snood smells.  the dog tried to wake us all up at around 5:00 a.m.   the poor thing needed to pish and I was too tired to let him out.  he relieved himself in front of the door.  oh well...

I babysat for my friend's elderly dog this week and she shat and peed in the kitchen while I was away.  in a little while I will wash the floors.  I need to go to the supermarket and buy some fruit for Shabbat.  we will be having hamburgers and franks for supper.  I do not feel like really cooking.  I bought some Jerusalem noodle kugel at the bakery.  my grandson loves it.  I also bought some lettuce.  the kids are mad for it.  I will buy some mushrooms and voila! we will have salad.  after cooking all week long, I am truly,bushed.

my friend bought me tow novels for my birthday.  we ordered them from England and didn't have to pay tax or shipping costs.  I doubt that the kids will let me read tomorrow but perhaps while they play, I will get to read.  I adore a good book on Shabbat day.  I do not have the strength to read during the week.  I usually collapse in front of the t.v.  I have been falling asleep lately in front of the computer.   they say when you get old, three things happen.  one is that you lose your memory and sorry,  I forgot the other two.

Shabbat Shalom!

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Ruby Tuesday

it is 5:p.m. in the holy city of safed.  I just got home from town.  a friend of my daughter-in-law's family, gave me a ride home in her brand new shiny car.  I had a twenty minute wait for my bus when she saw me.  I went to work early this morning.  the guys were taking a 4 hour hike to Meron.  I needed to make sandwiches for them.

the grandkids slept over left night.  I placed mattresses on the t.v. room floor for them and I fell asleep on my loveseat, as usual.  my grandson finally conked out at 11:00 p.m. and I was asleep by midnight.  I got up at 6:00 a.m. to let the dogs out.  my friend left her dog here last night.  she had to be out of town for the night.  I have babysat her dog for years.  she often brings her here for Shabbat and the dog is very comfortable here.

I thought I was out of dog food but I didn't have the strength to stop off at the supermarket down below, before I left for work.  my dog hardly eats it anymore.  luckily, there was a new bag of food in my pantry.  I didn't even remember buying it.  I got a lift to work this morning, too.  Tuesday turned out to be a good news day. 

I got confused and thought I needed to make about 30 sandwiches.  there are about 16 guys currently at the yeshiva.  I opted to make omelets. my only other choice was tuna fish and I thought that in this heat it wasn't the  safest way to go.  I wanted each guy to have two sandwiches.  after I had made about 36 of them, the rabbi came into the kitchen to let me know that there were 30 guys going on said hike.  I had one of the students run to a local store to buy me more eggs.  I made another 24 sandwiches.

I made myself an assembly line.  I used 6 eggs for every omelet and cut those into quarters.  I made four sandwiches at a time. while the next omelet was cooking, I placed the sandwiches in baggies.  I did this for about an hour or so until I had 60 sandwiches.  I sliced tomatoes and opened an industrial sized can of pickles and another one of ketchup..  I got the plates, napkins, utensils, cutlery, cups, salt, oil and onion organized.  I put all of the pitas and snacks in one bag and organized the turkey schnitzels, franks and veggies in another.  I even seasoned the schnitzels.

they decided that I needn't make dinner for the guys.  the few guys who didn't go on the hike were a bit bummed out that I wasn't making supper for them.  I thought about making a cake but I ran out of time and energy.  I still had pots and pans to clean from the Shabbat Kiddush.  they had been soaking for days.  I ended up working for 4 hours.  that's being on my feet for hours, once again.  I don't ever sit while I cook or do prep work.

I am going back to the Japanese restaurant with a few gals tomorrow for my friend's birthday.  I have to go straight from work.  I am pretty smelly and dirty after cooking.  I don't know if I will have enough time to go home first.  I guess it depends if I manage to go in really early.  I think it will be tuna loaf, carrot kugel and sweet potatoes for tomorrow's lunch.  I might fry turkey burgers if I have enough eggs.  I used a major amount of eggs this morning.

it looks like I will have the grandkids with me from Thursday to sunday.  the daughter-in-law needs to find a school for them in Jerusalem.  I will have to go in early again on Thursday.  I told my friend that I would go with her to the hospital for a biopsy.  perhaps, I will be able to do some extra food tomorrow morning.  rice, macaroni, buckwheat groats and bulgar take little time to cook.  I just need tons of strength.


