Happy Chanukah!

I’m not really back to blogging yet, but I wanted to quickly touch base in order to thank you for all the wonderful comments and emails about the bar mitzvah and to wish you a happy Chanukah!

B”H, the bar mitzvah weekend was beautiful; we all had a great time; and <maternal boasting> the bar mitzvah boy did an amazing job BA”H. </boasting>

As soon as things calm down a bit, I’ll B”N try and post a few details about the menu etc. and maybe even a recipe or two.

But in the meantime – and in order to combine this post’s two themes (i.e. the bar mitzvah and Chanukah) – here are a few pictures to show you what we used to decorate the tables on Motza”Sh (=Saturday night):

!חג אורים שמח

Squaring the circle

About a year and a half ago, I wrote:

“No, pie are round; CORNBREAD are square.

“As anyone who has been to an Israeli catered affair any time over the past five years knows, square plates are all the rage.

“However, as everyone ALSO knows, square plates are quite annoying. They may be aesthetically pleasing – although that point is highly debatable – but they’re far from functional.

“And so, I beseech all the plate manufacturers out there: Please go back to making round plates, as nature intended.

“Thank you.”

I wish I could say that the aforementioned manufacturers have since come to their senses and that square plates have finally disappeared from the catering scene.

But I can’t.

Because, to the dismay of party-goers around the country, square plates are more ubiquitous than ever.

Moreover, since we don’t live in an ideal world, I can’t even say that I’ve somehow made my peace with these awkward assaults on the dining experience.

No, they’re just as cumbersome now as they were back when they made their initial, very unwelcome debut.

In other words, don’t look for a fairy tale ending, where the square plates and I dance merrily off into the sunset.

However, on a related note, I’d appreciate it if any of my informed readers could provide answers to the following questions:

1. Who was the not-exactly-brilliant thinker who woke up one morning and said, “You know, people have been comfortably and happily using round plates throughout the millennia. So, why don’t I come up with an inconvenient redesign of something that’s not broken?”

2. What happened to all the round plates?! Did the caterers throw them out? Are they all sitting in some giant warehouse somewhere, waiting for this unfortunate fad to fade away?

Inquiring minds want to know…

Timeout for trivialities

Someone from our neighborhood launched a new project, pairing families from our community with families from Ashkelon. We’re waiting to receive the specifics of our “adopted family”. However, the organizers did tell us that the idea is to maintain daily contact – phone calls, emails, visits – and to let the Ashkelonites know that we care.

In the meantime, with your permission, I feel like I must take a break from serious war-related posts. But first, a pro forma warning:

WARNING: This is an inane post filled with trivial musings. Readers will walk away neither moved nor inspired. If this bothers you, feel free to click away.

Last week, YZG, MAG and I attended a bar mitzvah. Here are several related blogbits:

0 for 2 If you’re looking for someone who can foresee the future, don’t come to us. On the way to the bar mitzvah, YZG and I assumed that there wouldn’t be seating cards. But as it turned out, we were wrong. And then, YZG asked me if I thought there would be fireworks. (After all, in certain circles, having the bar mitzvah boy march out accompanied by fireworks is quite de rigueur.) I thought the room seemed relatively small, and so I told YZG that I believed that they would somehow make do without. But once again, I misjudged our hosts. You will no doubt be glad to learn that there were four large floor-to-ceiling sparklers…

No, pie are round; CORNBREAD are square As anyone who has been to an Israeli catered affair any time over the past five years knows, square plates are apparently all the rage. However, as everyone also knows, square plates* are quite annoying. They may be aesthetically pleasing – although that point is highly debatable – but they’re far from functional. And so, I beseech all the plate manufacturers who happen to be Our Shiputzim readers: Please go back to making round plates, as nature intended. Thank you.

From the “my husband is so cool” department On the way home, we gave rides (i.e. trempim, for the Hebraically-oriented among you) to two guys from our neighborhood. A few minutes into the ride, one of them noticed that YZG – who had not consulted a map – was leaving the city where the bar mitzvah was held via a back exit. “I was born here,” the man exclaimed, obviously very impressed by YZG’s navigational skills, “and it never would’ve occurred to me to use this route. I would’ve gone all the way around, but this way saved so much time!” (P.S. Special thanks to our so-called “anonymous” Swedish-speaking commenter for suggesting that specific route to YZG a few days earlier…)

We now return you back to your regularly scheduled serious wartime blog.

_______

* Yes, I admit that the caterer used square plates on Motza”Sh of MAG’s bar mitzvah – as you can see here - but at least we had round plates over Shabbat, for the meals I did myself.