Putting up the Sukkah

Putting up the sukkah is always a fun family activity! First we have to go to the garden store to buy the schach (in our case, we use corn stalks) and we always check out the pumpkins as well. Look at the size of those pumpkins! (And aren't they cute too? Oh wait, I meant the kids.)




Then the sukkah comes out...

I really love Sukkot.
If you'll look back at previous years, you might notice that we're wearing shorts as we put up the sukkah. But not this year...

Stay tuned for pics of the "finished product" and more on this great holiday.

Tomato Monsters

Earlier in the summer, I posted about my garden.

I must admit, it's been a pretty pathetic growing season for me.

And inspired by the Homeshuler, I realized that I had never updated you, my wonderful faithful readers, with these adorable tomato monsters.

This was about the extent of our crop:

Really, every time we picked anything, especially the grape tomatoes (which were the best-growing plant), this happened:

(Notice the one in her hand as well.) She and Sam would eat them as fast they could be picked. And occasionally, I found myself saying "no, you can't eat the tomatoes, we won't have any for the salad" and then I'd realize the ridiculousness of what I was saying! My children were clamoring for tomatoes...to say no would be crazy!!! So most of the tomatoes ended up in little hands and mouths.

Better to have tomato monsters than cookie monsters any day....

I'm looking forward to next year. Just this week I ordered a new raised garden bed from NaturalYards, and I'll try to remember to update you when it arrives. I'm hoping to get it settled so I can plant a big ol' crop next summer.

I Hope You Don't Have An Easy Fast

It's customary to greet one another in the days before Yom Kippur with the words "tzom kal" - "may you have an easy fast."

And I've decided that this is a terrible greeting.

I don't want my fast to be easy.

I want my fast to be purposeful. I want my fast to be meaningful. I want my fast to remind me that people are starving in the world. I want my fast to remind me that my spiritual self has work to do. I want to feel the light-headedness that comes at the end of the day when I've been on my feet for almost 12 hours leading services and I want that moment to lift me up and help me feel a true connection to God.

So this year I'm not wishing anyone an easy fast. May your fast be full of all that you need it to be. May your fast be powerful and purposeful and meaningful.

Found in Translation...

The new movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, came out over the Rosh HaShanah weekend. For obvious reasons, we haven't seen it yet, so this isn't a movie review.

Some movies are translated directly from one language to another. But this one...

"Rain of Felafel"

Sounds about right to me!

Kippah tip to Mixed Multitudes.
(Can't wait to see the movie. It's one of my favorite books!)

Shana tova!

From my family to yours...May you have a year full of joy, goodness, health, and peace.

Yummy Mock Chopped Liver, I Promise!

Rabbis do a lot of stuff to prepare for the holidays. Most of us write sermons and freak out. I do that in spades, trust me.

I do not "make yontif" - generally the expression used to explain all the meal prep, cleaning, and welcoming of guests. For obvious reasons, I'm rarely around for the holiday meals. But I do love to cook and bake, as you might know. So I try to make something for the yontif table.

This year, my synagoguge held a Rosh HaShanah cooking class. The instructor, a wonderful woman named Ruth Ross, demonstrated a recipe for mock chopped liver that I totally fell in love with.

(Sidebar: I'm a vegetarian, as you might also know. I don't think I've eaten real chopped liver in 20 years.)

When she made it, she brought out a small container filled with deeply beautiful caramelized onions. She explained that they take 5-6 hours to slow-cook but add the right depth of flavor to the chopped "liver." I was totally sold.

I started with the onions, about five pounds, sliced.
Cooked for about 5 hours (with the help of my mom and dad who were hanging around for the day)
You can see how they cook down:

The finished onion product looked like this:

Then I refrigerated the onions (which they tell me will keep for a week or so, but I did add some to my eggs this morning...mmm....they won't last long.)

Now, onto the recipe:

1 cup lentils cooked in 2 cups water until tender (or one package of Trader Joe's prepared lentils...shhh)

about a cup of those amazing onions. or more

a smidge of oil

1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes

3 hard boiled eggs

Put the walnuts and onions in the food processor, and pulse til chopped.

Add lentils, and process until smooth. Add oil as needed but not too much.

Add eggs, add salt and pepper if you think it needs it.

Chill and eat!
P.S. Don't want to make the crazy onions? Just take 2 onions, chop and saute in a little oil. Then use those. Won't be quite as complex and amazing but it will be pretty darn good.

Absolutely delicious. Even the Abba thinks so!

May your new year be sweet, wonderful, and full of delicious smells and tastes.
May you find happiness and contentment, blessings and peace.
Shana tova!

To Live Long and Well....

My great-uncle celebrated his 90th birthday last week.



He has played saxophone and clarinet almost his whole life...and he hasn't quit yet!

What an amazing inspiration...may we all be blessed to live so long and so well.

Happy birthday, Uncle Joe!

--
Haveil Havalim is up over at the Reform Shuckle.