Above is one more sky photo taken on Raritan Avenue.
Links to explore:
- Klara set up a blog called Trees and Forests. She knows how to cook (and can teach you a thing or two about healthy cooking), but she needs some help with blogging. Go and give her some good ideas!
- Eddie photographed a misty, colorful rural landscape outside Kyoto, Japan.
- Loved Mimi’s purples.
- Feeling a little more down than usual this fall, as the days get shorter and colder? Could be SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder. Therapydoc has some good anti-SAD ideas.
Finally, the secret ingredient in the birthday cake was: BEETS. Congrats to the ones who guessed correctly (Ilana-Davita and Klara).
As a continuation to the My World post on Raritan Avenue, this week I’m featuring a Sky Watch on Raritan Ave. Above is a glimpse up South Third Ave in the center of Highland Park.
A street scene between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, one can see a Bradford pear tree with its red fall foliage (now gone and bare).
Here’s an ambulance from Woodbridge zooming along past my favorite toy store, Over the Moon Toys. We are fortunate that two excellent hospitals, Robert Wood Johnson and St. Peter’s, are just over the bridge from us in New Brunswick.
While standing in front of the supermarket on Raritan Avenue a few days ago, my daughter and I were privileged to view this sunset.
For more Skywatch participants, please visit:
I did pottery for about ten years. I haven’t found a studio locally that I like, but maybe when my kids are older I’ll venture over to Raritan Valley Community College or back to Middlesex County College to take a pottery class again. It’s a very relaxing hobby. Anyway, my home is full of pottery that I’ve made. Accidents do happen, and someone who was quick to do the mitzvah of washing hands (before eating bread, Orthodox Jews wash hands with a mug and say a blessing) broke this washing mug that I made lovingly almost twenty years ago. Now I bury my favorite pottery in my garden, broken shards on display with my plants.
Carmi has a new theme, “broken”, for Thematic Photographic. What a great excuse to photograph my broken washing mug!
In an effort to get up a post about the Torah portion of the week, Chayei Sarah (which literally means the Life of Sarah) before Shabbat, I am just showing you these numbers:
100 20 7 14 3
Why am I showing you these numbers? Anyone is free to answer. I’ll write the full post early next week. Your comments will help write the post.
Read the parsha online here.
Hint: think women.
Explanation on 7 and 14 is on this post.
Any of you like turmeric?
This spice is discussed in Anticancer: A New Way of Life, the book I reviewed yesterday. It has been shown in cell cultures to be effective against cancer cells. However, it must be mixed with pepper in order to be effective. Ideally, it should be dissolved in oil (olive, canola or linseed oil, preferably).
Anyone have some good ideas of what to do with turmeric? I mixed with some kasha (also had mushrooms and onions) that I made on Sunday night, and it tasted delicious.
My neighbors had their house painted red recently, an appealing color next to the foliage in their backyard. The blue garage, white umbrella and deck belong to the neighbors further down.
The leaves of their dogwood tree, that I photographed last spring, looks so pretty with its red autumn hues.
Wednesday seems like a good day to put up a post for Ruby Tuesday!
My World is a meme played by people all over the planet. For more information and to see other places and wonders, visit My World.
Raritan Avenue is the main street that runs through our little borough of Highland Park, New Jersey. It is a state highway, Route 27, so its name changes when it crosses the bridge over the Raritan River into the larger city of New Brunswick.
One of the nice features of Highland Park is that it is a walkable town. When my son was a toddler (he’s now 14), we used to walk to Raritan Avenue to see the trucks. The above photo was taken on Veteran’s Day; that’s why there are lots of American flags on display.
At one end of Raritan Avenue are some auto businesses. Some of the leaders in Highland Park would like to see these businesses go elsewhere (to Woodbridge Avenue), so that retail shops can be opened here. It is a subject of controversy.
Construction and fixing of something or another is a common sight.
There’s an Available sign in this now closed Corner Confectionery shop. Businesses come and go; too many of these For Lease signs.
See my favorite toy store on Raritan Avenue
View the Memorial Day Parade down Raritan Avenue
For Mrs. S., mazel tov on the upcoming bar-mitzvah!
Mandel Bread, Mandelbroit, Biscotti
When I need a dessert for company or for my family, I often make these little cookies called mandelbread. In Yiddish, mandel means almonds, so traditionally these cookies had almonds in them. I’ll give you two recipes, one with almonds and one without, so you can choose.
Mandelbread with Crushed Almonds
Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- dab of salt
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup of crushed raw almonds
- 2 cups of flour
- Canola oil, enough to wet the dough
Crush the almonds in the food processor. Mix ingredients in order shown, except for the oil. Drizzle in oil until the dough is wet enough to shape into loaves. Shape into 2 long loaves, 2 inches long. Place on parchment paper on baking sheet. Bake at 350° for about 20-30 minutes. Cut into 1/2 inches slices and place on their sides. Continue baking for about 4 minutes.
Mandelbread, plain
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- dab of salt
- 2 cups of flour
Mix ingredients in order shown. Shape into 2 long loaves, 2 inches long. Place on parchment paper on baking sheet. Bake at 350° for about 20-30 minutes. Cut into 1/2 inches slices and place on their sides. Continue baking for about 4 minutes.
With either recipe, you can dot the top of your pre-baked mandelbread with chocolate chips, points facing down, for the choc-oholics in your family.
Westbankmama has posted a lovely Mama Rachel edition of Haveil Havalim. In this weekly blog carnival of the Best of the Jewish Blogosphere she linked to my post on Hospitality, which has the watercolor at the bottom of this post.
In the middle of the blog carnival, there is a lovely watercolor by an artist blogger named Carol Feldman. What a special treat! Thank you, Westbankmama, for hosting.
Marigolds look pretty among the fallen leaves of autumn. These yellow and/or orange flowers grow in front and on the side of my house. I sprinkle the seeds in spots I want them to appear next spring.
Today’s Flowers is hosted by Luiz Santilli Jr. Thank you, Luiz, for this lovely meme.
