it is 10:30 a.m. in the holy city of safed. just got up an hour ago. poor dog tried his best to rouse me from my deep sleep to let him out. it is still cold and nasty outside. my house is freezing. I do not feel like going to work. I do not feel like cooking and I do not feel like washing pots and pans. I want to go back to bed. I had another sleepless night. I watched the lady gaga star is born movie last night. wow! it was so good. I was so tired but I would not let myself go to sleep. I think I watched another movie after that. I can't even remember what I watched.
I had a heater right next to the bed but I was still freezing. even the dog was under the covers. I feel like having a hot chocolate. I have been eating well but I haven't been able to get under 2000 calories. I had some frozen raspberries last night. they hurt my teeth. nothing tastes great. my eyes are burning and I have a toothache. the kids are coming to safed for Shabbat. I might get to see them. they are going to the Sephardi sister's for Shabbat. they live a good 20 minutes from here. I really wanted to go to Jerusalem this weekend. oh well.....
I am literally burnt out; my brain as well as my fingers. I actually went to and from work yesterday by bus. I have been cabbing it every day. I think to day will be a taxi day. I wish I could drink coffee. I could use a strong shot of caffeine right now. the green tea with mint doesn't quite do it for me. it is an out Shabbat for the yeshiva so I only have to cook lunch on Thursday and supper on sunday. I have been making really quickie meals lately. I might have to do falafel this morning. it is a lot of work. I don't think I'm up for it. yesterday I made 4 packages of bow tie noodles with a pot of ratatouille. I also served a bunch of baked sweet potatoes and salad. there wasn't one bow left.
I might make couscous soup today and falafel on the side. or I might make falafel with frozen French fries. the fries take almost two hours to bake. I already gave them baked potatoes this week with quinoa and soup and salad. I have other ideas but too little energy. last night I made shepherd's pies and green lentils and bulgur for the vegans. I am getting tired of the vegans. the non gluten student returned. I am not in the mood for these' special food' needs students. I need a spa day.
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Sunday, February 17, 2019
30 Years Down the Drain
it is 11:00 a.m. in the holy city of safed. I have been trying to get myself back on track and eat healthy meals again. when I could hardly fit into an extra large sized training pants for the show, I realized how large I really was. I see my oncologist in april and I will be mortified to show at this weight. I thought about doing a 1200 calorie diet. on the show about 600 pound people, it seemed to work. the only problem here, is that I do not do well with portion control. I used to be able to eat like a truck driver and maintain my weight. those days are long gone. right now I will focus on low calorie good food.
I went to the food shop on Thursday, after work, and splurged on frozen salmon. I spent about $30 for 4 huge fillets. I have been living on tins of canned tuna. I felt so cherished. I made two for Shabbat and a turkey neck soup. I bought prepared beets, humus and an eggplant salad. it was plenty. I had some frozen raspberries in the freezer and ate some with 5% cottage cheese for breakfast. it was stormy and i stayed in bed. it was the only room that was heated in this huge house. even the dog stayed in bed under the covers.
I wrote a long email to a friend of over thirty years letting her know that I was officially done with our friendship. perhaps, I shouldn't have sent it. we definitely clashed over the recent play. I was left out of the loop and even given wrong information regarding rehearsal times. I was accused of forgetting important information, when I was never privy to said information. I felt that I was met with hostility every time I gave an honest critique. I myself, had a major hissy fit when I read the playbill. I was not given a credit for the last two shows I costumed and received no shout out for the past 25 years, either. I have done props and costumes for every show this gal wrote and directed. I was the producer and promoter in an era before facebook and internet.
I know we are all getting on in years and are more brittle than ever. I for one, cannot bend right now. the sciatic is very much acting up. however, I am in a process of downsizing. I am throwing out things that I don't want or no longer need. that also includes people who do not cherish me. I have no time to fight over petty things with anyone or scream to be heard. I have been ranting for weeks. the codependence behavior is over the top. I know that I need to separate someone's bad behavior from my psyche. I expect way too much from people. my older sister says this behavior is narcissistic; like when she forgot to say goodbye to me on her last trip. it apparently, should not have hurt me. it had nothing to do with me. she was simply stressed about catching her train.
