Getting Ready To Rock

it is nearly 6:00 p.m. in the holy city of zefat. tonite starts the 3 day klezmer music festival in zefat. town is already one hot mess! it took a while to get home from work. i did a 6 hour shift today. my legs feel like lead. i am tired.

the men from the yeshiva have a chassidic rap group. they are performing each night for a couple of hours. i want to go back to town, in another hour or so, to check them out. they need all of our support. they are so dedicated to the 'cause'.

i got to work this morning at 9:30 a.m. i stopped off at the bakery to buy a couple of loaves of rye bread for breakfast. the supermarket was nearly out of eggs again. i only bought a couple dozen. i usually buy 3-6 flats of 30 eggs each, for the week. i made humus from scratch this morning from the dried chick peas that i cooked yesterday. the boys went slightly mad with joy. i had to use a small hand blender stick and my hand was killing me after a while. it did taste good. it wasn't as smoothe as the store bought, but it was chemical free.


i boiled up the meager 24 eggs and put up a pot of diced potatoes. i spiced them up with tumeric, grill spice, and hot paprika. i didn't spare the oil, either. the boys loved them. i found a couple of melons outside the supermarket and i assumed they were up for grabs. they were actually, delicious and much better than what our supplier delivers. the veggie delivery came just as i was serving breakfast, so the guys got a huge salad also.

i made a huge pot of saucy and spicy vegetables for lunch, to go with the left over pasta. i usually serve this with couscous but i am out totally out of grains. i cut up cabbage, onions, green peppers, pumpkin, carrots, squash and tomatoes. i threw in the left over potatoes and chick peas. i made sure to add chili flakes. the guys like it hot.

i made up a tray of peanut butter and oatmeal bars for lunch. they are a bit gooey but the guys love them. they are eggless so my vegan friend can partake. i made a quickie red lentil soup for dinner. i grated the veggies to make it cook even faster. i opened up an industrial sized can of tuna, sliced in some onions, and left for the day. i just realized that i could have added mayonnaise because the 'anti- mayo' guy left the yeshiva today. wow, what freedom! i can start making egg salad and potato salad again with mayo.

there is a young guy from sough africa, who is beginning, to get on my nerves. he doesn't eat white flour so i can't serve him pasta or couscous. he wants to eat healthy so he buys fruit and veggies on his own and gets in my way when i'm cooking. i don't like the guys reaching into the closets for spices. now, i'm missing several plastic containers and their covers. this is very annoying to me. i spend ,way, too much time serching for things in 'my' kitchen.

this south african kid got a bite or something on his arm and came up the next day all bandaged up. he looked like he had suffered a bad burn. somebody gauzed him up and told him to keep it bandaged for a few days. he thought it was a serious tick bite. apparently, it had flaired up a bit. i, zelda, the tick expert, told him that it wasn't a tick bite. it could have been a spider. they seem to have a few of these pests at the yeshiva. i asked to see the wound. he didn't want to take off the bandage. i, zelda, the yenta and classic jewish mom, insisted on looking at it. there was nothing to see. it was a non event. this clown was planning on going to the doctor. i told him that he didn't need a doctor.

i can't just cook food. i am not a cook. i am a jewish mom and grandma. i give too much. it would be too boring if i couldn't interact with the guys. i need to nurture. i am not a caterer. speaking of catering, next week is my grandson's third birthday. it is a milestone in jewish law. a boy gets his first haircut at three. he gets a pair of tsitzis, (garment with fringes) and he gets his first yamukah (skullcap). he looks like a boy now. he's no longer a toddler. he goes to kindergarden. he starts to learn the alphabet and how to read and pray.

the kids are planning on making a dinner at the local bomb shelter near the inlaw's house. they will cater it. i have already bought chocolates to make lollies for the occassion. i have tsitzis molds and haircut molds, believe it or not. i am welling up with tears at the thought of it. i am so emotional. i wonder if i'll live to see this boy to chupah. i'm a nut, i know.