Seven Out of Ten
The parashah introduces the first seven of the ten plagues that God sent down on Egypt. The plagues will form the meal... rather than just be represented by a drop of wine as at the Pesach Seder. Granted, it is a bit strange to base a menu on seven supernatural forms of suffering, but the plagues so engage the minds of children at Pesach time, this Shabbat will provide us with an opportunity to revisit the topic and hopefully discuss these seven forms of Divine retribution in a deeper way.
Dam/Blood: Tomato Red Pepper Soup
Tzefardea/Frogs: Chicken wings (frogs legs supposedly taste like chicken, ;-)); I also have frog decorations for the table.
Kinim/Lice: Rashi explains that the Egyptian sorcerers were unable to replicate the plague of lice because magic cannot happen on things smaller than a grain of barley, so... barley pilaf
Arov/wild beasts: More table decor (animal print napkins) and a lion made of a round squash kugel surrounded by a mane of spaghetti squash
Dever/cattle disease: Does dead meat count for this? I’ll take other ideas if anyone would like to send them!
Shchin/Boils: Boiled potatoes ???? Other boiled vegies? If it were dessert, I would serve red gushers that would pop in one's mouth! In fact, I might do both!
Barad/hail: The mefarshim describe that this hail was unlike any before or after it. Encased in each ball of ice was a flame that torched the Egyptians as the hail fell, so it was a double bombardment. So for dessert, I am serving a large scoop of pareve vanilla ice cream with an atomic red hot fireball (super spicy red cinnamon candy, for those who don’t have the same brands available) hidden inside.
Have a wonderful shabbat!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Parashat Shemot
So I have made an executive decision to reprint old posts, because very soon we will be entering uncharted waters and the creative juices will have to run in full force. Besides, a lot of the old ideas are really cute--and certainly are still relevant.
Enjoy!
A Star is Born
Originally, when I began pondering this whole blogging-the-parashah idea, I joked that reaching Shemot would be strange, because why would I want to make Pesach in January. How could I be creative when the Seder itself is a pretty creative event?!? As I reviewed Parashat Shemot, though, I was taken by how easy it would be to shift the focus of this shabbat's ParshahMom activities away from the slavery experience and take advantage of the opportunity to shine the spotlight on Moshe Rabbeinu, who receives none of the limelight come Pesach. Because Parashat Shemot serves as a brief biography of the greatest Jewish leader, highlighting Moshe seems to be the best approach to this shabbat. Shabbat dinner will become a "This is Your (Early) Life, Moshe" feast.
For starters, we are going to create baby Moshe in the basket hors d'oeuvres. At the suggestion of our very imaginative daughter, we are going to make baby Moshes in small twice baked potatoes. His body will be made of carrot sticks, and our kindergartner would like his eyes to be raisins or black beans. We will also serve Moshe ba'tevah, the Israeli name for what we call pigs in a blanket).
The next major episode in Moshe's life, killing and hastily burying the Egyptian task-master, will be represented by a big tray of sand-colored couscous.
For the Midian events, we will have a large well (made of matzah sheets surrounding dip and crudite). We will also serve biscuits cut in the shape of sheep. And of course, Moshe's wife will be represented by chicken (Tzipporah=Bird... I know, a stretch!).
Finally, the burning bush will be the centerpiece of the table. We are still working on a safe and "shabbati" way to use greenery, red and yellow cellophane, and illumination on the table. I think we'll make a trip to Michael's to see if they have any of those LED votive "candles" that run on batteries.
Finally, dessert will be the otot, signs, that God teaches Moshe to prove to Bnei Yisrael that he was in fact sent by God. We will have pretzel staffs and gummy snakes; finger-shaped cookies dredged in white powdered sugar and coconut flakes (a hand covered in coconut leprosy would be too much!); and blood-red cherry juice.
At dinner, we hope to discuss Moshe's leadership qualities and what each of these episodes in his life helped to shape him as a leader.
Have shabbat shalom!
