My mother in law and stepfather in law arrived on Friday. (Thus no time to go through pictures and and figure out what we did on our trips; Budapest, Vienna, and Spain coming soon.) I really intended to take pictures of our apartment after we cleaned but before she came, but, alas, I did not. Now there are four people living here, which will probably not make it cleaner.
My mother in law brought Scott and I lots of things, for which we are very grateful. There are the things we needed, like medication and ziplock bags. Then there are the things that we needed not so much, like shoes (me) and Clif bars (Scott). So, my mother in law shlepped my beautiful new suede shoes across the world with her, and I wear them right away. And what happens? I step in dog poop. At least it wasn't severe and didn't reach the suede.
On an unrelated note, today was the yarzheit (anniversary of death) of Rachel, as in Rachel from the bible. It's a popular time to visit and pray at her tomb. So our school took us there (my second time). Unfortunately, it's in an area not fully controlled by Jews, so this is the road to get there (excuse my friends' heads):
Inside, it was a little bit (or a lot) like bumper cars, but with people. Of course, where I stood became the main thoroughfare to the better seats in the building. I guess everyone could just sense that I enjoy large groups of people, especially when they bump into me.
Later that day, I made beer battered onion rings. Yum.
I can't remember where I found it. Recipe:
2 large white onions
1 cup beer
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp oil
1 beaten egg
Garlic powder (my addition)
Directions:
1. Slice onions into ¼ inch slices.
2. Separate into rings.
3. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, egg,
beer and oil.
4. Blend until smooth.
5. Dip onion rings into batter to coat well, fry in hot oil
at 375 degrees until golden brown.
6. Drain on paper towels, serve hot.
I also made a delicious batch of baklava:
Syrup:
2 cups sugar and 1 cup honey
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
(though as a warning mine was drowning in syrup; I had to strain it)
Filling:
4 cups ground walnuts
1/4 cup sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 pound (about 24 sheets) phyllo dough
About 1 cup vegetable oil
1. To make the syrup: Stir the sugar, water, lemon juice,
and if using, the corn syrup, cinnamon sticks, and/or cloves over low heat
until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stop stirring, increase the heat to
medium, and cook until the mixture is slightly syrupy. Let cool.
2. To make the filling: Combine all the filling ingredients.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-by-9-inch or
13-by-9-inch baking pan.
4. Place a sheet of phyllo in the prepared pan and lightly
brush with oil. Repeat with 7 more sheets. Spread with half of the filling.
Top with 8 more sheets, brushing each with oil. Put the rest of the filling on, and then another 8 sheets. You get the idea.
5. Use a sharp knife to cut length and width wise, and then diagonally for a diamond shape.
6. Just before baking, lightly sprinkle the top of the
pastry with cold water. This inhibits the pastry from curling. Bake for 20
minutes. Reduce the heat to 300 degrees and bake until golden brown, about 15
additional minutes.
7. Drizzle the cooled syrup
slowly over the hot baklava and let cool/put in fridge. Cover and store
at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Also, if you ever come to Israel and buy avocados, wait until they look a little bit black and rotten on the outside, and then they're ripe.
New feature, Hebrew word of the post: matana = gift
Sorry if there are typos herein. It's 11:23 and I'm too tired to proofread.
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