shana tova 2019

it is 12:00 p.m. in the holy city of safed.  I just got home from the neighborhood supermarket.  I ran out to buy some chicken.  I am craving chicken soup for Shabbat.  I bought a ton of meat for the holiday but I was truly fantasizing about chicken.  I ended up buying wings.  I think it will make a decent soup.  when the kids arrive on sunday, just before the holiday; they may be hungry.  I usually give them tuna salad.  they might just want a bowl of soup this time.  my son is recuperating from a sinus infection, so chicken soup might be just, the remedy.

as it turns out, the kids will only be joining me for one evening meal.  I have decided to keep the menu simple.  no kugels this year.  I just bought noodles to make a sweet kugel but they can be used for the soup.  I thought about making a bulgur pilaf instead of rice.  I bought only a few mini potatoes and sweet potatoes.  I think i'll just bake them.  I decided not to make tsimis.  I throw it out every year.  I didn't buy apricots or prunes.  they are a trigger for a sugar binge for me.  I'm still on my no sugar diet and dipping every thing in honey is not an option for me.  I have been putting dates in my smoothies but I haven't gone off the wagon completely.

I made 4 honey cake loaves to give out.  I used coconut oil and spelt flour this time.  I hope they came out okay.  I don't think i'll be having any.  I wanted to hit the health food store to buy chickpea flour to make a non gluten honey cake for myself but it was just too hot to get there.  I was lucky to have gotten a ride home from the supermarket.  I might just head out early on sunday morning to buy challahs and get the flour and a vanilla scented perfume at the pharmacy, that I liked.  we shall see.  the holiday comes in early.  I would cook today for the holiday but the kids prefer freshly cooked food.

I  have to prepare a small amount of the traditional foods that are omens for a good year.  they include: beets, leeks, gourds, fish head, pomegranate, dates, carrots, apples, black eyed peas and of course, the honey.  I bought precooked beets and a bag of the beet leaves, which everyone loves.  I bought these strange shriveled up looking string beans, that contain the black eyed peas.  I bought a small chunk of pumpkin.  they have a green squash that looks like a gourd but is very bitter.  I try to avoid it.  I bought a quince that I cook up every year for a new fruit.  no one likes it.  I usually have it all to myself.  I also bought a star fruit which basically has the same texture and taste as a red pepper, but slices into stars.  I bought a few 'prickly' pears which we call sabras, which grow out of cactus trees.  my daughter-in-law likes them.

I bought a ton of fruit last week but I ate it all.  I have been coming home late from work and making  fruit shakes instead of having dinner.  I have been 'sampling' my food at the yeshiva and hitting the carbs pretty hard.  I  know that I lost weight because the waistbands of my skirts are looser but I don't think it is ten pounds yet.  my friend, who is doing the 16 hour intermittent fasting, has dropped over twenty pounds.  I'm holding at 12-13 hours of fasting with the occasional 14-16 hours.

I desperately need to wash the floors with bleach today.  I am too tired right now.  I am waiting for a boost of energy.  I just had a fruit shake and two salmon fillets.  I'm still tired.  I worked until 8:00 p.m last night.  I left food for today, tomorrow and for sunday afternoon.  I don't have to go in before the holiday to cook.  I made them an eggless chocolate cake and a honey cake.  I left turkey schnitzels and carrot kugel in the freezer.  I even froze a tin of couscous.  I hope it is enough.  we are down to ten students but I cook more treats for them.  the other evening I made flourless tahini and peanut butter cookies.

I wish you all a good Shabbat and a very happy new year.