Simchat Torah

it is 12:30 p.m. in the holy city of zefat.   we end the holiday of sukkot today and start a new holiday called Simchat Torah, tonight.  we have a farewell meal in our sukkah and we go to synagogue this evening.  we eat in the house tonight.  after all that work decorating the sukkah with my enormous collection of plastic fruits and vines, it's nearly over.  it's like Pesach.  you work really hard and the week goes too fast to enjoy it.  I must have spent 7 hours hanging my decorations.

we actually used the sukkah each day this year.  I made meals every night.  one night my son and his married cousins-in law ate hero sandwiches and beers in the sukkah.  they were supposed to do a barbecue but when push came to shove, everyone was too tired to bother with the grill.  the little kids were with me the entire week.  their parents had to work and I had to stay home with them.  I tried to eat most of the meals in the sukkah with the kids.

their mother and I took them to an outdoor party that chabad made for kids.  the kids could run around the playground, which was a good thing.  they didn't win any prizes in the gift grab bag so we had to buy them candy and balloons to placate their disappointment.  their mom went off to an exercise class and their dad went off to a soccer game in Haifa that night.  nice life these big kids have.  I, on the other hand, do not have a life.

I was sick all week with a throat virus so I didn't have the energy to do much.  I took the kids to a Chassidic puppet show at the chabad house but they were bored out of their little heads.  too bad it wasn't 'Power Rangers' or Roy Boy'.  at least I didn't have to schlepp them on the bus to town.  their mom drove us to the show and took us home.  that was a bit of good fortune for me.  I even got treated to an ice coffee drink.

I let go with the diet regimen and am totally puffed out once again.  even my new fat clothes don't fit.  I need to see the brain surgeon near Tel Aviv on Tuesday.  it's a bit scary to travel these days.  I ran out of checks and cash and have been running on empty, as we say.  I went to the bank before the holiday to order checks but the machine was out of order and I was on a mission to buy a new bamboo roof for the sukkah.  I also ran around the neighborhood trying to find a cash machine.  they were all out of order, too.

I managed to get some cash at the bank when we went to the puppet show but it went very fast on drinks and veggies for shabbat.  I ran into a friend at the supermarket and got to borrow some money to finish my shopping.  my pantry and freezer are nearly empty.  I didn't have money to buy a cake for the holiday.  I made a lovely tiramisu for the holiday but we ate it on Shabbat.  I just made a chocolate fudge cake which is an eggless cake.  I made it with mayonnaise.  I was all out of eggs, sugar and oil.  I did have a large jar of mayonnaise in the fridge and this recipe.  the cake is awful.  I used the rest of my organic brown sugar.  I've made this cake before but this time it didn't come out great.

I fried up my last package of chicken breasts today.  I had one egg left and two challah rolls, which I turned into bread crumbs.  I had a two pound package of chopped beef.  I added some eggs, cilantro and parsley and bread crumbs.  I filled a package of cannelloni noodles with most of the mixture and baked it in a tomato sauce.  not my best work.  I turned the rest into meatballs and threw them into the pot of meat simmering in wine.  I had this tiny piece of meat.  I didn't have any sweet wine so I used a bottle of dry red wine and added some honey.  the meatballs are soggy.  I guess it's better than being hard like hockey pucks.

I don't really have a dessert.  I have been picking pomegranates in the neighborhood.  I didn't get to shop today.  I went to bed really late last night.  the men stayed up all night learning torah and I stayed up all night watching season 10 of  'Grey's Anatomy".  I got up at 7:00 a.m. and washed the floor.  I didn't have the strength nor the care fare to go to town.  I hope my son buys drinks and milk because I'm nearly out.  I was hoping to get a bit of cash from the kids this morning but it didn't happen.

I will have to do a huge shopping next week.