Purple and Yellow Crocuses in Highland Park, New Jersey March 2010
Elsewhere in the Blogosphere
A friend sent an email with an article by Walter Russell Mead about Jacksonian Zionists. A curious term, the article didn’t really explain. So I went online and found this article The Jacksonian Tradition by Walter Russell Mead.
Daniel reviews The Once and Future King. Word of advice to parents: if you are recommending this book to your kids, tell them to read The Sword and the Stone. You may not yet want your child reading about the triangle between Arthur, Guenevere and Lancelot (voice of a parent who made this mistake speaking).
Jew Wishes found The Last of the Just by André Schwarz-Bart an enthralling novel.
Will this make a nice textured background for a web page?
Would this make a nice patterned background? Maybe if repeated with smaller flowers or leaves in between the larger flower. I think it would need to be toned down for a background or it would be too busy. Perhaps it would make a nice, simple header for a blog.
The textured pattern was taken from this shot:
Shown is the roof of Dairy Deluxe, the ice cream place we visited on this Ice Cream Bliss post.
Fallen Branches from Storm Behind Blooming Crocuses
One usually doesn’t think of the rain as being dangerous. As a parent, one often says to kids: “What? Are you going to melt?”
Sadly, the storm this past weekend in New Jersey and in New York ended in tragedy. The winds were ferocious, and some areas were harder hit than others. Numerous people died from being hit by falling trees, including two men (who leave behind mourning families) who were walking home from synagogue late Saturday afternoon in Teaneck, New Jersey.
In Highland Park we were fortunate to suffer only property damage: below is the remains tree that fell on a house near my own. Others had car windows smashed by trees or a fence downed by the wind. Compared to losing one’s life, it is mostly a discussion of who has insurance coverage.
And here you can see where it cut into the house it fell upon:
I decided to do a little research and discovered that one can study nearby trees to detect if they are unhealthy. Last year friend had noted that a tree overhanging our backyard had leaves on one side but not on the other; this is a sign of the tree’s ill health. My husband and I are happy that we informed our neighbors who own the tree, and they took care of the situation.
Some links for more information on hazardous trees:
I got two endearing comments last night on my sponge cake recipe (or Esther Robfogel’s z”l recipe) that I posted two years ago:
Esther G. Robfogel (1904-1997) was my mother. I ate her excellent sponge cakes on Pesach and throughout the year for many decades. I hope that my granddaughter, Esther F. Robfogel, will carry on the tradition.
– Nathan J. Robfogel
I’m Esther Robfogel’s daughter. Although I used to bake with my mom, baking was never my forte. As it happens, I was thinking about making mom’s cake this year. After reading your blog, I know I will. Thanks.
– Hanna
On a sad note, two men in Teaneck, New Jersey died walking home from shul at the end of Shabbat when a tree fell on them. I can’t imagine what Pesach is going to be like for those two mourning families.
Leora and family at Galil Mountain Winery, June 2007
Hannah Katsman interviewed me on her cooking manager blog. Visit the interview, comment if you like and enjoy. Included is a small photo of my daughter’s reaction to drinking the delicious, pricey wine (she was five years old at the time). Thanks, Hannah.
FYI, the header on the Cooking Manager blog is one I recently designed for her site.
Photo of my compost, taken in March 2009
Yesterday I asked who had started working in their garden. One can approach gardening as a chore, a necessity if you are a farmer, or a way to relax. It’s not going to be relaxing if you don’t enjoy it. For some reason, one of my favorite parts of gardening is composting. This past year we even saved compost in the dead of winter; I tried to put it outside right before a snow storm, because at least then it would be covered in snow. In the warmer months I cover the compost with dirt, but as gardeners know, you can’t shovel frozen dirt. I use a composting method that I call Lazy Composting. I like the idea of recycling my kitchen waste back into nature. My other effort toward gardening has been to order peas, inoculant for the peas, and other vegetable and herb seeds.
Do you have a garden? What is your favorite and your least favorite part of gardening?
Rutgers Gardens will be having a photo contest in early September. I am tempted to enter or at least to visit Rutgers Gardens (a short drive from Highland Park) a few times over the next few months and take photos of the lovely grounds and flora. (hat tip: Jill)
Raritan Valley Community College will be showing the ballet Sleeping Beauty in late March. I would love to take my daughter, but it is the week before Passover. I will be “industriously” cleaning my house for Passover.
Jacob informed me via Twitter that he has already started working in his garden. Have you?
Yesterday we (my family) were in New York City for a wedding – a very, very happy occasion. The wedding was the Faculty House at Columbia University, and I took a photo of this red brick building (Wien Hall) as we walked from the (expensive) parking garage to the wedding. My middle son, who convinced me to take my smaller camera so I would pay more attention to the wedding and less to taking photos, said we would have gotten to the wedding a few minutes sooner if I had not stopped to photograph a few buildings on the way.
At the beginning of a Jewish wedding the groom is marched to the bride accompanied by dancing friends and family and by musicians. The musicians at this wedding were from the orchestra Nafshenu. The groom then checks to make sure it is really his bride (as biblical Jacob got tricked, the groom wants to check).
The red in the photo was in the musicians’ eyes – I selected the red in Photoshop using the magic wand tool, desaturated the red, and adding back in enough color so their eyes looked brown.
On the subject of cameras and photographers, there were many photographers at the wedding (I believe some were friends of the bride and groom). I was jealous of their gigantic lenses, as was my father’s cousin, who said there is no end when it comes to desiring good photography equipment.
In New York City one can pay to park one’s bicycle. The bicycle fees were considerably less than the car parking fees.
The potato leek part is my older daughter’s favorite soup, and we make that quite often, and she prefers it without any milk or cream. Both kids love the novelty of having the green star in the middle, and they actually eat the spinach (swirling it with the soup to dilute the taste). I think the spinach purée alone makes a pretty tasty dairy-free “creamed spinach” side dish, but since I am the only one in the family who likes creamed spinach, I don’t make it unless I am making the soup.
If you don’t have a kosher for Passover cookie cutter, use a cup.
Potato Leek Soup
(makes 10 servings)
Ingredients
3 leeks
5 tbsp olive oil
2 pounds white potatoes, chopped
2 qts water
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup cream or milk (optional)
Cooking equipment
Cutting knife
Colander
Spatula
Measuring cup
Measuring spoon
Large pot
Cookie cutter or small plastic cup with the bottom cut off
Blender (stick blender works nicely)
To make the plain potato leek soup:
1. Discard tough part of green tops of leeks, then wash bottoms thoroughly
2. Cut leeks into thin slices and rinse in colander.
3. Cook in olive oil until leeks are soft – about 5 minutes.
4. Add potatoes and water and bring to a boil.
5. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
6. Puree with a blender.
Add salt and pepper to taste. For a creamier variation, add ½ cup of cream or milk
Spinach Purée
1. Blanch 1 lb of baby spinach (Put in small colander and submerge briefly into boiling water until barely cooked. Then transfer to bowl of ice water.)
2. Drain spinach.
3. Puree with ¼ of batch of potato leek soup.
Assemble final soup by placing the cookie cutter in the bottom of a soup bowl. Spoon spinach puree into the cookie cutter to desired depth. Pour potato leek soup around cookie cutter to the same depth. Then remove cookie cutter and repeat in another bowl.