I do not feel so secure about myself these days. my son moved to the other side of the country and the rest of my family in safed have no contact with me. my siblings in the states rarely call. so I guess I wonder if I am just one fat bore. they seem to like me at the yeshiva but I am providing them with food. this friend/best buddy of 30 years definitely seems to have moved on. she has found a new theater partner and a new buddy who loves to smoke. I cannot suffer cigarette smoke. she apparently cannot maintain a long distance friendship after all, she lives in town and I live in the burbs. (20 minute bus ride)
I went to the food shop on Thursday, after work, and splurged on frozen salmon. I spent about $30 for 4 huge fillets. I have been living on tins of canned tuna. I felt so cherished. I made two for Shabbat and a turkey neck soup. I bought prepared beets, humus and an eggplant salad. it was plenty. I had some frozen raspberries in the freezer and ate some with 5% cottage cheese for breakfast. it was stormy and i stayed in bed. it was the only room that was heated in this huge house. even the dog stayed in bed under the covers.
I wrote a long email to a friend of over thirty years letting her know that I was officially done with our friendship. perhaps, I shouldn't have sent it. we definitely clashed over the recent play. I was left out of the loop and even given wrong information regarding rehearsal times. I was accused of forgetting important information, when I was never privy to said information. I felt that I was met with hostility every time I gave an honest critique. I myself, had a major hissy fit when I read the playbill. I was not given a credit for the last two shows I costumed and received no shout out for the past 25 years, either. I have done props and costumes for every show this gal wrote and directed. I was the producer and promoter in an era before facebook and internet.
I know we are all getting on in years and are more brittle than ever. I for one, cannot bend right now. the sciatic is very much acting up. however, I am in a process of downsizing. I am throwing out things that I don't want or no longer need. that also includes people who do not cherish me. I have no time to fight over petty things with anyone or scream to be heard. I have been ranting for weeks. the codependence behavior is over the top. I know that I need to separate someone's bad behavior from my psyche. I expect way too much from people. my older sister says this behavior is narcissistic; like when she forgot to say goodbye to me on her last trip. it apparently, should not have hurt me. it had nothing to do with me. she was simply stressed about catching her train.
I do not feel so secure about myself these days. my son moved to the other side of the country and the rest of my family in safed have no contact with me. my siblings in the states rarely call. so I guess I wonder if I am just one fat bore. they seem to like me at the yeshiva but I am providing them with food. this friend/best buddy of 30 years definitely seems to have moved on. she has found a new theater partner and a new buddy who loves to smoke. I cannot suffer cigarette smoke. she apparently cannot maintain a long distance friendship after all, she lives in town and I live in the burbs. (20 minute bus ride)
Friday, February 8, 2019
How Do You Mend A Broken Heart
it is 10:00 a.m. in the holy city of safed. I have been running around town for a couple of months buying craft supplies and second hand clothes to make costumes for a friend's play. the play is on Monday night. I am no longer speaking to my friend. we communicate through email texts. the word 'communicate' is used loosely here. she has not been communicating with me at all. I have been completely left out of the loop for most of this project. we had discussed the costume rehearsal, which was last night but we did not talk about full makeup. I had brought the props that I made the night before.
yes, I left my cooking job right after I served lunch and ran, I mean cabbed it to the rehearsal. first I went back home and fetched the washing machine prop I had made out of a medium sized carton. I then walked over to a friend's house on the next block and we cabbed it to the rehearsal which was in town. my, soon to be ex-friend, or current frenemy, kept telling me to read her script every time I asked a question about a costume or script. well, I finally found the perfect carton, applied white contact paper and duck taped the control panel into the carton. the panel was really too long but my gardner showed up unexpectedly, one morning and sawed off the extra piece for me.
I had ripped the control panel off of an abandoned washing machine I found in the neighborhood. the difficult part was finding a carton in tact. it had been raining non stop for over a month. the ironic part is that the script called for a dryer. I came up with a shtick. I tied together a couple of dozen single socks into a very long string for the actress to pull out of the dryer. I made a small hole in the middle of the large circle of the dryer, which I covered in tin foil. oh well....
I spent a fortune on these costumes. I bought pantyhose, socks, long johns and shoes for some of the actors. these guys weren't going to spend a nickel of their money. this is a mock community theater with no existing budget. my friend pays to play. I have been doing costumes and props for her for nearly 25 years. I had most of the costumes for her last play in my closet already, so it cost very little. this time I had to create looks from scratch. I am not a seamstress nor dressmaker. I find the right article of clothing and I embellish it. I do have a vision.
my friend of over 30 years has undermined my efforts throughout this entire process. even on the night of the dress rehearsal, she was listening to cast members disparage my vision. she asked me to supply her with a long black disheveled wig for her character. I had the perfect one in my closet. I bought it last year and never opened it. it was a witch's wig. the peanut gallery last night told her that her character had to be a blonde. she actually engaged with them. she didn't tell them that it was her choice to be a brunette for the show. one of the yenta's from the peanut gallery actually came over to me during the rehearsal to tell me, once again, that my friend needed to be a blonde.
