Two years! The first post here was published on August 25, 2008.

I started writing a little memoir paragraph about the events in my life over the past two years, but deleted it. What I really need to say is this:

I hope that I interest and amuse you. I hope my recipes make you hungry, and inspire your cooking. When I type a post and hit the “Publish” button, I know you’ll be reading it.

Thank you, reader, for being here.

Many of you know my face, since I published a photo of myself on The Great Brooklyn Nosh post.  Some have told me, by private email or here in the comments, that they feel they know me through my writings. But I’ll only ever know a handful of those who read this blog. That’s OK. In a way I didn’t expect when I first started typing out my recipes and thoughts, you’ve become a part of me.

I’m curious to see where we’ll be going as Israeli Kitchen unravels towards the future – curious to know how far we’ll go together, and what discoveries we’ll make on the way. As long as you and I are meditating on food, cooking together, and enjoying it – I’m game for more years of this journey.

…And you?

If you’re searching for holiday meal ideas, go to the Pre-Holiday Kosher Cooking Carnival. No posts of mine there this time, but stay tuned – a reader has asked me for my thoughts on cool dishes for a hot holiday.

It had been 33 years since I’d last set foot on American soil.

Culture shock, I thought. Be prepared for a different U.S. than the one you left three decades ago. Even the English you speak is going to be different – antiquated, maybe.

And you’re going to be moving among thousands of people who don’t consider you their distant cousin, as everyone in small-scale Israel does.

And so things proved to be. In Manhattan I rubbernecked like a yokel.  In Brooklyn I entered a shop and asked, “Would you have such a thing as an umbrella?” and they looked at me as if I’d fallen from outer space. I sometimes felt the alone-ness and paranoia of the subway ride.

A week in New York with my son. A week in Texas to see my Mom. Then a visit with my sister Dina in  in Calgary. Dina is  the author of Alberta Musts, a travel book describing 101 must-see places in Alberta. She took me to Banff, a small gem of a town set among the Rocky Mountains, and to many other places new to me.

I was amazed, amused, awed. Horrified and thrilled. Follow me, gentle reader, and I’ll show you the marvels of my three weeks in North America.

New York: Chinatown

My son took me on a stroll through Chinatown.

Chinese banks, a huge Buddhist temple.

Greengrocers, some set up on the sidewalk

And fishmongers.

A convenient pushcart for lunch in a hurry.

A traditional herbal pharmacy where the doctor sits in the back room, ready to feel your pulses and prescribe herbs.  The pharmacist measures the dried leaves and roots and twists up an origami envelope in a second. I bought a moxa stick in one of those pharmacies.

And stared wistfully down basement doors that advertised 15-minute foot massages and acupuncture. I would have liked a foot massage, but there was no time.

A grocery store displayed these heavy mortars without pestles. I wonder why no pestles. Too dangerous if dropped, breaking a customer’s toe? Theft prevention? Although it would have to be a muscular thief to spirit one of those granite mortars away.

I loved the red and gold in the shops. In this Westernized bakery, the decorations were rather sparse.

Although some of their goodies seemed very traditional.

Keeping kosher as I do, I ate nothing from Chinatown. But I enjoyed looking, and asking, and talking to the shop owners if they were willing. The owner of a diner allowed me to take photographs, although I wasn’t buying anything.

Are those mounds of white stuff tofu?

Leaving Chinatown, I snapped these friendly movers. I wonder why guys on trucks smile at me and give me thumbs-up…maybe it’s just nice to be appreciated.

movers-new-york

Tomorrow another phase of my travels – Brooklyn and its kosher eateries. Stay tuned for Part Two.

]]> http://www.israelikitchen.com/uncategorized/gingerly-in-chinatown/feed/ 5 http://www.israelikitchen.com/uncategorized/summer-recipes-roundup-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=summer-recipes-roundup-2 http://www.israelikitchen.com/uncategorized/summer-recipes-roundup-2/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 04:51:11 +0000 Mimi54 http://www.israelikitchen.com/?p=2672 [...]]]>

Hot-weather recipes. Living in the hot, humid center of Israel, I naturally accumulated a bunch of them. Easy-going chicken recipes; lots of fish; some breads. Desserts that sit lightly. Here’s a roundup of the best, for your hot-weather cooking.

Soup:

Eggplant Soup

Chicken:

Nut/Herb-Crusted Chicken Fillets

Roast Chicken with Figs

Meatballs with Swiss Chard

Vegetables:

Peperonata

Majadra

Golden Herbed Potato Wedges

Eggs:

Shakshoukah

Fish:

Moroccan Shabbat Fish

Grilled Sea Bass in Spicy Lemon Marinade

Baked Fish in a Walnut Crust

Quick Breads:

Peach Cobbler Muffins

Cornbread-covered Ratatouille

Desserts:

Cherry Cobbler

Flim-Flam Flan

Orange Rolls

Malabi, Middle-Eastern Milk Pudding

Fruit Soup

Israeli Kitchen is going to be taking it slow  for the next three weeks while I’m traveling to the States. New posts will appear on Mondays because two friends have kindly contributed guest posts, and I’ve scheduled posts of my own to appear. While I silently work the mechanism behind a curtain.

So check in on Mondays for the new posts.

I look forward to my trip to the States, where much of my family lives – and to my return. Although the Little One already shows promise of a serious cooking talent, I know that she and Husband will be happy to have me back in my Israeli Kitchen.

Strange. I feel as if this blog is a living, breathing thing that I’m leaving at home.  Pity I can’t take it with me in my luggage. But you, reader, are in my mind every day and so in a way, I’ll be taking you along. Shhh, though, don’t tell the Little One. She’ll get jealous.

See you in July!

Enjoy, and Chag Sameach!

