A Tiny Clothing Manifesto, Passover Calculus and Food Friday

That's right folks, three topics in one post.

One of my readers often asks me why I don't make haute couture clothing, meaning garments made with lots of complicated and invisible on the outside, inner structure. The simple answer is that I don't wear those sort of garments---by choice.

What I do love to make and wear are garments that are as comfortable as pajamas and can be worn for a range of occasions.

Before we left on our west coast trip I made a trio of new dresses and also brought along another three or four dresses. We were away for twenty one days. We had a range of different activities we participated in from attending synagogue, going to a few fancy dinners, just roaming around. We experienced several different kinds of weather from close to freezing to warm enough to go out without even a light sweater.

All of the dresses I made were worn multiple times, with the exception of the sequin dress I made to wear to the wedding---that one I only wore once.

This dress on the other hand, a simple tube of synthetic suede with a wide cowl neck was worn over and over throughout or trip.

In the photo above you see it with a sequin shrug for a fancy dinner. I wore it with warm sweaters and scarves and with a cute little mesh and leather zip up jacket. I have also worn this dress to scrub the floor, go grocery shopping, attend funerals and synagogue services.

These are the kinds of clothes I love to make and wear.

So what did I make for the trip?

A simple A-line dress in a loose nubbly blue and white knit.

A green and white printed knit. I had cut the front too small so I inserted a panel into a center front. I deliberately cut the panel from a different part of the pattern to create a bit more visual interest. I had thought that I would need brighter clothing for Santa Barbara. I hadn't realized that the local dress code is darker colors for the winter months.

Finally, my vacation new dress collection was rounded out by this dress, a paisley knit that can be worn off the shoulder or on.

Both print dresses are made out of fabric made for a Hawaii based designer.

The clothing that I make fits my life. It isn't haute couture, ( which I would wear seldom or never) but it works for me.

Now for Passover Calculus---

My usual Passover prep schedule has been upended by the fact that we are sponsoring a Kiddush for our synagogue next Shabbat. Of course I am cooking ( along with Sara our co host). Rather than working my way to Old Mother Hubbard's pantry with dwindling supplies so I can start Passover cooking---this Wednesday I am filling my larder full with food that will be lunch for 150 people. served next Shabbat.

I am not at this moment going to be talking about the cookies I am making for a celebration in my building this Monday evening.

My daughter and son in law are coming next Sunday to help me switch the house over the Passover mode. That's great... because i can't do it on my own,but I hadn't scheduled my big Passover shop until a few days later.

I can't cook food that isn't yet in my house. I can't ask my kids to help with the switch during the week because they have actual jobs.

After feeling my head go into tilt over and over I realized that I could get my soup going right after we get the house switched over next Sunday---provided that I get the soup bones delivered before we switch over the house.

OK, I paid too much for the bones but they arrive next Thursday and I can figure out the rest later.

Tonight we are eating beef stew. If I hadn't added enough flavor we can always add some gochujang at the table.

Shabbat Shalom and a bit of a preview for the season.

מְחַיֵּה הַמֵּתִים

וְנֶאֱמָן אַתָּה לְהַחֲיוֹת מֵתִים: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה מְחַיֵּה הַמֵּתִים You are faithful to restore the dead to life. Blessed are You, Adonoy, Resurrector of the dead. That particular line is recited at every single prayer service every day three times a day, unless you use a Reform or Reconstructionist prayer book . In those liturgies instead of praising God for resurrecting the dead God is praised for giving life to all. I am enough of a modern woman, a modern thinker, to not actually believe in the actual resurrection of the dead. I don't actually expect all of the residents of the Workmen's Circle section of Mount Hebron cemetery in Queens to get up and get back to work at their sewing machines. I don't expect the young children buried here or the babies buried here to one day get up and frolic. Yet, every single time I get up to lead services I say those words about the reanimating of the dead with every fiber of my being. Yesterday, I e...

Connecting with the past

A few months ago I had a craving for my father’s chicken fricassee. If my father were still alive I would have called him up and he would have talked me through the process of making it. My father is no longer alive so I turned to my cookbooks and the recipes I found for chicken fricassee were nothing at all like the stew of chicken necks, gizzards and wings in a watery sweet and sour tomato sauce that I enjoyed as a kid. I assumed that the dish was an invention of my father’s. I then attempted to replicate the dish from my memory of it and failed. A couple of weeks ago I saw an article on the internet, and I can’t remember where, that talked about Jewish fricassee and it sounded an awful lot like the dish I was hankering after. This afternoon I went to the butcher and picked up all of the chicken elements of the dish, a couple of packages each of wings, necks and gizzards. My father never cooked directly from a cook book. He used to re...

The light themed tallit has been shipped!!!

I had begun speaking to Sarah about making her a tallit in the middle of August. It took a few weeks to nail down the design. For Sarah it would have been ideal if the tallit were completed in time for her to wear it on Rosh HaShanah., the beginning of her year as senior rabbi of her congregation. For me, in an ideal world, given the realities of preparing for the High Holidays I would have finished this tallit in the weeks after Sukkot. So we compromised and I shipped off the tallit last night. I would have prefered to have more time but I got the job done in time. This tallit was made to mark Sarah's rise to the position of senior rabbi but it was also a reaction to this year of darkness. She chose a selection of verses about light to be part of her tallit. 1) אֵל נוֹרָא עֲלִילָה God of awesome deeds ( from a yom kippur Liturgical poem) 2) אוֹר חָדָשׁ עַל־צִיּוֹן תָּאִיר May You shine a new light on Zion ( from the liturgy) 3) יָאֵר יְהֹ...

sarah in nyc

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