I created a business type look for one of the young ladies. my friend had asked for a wall street type look. I immediately thought of a pinstriped suit. it was the obvious choice. I went online and saw that it was a stereotype of the 70's. I found a well made brown jacket and wanted to match it with a skirt and blouse. the actress is very statuesque. she is rather thin and 5ft 10in. she only wears maxi skirts and dresses. I wanted to create a modern tailored look for her but it was hard to find the right skirt. I found a very well made sleeveless woolen shift. the proprietress of a fancy clothing store in town actually matched the two pieces for me for 60 shekels. the shift only came down to the actress's' thigh. my friend wanted her to wear it like that with tights. the young actress was mortified. I ran around town to the material store and bought a piece of fabric to add to the dress. it wasn't the exact match. I then ran over to the store where I purchased the shift and asked the lady to add on the piece for me. I thought that she was going to recreate a slit in the back of the dress. she didn't. I could have sewn the piece on myself but I didn't know how to make a slit.
last night at the dress rehearsal, the actress liked lovely. she brought over some really awful looking woolen tights to wear under the shift. I had found some nice opaque hose for her to wear. she came out in black woolen knee socks. I told her to remove them. I thought she looked classy and business like. my friend thought she looked frumpy and ultraorthodox like. she told her to open the jacket to look like Audrey Hepburn. it had no look at all with the jacket open. I told the actress to close the jacket. my friend said she didn't like it that way. I told her that my fashion eye was the one that mattered. she didn't agree with me.
in the meanwhile, my friend came out for her first scene in the wrong wig. she actually fought me when I tried to correct her. she couldn't tell the difference between a crazy disheveled witch's wig from a fancy curly one with bangs. I brushed the curly wig and cut off some of the tangled curls before I gave it back to her. I even helped her get dressed for her last scene. she had no idea how to put them on. I had picked them out for her at the open air market a couple of weeks before with her.
it was probably, the worst night ever last night. I started out feeling fluish in the morning. I took a hot shower and popped a dexamol. I cabbed it to work with two suitcases and four shopping bags of costumes. I was desperately sewing trim onto one of the costumes and I couldn't see what I was doing. I cooked for about 4 hours at the yeshiva and did all of the wash up before I cabbed it to the dress rehearsal. when I got there my friend was ready for a fight. she showed me the dressing room. it was dark. I didn't want to enter with all of my things until she found the light switch. she was angry with me. I found someone to turn on the light and started to arrange everyone's costumes. she threw her stuff all around the room and couldn't find anything. I had everyone else's costumes down to the pantyhose organized by character.
I even donned a costume to stand in at the end of the play for an absentee player. I did all of this to help her out. and yet she treated me like I was her biggest enemy. I stuck around long enough to reorganize all of the costumes including hers for the show on Monday night. I made a list of the props and costumes that I need to alter. this is my swan song. I will not be helping her out again. I am done.
yes, I left my cooking job right after I served lunch and ran, I mean cabbed it to the rehearsal. first I went back home and fetched the washing machine prop I had made out of a medium sized carton. I then walked over to a friend's house on the next block and we cabbed it to the rehearsal which was in town. my, soon to be ex-friend, or current frenemy, kept telling me to read her script every time I asked a question about a costume or script. well, I finally found the perfect carton, applied white contact paper and duck taped the control panel into the carton. the panel was really too long but my gardner showed up unexpectedly, one morning and sawed off the extra piece for me.
I had ripped the control panel off of an abandoned washing machine I found in the neighborhood. the difficult part was finding a carton in tact. it had been raining non stop for over a month. the ironic part is that the script called for a dryer. I came up with a shtick. I tied together a couple of dozen single socks into a very long string for the actress to pull out of the dryer. I made a small hole in the middle of the large circle of the dryer, which I covered in tin foil. oh well....
I spent a fortune on these costumes. I bought pantyhose, socks, long johns and shoes for some of the actors. these guys weren't going to spend a nickel of their money. this is a mock community theater with no existing budget. my friend pays to play. I have been doing costumes and props for her for nearly 25 years. I had most of the costumes for her last play in my closet already, so it cost very little. this time I had to create looks from scratch. I am not a seamstress nor dressmaker. I find the right article of clothing and I embellish it. I do have a vision.
my friend of over 30 years has undermined my efforts throughout this entire process. even on the night of the dress rehearsal, she was listening to cast members disparage my vision. she asked me to supply her with a long black disheveled wig for her character. I had the perfect one in my closet. I bought it last year and never opened it. it was a witch's wig. the peanut gallery last night told her that her character had to be a blonde. she actually engaged with them. she didn't tell them that it was her choice to be a brunette for the show. one of the yenta's from the peanut gallery actually came over to me during the rehearsal to tell me, once again, that my friend needed to be a blonde.
