Weekend Hospitality

The holiday's approach and I am in transition.  I will be finishing my Phd within the next month (god and advisors willing) and I'm looking for a new gig.  The search is going to be challenging given the current market state, but I have confidence that I'll find something cool and exciting to do.  To my future employers, I look forward to working with you! This weekend is once again a relatively quiet one.  Very small dinner and close friends for lunch.  Our kiddush tomorrow is in honor of my chavruta's 50th wedding anniversary.  That is one serious achievement and I wish them another 50 years of happiness. Shabbat Parshat Ki-Tavo Dinner - 5 to 7 depending on two women's plans for the evening Chicken Soup Coq au vin - pargiot in wine sauce (from the joy of cooking) Noodles Garlic Green Beans Cookies for Dessert Lunch - 13 Specialty Challot (by Y) Corned Beef Beef and Cabbage Coca-Cola chicken - 1 cup cola, 1 cup ketchup, bake Rice Israeli...

I went to my first duplicate bridge tournament this evening. There is a club that meets once a week in the Park Mayim in Reut. I went with my chavruta who happens to be a very experienced bridge player. To paraphrase my sone, "It was fun. I had a good time." Seriously, it quiet and tense and your brain is really working full time at full speed. There is so much information flowing between the bids and the play that you have to be sharp. I have a tendency to stretch the truth at bridge. I will bid an opening hand with 11 points. Not so good all the time and I'll have to control that. Tonight, I bid 3 clubs (a weak 3 bid) on a hand with seven clubs. Only problem was that I had 2 points total. We made a 4NT contract, but that turned out to be a bad thing because other players had failed their contract and the opposing team won lots of points. Oh well, I look forward to playing more often. If you are interested in playing competitive bridge, let me know.

We have been busy this summer.  28 of us have participated in a cooperative book project, writing 28 books each of seven chapters.  We started at the end of June and worked our way one chapter a week until the bitter end. In celebration, we are having a signing party.  Each author brings something to the party and we read all the new books.   Other than the editors, this is the first time that people can see what happened to their first chapter. Shabbat Parshat Shoftim Dinner - 10 Garlic Zucchini Soup Basic Gumbo Rice Cabbage Salad Baba Ganush Red beans Lunch - away - milk Insalata Caprese - Mozzarella and tomatoes Eggplant, Ricotta and roast tomatoes  - without the tart crust, served in a bowl Mascarpone and Berry dessert SS Gazpacho

I'm late, and didn't post this before shabbat. Interestingly, the corned beef in the crock pot came out significantly better than my normal, boiled corned beef.  I put the beef in a crock pot with lots of onions and carrots.  This is definitely the way to go.  Its more heat efficient and tastes better. Shabbat Parshat Re'eh Dinner - 10 Spicy Beef Soup based on http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/spicy-beef-soup Louisiana Turkey Pull Goulash Rice Indian Eggplant Mushrooms in Wine Sauce Lunch - 16 Crock Pot Corned Beef Roast Chicken - brined with honey, sage and thyme Hot dogs Israeli Salad Sauted Cabbage, Ginger and Garlic Green Beens Seudat Shishit - many Noodles