sarah in nyc

of challah covers, that is.  I will often start a few challah covers in a small batch. Although the text is identical, and I used the same colors in each one they each at this point look closely related, yet not identical. My three kids have lots of similarities to one another, but you wouldn’t mistake one for the other.   My two sisters and I certainly do look related and yet we are never mistaken for one another. At this point I may think that one of the challah covers is the best one. But between now and the time that they are complete one of the less obviously attractive ones in the batch may very well end up being the star.

  As I began baking my challah today I thought about the three teens kidnaped in Israel. I thought about their families waiting, hoping to hear good news.   I also thought that by this time in my in box there would be a couple of emails asking me to think about the welfare of these boys as I did the ritual “taking of challah”.  Taking challah is one of the 613 mitzvot/commandments that is specifically given to women. There is a tradition that prayers offered by women while doing these mitzvot  are extra powerful.   Over the years I have received requests asking me to keep particular people in  mind as I make my challah. Truth be told, I often hold two opposite beliefs in my head at the same time when confronted with such a request.   One thought is deeply moved by the prayerful thoughts of lots of different people working together. I remember how when I was in eighth grade, during the Yom Kippur war we were plaintively led by Rabbi Simo...

I made this dress this afternoon. The lace began life as my living room curtain about twenty years ago. The curtain was a really early sewing project for me. It was one of a pair. I was always fond of the fabric. I have been noticing lots of lace dresses made with brightly contrasting linings. OK so that was the genesis of the idea. I also have a huge fabric stash. Sometimes it feels good just to use some of it up. I started by copying a basic dress.   The shape  of the dress was this. The lace had a finished selvedge edge. it would be silly to not use such a pretty hem as the dress hem. That finished hem meant that it made more sense to cut the dress with a straighter shape. more like this:   I cut the lace to the dress shape and a piece of hot pink Swiss dot cotton for the lining to the right shape. I sewed the lining to the lace.The starting dress was a knit. Everyone who knows anything about sewing knows that a dress with no stretch has to be cut b...

Today I’m supposed to meet some out of town relatives. The weather is dicey here in New York so I’m not sure exactly when I am to meet up with my relatives across town. I thought it was wise to cook right after I woke up. I made chicken with left over red wine, the dregs of the mustard jar and some rosemary.   I also rough cut some sweet potatoes , put olive oil in the pan and sprinkled with black pepper, cinnamon and ginger.I had to put the pan away in the fridge because otherwise I would have eaten the whole pan piece by piece. As always, my life is not just cooking, and not just client work.   My youngest needed a new batch of boxer shorts. I made him five pairs. I taught myself how to sew soon after my older son was born. While I have made clothing for all three of my kids, my youngest has benefitted from the fact that I had a few more years of sewing under my belt by the time I began making him clothing. With the exception of two pairs of novelty boxer...

Y came by yesterday  with her mother to pick up her tallit and to tie the tzitzit. As I have mentioned before, she’s a quiet kid.   Her face was so completely  lit up  when she saw the tallit that I knew that I had  nailed it. The silk tussah has enough grip to it so the tallit is easy to wear once  it is folded into place. Wearing a slippy tallit is annoying and distracting.   The stripe pattern reads like a traditional tallit, despite the imagery not being exactly traditional.   I like that it has appeal both far away and close up. I look forward to seeing this tallit on Y this Shabbat.

This week two things that I have been doing regularly since about 1990 come to an end. Since 1990 I have been waking up early to get one or another of my children up and ready for school. I discovered early in in my time as a parent that if I got up earlier than my children I would be far pleasanter to them. If I was both waking up myself and trying to shepherd them out the door I would be mean and cranky. If I had  a half hour or so to ingest a bit of caffeine and clear out some of the cobwebs from my head it was far more likely to get everyone out the door with no tears. Amazon.com Widgets Mornings are a misery for my husband, so this part of the day with the kids became mine.One of my sons once described how pleasant it was to sleepily grunt across the breakfast table at one another. The other task that is coming to an end this week is making lunch for my kids. I have been doing that since 1991 or 2. If your count the snacks packed for playground outings then you need ...

Today was one of those perfect days that I think of as being California weather.  It was warm, but not too warm. the air was soft and not muggy enough to create any misery.   The sky looked like an overly saturated post card. We might get three or four days like this in a year. I always assumed that if we  could count on weather like this coming fifteen days a year New Yorkers would but much much mellower and more polite.   Unfortunately, my only time outside was picking up a bit more food.   After celebrating two days of Shavuot it is now time for making Shabbat dinner. We are eating yet another dairy meal. I made pink beet noodles.   I combined then with the kale noodles I made for the second night of Shavuot, and made a pot of lokshen mit kaese, noodles with farmer cheese. There is a big pan of salmon in the oven. I’m making a big salad. I just realized that this dinner is entirely pink and green exactly like Lily Pu...

  This is the Torah from Sinai, or at least as given by Adele in a Shavuot about forty years ago. I wrote out this recipe card in the 1980’s. The following is the torah sh’baal peh – the oral tradition of blintz making. Bletlach or pancakes   Mix and pour Trim if needed stack on tea towel Continue stacking… Cover bletlach with tea towel and make filling. Filling You can vary the cheeses. You want a mix of curdy  grainy and lush/creamy.   You also want to add some, but not a ton of sugar. I think I added just over a table spoon. This isn’t an American dessert.  It’s slightly sweet but not cloying. You can also add freshly grated orange rind or some cinnamon. This time I added just vanilla and a bit of orange rind. To assemble   Get yourself set up with all the things you need. Put the bletle down cooked side up.   add filling to the middle Fold in the sides Roll from the bottom ...