Pre-Thanksgiving

Its that time of year again.  My wife has been drying various types of bread for about two weeks.  The butcher is getting our order ready and invitations have been sent out.  Thanksgiving is next Thursday and we are beginning to feel exited.

Ok, it is true that there is so much going on in our lives that yet another event seems almost too much.  Thanksgiving is a tradition.  For 22 years, we've been serving our friends and family and celebrating our anniversary.  This year, we will also be giving special thanks for all that we have and particularly for our warm and giving community.  This coming year is going to be hard for everyone and only by working together within each family and across our extended communal family will we be able to weather the storms.  Health and Economy are the current dangers.  Let us pray that those are the only things we need to deal with.

I really didn't intend on waxing poetical in this post.  I am trying to save that for my official Thanksgiving post.  Stay tuned!

This weekend is no simple deal.  We have two girls, a young couple and a family of five eating with us for friday night.  Then on Shabbat lunch, we were invited out.  To make matters more interesting, I have a business meeting at noon on friday in Tel-Aviv and will miss at least four hours of prime cooking time!  Arghhhhhhhhhhh...

Here's our menu for Friday night:

Shabbat Parshat YaYetze

Dinner - 16

Oriental Kohlrabi Soup

2 Split Roasted Chickens

Spicy Beef Stew

Couscous

Garlic Green Beans

Traditional Cole Slaw (With Mayonaise)

Cucumber Salad

Israeli Salad

Oriental Kohlrabi Soup

(Originally Oriental Potato Soup)

This recipe was adjusted because my son can't each potatoes unless they have been leeched for at least an hour (potassium is bad for late stage kidney failure).  So here is a version that's almost as good.   It uses those strange alien vegetables called Kohlrabi.  They look like green aliens with tentacles. 

1-2 pounds cubed beef (bite size pieces)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 bunch green onions (optional) or 1 onion finely diced

2 Tbsp dark sesame oil

6 kohlrabi cut into french fries

12 cups beef or chicken stock (I use chicken stock)

Marinate the beef and onions in the soy sauce and sesame oil for at least an hour

Heat a large soup pot and add the vegetable oil until its hot

Saute the beef and onions (save the liquids) until brown

Add the liquids from the marinade, the kohlrabi and the stock

Cook for at least an hour

Surprisingly, the kohlrabi looks and tastes almost like a potato.  It has fooled a lot of my friends.