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Simchat Torah

Its been an eventful week. Just before Shabbat last Friday, we finished our second gas balloon. Where we live, there is no natural gas pipes to the houses. Instead, you contract a supplier to bring you gas canisters that are called balloons. Most houses have two balloons. When one finishes, you manually switch over to the second and call the supplier. They deliver within a few days, so you should never run out. Oh well, this is probably the fourth time that I can remember running out. Since it is a holiday, we could not reach the gas company to get a new delivery. We were sure that Simchat Torah and Shabbat would be cold meals prepared in the microware or stove.

The wonders of the Internet are that you can send mail even if you can't get a person by telephone. We sent email to the gas company and they tried to call us yesterday. Unfortunately, we were on a hike in the desert. But, I got the message this morning and called them before 9am. The person who answered the phone was very nice and promised that we would have at least one new balloon today. At 1:45, the delivery man came by and installed a new balloon! Yeah!!!!

Meals this holiday are just the 8 of us. No guests. Ah well, sometimes you just have to go it alone.

Dinner - 8
Enchilada Casserole
Zuchinni Con Queso
Garlic Bread

Lunch - 8
Thai Chicken Salad
Chicken Stew/Chili
Rice
Salad

The Enchilada Casserole is onions, peppers and ground tofu mixed with Mexican spices and sauteed in butter and olive oil. I then took soft tortillas and layered tortilla, filling and mozzarella cheese in a baking dish. I topped it off with a layer of Gouda cheese and ground pepper. Looks wonderful!

The chicken stew/chili is a crock pot recipe. I put in a kilo of ground chicken, garlic, a few onions, peppers, celery, two cans of baked beans and a cup of barley. I recycled the soup from last weekend by straining it and then poured it over the other ingredients. This I will let cook for 20 hours on low until lunch tomorrow.
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