I created a business type look for one of the young ladies. my friend had asked for a wall street type look. I immediately thought of a pinstriped suit. it was the obvious choice. I went online and saw that it was a stereotype of the 70's. I found a well made brown jacket and wanted to match it with a skirt and blouse. the actress is very statuesque. she is rather thin and 5ft 10in. she only wears maxi skirts and dresses. I wanted to create a modern tailored look for her but it was hard to find the right skirt. I found a very well made sleeveless woolen shift. the proprietress of a fancy clothing store in town actually matched the two pieces for me for 60 shekels. the shift only came down to the actress's' thigh. my friend wanted her to wear it like that with tights. the young actress was mortified. I ran around town to the material store and bought a piece of fabric to add to the dress. it wasn't the exact match. I then ran over to the store where I purchased the shift and asked the lady to add on the piece for me. I thought that she was going to recreate a slit in the back of the dress. she didn't. I could have sewn the piece on myself but I didn't know how to make a slit.
last night at the dress rehearsal, the actress liked lovely. she brought over some really awful looking woolen tights to wear under the shift. I had found some nice opaque hose for her to wear. she came out in black woolen knee socks. I told her to remove them. I thought she looked classy and business like. my friend thought she looked frumpy and ultraorthodox like. she told her to open the jacket to look like Audrey Hepburn. it had no look at all with the jacket open. I told the actress to close the jacket. my friend said she didn't like it that way. I told her that my fashion eye was the one that mattered. she didn't agree with me.
in the meanwhile, my friend came out for her first scene in the wrong wig. she actually fought me when I tried to correct her. she couldn't tell the difference between a crazy disheveled witch's wig from a fancy curly one with bangs. I brushed the curly wig and cut off some of the tangled curls before I gave it back to her. I even helped her get dressed for her last scene. she had no idea how to put them on. I had picked them out for her at the open air market a couple of weeks before with her.
it was probably, the worst night ever last night. I started out feeling fluish in the morning. I took a hot shower and popped a dexamol. I cabbed it to work with two suitcases and four shopping bags of costumes. I was desperately sewing trim onto one of the costumes and I couldn't see what I was doing. I cooked for about 4 hours at the yeshiva and did all of the wash up before I cabbed it to the dress rehearsal. when I got there my friend was ready for a fight. she showed me the dressing room. it was dark. I didn't want to enter with all of my things until she found the light switch. she was angry with me. I found someone to turn on the light and started to arrange everyone's costumes. she threw her stuff all around the room and couldn't find anything. I had everyone else's costumes down to the pantyhose organized by character.
I even donned a costume to stand in at the end of the play for an absentee player. I did all of this to help her out. and yet she treated me like I was her biggest enemy. I stuck around long enough to reorganize all of the costumes including hers for the show on Monday night. I made a list of the props and costumes that I need to alter. this is my swan song. I will not be helping her out again. I am done.
Friday, January 18, 2019
Just Another Friday Afternoon
it is 3:15 in the holy city of safed. candle lighting is in another hour. last night I showcased a suitcase of props and costumes at the play's rehearsal. luckily, it was in the neighborhood and my friend's husband brought my suitcase back to their home for me in his golf cart. it was a bit heavy for me. I have been hitting clothes shops and art crafts' stores for weeks. I had a bit of a miff with one of the young actresses but in the end she vowed to wear whatever I chose for her. it was not very pleasant. I usually fit one actor privately at a time. when they are all together they become a hostile mob. the miserable weather did not allow me to run around that much. in fact, they predicted a snow storm for Wednesday night and all we got were intense thunder and hail storms.
I stayed home from work yesterday because I was worn out. I have been going to work for weeks in the pouring rain. I made a festive feast for them on Wednesday. I gave them their regular lunch and made barley veggie soup, vegan corn bread, quinoa with craisins, tomato salad and chumus. for supper, the feast, I served: rice, carrot, sweet potato and pineapple tsimmes, mini Italian beef meatballs, sweet noodle kugel with craisins and pineapples, teriyaki string beans, cole slaw with craisins and mayo, and a white cake with genache and a vegan chocolate cake with genache. the genache was not great, I had some pretty cheap baking chocolate to melt. oh well... I'm sure the guys loved it.
