Knit One, “Pearl” Two

Summer.  Yes, it’s hot out there.  Summer in the Middle East, really hot out there.  Summer in Ra’anana, hot, muggy and uncomfortably hot out there.  So what are the two things that relax me the most in the summer?  I like to slave over a hot stove, I like to bake things in the oven, and I like to knit and crochet.  Granted, the AC needs to be working.  Without the AC my favorite thing to do in the summer is to lie supine in bed, in a coma.  Wake me in November.

Chatting with Miriyummy: Yaara Di Segni

Meet Yaara Di Segni.  I have.  Yaara is one of my food friends that I actually have met in real life, and she’s become more than a foodie contact on the Internet, she’s become a good friend.  We get together for sushi, we meet up for breakfast, and we actually have conversations that have nothing to do with food.  With my one-track mind (stay out of this, Ju-Boy, I’m talking about food), that is an amazing feat in and of itself, especially that Yaara and I first met online, almost 20 years ago on a wonderful listserv called Foodwine.  Foodwine still exists, and many of the originals are still hanging out in what they call the Cave, but I am long gone, with Yaara as a cherished souvenir.

Yaara and her delicious family: Better Half Paul, Gorgeous Ziv and the Splendid Sivan

Bloggers’ Day Out — Gush Etzion Winery — July 2011

It was a glorious Friday morning a little over a week ago when Ju-Boy and I set out for the wilds of Petach Tikva to pick up the marvelous Mimi of Israeli Kitchen… wait a minute, haven’t we done this before?  As the late (and great) Yogi Berra once said, it’s deja vu all over again!  [Edit:  Oops, Yogi’s still kicking, thanks Abby, sorry Yogi… blushing…]  Yes, it was that same glorious Friday morning, but after we had viewed, tasted, tippled and nibbled at the food expo at the Lone Tree Brewery in Neve Daniel, a bunch of us decided a little wining and dining was in order, and we made our way to the Gush Etzion Winery.  I ended up getting even more than what I came for…

Chatting with Miriyummy: Irmgard Upmanis

Meet Irmgard Upmanis.  I first “met” Irmgard in 2003 when she joined Recipezaar.  She quickly became an active member with some yummy recipes.  We chatted on site, we chatted off site, we became Facebook friends, and when I started up Miriyummy Irmgard was one of my very first readers.  I can always depend on her for a good joke.  After over 20 years of getting email jokes (I got the Mrs. Field’s cookie story/recipe just last week, for the 23,697th time!), Irmgard always manages to find a new one to send me.

Anyone who posts a recipe for Nutella Banana Bread is worth meeting, right?

Fish on the Beach

Last night was the start of the Hebrew month of Av.  With the nine day countdown to Tisha B’Av, we put aside all thoughts of chickens, cows and lambs and turn to the sea, literally…

Can You Hear Me Calling?

Meet my Aunt Zipora (sitting with my Didi). My Aunt Zipora and Uncle Erich made aliya in 1949, when Israel was less than one year old.