WAR OF THE MISSILES AT HOME IN ISRAEL VS. BATTLE OF THE BULGE IN HONESDALE PA.

How crazy is life.  Who would have thought that last week's constant, overwhelming feeling of sadness would so quickly be replaced by this week's sick, petrified feeling in the pit of my stomach. Being so far from home and family during a crisis is exactly what I was afraid of when we decided to come here to work for the summer.... I think a good chunk of my salary is going to be lost to the daily overseas phone calls to my kids and my mother.  And through all the hourly bulletins and news flashes of where sirens are wailing, where there was a fall or a blast, where the Iron Dome shot one down, etc., we here are busy breaking our 1700 eggs, draining our endless mountains of pasta, and baking off tray after tray after tray of cornbread (from a mix, of course- don't get excited). The show must go on. Every quarter of an hour or so, one of the workers or Israeli volunteers looks at his/her cellphone for the umpteenth time, only this time their eyes pop open really wide and everyone watching them jumps and we all shout - "What! Where? How many? What? 30 of them? What? Haifa??"  It's so surreal. One of the best things I saw this week was an interview with British journalist Melanie Phillips (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOCjtHagaTw    for those who missed it- intro is in Hebrew but the interview is in English)

This week was dominated by concern in the kitchen about an impending inspection from the state health department inspectors. Although I keep telling them that after dealing for 15 years with Dena, Zina, Vera, and Olga from the Jerusalem city health department (Chapter 10 in my book), this should be easy as pie.  I hope. I'm certainly interested to see how the bureaucracy works in this part of the world and if it's any more sane than at our end.

What could be wilder than 750 campers in a wooden dining hall (all singing, thumping, dancing, and banging echoes like crazy- as if it weren't loud enough to begin with) for a regular suppertime meal? Try- 750 campers in a wooden dining hall that just finished dinner, with a sudden turn of weather and the camp head screaming out- shut all the doors, all councellors account for every single kid, nobody go anywhere not even the bathroom, till further notice from me ( me and Marvin are thinking " kidnapping? bomb threat? what could it be?".)  Well, it was a sudden tornado warning! And they turned on the big screens and had a full blast sing a long for an HOUR till the warning passed! And- we were STUCK in there with them! (and people keep asking are we having fun at camp...)

I noticed that a few of the parents of families that are here either as nurses, teachers, rabbis, lifeguards, whatever are interested in healthier options for food, so I started making these marinated toasted cubes of tofu.  First everyone thought I was nuts, but soon they were asking for some tofu at every lunch.  And now I make it and offer it all the time! Ha. Next week I'll be making them my quinoa salad, and we'll see what happens.

Sunday is visiting day, and I see the weather report includes some thunderstorms... So what could be more fun than 1250 people in a wooden dining hall? I'm thinking- 1250 people with the parents and siblings of those 750 campers... do the math. Report to follow next week...
Best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom and peace and quiet in Israel...

A SAD WEEK, BUT THE KITCHEN GOES ON...

We obviously were all hoping for good news, but it wasn't to be.  In the middle of the weekly big buffet lunch for the campers and staff ( a ball-breaker for us to prepare and run- extensive salad bar, potato and sweet potato bar, and pasta bar, with all the accoutrements and sauces) we were told, in between the two shifts of lunch, about the tragic news of our 3 boys' bodies being found.  Us and our Israeli mishlachat workers. We heard 1/2 hour before the news even broke in Israel.
So here is the epitome of the surreal nature of life- here we are sobbing in the kitchen, in between mounds of pasta and mountains of baked potatoes, and---- well, the kids have to eat!
This really is such an amazingly Zionistic camp. The director and rosh mosh spoke so wonderfully to all the kids and the staff, stressing how Jewish life is filled with so many different emotions, how in Hallel even when we thank Gd for joyful things, we still say "אנא השם הושיע נא "  , how just because we pray our kishkes out doesn't mean that Gd necessarily will answer, etc. it was very strong and I saw how so many of the kids were deeply moved. I so missed this week being home in Israel so I could talk and connect to my own kids and friends and neighbours- I always get strength from that. (of course I also miss tomatoes and cucumbers that taste like tomatoes and cucumbers, Turkish coffee, good yogurt, good cheeses, good olive oil, silan, and sushi rechavia).
And of course being here in Honesdale, Pennsylvania is less fun when my son is dodging missiles while trying to simply write his exams at Sapir College in Sderot...
Anyway, this past week we had a Chinese lunch- egg drop soup, deep-fried eggrolls, and stir fried vegetables. That was the easy part. The mess was the lovely, fresh lomein noodles that Morrie got me for the meal- only I put the whole lot into the giant soup pot- not realizing that it was way too many at once, and they clumped and got stuck in the spout and we couldn't get them out of the pot....it basically required 3 people to do surgery from above and below to get out enough noodles to serve. Oops.
Marvin has learned to cook 2 things- he's been doing the scrambled eggs, and he made pancakes on the griddle .
My 2 exciting tastings this past week- local baskin robbins pralines and cream ( i cannot believe how absolutely magnificent this still is- it was my favourite flavour growing up, and i think it just still might be...) , and the other thing is- jelly bellies! In 40 flavours! In the same bag! I even got Marvin hooked on them... So many yummy tastes on the tongue, except for this one awful soapy one I keep getting and I can't seem to locate which one it is...
Here's wishing the world a Shabbat Shalom, a nechama from above for the grieving families, and peaceful quiet in Eretz Yisrael.

