Dinner in the 1890’s at Longstreet Farm

We haven’t gone on many trips this summer, as it has been quite hot, other than to the pool. Here’s dinner at the Longstreet Farm in Holmdel, New Jersey as it may have been in the 1890’s. Looks like they are having ham, asparagus, grapes, lemons and — is that challah?— a twisted bread, served on delicate blue china. We are planning to go on a family trip today.

For more Summer Stock photos, visit Robin’s Around the Island:

Peaches and Tomatoes

It’s a wonderful time of year in New Jersey: the peaches are finally available in the farmer’s markets. These are the best tasting peaches…um, yum, de-de dum. It was even worth traipsing off during the heat wave last Friday to get yet another bag.

The peaches are beautiful to behold as well as eat. Can I have my peach and eat it, too?

Small tomatoes in my garden are finally ripe. I also have some garden grown cucumbers (my first year growing cucumbers). I saw one of my bigger tomatoes finally turning red. How long will I hold out before picking it?

For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:

Tax Raises Cause a Split

For more on this story of Rehoboam, read A Divided Nation on the Aish website or Kings Chapter 12 (Melachim Bet).

How was this related to last week’s parsha? We learned about the law of jealousy in the ten commandments, and from there, my husband told the story of jealous Jezebel, and then there were more stories from the Prophets…

Review with Pink Begonia

On My Blog

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Ilana-Davita reviews Welcome to Heavenly Heights in a non-traditional format.
• Ruti Mizrachi interviews Ilana-Davita
• I need to print Mrs. S.’s cookie recipe for my son to try out on our family.
• Carver has beautiful photos of the North Carolina beaches – I’ve never been there, have you?
• Robin has photographed lovely plumeria blossoms.
• Shimshonit asks questions about the mosque at Ground Zero.

Sweet Vegetarian Stew

Adapted from Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World by Gil Marks

Gil Marks calls this “Moroccan Vegetable Stew for Couscous.” I used white beans and brown rice, and I left out the cabbage. I also changed the amounts and cooked it all in a crockpot. Still delicious!

Ingredients:

• 6 cups vegetable stock (I used water – I’m not one to make stock for a stew)
• 12-16 baby carrots (or 6 big carrots, cut up)
• 1 large onion, sauteed (the original recipe says 3 onions and doesn’t say sautee)
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 stick of cinnamon (original recipe said 3)
• 1 Tbsp. turmeric (the original recipe said only 1/2 teaspoon)
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up into pieces (or use butternut squash)
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley or cilantro
• 2 turnips, peeled and quartered (they look like potatoes in the finished dish)
• 3 zucchini, cut into chunks
• 2 cups cooked beans (original recipe said chickpeas – I used white Northern beans)

If you use dried beans, soak the beans overnight the night before you prepare the recipe. If you use a can of beans, add the can towards the end of the recipe. Cook the beans in your crockpot for a few hours until soft. Add carrots, sauteed onions, sweet potatoes and turnips and cook for another hour in the crockpot. Add spices, the zucchini and cooked beans (if you used canned beans – if you started with dried beans, they should already be in their cooking). Cook until zucchini is tender, about twenty minutes. Sprinkle the parsley on top at the end.

The original recipe says serve on couscous, but I served it on brown rice. Drizzle the liquid on top like it’s gravy.

Gil Marks suggests this stew as a dish to serve on Rosh Hashana (yes, the Jewish New Year is the next holiday on the Jewish calendar, unless you count Tu B’Av). I think of it as a summer stew, because you can get delightful fresh garden vegetables to include in the stew at this time of year.