Tammie Rapps
Enjoy!
A Star is Born
Originally, when I began pondering this whole blogging-the-parashah idea, I joked that reaching Shemot would be strange, because why would I want to make Pesach in January. How could I be creative when the Seder itself is a pretty creative event?!? As I reviewed Parashat Shemot, though, I was taken by how easy it would be to shift the focus of this shabbat's ParshahMom activities away from the slavery experience and take advantage of the opportunity to shine the spotlight on Moshe Rabbeinu, who receives none of the limelight come Pesach. Because Parashat Shemot serves as a brief biography of the greatest Jewish leader, highlighting Moshe seems to be the best approach to this shabbat. Shabbat dinner will become a "This is Your (Early) Life, Moshe" feast.
For starters, we are going to create baby Moshe in the basket hors d'oeuvres. At the suggestion of our very imaginative daughter, we are going to make baby Moshes in small twice baked potatoes. His body will be made of carrot sticks, and our kindergartner would like his eyes to be raisins or black beans. We will also serve Moshe ba'tevah, the Israeli name for what we call pigs in a blanket).
The next major episode in Moshe's life, killing and hastily burying the Egyptian task-master, will be represented by a big tray of sand-colored couscous.
For the Midian events, we will have a large well (made of matzah sheets surrounding dip and crudite). We will also serve biscuits cut in the shape of sheep. And of course, Moshe's wife will be represented by chicken (Tzipporah=Bird... I know, a stretch!).
Finally, the burning bush will be the centerpiece of the table. We are still working on a safe and "shabbati" way to use greenery, red and yellow cellophane, and illumination on the table. I think we'll make a trip to Michael's to see if they have any of those LED votive "candles" that run on batteries.
Finally, dessert will be the otot, signs, that God teaches Moshe to prove to Bnei Yisrael that he was in fact sent by God. We will have pretzel staffs and gummy snakes; finger-shaped cookies dredged in white powdered sugar and coconut flakes (a hand covered in coconut leprosy would be too much!); and blood-red cherry juice.
At dinner, we hope to discuss Moshe's leadership qualities and what each of these episodes in his life helped to shape him as a leader.
Have shabbat shalom!
Tammie Rapps
Friday, December 10, 2010
Parashat Vayigash
The Big Reveal
A reprint this week:
Parashat Vayigash recalls Yosef's dramatic revelation of his true identity to his brothers after Yehudah gives an impassioned plea to release Binyamin from servitude. Yosef then lavishes gifts on his family and requests/suggests/demands(?) that the brothers return to Canaan, talk to Yaakov, pack up their households, and return with their father and families to Egypt so they can live out the harsh famine in a fertile land. This invitation is, of course, the beginning of the exile in Egypt, although G-d appears to Yaakov and promises him that G-d will not forsake Bnei Yisrael when they are in Egypt.
The episode in which Yaakov learns that Yosef is still alive captures my imagination. The midrashim offer a fascinating narrative for how Yaakov learns that his favorite child is alive and well and prospering in Egypt. The midrashim indicate a point later in the parashah, when the Torah delineates the seventy souls that descended to Egypt, to explain how Yaakov was intentionally prepared for the startling news of Yosef that his sons brought him. In the list of names one woman in mentioned, Serach, the daughter of Asher. To provide a rationale for singling her out, the midrash in Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer teaches that Serach was assigned by her uncles and father the task of preparing Yaakov for the big revelation. She was a singer and musician (harpist?) who sang and played for her aging grandfather. Embedded in the lyrics of her songs were the almost unintelligible words that Yosef was alive in Egypt, the father to two young boys. Serach's song was a rhyming triplet that she sang while Yaakov davened. Although Yaakov was focused on his tefillah, he subconsciously integrated the words of Serach's song into his thinking and was thus ultimately able to accept the report about Yosef as true--without dying. For her part in caring for and preparing her grandfather emotionally, Serach was rewarded with a long life that ended without death. More midrashim explain how she functioned at the times of Moshe and King David , and how she ultimately went to Gan Eden alive!
