Friday Afternoon June 2015

it is 5:30 p.m. in the holy city of zefat.  I am taking a break to blog.  the food is on the electric platter and all the salads are in the fridge.  candle lighting is not until 7:30 p.m.  it isn't often that I'm finished with the food preparations so early.  I started at 6:00 a.m.  I woke up and immediately washed the kitchen floor. 

I thought I had to go to my grandson's end of year party at the gan at 9:00 a.m.  I quickly prepared a package of chicken wings and bottoms with sweet chili sauce and threw them on the electric grill.  I then made a pot of mashed potatoes and a small pot of cooked wheat.  I wanted to make a mashed  potato kugel with mushrooms because everyone here loves mushrooms.  my Shabbat guest doesn't eat mushrooms but loves mashed potatoes so I left it at that.   I made a raw beet salad and a raw carrot and peanut salad because the daughter-in-law loves them.

I've stopped cooking beets.  I now bake them in tin foil.  the taste is just the same and there's less of a clean up.  I got tired of my counter being splattered in beet juice.  I've also stopped hand grating the beets and carrots.  that's right, I use a mini food processor.  the texture is a bit strange but it's pretty fast.  I even threw in the cabbage to make a slaw.

when I found out that I was not obligated to get dressed and leave the house, I made some more dishes.  I made some St. peter's fish fillets and a couple of slices of tuna in a spicy Moroccan tomato sauce.  I couldn't get cilantro so I used parsley.  I then made a chicken stir fry because I didn't feel like making any more fried cutlets.  I was completely schnitzeled out this week.

I didn't have any peppers for the stir fry because I used the last one in the fish sauce so I used a tiny hot pepper.  I sautéed an onion and two carrots and ended up throwing in some canned mushrooms.  I didn't want to use any more sweet chili sauce so I added a bit of tumeric, garlic, cumin, allspice and coriander and some tomato paste.  it was very hot so I added some apple juice concentrate to give it some sweetness.  I just didn't feel like running to the store to buy a teriyaki plum sauce.

I panicked as I reflected on the fact that my Shabbat guest would not eat the stir fry with the mushrooms. I was convinced that there wasn't enough chicken to go around so I pulled out a package of chicken drumsticks and cooked them in a spicy tomato sauce.  I think I made too much food but I can always freeze the leftovers.  I must say that I enjoy the leftovers.  it's a luxury having good food in the fridge.  I still have some leftover chili and I will serve some tonight.  I need a nap desperately.

I have some fancy birthday cake leftover and a huge box of chocolate tofu ice cream bites for tonight's dessert.  I also have a melon and a package of non dairy strawberry-chocolate -vanilla ice cream.  we have a store bought cheese strudel and a chocolate yeast cake for the morning. who's better than us?