I also made lunch for Thursday in case I got snowed in. I made tuna loaf, green lentils and teriyaki spaghetti. the entire menu took me nearly 8 hours to prepare, cook, bake and clean up. I could hardly use my right hand afterwards and my hip was acting up. I felt dizzy, too. I haven't been drinking lately. and getting into the men's bathroom at the yeshiva is not an easy task. on Thursday at noon time, I took a hot shower and got dressed and ran out to the bus stop. it was so sunny. I was thrilled that it wasn't still storming. Wednesday night had been pretty extreme. most of us lost the cable and computer access. I went to sleep at 10:00 p.m. I didn't feel like going online and I had had enough of the day and the hail storms. on Thursday it was quite freezing. I felt quite exhausted and with less than three minutes until the bus pulled up, I made the decision to go back home. I felt guilty but I couldn't push myself anymore. I stayed home and played around with the costumes.
I made a non gluten and vegan corn bread for my actress friend who has crohns and a container of chumus without tahini. I made my newest non gluten treat of fudgy brownies. you take a small avocado, a medium banana,1/2 cup of coconut flour (I used peanut flour) 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2cup of maple syrup (I used only 1/4) 3 eggs, 1 tsp. baking powder and 1/2cup of Dutch coca powder. you mix it all together and grease an 8x8 inch pan. you bake it for 25 minutes on 350 degrees. the recipe calls for topping the brownies with chocolate chips but I don't. this time I topped it with natural pecans. yummy!
I thought that I would continue to finish up some costumes today but instead, I made shabbat food. I really didn't want to go to the supermarket this morning. I was going to make turkey neck soup but I didn't have celery. I ended up making barbecued chicken wings, instead. I also made a cauliflower mash because I overcooked the cauliflower. who likes soggy cauliflower? I made a very thick split pea soup with carrots and an onion. I used a whole bag of peas. I froze most of it in case my friend with crohns can eat it. I bought precooked beets before the storm and a red cabbage salad. I managed to catch up on some laundry this morning. it's cold outside but still very sunny. I made the "just two ingredients' banana and egg silver dollar pancakes. this time I added about 1/2 cup of quick oats and some cinnamon. I used one medium banana and two large eggs. voila! I had 15 small pancakes.
last week I made oat and blueberry muffins. they were too good. I ate all 11 by myself. I need to lose some serious weight. I spent the morning watching the show about 600 pound people who undergo weight loss surgery. it is pretty alarming. I see how I could get there. heaven forbid! I still have to finish my 'bridal' dress for the show and the two robot costumes. it is taking forever. I still need to sew some tulle to the white dress that I am using. I needed a fireman's outfit and found a navy blue rain slicker with pants for $20 and added yellow duck tape everywhere. it works. I am finished for today. I wish you all a good Shabbat!
I stayed home from work yesterday because I was worn out. I have been going to work for weeks in the pouring rain. I made a festive feast for them on Wednesday. I gave them their regular lunch and made barley veggie soup, vegan corn bread, quinoa with craisins, tomato salad and chumus. for supper, the feast, I served: rice, carrot, sweet potato and pineapple tsimmes, mini Italian beef meatballs, sweet noodle kugel with craisins and pineapples, teriyaki string beans, cole slaw with craisins and mayo, and a white cake with genache and a vegan chocolate cake with genache. the genache was not great, I had some pretty cheap baking chocolate to melt. oh well... I'm sure the guys loved it.
I also made lunch for Thursday in case I got snowed in. I made tuna loaf, green lentils and teriyaki spaghetti. the entire menu took me nearly 8 hours to prepare, cook, bake and clean up. I could hardly use my right hand afterwards and my hip was acting up. I felt dizzy, too. I haven't been drinking lately. and getting into the men's bathroom at the yeshiva is not an easy task. on Thursday at noon time, I took a hot shower and got dressed and ran out to the bus stop. it was so sunny. I was thrilled that it wasn't still storming. Wednesday night had been pretty extreme. most of us lost the cable and computer access. I went to sleep at 10:00 p.m. I didn't feel like going online and I had had enough of the day and the hail storms. on Thursday it was quite freezing. I felt quite exhausted and with less than three minutes until the bus pulled up, I made the decision to go back home. I felt guilty but I couldn't push myself anymore. I stayed home and played around with the costumes.
I made a non gluten and vegan corn bread for my actress friend who has crohns and a container of chumus without tahini. I made my newest non gluten treat of fudgy brownies. you take a small avocado, a medium banana,1/2 cup of coconut flour (I used peanut flour) 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2cup of maple syrup (I used only 1/4) 3 eggs, 1 tsp. baking powder and 1/2cup of Dutch coca powder. you mix it all together and grease an 8x8 inch pan. you bake it for 25 minutes on 350 degrees. the recipe calls for topping the brownies with chocolate chips but I don't. this time I topped it with natural pecans. yummy!
