Let it snow, let it snow

February 16, 2012 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

It’s pouring outside and we Jerusalemites are praying for a snowy weekend. I know, that’s odd to those of you who spend much of the winter months digging yourselves out from winter snow, scraping your car windshields, hoping that you won’t have the kids home for yet another snow day.

But the benefit of living in a fairly snow-free climate is that when it does snow that once a winter, if once a winter, it’s absolutely magical. The world around us turns quiet, as no one has snow tires or shovels. You hear the sounds of kids playing in the snow, you see your neighbors taking walks, kicking their heels in the white stuff. There are people who drive in from nearby cities and towns, looking to take part in our weather delight. It doesn’t last all that long and it’s usually gone within the course of a day.

I’m really hopeful this time, as I just received a press release from Mayor Nir Barkat’s office that he’s visiting the municipality’s Snow Preparedness Center, including a photo-op this afternoon with him posing next to the city’s emergency equipment-including snow plows and salt trucks. I think there’s just one snow plow, but still, hope springs eternal.

Here are some glimpses of our snowy city that last time it happened, back in 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ISRAEL21cdotcom?feature=mhee#p/search/0/Lz61TnDurRk

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A green valentine

February 14, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: education, Entertainment, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

Heart-shaped leaves in the gan classroom

So yes, it’s Valentine’s Day. And I’m undecided about how I feel now that this Hallmark holiday — okay, with Roman roots — seems to have reached Israel’s shores. Sure, what’s the big deal? Always a good thing to celebrate love, whether it’s for a loved one, a friend, a family member. Maybe it’s that upbringing of mine in the U.S. that pretty much shunned Valentine’s Day, as a non-Jewish holiday, akin to Halloween. I tend to think it’s silly, that you should think about love and showing it every day of the year, even when it’s tough to do.

So I wasn’t thinking about roses or chocolates, even when I heard more than radio announcer talking about it, or saw more than one person walking down the street with bouquets of red flowers.

But then my kids’ ganenet showed me a tree branch that she brought into school with her today. She’s a kibbutznik, third generation I believe, and loves to walk from her house in Kibbutz Ramat Rachel to the gan, about a 15-minute walk, checking out trees and flowers and all kinds of flora and fauna along the way. That’s where she finds cool nature items that she then works into her playtime with the kids, as well as their arts and crafts.

The branch was full of green, heart-shaped leaves, really perfect hearts, but in a lovely, mossy green, not the kitschy, cherry red that we’re so accustomed to over Valentine’s Day. She knows how much I appreciate her finds, and thought I’d like this one too, which I did. They also cut out heart shapes from apple skins for snacktime, and while I could have lived without that, I can live with it too.

So happy Valentine’s Day. It doesn’t have to be about loving a life partner, but maybe just loving parts of life.

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Breakfast freedom

February 12, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: education, Food, General, health, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Science 

The other day, I was at a fave Jerusalem coffee stop in San Simon, Cafe Agnon, named for S.Y. (pronounded Shay) Agnon Street, the street upon which it’s situated, and more relevant, the author S.Y. Agnon, who actually lived in my neighborhood once up on a time. I had just dropped off my kids and husband, and was on my way to a work meeting, but wanted a quick cuppa and something to eat as I’d missed breakfast.

Cafe Agnon has plenty of enticing looking breakfast snacks, including borekas, croissants, strudel-y things, but, sigh, I know better than to go there and eat one of those, as they’re just fattening and not all that filling. So instead, I chose a carob energy bar from a selection of homemade bars, smiling ruefully at the woman who was next in line and had also ordered a coffee and chosen the healthy bar option.

I commented to her, “Ein ta’am.” Meaning, there’s no point in eating one of the more fattening choices, because it’s just a slippery slope to eating more than one and losing the diet battle. We both laughed and said, together, “Yesh ta’am.” Meaning, well, of course those pastries have taste, utilizing the other translation of ta’am, which is taste.

I walked away, smiling, having had one of those good Hebrew moments, which is so gratifying. And then, I read great news from Tel Aviv University, about eating fattening foods for breakfast:

Seems that dessert, “as part of a balanced 600-calorie breakfast that also includes proteins and carbohydrates,” can help dieters lose more weight.

The key is to indulge in the morning, when the body’s metabolism is at its most active and we are better able to work off the extra calories throughout the day, say Prof. Daniela Jakubowicz, Dr. Julio Wainstein and Dr. Mona Boaz of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Diabetes Unit at Wolfson Medical Center, and Prof. Oren Froy of Hebrew University Jerusalem.

Attempting to avoid sweets entirely can create a psychological addiction to these same foods in the long-term, explains Prof. Jakubowicz. Adding dessert items to breakfast can control cravings throughout the rest of the day. Over the course of a 32 week-long study, detailed in the journal Steroids, participants who added dessert to their breakfast — cookies, cake, or chocolate — lost an average of 40 lbs. more than a group that avoided such foods. What’s more, they kept off the pounds longer.

Like that, right? I’ll be nibbling on some delectable ma’afe (pastry) with my next coffee. Feel free to join me.

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Tu B’shvat was here

February 9, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Environment, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness 

The Levinski market in TLV (photo credit: FreeIsraelPhotos.com)

Tu B’shvat, Israel’s Arbor Day, is finally behind us, and I say finally because I just have to separate myself from dried-fruit-feasting. There comes a point when you cannot look at another dried fig or date, and I’m glad that the moment has arrived.