 pancakes on the griddle

Would you like some pasta? How bout some pasta with your baked ziti? (its true). Or some pasta with your mac and cheese?

FIRST WEEK WITH THE CAMPERS

They came, they're here, and it's as crazy as we were warned.
1400 or so mouths to feed breakfast and lunch.
An hour and fifteen minutes just to put tray after tray after tray after tray of English muffins into the ovens for 5 minutes, and out again into the warmers.
Vegetable barley soup for 1400- how much barley to put? The sacks are 25 pounds- do I put 8 pounds, 25, 12, 15- all the numbers are equally ridiculous to me, so I wing it.
We cracked and scrambled 2400 eggs one breakfast.
Pancake morning takes 3 hours of 3 people on the griddles.
Kitchen boot camp.
After coming here to "Americana Summertime" from 28 years in Israel, and after actually being Canadian to begin with and not American, there are some situations here that strike me as so funny, and so culturally different:
The whole pasta thing that I already talked about, on facebook.
Six a.m. on my way to work in the kitchen- I pass two 9 year old boys drinking cans of Coke on the grass. At 6 a.m.
There was an outburst of rain at dinnertime the other night, so I had to do "guard duty" so the kids won't grab the huge, expensive garbage bags in the lunchroom  for rain protection to get the 2 minutes to their bunks.  Best line of the evening- "I absolutely must have a garbage bag for my friend to wear back to his bunk- he has VERY expensive shoes!" The peeved teenager of course did not appreciate my "so tell your friend not to bring very expensive shoes to camp."

No one told us about the major, huge, loud, 15 minute fireworks show that started at 9 p.m. last night, just below our window. What an immigrant I am- I can't begin to describe to you the first few seconds of what went through my Israeli head when the big booms started- suffice it to say that I did a quick look around to see where to hide (between the shower stall and the wall was my decision, with a little prayer that I would fit) while we're being attacked by terrorists. Marvin and I had a good laugh when we realized we both thought the same thing...

And through all the intense, insane hours and days of churning out tray after tray and pot after pot of all-American, carb-intense camp food, the sick feeling in my stomach and heart just does not go away, thinking of our 3 boychiks and their families... let's pray for a happy and thankful post full of good news for next week.
Chodesh tov and Shabbat Shalom.

CAMP MOSHAVA, SUMMER 2014

Marvin and I are not from the biggest travellers or adventure seekers, but I tell you it's been quite a year.  Writing and producing our book was a learning experience in and of itself, and then we went away for Pesach to cook for a large family in a small boutique hotel.

Camp Moshava in Indian Orchard (Honesdale) Pennsylvania is just lovely. It smells of grass and wood, and everything is so green and lush and thick compared to Israel- I'm jealous of the water and the wetness, and the thick forest that forms the scenic backdrop everywhere you look. People here don't know what it's like to thirst for rain so badly it hurts.  Getting in the shower is such a shock- strong, boiling hot water on demand, no guilty feelings for staying in the jetstream for a few minutes longer...

We were whisked over to see the camp's most famous sites that we had heard about for years already on the afternoon we arrived - Walmart, followed the next day by the Salvation Army store.  Walmart was everything we had heard about- the eye department fixed my broken glasses in minutes, no charge of course, with a "my pleasure, ma'am, you have yourself a nice day". Bottles of shampoo and soap for $1, huge bags of barbequed chips for $2, extra firm pillows were $5 each. I've  already had malted balls, junior mints (seinfeld memorabilia), a heath bar, and a delicious, banana-ey banana (unlike the tasteless ones I'm so used to) from Costa Rica (strong urge to make banana bread..). The salvation army store has loads of name brand clothes for great prices, and even with that it's 50% off on Wednesdays....but we just looked.

