Israel

Flower to brighten the day

It’s nice to have a cheery photo at the top of my blog. This is a flower from the kibbutz we stayed at in the north of Israel, Kfar Blum. An expert in the comments (see below) has declared this a nerium oleander.

Bulldozer Attack in Jerusalem

Another one. I read it first on Muqata. Now it’s on the Jerusalem Post.

Tel Dan and a bus

Above is a photo taken by Middle Son of me enjoying the cool wading pool at Tel Dan. This was supposed to be a post called: “Easy Hikes in Tel Dan.” Tel Dan offers both natural wonders and archaeological finds. However, due to the fire last week in the Tel Dan Nature Reserves, I bring you this conversation between two of my children (it’s not their exact words, but the dialogue as I remember it):

Middle Son: Why would anyone do something like that?
Eldest Son: Why would anyone blow up a bus or a cafe?
Middle Son: But they could enjoy the nature.
Eldest Son: They could enjoy the bus, too.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the nature reserves will re-open this week; however, as one-third of the forest was destroyed, it will take many years for those parts to grow back.

Kosher Cooking Carnival

Kosher Cooking Carnival #32: the the look but you better not eat edition is up over at Soccer Dad’s (It was a fast day yesterday, but now that’s over, so eat, kinderlach, eat).

I will be hosting in August, so please post recipes, thoughts on food, restaurant reviews, anything food-related as long as it’s kosher.
For more details, read Batya’s post, who coordinates the Kosher Cooking Carnival.

I posted the answer to the Cookie Contest in the comments to that post.

And because I love showing off photos, here’s more Kfar Blum breakfast, the kibbutz hotel we stayed out in the north of Israel. For the salad lovers, we had:

And for the all-American kids like my son (and their mothers who had to taste and decided these were the best pancakes she had ever eaten):

A critter of Rosh HaNikra

I was excited to capture this photo when we visited Rosh HaNikra, Israel. At first I declared: a scorpion! However, my son corrected me and said it was merely a crab. Good to have smart kids to set you straight.

Other animals have been posted around the world this weekend: visit at Camera-Critters.

Jerusalem in Ruins

Over 2000 years ago, Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces breached the walls of Jerusalem after many years of siege. So today observant Jews around the world fast, a fast called the 17th of Tammuz. It is hard for me to be sad on this day; my family greatly enjoyed visiting Jerusalem recently, and I had the opportunity to photograph ruins such as this one. But I can be contemplative. Yes, contemplative, that is a good word for today.

Jameel has more bad stuff that happened today. And hope for redemption.

Project Black Flowers ‘n Candles

I did the bottom one first. See all my Project Black posts. The top flowers are from a photo at Latrun, a military museum in Israel. The bottom flowers are from my friends’ backyard in Hashmonaim, Israel. The flowers are their neighbors and are draping over the wall in their backyard.

A similar theme in watercolor, no black at all.

What’s Project Black? Visit Anna’s blog.

Cookie Contest

What kind of cookie is this?

Buried in my brown rice post, I asked if you could guess the kind of cookie in the photo. Since no one guessed, I’m re-asking the question in its own post.

So, nu, what kind of cookie is that?

Ruby Tuesday: My Boys

My boys playing in the sand at the end of our visit to at Givat Hatachmoshet (Ammunition Hill), Jerusalem, a bloody 1967 battle site turned museum

Thank you to Westbankmama for suggesting we visit this place.

For more red Ruby Tuesday posts, visit Mary the Teach at Work of the Poet.

In Search of Brown Rice

I like brown rice. When I am home, I eat it every other day or so. I grew up eating white rice; I didn’t even know brown rice existed. My relationship with brown rice started when my mother, z”l, of blessed memory, got sick. I was introduced to brown rice for health reasons, but it became part of my routine because I like the stuff. And it likes me, meaning it’s easy on my digestive system (I can’t say the same for homemade challah, one of my favorite foods, that stuffs me up).

So after being in Israel for almost a week, I still hadn’t eaten any brown rice. There are so many culinary delights to sample in Israel, that I wasn’t thinking much about the lack of brown rice. But it’s lunch time, we are in a little square in the old city section of Tsefat, and what do I see:

The Hebrew on the right is pretty much a translation of the English on the left. For example, there’s this long word there which says ‘sanvichim’ (I’m going to let someone who doesn’t know Hebrew guess what that means). Basically, the way to say “brown rice” is “rice full”. Because that’s really what brown rice is, full rice: they haven’t yet stripped it of its nutrients.

Not that I learned how to say brown rice in Hebrew while I was in Israel. The woman behind the counter spoke a heavily British-accented Hebrew, so I knew it would be more than OK to make our requests in English. Here’s the simple dish that my husband and I enjoyed:

Now, you might be thinking, wait, she’s got those three kids with her. Do you mean to tell me she convinced her three kids to eat that stuff?

Have no fear, ladies and gents, for in the same square, adjoining the Tree of Life restaurant, was this little food stand (click so you can read the signs):

And my kids enjoyed a familiar food they ate a lot in Israel: pizza. The variety of pizza they sampled on our journey was of varying quality, with this pizza being one of the better ones. The same stand also had fresh squeezed orange juice, and my son helped the young man with the long hair (long hair seems to be in vogue among twentyish young men in Israel; I wonder if it’s a reaction to the army) squeeze out some delicious juice with an old-fashioned juicer.

My next opportunity to enjoy brown rice in Israel came towards the end of our trip, when we visited Jerusalem. My children had the audacity to want to eat at a kosher Burger King, and I happily stumbled upon the Village Green when they were done with their burgers and fries. The Village Green had been recommended to me by a Highland Park friend who visits Israel often (more often than I do, anyway). When you’ve been eating out for close to two weeks, it is fun to be able to choose your food in this sort of display:

We ate at the Village Green twice because we liked it so much. My husband preferred this food to some of the saucier, fancier food we ate elsewhere. Here’s what I ate on my second visit:

Can you guess what kind of cookie is pictured in this photo? If you look carefully at the placemat, you’ll see the address of the restaurant: 33 Rechov Yaffo (Rechov means “street”).

Do you like brown rice? Or would you choose something different from one of these menus?