A scrumptious and satisfying Simchat Torah solution

Planning the menu for Simchat Torah night can be somewhat of a challenge – especially when Simchat Torah falls out on Shabbat (a convergence, BTW, which never occurs outside of Israel).

After all, one doesn’t really know what time shul will end, and obviously, one doesn’t want to serve one’s guests dried-out, overheated food.

Thus, when I read Mimi’s mouthwatering pre-Rosh Hashanah post on sweet and sour meatballs, I realized she had found the perfect solution.

I like to make sweet and sour meatballs with cranberry sauce, because that’s how the world’s best cook – i.e. my grandmother a”h - would prepare them.

However, since she didn’t have a specific recipe - “as much as it takes” was one of her standard measurements – I adapted the following recipe from the “Spice and Spirit” cookbook (“The Purple Cookbook,” בלעז).

Sweet and Sour Turkey Meatballs

Sauce

• 2 cans cranberry sauce
• 1 1/2 cups ketchup
• 200 grams tomato paste
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 tsp lemon juice
• 3-4 cups water

Meatballs

• 2 kg ground turkey
• 1 medium onion, chopped very finely
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped very finely
• 2 eggs
• A dash or two of pepper

Directions

Place all the sauce ingredients in a large pot, and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, combine the meatball ingredients in a large bowl.

After twenty minutes, raise the flame, and bring the sauce to a rolling boil. Form meat into balls and gently drop – one at a time – into the sauce. Cover the pot, and let the meatballs simmer over a low flame for at least an hour.

Serve hot with rice. (Brown rice works very well.)

!בתאבון

 

Have succah, will travel

Long time readers may – or may not – recall that last year I wrote about our succah-on-wheels.

As it so happened, we had occasion to use it this year during the course of our chol hamo’ed travels.

Since we keep the schach mat and the wooden slats in the car for the duration of the chag, the mobile succah is very convenient and takes about 30 seconds to construct.

Also, even though only two people fit under the schach at a time, the family members who aren’t halachically-obligated to eat in a succah can sit on the other seats. (When there are more than two post-bar-mitzvah-aged males, they can simply take turns eating.) Thus, the whole family can still eat together.

And best of all, having a travelling succah is extraordinarily cool! :-)

Here’s a view of the succah in action:

 Click here for an exterior view.

The funny part was that not one of the many passersby said a thing about our unique approach to succah dining. In contrast, when YZG originally assembled it in front of our house two years ago, all our neighbors came out to see YZG’s new “pah-TEHNT” (literally, patent – refers to any creative gadget or workaround).

And on a related note, YZG kindly offered to discuss some of the relevant halachic issues:

Using a car’s sunroof as a succah

by YZG

I. Size: The succah needs to be at least 7 tfachim by 7 tfachim. Depending on the shitah (halachic opinion), that comes out to between 58x58 cm and 70x70 cm. Thus, our car succah’s width is kosher according to even the most machmir shitah (stringent opinion), and the length is fine according to most shitot.

II. Walls: A succah needs at least three walls. (Note that the third wall can be a partial wall.) The car succah has four walls and makes use of a concept called “dofen akumah” – literally, a "bent wall". This means that the succah’s walls can be as far as 4 amot (up to about 6 feet) from the start of the schach. In other words, the rest of the roof is considered to be a dofen akumah – i.e. part of the walls (since they are all less than 4 amot from the schach).

III. Schach: Since the schach shouldn't rest on something that can be mekabel tumah (like metal), the schach sits on wooden slats (see picture above) rather than directly on the metal of the roof.

Thank you, YZG, for your informative post!

!חג שמח

 

Succot in the J-Blogosphere

Succot is one of the best times to be in Israel. (Other incredible seasons in our beautiful country include Pesach, Chanukah, Purim, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, and, well, every other day of the year…)

And, as it turns out, it’s also a pretty exciting time in the J-Blogosphere. After all:

1) The latest Haveil Havalim is available here. Special thanks to Ben-Yehudah for including my Ir David post.

2) According to YCT (of the abandoned Ein Shem blog), nothing says “I’m a blogger” like going to blogging meetings.

Which means that I’m now officially a blogger.

Because this afternoon, YZG and I – together with some of the Shiputzim children – attended the First Annual J-Bloggers’ Picnic in Yerushalayim’s Gan Sacher.

B”H, we had a wonderful time.

The kids had fun flying their kite and playing goomi (literally “elastic” – refers to the Israeli version of Chinese jump rope) with some new friends; YZG caught up with an old friend; and I got to meet some very special bloggers. (There were other bloggers there as well. B”N, I’ll try and update this as their names come back to me.)

Special thanks to RivkA for arranging, initiating and organizing the lovely event.