I am intrigued by this figure of Serach and her subliminal messages she sends to Yaakov. For Shabbat, I am devising ways to hide messages about Yosef in the decor at the table. I plan to use items that might allude to Yosef's name (cups of coffee, or Joe, baby kangaroos, yo-yos, for example) to build a centerpiece. I have place-cards with intricate borders that I made: fancy curlicues and decorations that read, somewhat obscurely, "Yosef is alive and living in Egypt." I welcome suggestions for menu items that emphasize the same ideas and maybe even one that can give tribute to Serach as a musician.
On a different topic, my husband and I were talking about how we could impress on our kids the idea of seventy individuals who went to Egypt. We made a set of index cards to help the kids build a family tree for Yaakov with all the names mentioned in the parashah of those seventy souls who descended to Egypt. We made a similar set with our own family names listed on them, so they can get a sense of how much seventy is and how closely related the seventy souls were.
SHabbat Shalom!
Tammie Rapps
A reprint this week:
Parashat Vayigash recalls Yosef's dramatic revelation of his true identity to his brothers after Yehudah gives an impassioned plea to release Binyamin from servitude. Yosef then lavishes gifts on his family and requests/suggests/demands(?) that the brothers return to Canaan, talk to Yaakov, pack up their households, and return with their father and families to Egypt so they can live out the harsh famine in a fertile land. This invitation is, of course, the beginning of the exile in Egypt, although G-d appears to Yaakov and promises him that G-d will not forsake Bnei Yisrael when they are in Egypt.
The episode in which Yaakov learns that Yosef is still alive captures my imagination. The midrashim offer a fascinating narrative for how Yaakov learns that his favorite child is alive and well and prospering in Egypt. The midrashim indicate a point later in the parashah, when the Torah delineates the seventy souls that descended to Egypt, to explain how Yaakov was intentionally prepared for the startling news of Yosef that his sons brought him. In the list of names one woman in mentioned, Serach, the daughter of Asher. To provide a rationale for singling her out, the midrash in Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer teaches that Serach was assigned by her uncles and father the task of preparing Yaakov for the big revelation. She was a singer and musician (harpist?) who sang and played for her aging grandfather. Embedded in the lyrics of her songs were the almost unintelligible words that Yosef was alive in Egypt, the father to two young boys. Serach's song was a rhyming triplet that she sang while Yaakov davened. Although Yaakov was focused on his tefillah, he subconsciously integrated the words of Serach's song into his thinking and was thus ultimately able to accept the report about Yosef as true--without dying. For her part in caring for and preparing her grandfather emotionally, Serach was rewarded with a long life that ended without death. More midrashim explain how she functioned at the times of Moshe and King David , and how she ultimately went to Gan Eden alive!
I am intrigued by this figure of Serach and her subliminal messages she sends to Yaakov. For Shabbat, I am devising ways to hide messages about Yosef in the decor at the table. I plan to use items that might allude to Yosef's name (cups of coffee, or Joe, baby kangaroos, yo-yos, for example) to build a centerpiece. I have place-cards with intricate borders that I made: fancy curlicues and decorations that read, somewhat obscurely, "Yosef is alive and living in Egypt." I welcome suggestions for menu items that emphasize the same ideas and maybe even one that can give tribute to Serach as a musician.
On a different topic, my husband and I were talking about how we could impress on our kids the idea of seventy individuals who went to Egypt. We made a set of index cards to help the kids build a family tree for Yaakov with all the names mentioned in the parashah of those seventy souls who descended to Egypt. We made a similar set with our own family names listed on them, so they can get a sense of how much seventy is and how closely related the seventy souls were.
SHabbat Shalom!
Tammie Rapps
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Parashat Mikeitz
Dreams, Dreams, Dreams
Because this week is Shabbat Chanukkah, we will start our Shabbat dinner with a candle salad at each place setting: a round pineapple slice with a banana topped with a grape flame in the center. We will also have latke taste test at Shabbat dinner, with pancakes made from a variety of vegetables.
