Weekend Hospitality

There will be no dancing in our house this weekend.   Usually, we have either a group of boys or a group of girls visiting us.  This Shabbat, we hit the jackpot, two girls from Michlelet Shalavim and four boys (from I don't know where yet).  Fortunately, we have plenty of space, so the boys get the third floor and the girls get the study on the first floor. This has been a good week for us and we thank God for the change in pace.  Having so many guests is just one of the things that we have to be thankful for. This Shabbat we will also have a local family each Shabbat lunch with us.   Normally, this would make the house very full, but two of my boys are away this shabbat.  They are particularly upset since I made food that they love.  Perhaps there will be leftovers. Shabbat Parshat Shmot Dinner - 12 Curry Chowder Soup Beef stew with Wine sauce Shabbat Chicken Lemon Chicken Meatballs and Noodle Mashed Sweet Potatoes Lunch - 18 Lemon Chicken Cajun Chicken Chicken Pot Pie Spaghetti ...

I just received my new laptop.  Its been two weeks since my old laptop was stolen.  The mourning lasted about 10 days.  Now with my new laptop, I can start again! This weekend is going to be busy.  We have a young couple (no kids) eating with us this evening.   It should be a nice quiet dinner (as quiet as it gets here). The Kav L'chayim organization is doing a weekend in our community and we are hosting two pairs. Each pair is a patient and his or her helper.    They are having a group dinner tonight.  Tomorrow lunch, we will host our two pairs plus an additional two helpers.    As happens often in our community, one of our good friends is traveling this weekend.  We will be hosting her family of 5 for lunch! Shabbat Parshat Vayichi Dinner - 9 Chicken soup with vegetables Spaghetti and Meatballs Stir fried chicken and vegetables Cabbage and Caraway Lunch - 18 Chulent Cajun Jambalaya Pargiot with Garam Masala and Bharat dry rub Spicy Stir Fried Cabbage (Garlic, Red Pepper, Ginger...

The past month has been very hard. Our Thanksgiving dinner went very well, but it was downhill from that point. We had local elections and I lost my seat on the city council. One week later, we were robbed while we were sleeping. In addition to the violation of personal space, the thieves took my laptop and my backup system. Walla! a significant part of my life was lost overnight. Our friends and family have been very supporting. We ate both meals out last weekend and hence there was no post. I just ordered a new laptop while should arrive by next weekend! (God willing) This weekend, we are getting back to a normal life. We have four yeshiva boys coming for Shabbat and we have a new local family with young children coming over for lunch. Winter has arrived with cooler temperatures and occasional rain. The biggest impact to my cooking is that my wife has decided to stop being on the Atkin's diet. For a number of years now, I have restricted carbs in my weekend cooking so...

Shabbat meals went very nicely. The chicken tangine with lentils was very nice. I need to remember to put in the right amount of liquid. This time, I put in about twice as much and even with added lentils, it was soupy. The taste was very yummy with the chicken very soft. Our guests for dinner were Gershy (Gershon) Rapp and his friend Rachel Giblon. They are both from Toronto. Gershon is ending his second year at a yeshiva in Ramat Bet Shemesh and will be entering the army (Nahal Haredi) in four weeks. We had a very nice dinner, even if it was rather noisy. The stories of Yehuda and Tamar and Yosef and Potiphar's wife are just wonderful! Lunch out was nice, but we lost two of our children. They decided to eat at a friends and did not bother to tell us where they were going. One of the best things about our community is that this behavior is actually permitted and does not send the parents into a state of panic. We found them about around 6pm.