I thought that I would continue to finish up some costumes today but instead, I made shabbat food. I really didn't want to go to the supermarket this morning. I was going to make turkey neck soup but I didn't have celery. I ended up making barbecued chicken wings, instead. I also made a cauliflower mash because I overcooked the cauliflower. who likes soggy cauliflower? I made a very thick split pea soup with carrots and an onion. I used a whole bag of peas. I froze most of it in case my friend with crohns can eat it. I bought precooked beets before the storm and a red cabbage salad. I managed to catch up on some laundry this morning. it's cold outside but still very sunny. I made the "just two ingredients' banana and egg silver dollar pancakes. this time I added about 1/2 cup of quick oats and some cinnamon. I used one medium banana and two large eggs. voila! I had 15 small pancakes.
last week I made oat and blueberry muffins. they were too good. I ate all 11 by myself. I need to lose some serious weight. I spent the morning watching the show about 600 pound people who undergo weight loss surgery. it is pretty alarming. I see how I could get there. heaven forbid! I still have to finish my 'bridal' dress for the show and the two robot costumes. it is taking forever. I still need to sew some tulle to the white dress that I am using. I needed a fireman's outfit and found a navy blue rain slicker with pants for $20 and added yellow duck tape everywhere. it works. I am finished for today. I wish you all a good Shabbat!
Sunday, January 6, 2019
Sunday Not So much A Fun Day
it is 7:00 p.m. in the holy city of safed. I just got home form work. I was very fortunate to catch a taxi across the street from my work. I was sitting at a bus shelter and it was hailing and pouring and the winds were unbearable. I was nearly drenched. I took a cab to work ,too. I cannot run around in this weather like I used to. I think it was 1 degree Celsius today. I do not know how to compute this into Fahrenheit. sorry. all I know is that I'm pretty cold. I'm sitting in front of a space heater. I need to buy triple a batteries for my remote control. I had to manually change the stations last night. I watched friends reruns until 4:00 a.m.
I had cooked some black beans for Shabbat and decided to take them to the yeshiva to make a soup. I didn't have much to work with. I added onions, and a few carrots and tomatoes. I also made a lot of corn fritters,baked potatoes and hard cooked eggs. I don't think I made enough food for their lunch. I made a lot more for supper. I fried up a lot of tiny turkey burgers. I made a vegan cornbread and a vegan chocolate cake. I made a sweet noodle kugel, a tray of spicy bulgur and a tray of green lentils. I had to walk though a torrent of rain to put the food on the electric platter in the dining room. it was not fun.
tonight is the new Hebrew month of shevat. it is the height of the water we receive in the winter. we officially start to plant trees on the 15th of this month. it was so warm and sunny on Shabbat. I can't believe it turned so drastically cold and wet overnight. most of my bath towels are on the porch in the rain. thank goodness, I dragged in my clothes rack this morning. I am in shortage of warm clothes. almost everything I own is damp.
my friend was supposed to move into my neighborhood with her two sons. I offered to make Shabbat food for her because she was busy unpacking. it was a true culinary challenge. my friend is a vegan by choice and she cannot eat any gluten. she also suffers with crohns. I made a red lentil soup with carrots, pumpkin and sweet potatoes. she cannot tolerate any oil and she doesn't use gugar. I made a vegan, non gluten cornbread for her. I substituted avocado for the oil. I used a tbs of apple cider vinegar instead of the egg. I used cornmeal and almond milk. I had bought oat milk only to find out that it contained gluten.
I cooked chickpeas for her and processed it into a very thin paste and added salt and garlic powder. I added a tbs of tahini. it was smooth enough for a baby to eat it. for the boys, I made a chicken soup, potato kugel, egg salad, tuna salad, an Israeli salad, saucy chicken, and a pot of cholent with wheat, chickpeas, black beans and potatoes. I thought she lived a block away from me. it turned out that she moved to a neighborhood about 20 minutes away from me. I called a cab to deliver the food to her.
I hope the food wasn't too spicy for her. I tried my best.
