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Back to life

I don't like the summer in Israel. Its too hot and the sun is painful. I try and stay in as much as possible. Last weekend, I was in Cleveland. I grew up there and some of my family still lives there. The four days I spent there were glorious. The temperature was in the 70's and there was a nice warm rain. That kind of weather is one of the things I miss most living in Israel. That, and my family. It was very nice to see everyone.

I have a really nice time cooking for Shabbat in Cleveland. My mother (may she live in peace and health) is not a spice person. I found a container of cayenne pepper that must have been at least ten years old. My biggest problem was that there is no black pepper in her house! I feel like I use black pepper almost as much as salt. Oh well, I'll make sure to bring some along next time I visit.

The middle of the summer is also a time of mourning in the Jewish calendar. The last nine days of that period are just painful. Things go wrong for no obvious reason, tempers are short and we don't do laundry, so everyone looks a bit off. Fortunately, the nine days ended yesterday! Oh Joy! Oh Rapture. We can get back to life again.

This weekend, we get back into the swing of things. We have lots of company, but not from big families. Instead, we get a tasting. A few people from a number of different families. Tonight, we have Sergio, his three boys, and Moshe and his parents. Tomorrow, we have Judy and her daughter, Claudia and her husband and Adena and two of her boys. We also expect to see my army son and his fiancee.

So what did I make? Spicy food. Cleveland is great, but my family is not big on spices. I love peppery food, so this weekend, I made up for eating bland foot during the nine days. The Louisiana Turkey Pull packs a punch. Its a great way to use what is called "Red Meat" in Israel. It is deboned turkey legs, and if you cook it long enough, it falls apart into soft stringy meat. I also had some veal sausages, so I made a nice greek sausage dish. I used small pickled peppers. For lunch, made a stir fry with banana peppers. There's good eating at the Jaffe's this weekend!

Dinner - 14
Oriental Soup - ginger, garlic, carrots, bell peppers and green onions
Prepare Shnitzel
Rice
Roasted Yams
Peas
Israeli Salad

Lunch - 16
Meat Roll - Chicken Wellington
Stuffed Pargiot with Mushrooms and Sun Dried Tomatoes
Chicken Stir Fry with Zucchini and hot peppers
Roasted Potatoes
French Lentil Salad - by Claudia
Garlic Green Beans
Green Salad
Pickles



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Comments

Talia said…
Welcome back!
How did the Turkey pull come out? Did you serve it with the drizzle sauce?
August 2, 2009 at 5:28 AM
Elliot said…
Nice to be back home. I did add the drizzle sauce to the dish. It came out VERY spicy, but with a nice depth of flavor. I loved it, but I thinks its too much for most of my guests (sort of like Kimchi). I will be eating is as leftovers for lunch this week.
August 2, 2009 at 8:15 AM
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