As for Parashat Mikeitz, the beginning of the parashah casts Yosef as the interpreter of dreams once again when he is called to Pharaoh’s court to explain the strange nightmares that have been plaguing the king. Those dreams will be the basis of our meals this Shabbat. For dinner, we will enjoy a lot of courses, lavish table settings, and a variety of “stuffed” dishes (vegetables, meats, etc.) to represent the fat (or stuffed) cows in Pharaoh’s dream; our table will overflow with abundance and plenty.
Before dessert on Friday night, we will distribute a small Chanukkah “goody bag” to each person at the table. In one bag, we will hide a small cup, reminiscent of the goblet that Yosef hid in Binyamin’s sack, and thereby launch a parashat hashavua discussion.
In contrast to Shabbat dinner, we will start our Shabbat lunch with a hunger banquet, symbolizing the skinny cows and shrunken sheaves of wheat in Pharaoh’s dream. Other than two small challah rolls and one cup of grape juice, the table will be empty and I will hide all the food that we will eventually eat. We will talk about what it means not to have any food, how famine could impact a nation, and what Yosef advised Pharaoh to do to prepare for this eventuality. We will search our store houses (aka pantry closet) for the provisions, which will, luckily, be well stocked with a filling, but more modest meal than the previous night’s. I will make lunch dairy so we can enjoy the aptly named “Skinny Cow” brand dessert.
Shabbat Shalom and Chanukkah Sameach!
Because this week is Shabbat Chanukkah, we will start our Shabbat dinner with a candle salad at each place setting: a round pineapple slice with a banana topped with a grape flame in the center. We will also have latke taste test at Shabbat dinner, with pancakes made from a variety of vegetables.
As for Parashat Mikeitz, the beginning of the parashah casts Yosef as the interpreter of dreams once again when he is called to Pharaoh’s court to explain the strange nightmares that have been plaguing the king. Those dreams will be the basis of our meals this Shabbat. For dinner, we will enjoy a lot of courses, lavish table settings, and a variety of “stuffed” dishes (vegetables, meats, etc.) to represent the fat (or stuffed) cows in Pharaoh’s dream; our table will overflow with abundance and plenty.
Before dessert on Friday night, we will distribute a small Chanukkah “goody bag” to each person at the table. In one bag, we will hide a small cup, reminiscent of the goblet that Yosef hid in Binyamin’s sack, and thereby launch a parashat hashavua discussion.
In contrast to Shabbat dinner, we will start our Shabbat lunch with a hunger banquet, symbolizing the skinny cows and shrunken sheaves of wheat in Pharaoh’s dream. Other than two small challah rolls and one cup of grape juice, the table will be empty and I will hide all the food that we will eventually eat. We will talk about what it means not to have any food, how famine could impact a nation, and what Yosef advised Pharaoh to do to prepare for this eventuality. We will search our store houses (aka pantry closet) for the provisions, which will, luckily, be well stocked with a filling, but more modest meal than the previous night’s. I will make lunch dairy so we can enjoy the aptly named “Skinny Cow” brand dessert.
Shabbat Shalom and Chanukkah Sameach!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Parashat Vayeshev
Happy Thanksgiving!
Because of extenuating circumstances (Thanksgiving feast travels and no computer access), I will once again rely on the archives for this week's offering. Next week, bli neder, I will get back into creativity mode.
Even though we will be out for the meals for this shabbat, we will help with the preparations, so Yosef's amazing coat of many colors can take center stage. A layered salad (a la one of the Kosher by Design cookbooks), striped vegetable terrine, striped jel dessert, and colorful striped table accessories will be prominently featured.
We will also serve foods to represent Yosef's dreams that so infuriated his brothers: star shaped muffins beside a butternut squash sunburst and a mashed potato moon. String beans and steamed carrot fingers tied with scallion will stand in for the sheaves of grain in Yosef's dream. His bundle will be made of asparagus tied togehter with the green onion.