I had cooked some black beans for Shabbat and decided to take them to the yeshiva to make a soup. I didn't have much to work with. I added onions, and a few carrots and tomatoes. I also made a lot of corn fritters,baked potatoes and hard cooked eggs. I don't think I made enough food for their lunch. I made a lot more for supper. I fried up a lot of tiny turkey burgers. I made a vegan cornbread and a vegan chocolate cake. I made a sweet noodle kugel, a tray of spicy bulgur and a tray of green lentils. I had to walk though a torrent of rain to put the food on the electric platter in the dining room. it was not fun.
tonight is the new Hebrew month of shevat. it is the height of the water we receive in the winter. we officially start to plant trees on the 15th of this month. it was so warm and sunny on Shabbat. I can't believe it turned so drastically cold and wet overnight. most of my bath towels are on the porch in the rain. thank goodness, I dragged in my clothes rack this morning. I am in shortage of warm clothes. almost everything I own is damp.
my friend was supposed to move into my neighborhood with her two sons. I offered to make Shabbat food for her because she was busy unpacking. it was a true culinary challenge. my friend is a vegan by choice and she cannot eat any gluten. she also suffers with crohns. I made a red lentil soup with carrots, pumpkin and sweet potatoes. she cannot tolerate any oil and she doesn't use gugar. I made a vegan, non gluten cornbread for her. I substituted avocado for the oil. I used a tbs of apple cider vinegar instead of the egg. I used cornmeal and almond milk. I had bought oat milk only to find out that it contained gluten.
I cooked chickpeas for her and processed it into a very thin paste and added salt and garlic powder. I added a tbs of tahini. it was smooth enough for a baby to eat it. for the boys, I made a chicken soup, potato kugel, egg salad, tuna salad, an Israeli salad, saucy chicken, and a pot of cholent with wheat, chickpeas, black beans and potatoes. I thought she lived a block away from me. it turned out that she moved to a neighborhood about 20 minutes away from me. I called a cab to deliver the food to her.
I hope the food wasn't too spicy for her. I tried my best.
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Wednesday Evening
it is 6:00 p.m. in the holy city of safed. I just got home from work. I only worked for four hours. it is cold but semi dry. I left some laundry outside. I hope it isn't still wet. I stopped off at the pharmacy to get eye drops. my right eye is irritated and not fully open. it is a weakened muscle from when I had bells palsy about 10 years ago. I met with my former date this morning and spent two hours organizing his medical papers. basically, I was trying to sort them out by date. the rest is up to him.
I only had about 8 guys for lunch so I scrambled a bunch of eggs, cooked two bags of pasta and added tuna, made a corn salad with a bit of chili and put out the leftover cole slaw from last night's supper. voila! lunch was made. supper took a bit more effort. I had to make two batches of food because the rest of the yeshiva is retuning late tonight from a trip to Jerusalem. I made a huge turkey meatloaf and a small one for eight. I made two batches of white rice. I made a carrot and sweet potato tsimmes for the larger group and a pot of zucchini and tomato sauce for the eight. I had no patience to divide the tsimmes into two portions. I just wanted to get home. I am wiped.
I saw some yellow circles on the floor last night but I didn't see any strange things for most of the day. I may have seen some red water in the macaroni. can't believe tomorrow is already Thursday. I can't wait to finish out the work week. I am too tired to travel to Jerusalem and no one really is urging me to come. I think the recent fall has taken its toll on me. I am cooking a large steak that the dog brought into the house last night. he goes out every day and brings in bags of bread, and all kinds of meat. this steak is humongous. he is quite the scavenger!
I bought a jacket and jumper outside a fancy clothing store on the discount rack. I paid $20. it is for my friend's play. I need to dress a character as a wall street savvy lady. I actually went on line to see how they are dressing on wall street these days. I thought about going vintage pin striped suit but let's see how this works. I checked out a wedding dress for the character who is a bride, but she wanted 1000 skekels for this shmatta. there is a second hand clothes store not far from work. I hope to get out early enough to check it out. I also need to dress a character as a jap, aka, Jewish American princess. I am going with the jap character's look on the HBO show 'girls.' I am totally into color blocking for the stage. are we having fun yet?
I only had about 8 guys for lunch so I scrambled a bunch of eggs, cooked two bags of pasta and added tuna, made a corn salad with a bit of chili and put out the leftover cole slaw from last night's supper. voila! lunch was made. supper took a bit more effort. I had to make two batches of food because the rest of the yeshiva is retuning late tonight from a trip to Jerusalem. I made a huge turkey meatloaf and a small one for eight. I made two batches of white rice. I made a carrot and sweet potato tsimmes for the larger group and a pot of zucchini and tomato sauce for the eight. I had no patience to divide the tsimmes into two portions. I just wanted to get home. I am wiped.
I saw some yellow circles on the floor last night but I didn't see any strange things for most of the day. I may have seen some red water in the macaroni. can't believe tomorrow is already Thursday. I can't wait to finish out the work week. I am too tired to travel to Jerusalem and no one really is urging me to come. I think the recent fall has taken its toll on me. I am cooking a large steak that the dog brought into the house last night. he goes out every day and brings in bags of bread, and all kinds of meat. this steak is humongous. he is quite the scavenger!
