The Heat Is On

it is nearly midnight in the holy city of zefat.  the little kids are sleeping in the blog room tonight.  their parents are downstairs making up the apartment for the renters.  my son is filling the pool.  I am beyond exhausted.  the first day of work was grueling.  I ended up being there for 6 hours.

I caught a ride to town and stopped off to buy a new filter, cover and chlorine tablets for the pool.  it came out to cost over $150.  that was most of my birthday money. we'll use the filter for years even if we buy a larger pool.

I went to get a key made but the guy in town's machine wasn't working.  oh well. I guess i'll have to go in the morning before work.  I truly dread going to work tomorrow.  it was horrible.  I took out three containers of soup from the freezer and threw all of it into a huge pot.  I added some fresh squash and onions and a few cups of frozen mushrooms. it took over 3 hours for the damn soup to heat up. I ended up scalding my entire arm in the process.

I made a salad with a huge beet, some sad looking carrots and a bunch of apples.  the food processor was nearly busted.  it had no safety switch.  I also made an Israeli salad out of the left over sliced cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes from breakfast.  I started off the day by making a huge amount of corn bread.  there were supposed to be 25 guys but I only saw a handful.  I could have made a smaller one.

I put the lunch out which consisted of tahini, melon, corn bread, salads and soup and leftover potato kugel.  they apparently do not like leftovers.  when I worked there the guys would eat anything.  I could give them macaroni three times a day.  I made up a separate dish for a guy who doesn't eat gluten, grains, lentils, beans, night shades or sugar and any kind of seeds.  I found a few ground beef patties in the freezer that the other cook had made for him.  I threw them in a pot with sweet potatoes, onions and squash.  I had the manager help me put the food out.  before I could intercede on this kid's behalf, someone had already eaten his patties.

I was exhausted.  I quickly sautéed some strips of turkey cutlets and made another concoction for him.  I do not feel like catering to him again tomorrow.  it's enough already.  I soaked some kidney beans for tomorrow's lunch. I hope to get to work early enough to cook up these beans.  another guy who doesn't eat meat or fish, wanted to know if I was making chick peas.  after all, he needs his protein combining.  like a fool, I cooked up a package of chick peas.  that only took about 2 hours.  I made a small salad for supper using sliced carrots, cucumbers and onions. I was left with only tomatoes for tomorrow.

I sautéed a bag of pre washed and sliced cabbage, lots of onions, carrots, red peppers and strips of turkey cutlets. it took forever.  I added some tamari sauce, garlic and turmeric.  I didn't taste it . I didn't want to be fleishig.  I don't even care if they liked it or not.  I am planning on serving the leftover soup tomorrow for dinner even if they don't eat it.  one guy had the nerve to tell me that even though I didn't make up the soup from scratch; he was looking forward to tasting my food tomorrow.  really now!

I am planning on making a dish of poached eggs in tomato sauce.  a true Sephardi delight for dinner. I will make up some kind of spicy stew with beans and chick peas and canned tomatoes.  i'll sauté a bunch of chop meat and inions and throw it into rice for the meat eaters and leave enough rice over for the veggies.  and to think I used to get off on this????