Again, see the archives for how to get the baker's and butler's dreams into the meal and how to inlcude a punny food related to Yosef's time in a pit.
Have a colorful shabbat!
Tammie Rapps
Because of extenuating circumstances (Thanksgiving feast travels and no computer access), I will once again rely on the archives for this week's offering. Next week, bli neder, I will get back into creativity mode.
Even though we will be out for the meals for this shabbat, we will help with the preparations, so Yosef's amazing coat of many colors can take center stage. A layered salad (a la one of the Kosher by Design cookbooks), striped vegetable terrine, striped jel dessert, and colorful striped table accessories will be prominently featured.
We will also serve foods to represent Yosef's dreams that so infuriated his brothers: star shaped muffins beside a butternut squash sunburst and a mashed potato moon. String beans and steamed carrot fingers tied with scallion will stand in for the sheaves of grain in Yosef's dream. His bundle will be made of asparagus tied togehter with the green onion.
Again, see the archives for how to get the baker's and butler's dreams into the meal and how to inlcude a punny food related to Yosef's time in a pit.
Have a colorful shabbat!
Tammie Rapps
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Parashat Vayishlach
Sealed with a Kiss
The following is from the archives of this blog. Sometimes it is just that difficult to think of new ideas.
Parashat Vayishlach begins with Yaakov frantically preparing for a confrontation with his brother. When Yaakov realizes that he is about to encounter Esav whom he had not seen in decades since angering him upon receiving Yitzchak's blessing, the younger brother prepares for the meeting in three ways. He sends gifts to Esav in an attempt at diplomacy, he prays to Hashem, and he divides his camp as preparation for battle. This three-pronged approach to combating an enemy is the paradigm that the Jewish People has often followed (see Megillat Esther, for example). I think that the first approach, diplomacy, lends itself nicely to the table. I will wrap three large boxes and use them as the centerpiece for the meal. Under one will be small gifts for every guest, under the second will be birchonim, and under the third will be toy soldiers. During the meal we will discuss why using diplomacy should be the first communication between enemies. We would try to bring the conversation down to a micro level and talk about interpersonal relationships in the house and how Yaakov's example could help us in our own interactions at home.
Dessert for this parashah will focus on a famous midrash related to Yaakov and Esav's reunion. When the brothers see each other again after decades of separation, the Torah text states that Esav runs toward Yaakov, embraces him, falls upon his neck, kisses him, and they both weep. The Torah known for concision of language provides many verbs for this reunion. In addition, in the text itself, the word "and he kissed" appears with what appear to be extraneous dots above it. The midrash explains that the dots allude to Esav's true intent. While he seemingly envelops Yaakov in an embrace of forgiveness and fraternal love, Esav is really acting as a wolf in sheep's clothing (nice comparison to Yaakov in parashat Toldot who was a sheep dressed in wolf's clothes, so to speak). Esav falls on his brother's neck not to kiss him, but to bite him. The midrash continues that Yaakov's neck turns to stone/marble to become impervious to his brother's threatening action.
How does this midrash translate into dessert?
I have two confections that I am going to bake and serve side by side: Mexican chocolate cookies (http://bakingbites.com/2005/07/more-of-maida-mexican-chocolate-cookies/) and marble cupcakes (recipe adapted to make them pareve--http://littlechefandi.blogspot.com/2009/08/marble-cupcakes.html). The cookies look like chocolate cookies but, made with cayenne and black peppers, they have a definite bite to them (pun very much intended). I plan to try to cut the cookies in the shape of chocolate kisses before I bake them if possible. Marble speaks for itself.
Shabbat Shalom!
