Gobble Gobble Spin The Draidel

it is 8:00 a.m. in the holy city of zefat.   tonight is the first night of chanukah.   i don't know yet if the kids will be here or not.   i can always fry up some latkes if they come around.   i have yams, pumpkin and sweet potatoes to work with.   i can also fry up some greek yogurt puff donuts in a blink of an eye.   i bought both kids a chanukah package of sweets and i still have a reserve of chocolate lollies in the freezer.  i really need to buy some cheap gifts, too.

 i have to pick up my grandson from gan later on today.  we usually go to the playground until the daughter-in-law picks us up.   so far the weather has been fine.  in fact, we are in the middle of a heatwave.  they call it a sherav, a desert wind.  no snow for us right now.   santa is definitely not in the equation here.  we'll just have to wait until we try on our new ugh boots this year.

my grandson visited me at 6:00 a.m.   i managed to rest until he requested his morning hot chocolate.  the dogs had already made in the hallway.  i start each day by sponging down the hallway.  i need to wash the floors but i am still a bit tired.  if only i could drink some coffee.  the smell still revulses me.

i finally took my remedy on sunday.  for a moment i felt totally well.  i felt my lungs opening up and i didn't feel sick.  it was then followed by an overwhelming fatigue and i couldn't get out of bed.  all i could do was sleep.  the kids finally made a birthday party for the 2 year old granddaughter on thursday.  i made a cheesecake and about 15 large chocolate lollies.  the noise level was out of control.  my head was splitting.   i spent a lot of time talking to our new yorker shabbat guest, who was invited to the party.  i then escaped to the upstairs.

i came down after the party was over for some cake.  i started binging again and have hit the sugar and carbs pretty hard lately.  i helped straighten up a bit and went back upstairs and watched some t.v.   i spent the entire friday on my feet cooking shabbat meals.  i started at 9:00 a.m. and finished at 4:00 p.m.  our guest was a gluten free vegan.   my daughter-in-law, being sephardi,  had no clue how to cook for a vegetarian, never mind vegan.  and you can forget about gluten free.

 zelda doesn't ever back down from a culinary challenge.  i made a gluten free egg less chocolate cake and a corn bread.   the secret here being soy milk and vinegar.   i made white rice, white potatoes, fresh corn, fried eggplant and a pumpkin soup.  i made a cabbage salad without mayonnaise dressing.  and of course, i made one with mayonnaise.   i also made a vegetarian cholent with canned beans and chickpeas and potatoes for his lunch.   i made the usual fish, chicken and meat cholent for the rest of us,  as well as a regular coconut loaf cake.  the kids tasted the egg less chocolate cake made with rice flour and spit it out.  the guest loved it.  in spite of the strange consistency, it tasted yummy and fudgy.  thank goodness that  he ate sugar and didn't know what night shades are!.

after shabbat, i was back in bed for a few days.  my throat feels a bit scratchy and i seem to have a bit of heart burn.  i don't know if this is from the remedy or a remnant of the pneumonia.  maybe it's all the junk that i've been gorging on.  who knows?   i have been busy making a thanksgiving chanukah feast for tomorrow night.  i have a non dairy cornbread, banana bread and a dozen cranberry muffins in the freezer.  i even froze my homemade applesauce.  i can use any leftover sauce to make a cake.  these non american kids hate applesauce.  they think it's baby food.  my sister's american lot think of it as geriatric food.   i think of it as a must serve traditional side dish for latkes.

 i made up a pot of very spicy turkey wings and meatballs last night.  i used up all of the leftover dry red wine in the fridge and added a packet of sweet chili sauce and some tomato paste. sugar.  i  also made up a batch of cranberry sauce.  i used the tangerines from the back yard instead of orange juice.  because i didn't water the garden,  they are the size of cherry tomatoes.  however, they do have a lot of juice but are a bit tart.  i used tons of sugar and added apples as well as some dried cranberries. i had one heck of a headache last night and i'm not sure if  it was from the msg in the chili sauce or the escessive amount of sugar in the cranberries.

 i've already cooked up some pumpkin to make a baked custard.  i don't feel like fussing with making a pie crust.  i don't have any ramekins so i cut out individual aluminum muffin tins.  they might be too small but how much dessert do we really need.  i bought some pareve whip cream to top them off.  for sure, that is asking for a headache.  are we having fun yet!

i have leftover rice so i'm making a sage sausage dressing with kebobs.  i have been on the web all week looking up recipes.  i thought about making a rice pudding but in the end, i'm making a rice dressing.  i bought lettuce, red cabbage and cherry tomatoes to make a salad.  i also have avocado to make guacomole.  i need something fried.  i think people are expecting sweet potatoes too.  i want to make corn fritters but i forgot to buy corn.  the local store was out of cooked chestnuts.  i'll buy the corn on my way to pick up my grandson.  i know this is way too much food, but the beauty of it all,  is that the next day is shabbat and i won't have to cook again.

Chanukah sameach and Happy thanksgiving!