Amphora Events Presents:

Seminar for Writers, Bloggers, Writers and Web Publishers

Speakers:

Karin Kloosterman, Editor of Green Prophet Blog

The Ethical Line Between Blogging and Journalism

When it comes to readers, and the international community, your blog can be presumed to be “news.” How do you match ethical guidelines of journalism, and your readers, while keeping the budget low and the quality high?  For journalists looking to break into the world of blogging, bloggers interested in becoming published journalists, and everyone in between.

Eran Davidov of Israel Catalog

Nice Blog, But Are You Making Any Money?

Learn to generate revenue from your online writing. Monetize your blog effectively with affiliate marketing, advertising, sponsorships, search-engine optimization (SEO), and more – without alienating your loyal readers.

• Hear current thinking on these vital topics

• Meet and network with other writers

************

Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Time: 19:00-22:00

Location: East-West House, Yaffo

New Early-Bird Special : NIS 65 with registration by Friday, May 14th

NIS 75 with pre-registration from Sunday May 16-23

NIS 85 at the door

Register

Refreshments will be served.

About the speakers:

Karin Kloosterman is founder and editor of Green Prophet (www.greenprophet.com), an environment news website covering the Middle East. Blogging for Hufffington Post, the world’s most popular blog, and others, she is an experienced freelance journalist with articles published in hundreds of newspapers and magazines worldwide. She is also an associate editor at ISRAEL21c (www.israel21c.org).

Eran Davidov is Director of Marketing at Tal-Shahar Marketing Ltd., home of Israel Catalog (www.israel-catalog.com), and an MBA candidate. Active in the Israeli internet scene since 2003, he has in-depth experience working with bloggers to promote online products through affiliate marketing, SEO and more.

Event Coordinators: Miriam Kresh (Israeli Kitchen)

and Hannah Katsman (A Mother in Israel)

A Seminar for Bloggers, Journalists, Writers, and Web Publishers

Speakers:

Karin Kloosterman, Editor of Green Prophet Blog

The Ethical Line Between Blogging and Journalism

When it comes to readers, and the international community, your blog can be presumed to be “news.” How do you match ethical guidelines of journalism, and your readers, while keeping the budget low and the quality high?  For journalists looking to break into the world of blogging, bloggers interested in becoming published journalists, and everyone in between.

Eran Davidov of Israel Catalog

Nice Blog, But Are You Making Any Money?

Learn to generate revenue from your online writing. Monetize your blog effectively with affiliate marketing, advertising, sponsorships, search-engine optimization (SEO), and more – without alienating your loyal readers.

• Hear current thinking on these vital topics

• Meet and network with other writers

************

Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Time: 19:00-22:00

Location: East-West House, Yaffo

Admission: NIS 75 with advance registration, NIS 85 at the door.

Register

Refreshments will be served.

About the speakers:

Karin Kloosterman is founder and editor of Green Prophet (www.greenprophet.com), an environment news website covering the Middle East. Blogging for Hufffington Post, the world’s most popular blog, and others, she is an experienced freelance journalist with articles published in hundreds of newspapers and magazines worldwide. She is also an associate editor at ISRAEL21c (www.israel21c.org).

Eran Davidov is Director of Marketing at Tal-Shahar Marketing Ltd., home of  Israel Catalog (www.israel-catalog.com), and an MBA candidate. Active in the Israeli internet scene since 2003, he has in-depth experience working with bloggers to promote online products through affiliate marketing, SEO and more.

Event Coordinators: Miriam Kresh (Israeli Kitchen)

and Hannah Katsman (A Mother in Israel)

We don’t keep a TV, but I watched some of these biographies at a friend’s house a few years ago. One girl soldier’s story pierced my heart, because of her smile. I don’t remember her name, but I’ll never forget her smile. Photographs, some showing her as a toddler in kindergarten, dressed as Queen Esther for the Purim play. Some showed a pretty young woman in her khaki uniform. In each one, the same exuberant white smile against olive skin and dark hair. A smile that said, “Shalom! Let’s be friends!”

She was riding in a jeep one day, not far from the army base. It ran over a mine. She died.

That wrenching smile, that smile so full of energy, and fun, and – life. She should have been a middle-aged woman by now. A busy mother, maybe even a young grandmother.

Well. I don’t question why – what’s the point? It’s not for us know everything. But I honored the pretty young soldier today as I stood for the siren during the two-minute national meditation. Traffic stopped, people left their cars to stand in the road, arms crossed, staring at the ground. I, in my kitchen, leaned against the sink and covered my eyes. It was her image that rose in my mind.

Why her, over the soldiers who fought and suffered and died in combat?

I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I have three daughters myself. The two oldest didn’t serve in the army: one married young, one left Israel early to pursue advanced studies in the States. The Little One plans to do National Service. But all the men in my family have served. In Europe, in Korea, in Vietnam, and when we came to live in Israel, one served in Lebanon. My younger brother. He never told my parents that he’d been “inside” till he was released, because of what they went through during the older brother’s service in Vietnam.

Anybody’s son. Anybody’s daughter. They are my sons, my daughters, my friends and neighbors. My people.

… Girl-chick, whoever you were in life, I thought of you.  I hope your parents and siblings learned to accept your departure, at least enough to let them keep going. If you had a boyfriend, I hope his heart mended. I hope your tikkun was completed.

Day faded away. With nightfall came the yearly miracle – the people cast their mourning aside and took up celebration instead. People are out in the streets right now, dancing, gawping at fireworks, singing along at sing-alongs. Jews stream along the streets, proud and joyful.

And me? I’m home typing this. The Little One is out dancing with her school mates. Husband drinks tea and watches the fireworks from our little balcony – we rush out there when we hear the distant booms. I drink wine and raise the glass to Israel’s 62nd year.