snapdragon leaves in late December 2011 with drops of water
It’s been a while since I’ve done Nature Notes – I could blame both my work load and the gloom of early December darkness, cold and brown. Today it was a tad warmer, and I went outside to photograph some burnt red bald cypress leaves – instead, I found this snapdragon plant with bright green leaves and drops of rain water.
I have an idea for next week’s Nature Notes, but I need your help. Can you tell me which of Michelle’s many topics were your favorite(s) in the past year? Shh… don’t tell Michelle. Oh, is she reading this? Well, anyway, your comments on Best Rambling Woods Nature Topics are requested.
The game of dreidel (yiddish – the Hebrew is sivivon) is associated with Chanukah because when the Assyrian Greeks came to see if the Jews were studying Torah, a practice which was banned, the Jews would take out the spinning top and play that game instead. The four Hebrew letters on the dreidel are Nun, Gimel, Heh and Shin – short for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham (a great miracle happened there). In Israel the dreidel has a Peh instead of the Shin, for Nes Gadol Hayah Po (a great miracle happened here).
There is a game with the dreidel that involves pennies and taking the pot of pennies if you get a gimel, giving it in if you get a shin, half the pot for heh, but it is all luck. My kids just spin them and spin them and spin them. What do you do with your dreidels?
I did the above drawing with black marker, then I colored it in with Photoshop. I promised my daughter she could color in the original with colored pencil. If she does, I will post that version as well.
Radish, Kale, Parsely in watercolor by Leora Wenger, 2011
It is customary to eat foods with oil on Chanukah. However, one is not obliged to eat fried foods on Chanukah. Yes, yes, I will be serving latkes (potato pancakes) as well as sufganiyot (doughnuts, usually jelly doughnuts but we leave out the jelly). For this post, however, we will be creating salad dressing with olive oil. That way, one can fulfill the custom of eating foods with oil in a healthy manner (yes, first cold pressed olive oil, uncooked, is actually good for you). And why do we eat foods with oil on Chanukah? Because of the little vial of oil found in the Temple in the days of the Maccabees – the vial was only supposed to light the menorah for one day, but miraculously, it lasted for a whole eight days (thus, eight days of Chanukah).
So here are some salad dressing ideas:
Olive oil, raw apple cider vinegar, sea salt, turmeric, pepper and garlic powder
Olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper
Ilana-Davita’s Sweet and Tangy Dressing (balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sweet chili sauce, salt and pepper)
Rachel: crushed garlic, dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, dried oregano (if your kids don’t mind “green stuff”) and olive oil
Rachel: lemon juice, cumin, salt and pepper, and olive oil
Olive oil, honey, mustard, a little orange juice and a little vinegar, salt and pepper.
Ilana-Davita: balsamic vinegar, olive oil, soya sauce, lime juice, salt and pepper
Sandy: Cilantro or basil in the blender with vinegar and olive oil.
Get the idea? How do you dress your salad? If you comment and it fits the olive oil category, I’ll add it to the list.
sporting detailed sneakers with bright pink laces in the woods
This week’s Thursday Challenge is “SHOES” (Boots, Sandals, Dress Shoes, Wooden Shoes, Stiletto heals, Horse Shoes,…)
Next Week: LIGHT (Candle, Street, Business, Fireplace, Glitter, Sparkle,…)
And, yes, I did post these Twinkle Toes Skechers sneakers two weeks ago. Déjà vu. I have lots of candle photos from previous years – maybe I will do a Chanukah candle photo essay. We shall see.
lentils in a jar turned upside-down so the water drains
I’ve been enjoying learning how to sprout brown lentils. I’m thinking of sprouting broccoli seeds next.
Equipment
1 mason jar
1 screen lid (I bought this green Sprouting Strainer Lid from Amazon)
Ingredients
1/2 cup brown lentils
1 cup water
Place the lentils in the jar and screw on the screen lid. Let the lentils soak for about 12 hours. After that, drain and rinse out the lentils every 6-8 hours (I confess, I sometimes waited 24 though not on purpose and the lentils were fine). You drain the lentils into the sink and then rinse the lentils. You turn the jar upside down unto a plate and let it drain again. Repeat in about 8 hours. The lentils are ready when they sprout little tails (in about 3 days). You can then store them in the refrigerator. They will last for at least one week.
I covered the lentils with a sock to keep them out of the light. Most of the recipes seemed to suggest this is not necessary, so I left the sock out of the post. Here was one simple post I found that talked about sprouting in general.
