HomeAgain

it is 7:30 p.m. in the holy city of safed.  I just got home from work.  the yeshiva had another chabad holiday and I needed to make another holiday feast for 25.  I didn't cook as much as I did the last time.  I was pretty tired.  I arrived back to safed on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. and went straight to work. I was in Jerusalem for 7 days. I worked very hard to leave meals for last Wednesday and Thursday and left on tuesday evening on the 6:00 p.m. bus to Jerusalem.  I usually make three courses for each meal. it can be rice, lentils and meatloaf or carrot kugel, mashed potatoes and meat patties.  I usually serve soup at lunch time.  today, I made a very thick pea soup, baked potatoes, garlic bread with leftover rolls and an Israeli salad.

yesterday I made a sweet noodle kugel and a carrot kugel for tonight.  it's pretty much a carrot cake only you mash cooked carrots instead of grating them.  the consistency is different from cake. I never have noodles at the yeshiva so I use spaghetti and break it into small pieces.  I made a zucchini kugel today and spent a lot of time squeezing the liquid out of the veggies.  I also made rice, carrot and sweet potato tsimmes, coleslaw, Israeli salad, Chinese meatballs, oatmeal kugel and string beans in tomato sauce.  we had a lot of oatmeal left over from breakfast so I added soy milk and a ton of eggs and some flour and made a kugel. I made a sweet and sour meat sauce using a lot of soy sauce, ginger, garlic and tomato paste and vinegar.  I rolled small balls of chopped meat into the sauce.  I didn't add any filler. 

I was planning on making an eggless chocolate cake but I ran out of steam.  It took so long to do the washing up and cleaning the counters and stove top.  I sifted 2 kilos of flour and it took forever.  the flour was embedded into the counter top. I was covered in flour, too.  I forgot to put out the chumus.  perhaps, someone will remember and get it.  I was so tired and I just wanted to get home. I also had to cook up a ton of macaroni for tomorrow's lunch.  if there isn't enough food, there is plenty of nosh and store bought cakes to eat.  I did all I could.

I stopped off at the bank before I went to work.  I went through all of my money in Jerusalem on the kids. I took cabs everywhere. I  took them to the movies and the jamboree.  I bought small toys everywhere we went and spent a fortune in a second hand clothes shop on chatchkas for them. I also spent a fortune at the local food shop.  I couldn't make it to a supermarket.  each trip cost me over $100 dollars.  we bought pizza a couple of times and plenty of candy each day.

 I also stopped off at the post office in town.  before I left for Jerusalem, I mailed a hand made cruelled bedspread to my niece.  my mother made it over 40 years ago.  I bought the kit at the museum in new York.  it was a bicentennial replica.  well, it never made it to my niece.  it cost about $50 to send it.  I think it was sent back to Israel.  my niece moved to a new house and it wasn't forwarded to her.  I am planning on going to the post office up here tomorrow morning to see if it is there.  I was heartbroken thinking it was lost forever.  I really hate to spend the additional money to send it back again.  what can I do?? the package included a prayer book from world war two that my mother used.  she was a sergeant in the WACS.

the kids are coming to safed for Shabbat but will stay at the Sephardi family.  I am totally beat.  I was alone with the kids for a week and had to get them to Chanukah day camp and also take care of the new cat.  I had to clean out the cat box which was simply awful as well as feed the creature.  I had to get the kids showered and referee their fights.  I had to cook and make Shabbat meals for us.  it was not really a vacation for me.  it was hard work.  I also had to keep the house clean.  I didn't do laundry because I don't know how to use their machine.  I didn't have access to internet the entire time I was away.  anyhow, I made it through and came back to work.  and now I am free until Sunday.  whoopee!