it is 7:00 p.m. in the holy city of safed. my eyes hurt. i took the dogs out at 6:00 a.m. this morning and it was not freezing. i changed into a jeans skirt and light sweater and wore a fleece jacket. there were loads of cows this morning out in the field at the end of the street. two were climbing pretty close to the street. they were huge. someone had ridden a horse down the path that we walk and it was filled with manure. the small dog put some in her mouth. my dog in America used to roll in cow's dung.
i went to the supermarket right after i took the dogs back. i needed to finish my holiday shopping. ii managed to get everything on my list. i bought more diary to make a nice cheesecake for my friends. i couldn't find the blueberry pie filling there so i bought some good jam. if they had stocked the frozen berries i could have made my own filling but they didn't have any. we new Yorkers like our cheesecake topped with cherry or blueberry pie filling. my Sephardi daughter-in-law wouldn't go for it so i make the Israeli version of cheesecake with a 5% fat free cheese spread and vanilla instant pudding.
israelis love this cheesecake. one year i decided to use chocolate pudding and it didn't even get served. another time i used a caramel favored pudding and it was totally acceptable. so much for diversity. i was hoping to find a good French vanilla pudding but i had no such luck today and i'm not eating it, anyway. the cake does get topped with whipped cream. i used to put whipping cream in my cakes and now it is a topping. in new York, we always made a sour cream topping. that was then, this is now. Israelis don't have the best palate's.
i have a good friend who loves her rich desserts. she always made fun of the low fat pudding cheese cakes that i presented. somehow, she more or less, approved of this Israeli cheesecake. it does have a 27% fat content sour cream. i use mascarpone cheese for the tiramisu. that's 40% fat. i found cheese that was 25% to make the cake for my friends. i hope it turns out well. i have been hitting the cheese, hard lately. my stomach is very distended.
i took a bus this morning to the bank near my home. i didn't have my magnetic senior's bus card and the driver wouldn't take my 2 shekels. apparently, they passed a law that you can't pay with money anymore in safed. i know that in Jerusalem i got into trouble each time i had the kids with me. one bus driver actually, tried to throw us off the buss one time. i didn't feel like going all the way to town to fill up my card. the bus was filthy and the windows were badly stained. i felt ill. it was the first time in months that i got on a bus.
i went to the health food store to buy some more chai tea. i was all out and it appeared that they were, too. i felt so defeated. this is my pleasure in life these days. it used to be coffee. luckily, the store manager found a few boxes for me. i usually buy them in bulk even though they are very pricey. once, i loved going to outdoor cafés in town to have a designer coffee but that was a long time ago. most of us decided that it was a waste of our money.
i wanted to buy real almond extract. they were all out of it. they did have the vanilla. i just bought a small bottle of the McCormick American vanilla extract at my local supermarket. it was quite expensive. i paid nearly $10 for an ounce bottle. the Israeli imitation extracts are awful and sickening. i once liked the rum flavored one but haven't used it in ages. i need my extracts. i put them in my muffin mix, and in my fake banana ice cream and shakes and in my plain yogurts and in my hot chocolate. they enable me to stay away from sugar. i added a fair amount of the almond extract to the tiramisu last year and it tasted just like marzipan. not everyone appreciated it. i thought it was my best tiramisu to date.
they had a coffee extract but i didn't buy it. now i'm thinking that it would have been a great addition and a good substitute for the coffee liquor. oh well.... i can always throw in a shot of brandy or some low alcohol sweet wine. i have an anise flavored extract but i think it will not go well with the sweet cheese. maybe i can sample some. i am afraid of tasting the tiramisu. i am not the kind of person who can eat one serving of cake, or ice cream or chocolate. last year i resisted having any during the holiday and as soon as it was over, i binged ate the entire remains of the cake.
there were quite a few people waiting outside of the bank, which is a few feet away from the health food store. i wasn't so pleased. i needed to get my balance. there was only one person ahead of me near the machines. afterwards, i was tempted to go to the large supermarket to check if they had blueberries but i didn't want to risk it. i did enter the large pharmacy and i regretted doing it immediately. what was i thinking???? didn't i remember that sick people go to the pharmacy to buy meds?. i just wanted to check out the toys there. i needed a gift for the one year old. i left without buying one and i was there for a really long time. i might return tomorrow.
i walked home. i walked rather slowly. i never really picked up the pace. everything hurt. my right leg was cramping up and my right eye was burning. i passed a baby horse and it's mom in an enclosed area. he was so darn cute. i wanted to give him the organic apple that i had bought at the health food store. when i was at the supermarket the apples didn't appeal to me but they really called out to me in the health food store. i wanted to buy dates but i left without buying any. i had some figs at home. i stopped off at my friend before i went home. i had a snack and tea and broke my 18 hour nightly fast.
i just spoke to the Sephardi mom. they were planning on going back to their home for the holiday. i had thought that it would be problematic to have two male dogs in the house. one of the daughters has a male dog. i was afraid that if my male got out we might have a bit of bloodshed. so all the plans got switched. i was afraid that i would have to walk to Canaan and return home late at night to see the grandkids. i thought all 6 kids and 2 babies would be trapped in that apartment with no where to run. there is a playground across the street but in pandemic it is not ideal.
they were going to break up the holiday with the kids coming to me for a day and i vetoed it. i decided to stick it out with the dogs and be super vigilant. this way i can see the kids each day and not have to walk to a different neighborhood. the daughter-in-law gets to be with her whole family for three days and i can run upstairs if i need to rest or escape the noise. i hope it will be a win-win and i hope it will all work out. the dining space downstairs is much smaller than theirs but there is a huge backyard and room for the kids to play and ride their carts. and of course, there are toys here for the grandkids to play with.
i was getting aggravated because i had spent a fortune on cheese products and i was afraid that i wouldn't get to use them. i was even thinking of freezing everything. i think this is the best solution. if my son gets antsy, he can sleep upstairs in the roof top apartment. my grandkids will get to be with their entire family and i'll be around for the whole time. in the past, we split up holidays and shabbats but i think we all have gotten past that now. after all, they have been living downstairs for a few months now. i hope this will benefit everyone. i hope i haven't made it harder for myself.
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