Seriously, though, a one-day, minor holiday became a four-day celebration in our life and my kids’ gan, beginning Tuesday, into the actual day on Wednesday, and then bringing home the ‘fruits’ of creation today, including ‘potted’ trees made of styrofoam peanuts and the de rigeur plastic cup full of dates, figs and raisins. To complete the season, tomorrow is the gan trip to a citrus fruit orchard at Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, where they will sum up a month-long lesson plan on trees, fruits and how things grow.

In truth, unless you’re invited to a Tu B’shvat seder or have a child bringing home the signs and symbols of the day — sometimes the only connection you have to Tu B’shvat is seeing and buying mounds of dried fruit (Ynet reported NIS 200 million in sales of dried fruit over the holiday) from the store. Unless you actually went out and planted a tree, as many do, really. But despite my gentle cynicism, it’s been interesting to note its comings and goings and see how people relate to it.

I noted on Facebook that some of my more religious friends were discussing the issue of eating dried fruit as opposed to fresh fruit on Tu B’shvat. This blogger comments that we eat dried fruit because our ancestors did, given the lack of fresh fruit during the winter, when Tu B’shvat is celebrated. Makes sense, and as I passed a carob tree on the way home, I picked a piece off — it’s not really the season now — and munched on it.

And, in the spirit of the day, I took myself out to our backyard, where I haven’t spent much time lately, and wandered around, appreciating the fresh pink blossoms on the peach tree and the various winter bulbs that are starting to peek out of the ground. The shkedia, the almond tree, that is sung about during Tu B’shvat is in full bloom right now, and there are pink-blossomed trees all over the place.

Finally, I am thinking about making this chicken recipe, or a version of it, for dinner on Friday night, even though it’s days after the actual ‘chag’, it’s still good to celebrate. As the Israelites like to say, ‘siba l’mesiba’, a reason for a party.

From Cookkosher.com via Ha’aretz:

Tu Bishvat dried fruit chicken rollup
Prep time: 20 minutes
Level: Medium
Serving/Yields: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
4 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts (double)
¾ cup diced assorted dried fruit (apricots, dates, raisins, figs)
4 tbsp pine nuts
2 eggs
½ tsp paprika
1 cup flavored cornflake crumbs
Oil, for frying

Preparation:
1. Pound each double chicken breast thin, and set them aside.
2. Combine diced dried fruit with the pine nuts and set aside.
3. In a bowl, beat the eggs with a fork. Mix in, adding paprika, and set aside.
4. To assemble: Place a pounded chicken cutlet in front of you; position it lengthwise. Place two Tablespoons of dried fruit filling across the middle of the chicken. Roll up the chicken breast tightly and carefully; beginning from the narrower end. Make sure all the filling stays inside.
5. Using both hands, transfer the roll into the beaten egg mixture and then into the cornflake crumbs. Coat it well. Place the roll on a clean surface. You can now secure any ends with 1 or 2 toothpicks if necessary.
6. Repeat with the remaining cutlets.
7. Heat the oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot, place the rolls seam side down into the pan. Fry them until they are golden brown, turning the rolls so all sides are done. If necessary you can leave the toothpicks in place.
8. Make sure the flame isn’t too high; you want to be sure that the filling is cooked without burning the outside. When the rollups are ready, remove them from the pan and drain them on paper towel.
9. Let them cool slightly, cut them on a diagonal into round slices, and serve.

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Bebe in Israel

February 6, 2012 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: education, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

Baby in Bamba

It’s the new Tiger Mom. Now it’s not just Chinese mothers who are superior, raising extra-capable, skilled intelligent children, but French mothers too. Oui, oui. A Saturday piece in the Wall Street Journal by Pamela Druckerman ahead of her soon-to-be-published book, “Bringing Up Bebe”, shares some of the secrets of French parenting, including saying no with authority.

Her sidebar of French lessons includes:

Children should say hello, goodbye, thank you and please. It helps them to learn that they aren’t the only ones with feelings and needs.
When they misbehave, give them the “big eyes”—a stern look of admonishment.
Allow only one snack a day. In France, it’s at 4 or 4:30.
Remind them (and yourself) who’s the boss. French parents say, “It’s me who decides.”
Don’t be afraid to say “no.” Kids have to learn how to cope with some frustration.

I chuckled as I read this, because as an American mother in a foreignish land — Druckerman is an American living in Paris — I think about this all the time, wondering if my kids will turn out differently than their American counterparts, or if they’re already different, which they probably are. And if that’s a good thing, or a bad thing.

So if I were to look at that list and the general tendencies of Israeli kids, I’d say the following:
1) They know to say hello, not so great at goodbye, thank you when prompted and please, well, it depends.
2) Big eyes on misbehaving? Interesting idea, but I am Jewish, and, now, Israeli. Yelling comes naturally.
3) One snack a day? Lol. This is Israel, where snacks are built-in to the educational system. Moreover, parents think nothing of putting raspberry-flavored water in their bottles, chocolate spread sandwiches for lunch and Bamba for snacks.
4) Who’s the boss? Oh, they know. I think.
5) Saying no. That, I agree with. Just gotta be brave.

So, I would venture to say that the French rules of thumb make sense, but you know, so much depends on where you live and what’s going on around you. This is a land that worships children, where every kind of restaurant has highchairs and people schlep their kids everywhere. Do Israelis spoil their children because they know they’ll be going into the army in 18 years? I’m not quite sure, but I’d be happy to hear from anyone out here.

Comment away.

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