Keeping It Simple

it is 4:30 p.m. in the holy city of safed.  a friend is coming for Shabbat.  I already warned her that I am pretty tired and may not be able to schmooze all night.  they bless the new month in synagogue tomorrow and I would like to be there.  I turn 68 on Thursday.  where did the time go?  I made a pretty simple Shabbat dinner.  I worked at the yeshiva yesterday for nearly 8 hours.  the guys went on a hike and I had to prepare about 40 sandwiches.  lucky for me, there were prepared soy schnitzels in the freezer.  I baked them and covered each sandwich with ketchup.  while the schnitzels were baking, I boiled  about 30 eggs and cooked 3 pounds of pasta for their Friday lunch.

I had to prepare hamburgers for their evening barbecue and used about 5 pounds of ground beef.  I made veggie kabobs and it took forever.  I think I marinated the vegetables too long until they were soggy.  if they were a total disaster, I wasn't informed.  at around 4:00 p.m. I gave up.  I had been working steadily and on my feet since 9:00 a.m.  last year I made dozens of kabobs and it took hours.  I had to cut up the herring into tiny pieces and add hot peppers and onions for their Kiddush on Shabbat.  I also opened an industrial sized can of tuna and added a bunch of mayonnaise.  I  then cut up peppers and cucumbers and tomatoes for their breakfast this morning.

it took me about half an hour to clean the kitchen and pack up the food for the barbecue.  it normally takes a full hour to do the washing up, mop the floor and clean the stovetop and counters.  I didn't actually cook much yesterday.  I wonder if I am a bit slow but I know that I can get a meal together in record time.  I just keep the menus easy when I'm tired.  my quick food items are baked potatoes, grains, pasta and lentils. I haven't been up for making kugels lately.  it takes me almost an hour to get all the veggies ready when I make a soup for couscous.  I'm chopping up potatoes, pumpkin, zucchini, carrots, onions, peppers and tomatoes.  and then there's all the peeling.  the soup takes under an hour to cook and the couscous is pretty much instant.  if I come in at 1:00 p.m. or later, it's pasta or rice and some kind of fried patties.

if I come in around 1:30 p.m. it's canned tuna and tabouli salad and scrambled eggs.  if I want to make falafel I need to come in at 12:30 p.m.  it takes an hour just to bake the frozen French fries.  frying up about 160 falafel balls takes a good hour.  I then have to cut up cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles and onions and make a large bowl of tahini.  I often fry up eggplant slices.  it's a cheap lunch for the yeshiva but it takes me hours.  right now I am only cooking for 18 guys.  I try to make a bit more.  some times the rabbis eat something.  there is always leftovers. 

today, I made some chicken legs and meatballs in a red sauce.  I had 5 legs in the freezer and a small package of ground beef.  I didn't even add breadcrumbs to the beef.  luckily, it held together.  I bought precooked beets, the greatest invention to date. I made two salmon fillets.  my friend doesn't eat fish.  I made a small amount of chopped liver.  I had a small package of broiled liver in the freezer.  I had some leftover sweet noodle kugel in the freezer from last Shabbat.  I bought chumus and made tahini.  I baked spelt corn muffins with soy milk.  I used a different recipe and they turned out brownish.  I also made spelt chocolate brownies.  the recipe called for milk.  I made some 'tahini milk' and hopefully, they'll be edible.

aftermath:  turns out that the brownies are just cake and not great cake, either and I forgot to add cornmeal to the corn muffins so I have vey bland small brownish muffins with raisins.  oh well.......