First, a huge thank you to all my loyal readers and a welcome to the ones who have recently joined me on this wild, mid-life adventure. To backtrack a bit, my husband, teenage son and I moved from a beautiful, sunny suburb of Los Angeles (not the Valley), California for many reasons…. to a beautiful, sunny suburb of Haifa (not the kryot) in Northern Israel. In many ways it was the same: rolling mountains of scrub brush; hot dry summers where the ground scorches to brown/black by the sun followed by cold, windy, wet winters. The houses in both place are mostly white stucco with Mediterranean tile roofs, same as SoCA. Both have gorgeous views from the mountaintops of the Pacific or Mediterranean. Looking out the winter it is all very similar. But once we step outside…..

There were new people to meet – a diversity of cultures from all over the world. We have native Israeli neighbors on one side and Russians on the other. Across the street are South Africans, Moroccans, a few native Israelis and Ethiopians. Two doors down are Arab Christians, and we are soon to be joined by three Arab Muslim families who have bought properties on our street. Add to that two more American families and it is diverse indeed! So there is a lot to absorb: different languages, foods, music and religions all manage to coexist on our street. The driving here is absolutely insane. Even the Los Angeles freeways could not prepare us for Israeli craziness. And my dear husband has become “one of them”. The shopping experience is different. Just about everything has changed for us. Even measurements, weights, temperature and currency. We have had to have a large sense of adventure and a mighty sense of humor.

Israel has proven to be a great launching pad for low-cost flights to Europe. We have been able to travel to Italy, Switzerland, France, Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands and the UK. Something we were never able to do with 5 children. We have so many more trips planned. And we really want to visit Petra in Jordan as well as Egypt. It’s the Indiana Jones in us.

Since moving to Israel, we have loved exploring the archaeological sites, which are everywhere. Biblical, Greek, Roman, Crusader, Ottoman – layers and layers of history are all here! And the little villages, each one with their own vibe. Artsy villages. Goat-herding or cow-raising villages with their own dairies, serving up artisanal cheeses and specialty products. Villages that are high-tech centered. Religious villages. We have Jewish people of all different sects – from the numerous Ultra Orthodox groups to the Reform and Secular-Humanist Jews. Druze, Circassian, Christian (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Maronite, Russian Orthodox, Protestant), Muslim. It’s been a tremendous learning experience. Then there’s the language. Modern Hebrew, resurrected from an ancient holy tongue used for liturgy, worship, and study. The language of the Bible. Only consonants. No vowels. You have to know the context- or make potshot guesses as to how words are pronounced. A modern language now filled with its own idioms and sayings that it seems like only the ‘natives’ understand. I can hold my own on the street, but still have a long way to go to achieve fluency.

Since moving here – it’s been 8 years now- we’ve unfortunately had more than our fair share of medical issues, the biggest being my husband’s cancer diagnosis 4 years ago. Add navigating a whole new medical system in a whole new language to our list of new experiences. We’re pretty much pros now, and know the ropes and much medical vocabulary in Hebrew. John underwent another huuuuuge surgery this past January, and was still in recovery mode when we got the okay from the doc to travel back to the States.

We just returned last week from a no-frills, quick visit for our daughter’s wedding. It was beautiful. A meaningful, fun, restful, immediate family celebration. John and I so enjoyed spending time with our 4 grandkids. My! How they grow! It was wonderful. From there, we spent a few days in Florida with John’s family before the internal infection took over and we had to fly back to Israel and right to Sheba Medical Center.

I have decided not to use this platform to discuss or debate religious or political issues, but I will say when we were in California things were a lot more heated (in the US) than I’ve ever experienced. It wasn’t just the summer weather that has caused deep divisions, shortages, homelessness like we’ve never seen – and skyrocketing prices (although I did manage to shlep home a suitcase full of American bargains and specialty food items). We returned home last week to Israeli protests and demonstrations against (and for) the government and the judicial reforms happening here. Because of the disruptions, John, awaiting another major surgery, has been sent home partially because of major strikes by the labor and service unions.