I bought a jacket and jumper outside a fancy clothing store on the discount rack. I paid $20. it is for my friend's play. I need to dress a character as a wall street savvy lady. I actually went on line to see how they are dressing on wall street these days. I thought about going vintage pin striped suit but let's see how this works. I checked out a wedding dress for the character who is a bride, but she wanted 1000 skekels for this shmatta. there is a second hand clothes store not far from work. I hope to get out early enough to check it out. I also need to dress a character as a jap, aka, Jewish American princess. I am going with the jap character's look on the HBO show 'girls.' I am totally into color blocking for the stage. are we having fun yet?
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
Tuesday, My Good News Day
it is 8:30 p.m. in the holy city of safed. we had a break from the rain today. we had a warm and sunny day. I think the rain will start up again on Thursday. I very much need to catch up on some laundry tomorrow morning. the head Rabbi of the Brezlov community in safed died yesterday. it was very sad. my son was in the brezlov day school for about five years. I always found the community to be steller. I walked down to the cemetery from work which was about a twenty minute hike. I missed the funeral because I had to prepare lunch for the yeshiva. I got to the cemetery moments after the Rabbi was buried. I decided to visit the graves of my parents. I climbed down several sets of steps and actually fell down one landing of about 5 metal steps. I rather, bounced down five steps, banging my shoulders, elbows and buttocks. I was quite stunned but I managed to get myself back up right away.
I am pretty sore today. I had a 'moment' today while I was cooking, which might have been the beginning of a seizure. it was an episode, for sure. I saw red fluids while I was stirring the kasha. it lasted for a few moments and was quite scary. I am very tired and worn out. I woke up as usual, at 7:00 a.m. to let the dog out. I decided to lie down for a bit. I woke up at 11:00 a.m. I was pretty surprised that it was so late.
I met a good friend who was visiting from New York after work. we went out to a restaurant to chat. I had some sort of a latte drink. it tasted like a glass of warm whipped cream. I had an awful tooth ache and couldn't really eat anything. it was wonderful to touch bases with my friend. I didn't get home until 10:00 p.m. I never go out at night. it was a nice finish to a very dismal and sad day. I had an emotional time at my parents' grave sites. I thought I would meet my sister there but our paths didn't cross. I did run into a couple of her friends.
I may not have to cook tomorrow. I welcome a day off. I was thinking about going to Jerusalem for Shabbat, but I think i'll just stay closer to home. that incident at work made be very nervous. I pretty much know that if I do the brain surgery, it will take me forever, to recover and I will probably not return to work. I will just wait and see what happens. I dread being alone again for Shabbat. perhaps. I will invite a friend to stay over. we will see.
I met someone, whom I dated a few years ago at the yeshiva. he seemed worse for the wear and tear. I promised to meet with him tomorrow to help sort out his medical papers. I have aged and I have put on a bunch of weight but I think I am in far better shape. oh well.....it's an act of charity.
I am pretty sore today. I had a 'moment' today while I was cooking, which might have been the beginning of a seizure. it was an episode, for sure. I saw red fluids while I was stirring the kasha. it lasted for a few moments and was quite scary. I am very tired and worn out. I woke up as usual, at 7:00 a.m. to let the dog out. I decided to lie down for a bit. I woke up at 11:00 a.m. I was pretty surprised that it was so late.
I met a good friend who was visiting from New York after work. we went out to a restaurant to chat. I had some sort of a latte drink. it tasted like a glass of warm whipped cream. I had an awful tooth ache and couldn't really eat anything. it was wonderful to touch bases with my friend. I didn't get home until 10:00 p.m. I never go out at night. it was a nice finish to a very dismal and sad day. I had an emotional time at my parents' grave sites. I thought I would meet my sister there but our paths didn't cross. I did run into a couple of her friends.
I may not have to cook tomorrow. I welcome a day off. I was thinking about going to Jerusalem for Shabbat, but I think i'll just stay closer to home. that incident at work made be very nervous. I pretty much know that if I do the brain surgery, it will take me forever, to recover and I will probably not return to work. I will just wait and see what happens. I dread being alone again for Shabbat. perhaps. I will invite a friend to stay over. we will see.
I met someone, whom I dated a few years ago at the yeshiva. he seemed worse for the wear and tear. I promised to meet with him tomorrow to help sort out his medical papers. I have aged and I have put on a bunch of weight but I think I am in far better shape. oh well.....it's an act of charity.
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