THE NEXT BEST THING TO FLYING

The next best thing to flying is going to the airport to pick up someone you love. In exactly fifteen hours and thirty minutes my brother Dovidle will be arriving!!! I absolutely cannot wait to see him and hug him. Once a year he comes for two weeks to visit his Israeli relatives--thats US!!!

Dovidle is four years younger than I am and he tells everyone that he didn't start talking till he was almost three because I didn't give him a chance. :)

The truth is that my brother is the best brother/son/husband/father/grandfather of anyone in the Universe. He is the good one! Trust me on that. And I get to be the proud sister.

On top of that is his a clone of our Dad AH...which can be scary sometimes. Everyone loved my Dad and everyone loves my brother. Me the most.

Well, that is not exactly true. Bubbie Channah loves him the best. She does. But he is always quick to remind me that our Dad loved me best. At which point I remind him that Pa is dead.

That is when we sort of giggle and eat something outrageously fattening. Usually it has to do with chocolate or yeast. I have had a yeast infection now for about six decades. OY SIX DECADES.

My Dad used to love halva. Even when he was diagnosed as a diabetic he loved halva. One day when my parents were visiting I went with him to the makolet--the little grocery store that every neighbourhood has here. He bought three bars of halva and began eating as soon as we left the shop.

When I asked him what he was doing, he told me he was measuring. OK. When we got in front of my building he informed me that the distance between the makolet and Bubbie Channah was two and a half halva bars! He was a great guy my Dad.

Nu, so ask me how my Channukah party was. Don't ask! It was that great. Only the immediate family were invited and thirty-five people showed up. And we ate and laughed until midnight.

I made sixty-three potato latkehs...twenty-three sweet potato latkehs...tuna salad...egg salad...avocado salad...tomato and cucumber salad...we had felaffel balls...cheese and potato borekahs...hummus...tehina...eggplant salad...and of course sufganiot...the Israeli version of jelly donuts. And Rena made her famous corn quiche and everyone pigged out...you will excuse my expression.

When they left I crawled into bed and smiled all night.

I am sorry I haven't been online much but I am up to here rewriting Emma. It is so exciting to watch her get better and better...thanks to the brilliance and gentle guidance of my friend/producer/writer/agent/mentor...friend comes first you notice...in California.

Between my writing group here in Jerusalem...boy oh boy do I belong to a humdinger of a writing group...and our leader and great guy David, I am making a dream come true. I am a writer!!! And isn't that special.

Ok, godda go check the cholent. It's supposed to be freezing and rainy and miserable over the weekend and what is better than a good cholent? Here is how I make mine: into a pot that in the olden days would hold a family's washing for a week you put: one good looking turkey leg...a kilo of beef cut into cubes...one cup each of white beans and chick peas which you let sit at least overnight in water to soften...about a half cup of wheat and a quarter of a cup of barley...one or two tablespoons of honey...lots of freshly ground pepper (Rena found a store that sells the new pepper mills that you only need one hand to use and we are having the best time) and I use about a heaping tablespoon of chicken soup powder and the same amount of onion soup powder...you can use salt if you choose...then I added five potatoes cut in half and abou three eggs...fill the pot with boiling water and after it comes to a boil let it simmer till the cows come home. If you don't have any cows then at least for three or four hours and then overnight in the oven or on a shabbes blech or hotplate till lunchtime tomorrow. Trust me on this one...you will LOVE it.

OK godda run. Have to write the next astrology column for the Jerusalm Post and then want to get back to Emma. Once I am finished with the rewrite I hope to be back here more. In the meantime thanks so much for coming to visit and for caring so much.

Shabbat shalom.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.