Sons of Israel in Asbury Park

Congregation Sons of Israel in Asbury Park, an Orthodox Jewish congregation, was founded in 1904. The congregation has since moved away from Asbury Park, but for several decades it was housed in this building in Asbury Park. A few weeks ago we rented a four wheel cycle (pedal car) from Brielle Cyclery on the Asbury Park boardwalk and cycled past the building, which now belongs to a church (First French Speaking Baptist Church).

The building now has two large crosses in the front: one has to look carefully to see signs that it was built as a synagogue. Details to notice are the stained glass windows.

What do you see in those windows? I see a Torah, menorah, ner tamid, a book, a dove, and possibly someone praying in a prayer shawl on the right.

Also, if you look carefully at the carvings in the front you will see the Hebrew date of 5709 and the corresponding Gregorian date of 1949, the year the building was built for Congregation Sons of Israel.

For more information on the history of Jewish Asbury Park, see Asbury Park: Pictorial History in Brief.

Kosher Cooking Carnival Tishrei

What’s for Dinner?

Chunky Tomato Soup with Rice by Frugal and Kosher is beloved by her son – I bet other kids and adults will enjoy this recipe as well.

Yosefa went Summer Foraging and showed Purslane Tips and Recipes includes purslane.

Jane presents Hariseh – the recipe. a recipe from a book she reviews called Simply Israel by T. Gila Levine.

Look at this Broccoli and Potato Daiya Cheese Bake – Vegan – did you say vegan?

This one looks delicious: Herb Lentil Salad

I like quinoa! And it seems that Batya likes quinoa, too.

Batya has some yummy suggestions for Easy, Healthy and Yummy Vegetables .

Rivki Silver participated in a Rosh Hashana blog party and made a super salad. Hannah Katsman of Cooking Manager was also part of the blog party – she presented one of my favorite of her recipes, the marinated beet salad.

And for dessert

Do you crave honey cake at this time of year? See Laura’s ginger honey cake.

If you want an easy dessert and you have two extra bananas, try my banana cake or is it banana bread.

How about some taiglach for dessert? Mrs. S. can teach you how to make taiglach.

Sharon talks about the grain made by the Jerusalem windmill in the 19th century. In the twenty-first century, there was ice cream, crepes, wine and fruit.

Hiking Food

As summer is over (if not yet officially), I wanted to end with Batya’s hike food: pittot, tomatoes, olives and salads on the side.

If you want to submit a post to a future KCC, use this blog carnival link.

Banana Bread or Banana Cake

Whether you call this banana bread or banana cake, it is a favorite dessert in our family. When I buy too many bananas and at least two brown ones are sitting on a shelf, it is time to make the banana cake.

Ingredients

• 2 (or 3) ripe bananas
• 1 cup sugar (I used white sugar, but you can try brown)
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/4 canola oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• optional: cinnamon and/or chocolate chips

Mix eggs, banana and sugar until creamy. Add oil, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix in the flour last. Add to a baking pan, and bake for 45 minutes to one hour at 350°.

It’s probably a good idea to store this cake in the refrigerator.

In two weeks I will be hosting the Kosher Cooking Carnival. Send in your posts with kosher recipes, kosher restaurant reviews or kosher menus by September 16.

Nature Notes: Butterflies and Mushroom

Mount Greylock in the Berkshires has a lot of goldenrod on top of the mountain. And many happy butterflies are enjoying themselves.

We also visited The Mount in the Berkshires, where Edith Wharton lived for a while with her husband (before she divorced him) and his dogs. There is a pet cemetery near the garden that has lots of tidy flowers, many of which are butterfly-friendly, like this butterfly bush. The Whartons allowed their dogs to sit at their fancy dining table along with distinguished guests (is that natural? as this is Nature Notes).

We saw this red mushroom besides the trail that we climbed to the top of Mount Greylock.

Mount Greylock Views

When you reach the top of Mount Greylock in the Berkshire Mountains, you are rewarded with lovely views. It looks a bit like a puzzle, the Mount Greylock views below and across (one can see more mountains in the distance).

If you climb this tower on the top of Mount Greylock, you see even more views. My husband and two sons climbed to the top. My daughter and I wandered around below, looking down at the landscape.

There is an inscription in honor of soldiers at the base of the Mount Greylock tower. You can also find two quotes from Henry David Thoreau at the top of Mount Greylock. Supposedly, he too as some point in the 19th century climbed this mountain.

I don’t know who the man in the yellow shirt is, but he added a nice contrast to the scene of the lake or pond below the mountain.

Need refreshment? There is a little cafe in the Bascomb Lodge at the top of Mount Greylock.

At the entrance to the Bascomb Lodge is a butterfly garden. I’ll save my butterfly shots for another post. There are also butterfly-friendly flowers all over the top of Mount Greylock.

On the way down the mountain, we took the Overview Trail. I was hoping for several scenic views on the trail, but we were only rewarded with this one scenic vista looking west.

For more views, visit Our World Tuesday.