So now we are home for awhile, and it must be summer. It’s ‘take down the decorative plates and pictures from the walls’ season; ‘store the breakable items…. just in case of missile strikes’ season. Restock the safe room timeIt has become my summer ritual. As the temperatures rise, so does the rhetoric coming from Hizbulla and Hamas. Once again the North is on extra alert and public bomb shelters are being updated and opened in the Northernmost communities. All in all, despite political and religious differences, we remain a united country: when it comes down to it, and our country stands ready to face any external threats.

It’s the intermediate days of summer. We’ve passed the national days of mourning (Tisha b’Av); we just celebrated Tu b’Av, our Biblically-based rendition of Lover’s Day(traditionally a day for proposals of marriage and the fruits and veggies are ripening on the vine. I managed to salvage a smaller-than-anticipated harvest of tomatillos I planted on the balcony garden upstairs. We don’t get authentic Mexican foods, so I bring back Salsa Verde from the States and make my own. This year the tomatillos supplied me with a mere quart and a pint bottle for enchiladas – I also shlepped back 4 packs of corn tortillas!

We have a neighbor who recently moved with her family from Mexico. Lily came over for a few seconds last week to drop off a pot of Mexican Jewish Chicken Soup. She made it “for his digestion. It is good and will heat out the infection.” It was tomato based, with lots and lots of veg- onions, garlic, carrots, celery, squash and about 8 chicken legs falling off the bone. Lots of cumin and Mexican spice like dried peppers and epazote…and noodles. The smell brought me back to Southern California/Arizona. Nice!

When John was in the hospital they served him a typical Israeli carrot salad: grated carrots with vinegar, salt and a pinch of chili peppers. There are so many versions of carrot salad here. It seems everyone has there own favorite recipe dependent upon their country of origin. Those from Sephardic (Spain, Portugal, North Africa) grate their carrots with added lemon or red wine vinegar, cumin, dried chili peppers, olive oil, salt and chopped cilantro. Immigrants from the MidEast countries and Turkey, the Mizrachi Jews enjoy things spicy. So to their shredded carrots they mix in olive oil, lemon juice, and schug, a very spicy red pepper paste, and garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro. Ashkenaz from Northern Europe like things sweet. They shred the carrots with a little lemon juice, but add raisins and honey or a sugar, sometimes nut pieces like pecans, walnuts or cashews. I’ve even had it with canned pineapple thrown in. This is what came over to America and is a more familiar taste there. I have a recipe I enjoy, given to me by a French lady from Tunisia.

French Tunisian Carrot Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 large orange carrots, peeled & grated
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 TBSP red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 cup each, chopped fresh mint & cilantro
• Pinch salt

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy,

The Israelis really take their salads, salatim, seriously. And Americans: food is quite different here. Do NOT think a bowl of lettuce, some assorted toppings and dressing. NO!! Here in Israel a salat is any combination of roasted or raw cut up vegetables. Most are dressed with olive oil and lemon or vinegar and any combination of fresh herbs. The salatim are served for breakfast, lunch and dinner and at all times in between, usually before a meal, sometimes with pita.

Our really good friend Gabi dropped off his version of Israeli salad. It is actually his mother’s recipe. Fresh, bright, and bursting with flavor, we even had it for breakfast with cottage. (In Israel the Israelis love cottage cheese. There was once even a national strike against high cottage prices! which revolutionized the dairy industry and caused prices to come back down. It is pronounced kot’ij and is served at breakfast and for cooking.)

Gabi’s Israeli Salad (serves 4)

The key here, Gabi says, is to cut the veggies very very small.

Ingredients:

• 1 large carrot, peeled, diced small
• 1 slicing cucumber chopped small (leave peel on)
• 3 radishes, chopped small
• 2 tomatoes, seeded & chopped small
• 1 scallion/green onion chopped with white and some green
• 1 small yellow pepper, chopped small
• 1 small/medium red onion, peeled, diced
• 1/2 cup chick peas/garbanzo beans
• The juice of 1 lemon, squeezed, pips removed
• Generous Drizzle olive oil
• Maldon salt sprinkled lightly on top

Mix all ingredients together and place in fridge for about an hour to serve really cold. It doesn’t get any more summery and fresh than this.