Dessert for this parashah will focus on a famous midrash related to Yaakov and Esav's reunion. When the brothers see each other again after decades of separation, the Torah text states that Esav runs toward Yaakov, embraces him, falls upon his neck, kisses him, and they both weep. The Torah known for concision of language provides many verbs for this reunion. In addition, in the text itself, the word "and he kissed" appears with what appear to be extraneous dots above it. The midrash explains that the dots allude to Esav's true intent. While he seemingly envelops Yaakov in an embrace of forgiveness and fraternal love, Esav is really acting as a wolf in sheep's clothing (nice comparison to Yaakov in parashat Toldot who was a sheep dressed in wolf's clothes, so to speak). Esav falls on his brother's neck not to kiss him, but to bite him. The midrash continues that Yaakov's neck turns to stone/marble to become impervious to his brother's threatening action.
How does this midrash translate into dessert?
I have two confections that I am going to bake and serve side by side: Mexican chocolate cookies (http://bakingbites.com/2005/07/more-of-maida-mexican-chocolate-cookies/) and marble cupcakes (recipe adapted to make them pareve--http://littlechefandi.blogspot.com/2009/08/marble-cupcakes.html). The cookies look like chocolate cookies but, made with cayenne and black peppers, they have a definite bite to them (pun very much intended). I plan to try to cut the cookies in the shape of chocolate kisses before I bake them if possible. Marble speaks for itself.
Shabbat Shalom!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Parashat Vayeitzei
Rock n' Roll
Rocks are featured prominently in this week's parashah. Yaakov uses rocks to rest his head when he camps out the night of his ladder dream and he later shows off his strength for Rachel by rolling a huge boulder off the mouth of the well. To recognize the suporting work that rocks play in Vayeitzei, I've used river stones and sharpie marker to make place cards for the meal. I've also made a cobbler out of stone fruits (peaches and cherries) for dessert. As I did last year, I got a pull apart challah to remind us of the midrash that explains that after all the rocks vied for the honor of resting under Yaakov's head, God miraculously merged them into one large stone.
For lunch, we are using the ideas from previous years, starting with foods fashioned into the shape of ladders. I've stuck cards under each seat that offer different explanations to the meaning of the ladder (all from the Ba'al Haturim who shares several gematriya calculations for the word sulam--including, money, poverty, voice, Sinai, throne of glory, etc.). At the emal, we'll ask each eprson to do an exercise in metaphors and explain how a ladder could be like ______ (the noun placed under his or her plate).
Dessert for that meal will be a speckled sheep cake.
Have a rockin' shabbat!
Rocks are featured prominently in this week's parashah. Yaakov uses rocks to rest his head when he camps out the night of his ladder dream and he later shows off his strength for Rachel by rolling a huge boulder off the mouth of the well. To recognize the suporting work that rocks play in Vayeitzei, I've used river stones and sharpie marker to make place cards for the meal. I've also made a cobbler out of stone fruits (peaches and cherries) for dessert. As I did last year, I got a pull apart challah to remind us of the midrash that explains that after all the rocks vied for the honor of resting under Yaakov's head, God miraculously merged them into one large stone.
For lunch, we are using the ideas from previous years, starting with foods fashioned into the shape of ladders. I've stuck cards under each seat that offer different explanations to the meaning of the ladder (all from the Ba'al Haturim who shares several gematriya calculations for the word sulam--including, money, poverty, voice, Sinai, throne of glory, etc.). At the emal, we'll ask each eprson to do an exercise in metaphors and explain how a ladder could be like ______ (the noun placed under his or her plate).
Dessert for that meal will be a speckled sheep cake.
Have a rockin' shabbat!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Parashat Toldot
This post is dedicated in honor of the birth of my brand new niece, yet to be named. May she lead a life filled with love, happiness, Torah, and wisdom.
I've discovered that I am very happy with the Parashat Toldot menus from years past. Placing lentils and red food front and center on the shabbat table just works so well for this parashah that I can only think of swapping out one lentil recipe for another or trying a meat stew to replicate the delicious delicacies that Rivka cooked up for Yitzchak.