Monday, June 18, 2018

Blogging Now

it is 6:00 p.m. in the holy city of safed.  it has been quite a while since I last blogged.  the month of june has been a blank.  I have been falling asleep in the early evening and awakening at 10:00 p.m.   I stay up until around 4 or 5:00 a.m. and rest until I go to work.  it's been pretty weird.  I am now cooking for 16 or 18 young men. I haven't quite found the correct amounts to cook yet.  so far, I don't believe anyone has complained.

yesterday, I arrived to find the kitchen in total disarray.  there wasn't an inch of clean space for me to work.  I spent almost 5 hours washing plastic containers, utensils and serving bowls.  the sink was backed up and I couldn't clear it because I had so many things to wash.  I couldn't wash anything because I had no room at the sink.  it was a horrible catch 22.   apparently, the yeshiva had hosted about 150 people for a Shabbat day Kiddush.  the boys consumed a great deal of wine to boot.

the guys had left out tons of food unrefrigerated.  I actually tasted most of the food to determine if it was fit for human consumption.  I took out a ton of macaroni and roasted veggie salad and managed to make a quick spaghetti sauce to cover it.  I thought about throwing in a can of tuna but I didn't really have the space to open up a huge can of tuna.

I put out a tray of left over roasted veggies, a tray of quinoa, and a huge platter of macaroni.  it looked like baked ziti.  I found some left over salads to put out and I cut up some melon.  after I put out the lunch, I started the enormous washing up.  I felt like Cinderella.  it was endless.  I finally finished washing everything and scrubbed down the counters.  I fried up about 40 turkey schnitzels.  I left the macaroni on the electric platter as well as the quinoa.  I think I cooked up some rice and roasted some potatoes.  I couldn't wait to get out of there.

I headed back to town by bus, as I was too tired to walk the short distance.  I went over to a trendy indian- like clothes store.  my friend gave me a gift certificate for about $60.  I couldn't find  anything to fit me.  I had bought a lovely pair of silver earrings the week before, for my daughter-in-law's mother.  I wanted to buy another pair for my friend, who has a birthday on Shabbat.  I bought her an indian suede handbag and a very silly looking silver shopping bag with red metallic lips.  I plan to take her out to a restaurant on Wednesday.

I bought myself two turbans and a cotton printed blouse from the gift certificate. I also bought myself two blouses in another store.  they are all indian, very large and cover my enormous belly.  I desperately need a couple of skirts.  I will look at the outdoor market place on Wednesday.  I only have three jeans skirts.  my wardrobe is seriously lacking.

my daughter-in-law took me and the grandkids to a Japanese restaurant on Wednesday night.  I sprang for Belgium waffles and ice cream afterwards.  I am still not eating sugar but I haven't dropped an ounce.  I must do something drastic.  I think I have to drop the carbs for awhile, too.  I have never ever been so fat.  I am not happy with myself.

I am too tired to walk.  after I return from work, I collapse.  my back is usually tight.  it's funny that I didn't feel tired yesterday.  I didn't get home until nearly 8:30 p.m.  I slept well and even did my dishes from Shabbat and washed my kitchen floor before I went to work.  I made a vat of veggies and a spicy sauce to put over couscous.  I used sweet potatoes, white potatoes, squash, onions, red peppers, carrots and cabbage.  I also made a green salad and added some leftover hard cooked eggs.  I served a small squash soufflĂ© with the meal and put out some melon.. 

I made two medium sized shepherd's pie for dinner.  I used canned corn.  I didn't have any peas and carrots.  I only made one tray of roasted eggplant.  I don't think I made enough for dinner but I had to leave to pick up the grandkids.  tomorrow morning the guys are doing a hike and a barbecue afterwards.  I need to make them sandwiches for the hike and get them sorted out with utensils, disposable plates, cups, and napkins.  I have to pack everything up.

the last time they had a barbecue, I had to make a couple of hundred burgers.  I only need to pack up some franks and schnitzels for tomorrow.  I left out a frozen box of about 100 schnitzels on the sink.  I hope I will be able to separate the schnitzels in the morning.  I plan on making omelets for the sandwiches.  hopefully, i'll get in early to do all this.  I will have to leave them dinner.  I think it will be tuna loaf.  we will see how I feel in the morning.