When we were in Florida, my sister-in-law served a broccoli salad. I hadn’t had it in years. You know, the quintessential American broccoli with raisins, sunflower seeds, red onion, and lots of sweet slaw dressing. It was fabulous and I hadn’t realized how much I missed it. So when we got home from the hospital, I made a bowl.

Just as I had finished the salad, our Moroccan newborn, Lilach rang the bell. She had heard about John from our next door neighbor, and came laden with a huge pot of Moroccan Jewish Chucken Soup “to heat de way eeenfectsia. It will keeeel all de bugs inside heeem.” Wow. The smell was heady and strong, filling the kitchen with cinnamon, clove, pepper, ginger, anise, cumin, tumeric, and other strong spice. It had shredded chicken and chickpea balls. She gave me 2 lemons to squeeze on top before serving. Lilach was also bearing another Moroccan specialty, a Lentil Salad that looked absolutely gorgeous!!

Since I was the hostess, I offered her a small bowl of my ‘delicious’ broccoli salad. I thought she was going to choke!!!! Her face!!!!!! She spit it out in a napkin. “Eeeeeeewww!!!!! Wot eeeez dis? Eet eeez disgustink!! Eeet eez so sweeeeeeeet! You put cream on de broccoli??? You mishuggeh?” And so it ended. Israelis have a completely different palette than us Westerners. They like their things a lot different. All is can say is that salad she brought over. Wow wow wee wow! As we say! It was seriously out of this world! An umami in my mouth of chewy, crucnchy. A little bit bitter. A little sweet. A little salty. A little minty. A little earthy. I had to get the recipe. Totally protein packed! Totally to die for delicious!

Moroccan Lentil Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 can (15 oz) lentils, drained
• 1 can garbanzo beans/chick peas, drained
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed to bite sizes
• 1 red onion, peeled, diced
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup roasted pecans
• 1/2 cup Kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
• Dressing:
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 lemon, squeezed, pips removed
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp paprika (smoked)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp each, sea salt & freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup silan(date syrup) or brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 200*C/400*F. Place sweet potato cubes in foil. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper. Toss to coat. Seal foil. Place in oven to roast 20 minutes. When done remove from oven and set aside to cool. In large bowl, place lentils, garbanzo beans, chopped veg, cranberries, nuts and olives. Toss to incorporate all ingredients. Add in cooled potatoes and mint. Gently fold in. In a blender or shaker, add in all the dressing ingredients and blend or shake well to create a thick emulsion. Pour over salad. Toss gently but well to mix in all the flavors. Serve as is, or cold. This gets even better the next day!

A favorite Ashkenaz salad that is cooling and delicious is my cucumber salad, that I’ve adapted from my mother’s recipe. It’s good as a side for a dairy meal, or even with breakfast. I slather it on potato, corn or salmon fritters. It’s quite lovely.

Cucumbers in Sour Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 large slicing cucumber, peel left on, sliced very thin
• Small red onion, shaved thin into rings
• 1 cup sour cream (ski in Israel)
• Drizzle olive oil (1/4 cup)
• Juice of 1/2 freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Pinch sugar
• 4 sprigs fresh dill, chopped

Using a mandoline or food processor, or by hand, slice the cucumber and onion very, very, thinly a medium sized bowl. Add sour cream, lemon juice, and spices. Mix in chopped herbs. Serve cold from fridge on a hot day!

Two more of my favorite Israeli salads that are quite tasty and easy to make. I cut the halloumi cheese into slices and fry it up to use later in salads. It adds a bit of protein and a chewiness.

Hopefully this post will turn out. I’ve had to rewrite it a few times using a different server. I’m praying the photos will turn out large and clear enough. We are still at home. I shall update you on John. We are believing G-d for complete healing so he doesn’t’t need another surgery. It will be his third this year. And who wants that???

Still, he’s doing great. I’m planning on getting up early tomorrow to go wild berry picking on the next mountain over. It’s now fig season, as well as the height of tomato season. That means more yummy recipes to come and a lot of putting up spaghetti sauces, Mexican sauces, pizza sauce, etc.

Until then, keep cool and have a grand rest of the summer. I’ll see you next time-