And in conclusion, I’ll let MAG explain why he and some of his siblings opted out:

“Imma, don’t you always tell us not to talk to strangers? And besides, I didn’t need to go. I can just read about it afterwards on your blog…”

!מועדים לשמחה 

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P.S. In case you missed these posts last year, check out our [stationary] succah and also our succah-on-wheels.

National Parks: Ir David edition

Far from the madding crowd, it isn’t.

Indeed, Ir David (the “City of David”) - one of Israel’s most popular tourist spots - is likely to be especially packed on chol hamoed.

But don’t let the throngs scare you away.

Because if you’re looking for an awesome place to take the family over Succot, Ir David definitely fits the bill.

After all, it seems that not a week goes by without a new and exciting find being unearthed by the site’s archeologists.

Here are some pictures from our visit there this past summer:

As always, please click on the pictures for a closer view.

Coincidentally, ESG happened to be in Ir David today with his school.

Originally scheduled for right after Rosh Hashanah, his trip was pushed off to today and, as a result, renamed. The destination remained the same, but what was initially touted as a “siyur slichot” was rebranded as an “aliyah l’regel”…

!חג שמח ושבת שלום

May you have a wonderful, happy and joyous Succot!

KCC and some family lore

The latest Kosher Cooking Carnival is available here.

Special thanks to Batya for including my crumb bar post.

Thanks also to my mother, who not only gave me the recipe but also provided some family history.

As it turns out, my mother received the recipe from HER mother – i.e. my grandmother a”h - who had adapted it from a recipe SHE got from a relative in New Jersey*.

To me, what’s particularly interesting is that although it isn’t a new recipe, it calls for oil rather than margarine or shortening. So, in addition to all their other virtues, these bars were also ahead of their time…

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*Yes, of COURSE it makes a difference that it was NJ and not, say, PA or DE. Why do you ask? ;-)

Arba minim musings

Several arba minim related thoughts:

(1) If our local email discussion group is any indication, the Shiputzim sons are among the very small minority of boys and young men in our neighborhood who are NOT selling arba minim…

(2) Growing up in the States, most boys – including my brothers (who will – I’m sure - correct me if I’m wrong :-)) - didn’t get their own 4 minim until they were relatively old. (YZG was the exception to the rule, because his father was in charge of supplying 4 minim to their entire community.)

Yet, here in Israel, where prices are significantly lower, even young kids have their own sets.

For instance, we start purchasing sets for our boys as soon as they commit to coming to shul every morning (i.e. 3^rd or 4^th grade).

(3) And finally, as you may recall, after shmitah, our aravah tree was extremely overgrown, and thus, immediately after Succot, we pruned the tree.

However, based on my training and well-deserved reputation as an internationally-acclaimed gardening expert, as further proof of my ignorance, I believed that we had cut off way too much. Indeed, I was convinced that this year, we wouldn’t even have enough aravot for ourselves.

But, shockingly, to no one’s surprise but my own, the aravot soon grew back, and B”H, we once again are blessed with a bumper crop:

 

And so, I reiterate our offer from last year: We would be glad to provide any readers who happen to be near TRLEOOB* with aravot. If you are interested, please contact us at OurShiputzim at gmail dot com.

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*TRLEOOB=the real life equivalent of our blog

HH 236

The latest edition of Haveil Havalim is available here.

Special thanks to Benji for including my gan meeting post.

Quick and easy crumb bars

Here in TRLEOOB*, the dessert at our seudah hamafseket (the festive meal right before Yom Kippur) always consists of something we call “Crumb Cake”.

In truth, it’s not really cake. Indeed, most people would probably call them Crumb Bars or even Jam Squares.

Either way, it’s the perfect way to start off the fast. It’s light, not overly sweet, and very easy to make.

And if you happen to have any leftovers, they work well after the fast too!

 Special thanks to my mother for giving me this recipe. (Maybe she can explain why we call it Crumb Cake? :-) )

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 2 heaping tsp baking powder (i.e. one envelope for our Israeli readers)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla or almond extract (we like vanilla)
• 1 cup oil (I use canola)
• Any flavor jelly, jam, marmalade or preserves (we prefer strawberry)
• An additional 1/2 – 3/4 c. flour for the crumbs

Directions

Combine dry ingredients. Add eggs and extract. Slowly add oil, and knead dough by hand. Spread 2/3 of dough into a baking-paper-lined (or greased) 9x13 baking pan. Spread jelly over dough in pan. Add extra flour to remaining dough to form crumbs. Cover jelly with crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden-brown. Remove from oven. Cut into bars but leave them in the pan until they are cool.

Update:  I wrote more about these bars’ history here.

גמר חתימה טובה

May you have an easy and meaningful fast, and may we all be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life for a good, sweet, happy, healthy, prosperous, and peaceful new year!

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*TRLEOOB=the real life equivalent of our blog