With that said, I am going to focus on the decor for shabbat this year. I plan to set the table up as a sort of color war--the two competing sons/sides at odds with each other. One side of the table will be decorated with furry red napkin rings and arrows in the centerpiece. The other side of the table will be decorated with books and pictures of tents fashioned around the napkins. We will talk about the connotation of color: why red is such a strong association with Esav, why he actually went for the lentils when he preferred a fresh kill (what did he think was actually in Yaakov's pot?), what color could we associate with Yaakov (even though the Torah does not mention one) and why?
At another point over shabbat, I'd like to introduce a variation on a game our daughter invented on Sukkot: the blessing game. Our daughter instructed each person at the table to say something nice about the person sitting next to him or her. In honor of this week's parashah, we will switch it a bit and ask each person to give a berachah to he person sitting next to him or her. It would be intriguing to hear what our kids think of berachot, what they consider important for a parent to impart, how thy understand the birth order blessings that Yitzchak planned to give, etc.
I invite any additional ideas you might have about the parashah and ways to incorporate it at the shabbat table.
Shabbat Shalom!
© Tammie Rapps, 2010/5771
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Parashat Vayera
Angel Fest
When I was reviewing this week's parashah, I was taken by the number of angels who make an appearance: Avraham's guests, Lot's escorts out of S'dom, Hagar's savior, and the angel who stays Avraham's hand at the Akeidah. In their honor, we will be serving angel-hair pasta (with chicken), angel salad (a 1950's/1960's version of a "salad," made with whipped cream, pudding, and fruit), and angel-food cake for dessert. I'm still thinking through the prominence of the angels and why they are so very active in Vayera.
The meal will be served in a re-creation of Avraham's tent that takes over our dining room. the archives describe in greater detail how I drape tablecloths and throw pillows around the room to create an authentic tent-like milieu.
We are invited out for one meal this shabbat. I was asked to bring dessert so I will either make a second angel-food cake, or I will bake shofar shaped cookies that I will present in a horn-shaped basket, not hard to find as Thanksgiving nears.
Wishing you a shabbat filled with guests and good company,
Tammie Rapps
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Parashat Lech Lecha
Walking Tours
Just last week my oldest child and my husband returned from Israel; it was our daughter's first time visiting. Needless to say, she loved being in Israel and loved walking the streets of Jerusalem with her father. It is because of this week's parashah that they were compelled to make this trip. In this week's Torah reading, Avram and Sarai travel to the land of Israel (aka Canaan) at God's bidding. God not only instructs our patriarch to go to Canaan, but God also tells Avram that he is to walk the length and breadth of the county--to really learn and love every corner of the land because it will be his and his children's for eternity. To commemorate Avram's trek throughout the land, I have footprint confetti that will dot the table and am using blue painter's tape to create a large map of the land of Israel on the floor under the dining room table. At each place setting, I will be placing the name of a geographic place in Israel (no cities as Avram would not have encountered those). During dinner, we will work on placing the locations in their appropriate places on the map. As a centerpiece, I have a large gift-wrapped box--wrapped in star studded gift wrap ( the way that network TV wraps boxes on soap operas: the lid separately from the bottom so the top can just be lifted off). Inside the gift box is a small map of Israel with the verse from the parashah (Bereishit 13:15) that states, "For all the land that you see I will give to you and to your seed to eternity."
For the menu, we will focus on a different part of the parashah: God's promise to Avram that his offspring will be as numerous as sand and stars. So, out come the star shaped baking pans and all the star shaped baskets and table accessories for this shabbat. (See the archives for more details.) For dessert we will once again enjoy a sandal-shaped cake resting atop cookie-crumb sand.
Enjoy and Shabbat Shalom!
© Tamie Rapps, 2010/5771
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Parashat Noach
A Menagerie of a Meal
For this year, I’ve decided to deviate from my previous Noach plans (see the archives for amazing an amazing rainbow menu), to try something a little different. Our Shabbat lunch will be a nod to the glorious variety of living creatures that Noach rounded up to fill his ark and preserve for eternity (well, sort of). Almost exactly a year ago I challenged my Facebook friends to think of foods that have an animal name in them—chicken, lamb, and fish don’t count. I got a spectacular number of responses; so much of the credit for this menu goes to them as well. I will also state at the outset that this meal works for English speakers best, although surely it will spark creative speculation for speakers of other languages. (And isn’t that whole lost in translation idea part of this week’s parashah as well?)
