A math problem and Shavuot cookery for the short of time

First the math problem:

I am working on finishing up Linda's tallit. There are four panels of ribbons each need to be sewn into the tallit facing the right direction.

How many possible errors can I make before the tallit is completed?

The answer is not yet complete but I have unstiched three times so far, and yes, This is with a three step zig zag stitch. If you can intuit that I am now feeling cranky then you have earned yourself a gold star.

Which leads me to the second part of this blog posting. Shavuot begins tonight. If I were not quite so stressed for time I would be making blintzes right now.

Because I like my readers I will share a terrific recipe with you. Most mid-century Jewish community cookbooks will have a recipe for something called blintz souffle. That is a couple of packages of frozen blintzes covered with a mixture of sour cream eggs and sugar and then baked. This is not real food. Don't bother making that dish.

About 24 years ago we went on a family vacation to Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston is a great place to visit and I strongly suggest that you go. One of the highlights of that trip was our Friday night at Kahal Kodesh Beth Elohim, one of the oldest synagogues in North America.

The service itself was fabulous, it was very High Church Reform. The service was both very formal in the manner of very old fashioned classical Reform services and also incredibly spiritually moving. After services they had the kind of Oneg Shabbat that I hadn't seen since my childhood complete with giant bowls filled with punch ( not just a few cans of High -C but a careful concoction made out of various kinds of bug juice as well as sodas , fruit juices and lots of pretty stuff floating on top) and lots of intricately layered jello molds. While their gift shop was not open for sales some of the goods were available for browsing. I happened upon their community cookbook and fell in love.

We went back later in the week to buy me a copy. The cook book had of the usual mid century community cookbook staples of mixtures of lots of things from cans heated up with Velveeta cheese. They also had the largest collection of recipes made with crayfish and other shell fish I have ever seen in any cookbook. Additionally as an old Jewish community there were also lots of really good old time heirloom Jewish recipes.

When I first saw this recipe

I assumed that it was that old standard take a couple of boxes of ready made blintzes and drown them in sour cream sugar and eggs, bake and then pretend that you actually cooked something.

I realized that this is actually the real deal, Two layers of dough surrounding a layer of sweet cheese.

This is easy enough for a grade-school child to make with minimal supervision. You can serve it with cooked summer fruit or with fresh berries. Frozen blintzes are nearly always pretty terrible- with the exception of the well named Taam Tov blintzes ( taam tov means good taste) that are available in some of your frummer kosher markets.

Last Shavuot my friend Debbie taught me that one of the big reasons we eat so much dairy on Shavuot is that Shavuot coincides with the time that dairy farmers wean the newly born calves and kids and get them to eat grass and hay. There is an over abundance of milk at this season so it makes sense to eat blintzes and cheesecake

I have to go back to sewing and hopefully my error making time is over for this project.

Enjoy your Shavuot and your blintzes or cheese cake..

Barukh Dayan HaEmet - Blessed be the True Judge

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sarah in nyc

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