Last weekend was fun. As I wrote last week, we have three boys and two girls staying with us (on different floors of the house). Our assumption was that both groups were ignorant of the other and that they just happened to ask to come on the same shabbat. Wrong. Four the five are from Montreal and the fifth is one of their roommates. Even better, there was a brother and sister pair. It was nice to see them all together and to spend time with them. Their names are: Leah and Yaakov Gruszczynski, Ariela (last name unknown), Moshe Gottesman and Adam (from London).
Our conversations were interesting. Leah and Ariela went to Beis Yaacov in Montreal. They were very good exemplars of the schools teaching, polite, honest, and helpful. They also learned that our forefathers were perfect and that our leaders never make mistakes because they have God's hand to guide them. Our household is not so forgiving. Ariela is a special person. She sent us an SMS later in the week apologizing for "not being open to new ideas when we discuss torah and emunah". I was surprised that she felt so strongly that she needed to apologize. She is a wonderful positive example of derech eretz. Beis Yaacov must be doing something right!
As far as the food is concerned, All winners. The braised marinated beef was soft and tasty. I used Crown Royal Scotch instead of sherry as the recipe called required. I could not taste the alcohol, but it seems to have done the job as a tenderizer.
The Chinese poached chicken was very nice. I really liked the subtle tastes from the sauce. I reduced the amount of oil by half and it was still great!
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