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Moving right along at full tilt
Or is it tilt-a-whirl?
Trying hard not to think about all the things that still need doing before our Passover holiday in little over a week’s time. Things have become a bit more complicated while I deal with recovering from another bout of pneumonia (the 2nd in two months) and a third round of antibiotics. Everything leaves me breathless. Thankfully, I have two sisters-in-law to lean on for cooking (and a strange feeling to not be including my mother-in-law (z”l) in that sentence), though the festive meal is at our house. I’ll be leaning on my sons and husband for the post-meal cleanup, which takes almost as long as the cooking and preparation.
Also weighing heavily on our minds as we go into the week before Passover holiday is the current situation in the south, which picked up considerable speed this weekend. Since early Friday morning, at least 75 rocket and missile attacks have been launched from Gaza, including an anti-tank missile that was fired on a school bus, mortally wounding a 16 year-old student. Who knows how many more rocket attacks before this post is published Sunday morning Israel time.
Meanwhile, Mr. Haniyeh has asked that Israel stop retaliating, to which I can only reply, “Chad Gadya.”
Updated: seems I’m not alone in my thoughts on the latter subject. The Wifely Person Speaks. Go listen.
Better shared!
Happy New Year
May the coming year be one of joy, peace, health and prosperity.
(I’m releasing this card under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 license. If you would like to send this card, please feel free to click on the photo to go to flickr or download a PDF version, available until Sept. 19. )
Previous posts about the Jewish New Year: 5768, 5769, 5770
The Hardest Part
about this cheesecake is waiting for it to cool enough to eat.
Cheese Cake (Israeli version*)
Preheat oven to 160º Celsius. Line the bottom of a spring-form pan with baking parchment and lightly butter.
Crust:
- 2 c. crushed Petit Beurre biscuits (chocolate petit beurre with a dash of cocoa is a nice counterpoint if you’re topping the cake with summer fruits)
- 1/2 c. melted butter
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Combine the above and bake for 10 minutes. Cool.
Filling:
- 2 large pkgs. Cna’an cheese
- 500 gr. 5% white spreadable cheese (like Ski).
- 1/2 to 3/4 c. sugar
- 3-4 eggs (depending on how dry the Cna’an cheese is.)
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. salt
Whip the above in a mixer until fluffy. Pour onto cooled crust and bake for 30 minutes.
Topping:
- 2 c. sour cream
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1/8 tsp. salt
Beat the above and then pour onto cake. Return to oven for an additional 10 minutes until the topping is set.
After the cake comes out of the oven, let it rest for about 10 minutes and then remove from the spring-form pan to a plate. Cool before putting in frig to chill completely.
*When I first arrived in Israel, I was amazed by the variety of dairy products available in the supermarket (and this from a girl who was raised in the American Midwest no less!). But finding the original ingredients for my transplanted American cheesecake recipe proved difficult or costly, if I was lucky enough to find them at all. Over the years I made substitutions using local products and and this specific recipe was refined again and again as I found new cheeses to try. So far, I like this combination the best.
We won’t talk about the various disasters leading up to this version. Suffice it to say, there are circular, brick-like objects in nearby landfills waiting to be puzzled over by future archaeologists. 
The 10 Tweetmandments | Historical Tweets
via The 10 Tweetmandments | Historical Tweets.
Wishing everyone who celebrates a peaceful and happy Passover.