We will begin our meal with roasted elephant garlic to spread on challah and salmon mousse, with the emphasis on the “moose.” The course that follows will be “pigs in a blanket” and a variation on the classic “ants on a log” (we’ll use celery with chumus and olives rather than with peanut butter and raisins). The main dish will feature chicken with horse-radish aioli, porcupine meatballs, cow peas (a small legume), buck-wheat (a.k.a. kasha, but the English serves our purposes better), sautéed hen of the woods and king oyster mushrooms, and rat-atouille.
Dessert is where animal names abound, so I am still making a decision, but options include: monkey bread, bear claws, elephant ears, zebra cookies, dragon fruit, dragon eyes, gooseberries, and spiced crab apples. Of course, somewhere in dessert I will have to make pears (read as pairs).
And now for the educational component: Not only will we laugh at the plastic animal figures running through the center of the table and the animal print napkins under each place setting, but we will also infuse the meal with a bit more content. From a language perspective, we will try to name all the animals mentioned in the foods in Hebrew as well as in English. Then we will challenge the kids to decide how many of these animals would have been on Noach’s ark; in other words, are they pure animals or not pure animals? Would Noach have gathered seven of them or only two?
Have a wildly amazing Shabbat!
© Tamie Rapps, 2010/5771
Addendum: Gator-ade and pareve soy ice cream--Turtle Trails.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Parashat Bereishit
Welcome to the Garden of Eating
It has been a very soggy Sukkot so far here on the East coast. The weather has fluctuated between body-drenching heat and humidity and torrential rain. I’ve found my head buzzing at times this week with those oft-cited phrases: global warming and climate change. Mind you, I am very much your garden variety environmentalist; I recycle our soda bottles and love to buy organic when the prices allow. Being green doesn’t always dictate my suburban mom lifestyle, but it certainly maintains a hold on my conscience and consciousness.
Sukkot generally reinforces that hold. While we exile ourselves from our material homes and expose ourselves to the elements in recognition and appreciation of the bounty and protection G-d bestows on us, we cannot help but think about how our actions impact the physical world around us in very tangible ways (just as out actions influence our spiritual world, which we reflected upon extensively during the high holidays).
Given the past wet week, it is not coincidental that when I reviewed this week’s parashah, I was drawn by the idyllic image of Gan Eden and what a lush, temperate, perfect world Adam and Eve lived in, if only briefly. The phrase from the parashah that also echoed in my mind (in concert with the environmental slogans mentioned above) is the mandate for humankind to work and protect the earth (2:15), לְעָבְדָהּ וּלְשָׁמְרָהּ, to be stewards of the earth and use its resources wisely. I’ve chosen to base our Shabbat dinner this week on these words. Yesterday, our two youngest children and I had the opportunity to visit a local farmers’ market. We bought a colorful array of tomatoes and an assortment of eggplants in various shades of purple; fresh Brussels sprouts, sunchokes, and squash filled our basket. These foods are for our Shabbat table, where we will have a chance to talk about what it means to be a farmer, to work the land, to rely on G-d for rain and sun to help our food grow. We will also talk about how we can fulfill the mandate to work and guard the earth if we ourselves are not tillers of soil.
On a completely different note, we will be going out for lunch for Shabbat and bringing a gift to our hosts reminiscent of the first day of creation. To honor the creation of darkness and light, we are making black and white cookies (using this recipe) and have bought black and white jelly beans. If you prefer something more in this genre for a Shabbat meal (or cannot get to a farmers’ market), see the archives for a six days of creation menu.
Shabbat Shalom!
© Tammie Rapps, 2010 (Tishrei 5771)
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