Weekend Hospitality

Sukkot (Fall 2011) Dinner (15 people attending, big eaters all!) California Garlic Soup Spaghetti and Meatballs Coca Cola Chicken Carrot salad Cucumber Salad Brussels Sprouts Lunch - 19 Grilled meats Grilled fresh Cajun Chicken Grilled peppers and zucchini Roast potatoes Israeli Salad Green Salad Breads and Condiments It is traditional in Israel to grill on holidays, even for the orthodox jews.  This is our first attempt at following this custom.  Wish us luck and a happy holiday to all!

Its the last holiday of the season, the eighth day of Sukkot. We've been vacationing all week and now its time to finish the holiday's with a bang. We begin with a night of dancing at the shul. I'm getting older and my patience is not what it used to be. There are seven rounds of dancing. I usually make it through the first three. Then its home for a quiet meal. Because of the length of the services, we start the morning prayers at 6am. Even so, we don't finish until about 10-10:30am. While the evening dancing can go 10-15 minutes per round, our morning minyan has a tradition to do one only complete circle per round. It takes about 3-5 minutes per round. The later minyan which starts at 8am will not finish until after noon. We have good friends coming over for lunch. Meir is good cook, but tomorrow we are going to simple. He's bringing hamburgers. I'll make a few chickens and the meal is good to go. Have a happy holiday. Elliot and Leiah Shabbat Shi...

We own a ten year old Toyota Land Cruiser (Prado). Israel is a wonderful place to go off-road. There are many superb trails that range from beach front sand to rocky mountains. On the holidays, we put our family in the truck and pick someplace interesting. This year, we took a trip to the Gilboa mountain and the Yisaschar River. The news reported that it might rain lightly in the morning, getting hotter as the day progressed. Perfect weather! We missed a few milestones on the Gilboa, mostly because it took us some time to get used to the guide book. Once we understood that indeed, 300 meters is 300 meters and not 5 minutes, we were able to find the correct turns and enjoy the scenery. The Gilboa at the end of the summer is brown and dusty, but the views of the Jezriel valley were very very nice. Our next step was to cross the valley and pass over the Yisaschar River. Now most of the time, this river runs dry. Since there was some light rain the night before, there was a few...

My son turned 13 today. He is smart, excited and nervous. In his honor, we are having an open house at our sukkah tonight. We have been working all day to prepare the sukkah, the refreshments, and his speech. All is ready, and we are beat. Just enough time to shower and decompress before that start of the holiday. We are eating at friends tonight, so its going to be an easy beginning. Our local high school has a fund raiser where people donate food items, and then we all bid on those items. I donated 10 servings of my Cajun Chicken, and my son Asaf donated his garlic green beans. We bid and won many items this year, so I don't need to cook for tomorrow's lunch. The menu items are all by local cooks, and I'm very much looking forward to sampling their wares. We have my sister's niece over for the holiday, and three other young ladies. All four are studying in Israel for year and we look forward to hearing about their schools and experiences. We have a standing ...

After the first day, we had Friday to recover and prepare for the weekend. We were invited out for lunch, so it was only the 16 of us for dinner. The four boys staying with us were tired from the three day holiday. Our two younger guests spent the day studying. They must go to a really good high-school. Sukkot Shabbat Dinner - 16 Pumpkin Soup Chicken Paprikash with Pargiot from The Frugal Gourmet: On Our Immigrant Ancestors Restaurant-Style Buffalo Chicken Wings Spaghetti and Meatballs Garlic Bread For Shabbat Lunch, we brought cold steamed broccoli and cold Asian noodles.

OK, forty minutes before the start of the holiday and I think everything is set. Our numbers changed last night, so its 24 for dinner and 23 for lunch. Its good that we are eating outside and that our Sukkah is large. Final Menus: Dinner - 24 Mushroom Barley Soup Deli Roll Hot Dogs Beef in Wine Sauce Turkey Mole Rice Cabbage and Ginger Brussels Sprouts Spaghetti Squash Lunch - 23 Corned Beef Pot Pie Cajun Chicken Pititim Spicy Cabbage Salad 3 Bean Salad Green Beans and Garlic Quinoa Happy Holidays to all.

Another holiday and another set of guests. This Wednesday night and Thursday we will host my parents and four post-high-school boys. Our oldest son will also be home, so our base number is 14 for each meal. Add to that a family of eight Wednesday night and a family of 6 on Thursday lunch, our numbers are a very respectable 22 and 20. The weather here is typical for this time of year. In the low 80's, hot in the sun and comfortable in the shade. Fortunately, there is not much I need to adjust with respect to the food. Anything we serve on a regular weekend should go over fine. Our community has a food auction for charity tomorrow. Two weeks ago, residents submitted a list of items that they would make for the auction. Last week, we sent in sealed bids on those items that appealed to us. Thanks to our children's bids, we "won" 40 large pickles, a Deli roll, tuna casserole and lots of dessert items. We will certainly serve these items during the holiday! Th...