sarah in nyc

Finally. I’m done.   The names are calligraphed onto the front cover.   Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the lettering to be that easy to read. there are too many competing elements. If you look carefully under the correct light the letters emerge. Stitching the book together was easier than I had anticipated. Just a line of straight stitching did the job.   Adding just a bit to the cover worked like a dream. Happy secular new year to all.

One of the many wonderful things about having my older son living home is that he likes to cook. This week he offered to make part of the meal. He claimed, or as those of us who grew up in Boston say, hosied the Challah.  The roasted broccoli was a joint effort. The chicken was made with flavor consultation with said son. There are the chicken and the challah passing one another on the stove top. The challah is egged up and is waiting for the oven to hit 425.  Once the challah is in the oven I lower the temperature to 385. This is one of my father’s rules for excellent bread baking.  I take this teaching on faith. Actually, you end up with a really nice crust if you start the bread off with a high heat. The chicken is made with Herbes de Provence   and some hefty squeezes of fresh lime. I had a tomato in the fridge so I chopped it up into the bottom of the chicken pan. I guess I could have done something fussier, but you don’t get much yummier than this. ...

One of the nice thing about being married ( and there are many) is that my husband will often offer his two cents on a piece that I’m working on .   I was ready to simply edge the pages on the Shabbat table book and sew them together. But my husband kept asking me, “ What! No cover????”   So, I spent a chunk of today obsessively painting on velvet.   I think that the cover will look pretty with the interior This also lets you know that my husband and I have a vastly different marriage than his parents did.  If my father in law would suggest something to my mother in law her usual response would be that he didn’t know anything.   I think my husband may have been right. Tomorrow I will finish the construction. The photos I posted of my kids got me in a sentimental mood and here is a photo taken of me with my two older sisters in a horse drawn carriage in Montreal. I was ten or eleven in this photo. Let me know if you remember me ( o...

Perhaps my daughter was feeling a bit sentimental. Or perhaps it is because complicated braids are now in vogue, but my daughter asked me to braid her hair into a complicated braid.   It’s been a really long time since I have done anything like this for my daughter. The hair braiding used to be part of our daily morning ritual. We probably haven’t done this for seven or eight years. And while the camera was out, my older son was sitting in the living room.  He has the same square head my father had. I know that the term blockhead is often derogatory, but you could easily replace my son’s head with a cube.  He may have a block head, but he does not act like one.  I love how his face and body create so many right angles. I don’t just spend al of my time admiring my kids. I also think I have finished transferring all of the texts for the table book.   Since this book is a wedding gift, I had discussed using verses from the Song of Songs with my ...

I completed the texts for the front of the fabric book and the back. So far I have transferred the blessings for candle lighting, the blessing of the children a traditional candle lighting techina , prayer of supplication Birkat ha mazon   the post meal prayer the psalm that is traditionally recited before that prayer on Shabbat and holidays Psalm 23 I still have to select some more texts and transfer others. I ran into the bride to be on Broadway  yesterday. Seeing her gave me some ideas about the fabrics to use to bind the piece. I did not spill the beans  about this piece. My feeling is to let he be surprised. My cooking is nearly done for Shabbat. Last week one of our guests asked me what I had used to spice the meatballs. I realized that I had completely forgotten.  My older son wandered into the kitchen as I was about to put the chicken in the oven and I realized that I was no longer sure. I believe that I used allspice, smoked paprika, black p...

  As of Friday, I had the raw yardage my son had chosen for his sweater.   Yesterday, I made the sweater. I based it off of one of his dress shirts. my son and I had several conversations about the shape he was looking for in this sweater.   My son discovered that the fabric was not so comfortable against his skin so I cobbled together a lining for the sleeves ad the upper torso, after I had sewn the sweater together.  Luckily the sweater fabric had lots of drape ( as did the lining).   My son likes how the sweater matches his silver pants. Because I learned how to sew after my kids were born and had a whole lot to learn before I began to make clothing, I realize that my youngest probably has had more of his clothing sewn by me than either of his older siblings. My husband has a fear of having his clothing being conspicuous. Clearly my youngest has not inherited this worry.

  The challot are nearly done.  Tonight’s dinner is part of an experiment by my synagogue where members are encouraged to invite others to their Shabbat table. We are happy to participate.  It isn’t much different for us than a regular Shabbat. Three of our guests are people we know and have invited before. One of our guests is new to us. It ought to be a nice evening.   Here is your warning that the topic is about to change. My cousin is getting married next fall . It will be a Long Island wedding. My youngest was sitting next to me as I was looking at some sale fabric from Fabric Mart . I was debating if I should buy some great sequined fabric to make a dress to wear at the wedding. It cost about 1/4 of what I have been seeing it selling for in the garment district. My son told me to buy it. I’m not going to turn it into a dress until next summer, but I’m ready for that wedding.  I don’t think I would have chosen a ready to wear dress in this fa...

This is where I went to school from first to twelfth grade. Classes were small.Really small. There were 28 in my graduating class. I was pretty miserable for most of my time there. I was often bullied or picked on. I spent most of my time there on full alert.   I have mostly not kept in touch with my classmates. I reluctantly went to my 30th reunion. It took me that long to not feel completely freaked out about going back.   Last night I attended an event for New York area alums. I had gone last year and had reconnected with one of my older sister’s friends…one of those people who makes you feel safe just by her warm hello.  She called me a few days ago so we could attend  together.   Last night a few of us were sitting together. Amy, who graduated two years behind me suddenly remarked, “ Sarah, your class was just the worst. People were so awful in your class. Your class was just terrible!.”   I felt like Amy had given me a gift. Li...

After a few false starts…. Photocopier toner and printer toner has changed formulation over the past few years making doing photo transfers an entirely new adventure. Luckily the photocopy place around the corner has a machine with toner  that works for my specifications.   I’m pretty pleased with the results. There are many more texts to go, but it’s nice to no longer feel completely frustrated. I’m choosing old fashioned clunky types on purpose.  Most of the prayer books that I’m selecting from were set in type in the 1920’s or earlier.

  Among the treasures I inherited from my friend Vivian is a set of  two doilies.  I’m terribly fond of them and use them fairly often.   While many of these sorts of small embroidered clothes embellished with eyelet embroidery and crochet lace are professionally made, these two are not.   Note how the embroidery motif has nothing to do with the shape of the cloth. In fact if you look at it too hard you might get a bit dizzy. The eyelets are uneven. The whole thing looks like it was made by someone who was slightly tipsy. Actually, it was probably made by a child who was struggling the whole time she was working away at it. I admire the hard work and frankly the struggle that is so evident in the two doilies. I hope that the hard working maker improved with age and experience. I know I have.   The two doilies are finished nicely with tidy hemming and a froth of crochet lace. I’m guessing that  the froth was added to make a flawe...