In the kitchen I've already been treated to a creamsicle (tell me those aren't the best!), instant hot chocolate, and instant oatmeal. The blueberry muffin mix I had to use this morning to bake slabs of "blueberry muffin cake" for 450 people was quite different for someone who baked muffins from scratch for most mornings of 21 years! (the funniest part, is that it was quite tasty! I'm serious. I can't help it- I love a lot of really crappy junk food...)(I wish I didn't , but I do.) Bread pudding for lunch today was the recipe from my cookbook- but we made it with about 30 loaves of bread, 400 eggs, 240 cups of milk, and about 18  kilos of bright orange (what on earth do they feed the cows here?) shredded cheddar cheese. And this was only for the staff...

750 kids come up to camp Tuesday morning, so this is all just a warm-up act... but it is sooo much fun in the kitchen! Marvin and I are definitely part of the "alte kackers" in the kitchen with all the young kids around helping us, but it's still fun (except I have to buy earplugs- I like working to music, but the decibel level these kids like working too is definitely damaging my eardrums).

That's it till next time- I really have to try to concentrate more on salads, but I still need to get to Baskin Robbins and Krispy Kreme you-know-whats, so the dieting will have to wait till I get back home....

Have a great Shabbat, everyone.

Pesach 2014

Although it is the year of Masterchef and many other such programs, and people seem to be more into food than ever, especially into creative, sometimes crazy, adaptations, some of the old-fashioned things never go out of style.  Especially this week, the week of Pesach, everyone will be pulling out all of their oldies and goodies, recipes that make them feel nostalgic for the seders they enjoyed as kids.  Many people have memories of large family get-togethers filled with warmth, laughter, occasional tension, and certain specific dishes.  I always remember one year when my entire family went outside on the front lawn to see the eclipse of the moon, and Marvin always reminds us how his cousins used to sit at the end of the huge long table furthest away from his grandparents so they could have the television on quietly to watch the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Wherever you'll be for this year's seder (or two), however you'll be celebrating and whatever you'll be eating, I hope you have a wonderful holiday, one that will provide you with many fuzzy warm memories for many years to come.
Here are my Aunti Sara's wonderful matza balls (knaidlach) that I make all year round.

Aunti Sara's Matza Knaidlach

1/2 cup matza meal
2 eggs
4 tablespoons warm water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon chicken fat (my aunt) or olive oil (me)

(I sometimes add minced fresh dill and parsley)
Mix everything together with a fork and put it in the fridge for a few hours.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, then with oiled hands form balls and drop them into the water. Let them simmer for 15 minutes- under NO circumstances do you lift the lid!!  After the time is up, leave the lid shut for as long as you can, even until serving time, if you can spare the pot.  Scoop the knaidlach out of the liquid to serve.
The number of matza balls the recipe makes depends on how large you make them.  I always at least double the recipe.

WRITING A COOKBOOK/MEMOIR

When I think back to November 2012 when Marvin and I left La Cuisine and decided to write a memoir/cookbook of our experiences of 21 years in the intense business in which we found ourselves, I feel almost silly for thinking that we could just sit down for a couple of months, dedicate ourselves to the project, and be done with it.

One year  and five months later, the end is in sight, but we still find ourselves with our noses to the grindstone, mostly morning till night, alternating between sitting in front of the computer, and running in the kitchen measuring yet again, rolling dough yet again, squeezing out cookies yet again, tasting way too much of so many delicious things yet again, and of course- back, shoulders, and neck aching yet again.

Because we have a deadline coming up, and because we really need to start getting on with our lives (yes, there is life after La Cuisine...), I actually still feel very stressed, as opposed to exhilarated.  I suppose I'll feel better once I see those first few books rolling off the press. or maybe once I have more time to spend with my grandchildren, or with friends, or with some more meaningful work with which to fill my days.

But for now, we're pretty proud of what we've produced. A few more weeks of sweat, and then I sure hope you'll all enjoy the product of our labour!

and this was just yesterday...

WE ARE STILL TAKING PREORDERS FOR OUR MEMOIR/COOKBOOK:

http://lorirappskitchen.com/page2.html

PURIM'S COMING!!

When I was growing up in Toronto, there were basically two choices of Hamantaschen.  There was cookie dough or yeast dough- only the Czech or Hungarian holocaust survivours that I knew baked and ate the yeast ones! And there was poppy seed filling (muhn) or prune filling. I sure don't remember any creative variations while I was young, and quite frankly most people ate a hamantasch or two just to, as we say in Yiddish, "yotzei zeyn" - to say that they had one in honour of the holiday.

And if you think they're any more impressive in Paris- forget it.  We were there 2 years ago, and there was not one interesting one in sight, and we searched out 6 different kosher bakeshops!

Enter  Purim, 2014. Especially here in Israel, our culinary world is filled with an endless run of chef reality shows, reports and reviews of very high-level kosher restaurants and cookbooks, and many fabulours blogs and facebook pages.

So it's no surprise to see what fun people are having these days with their hamantaschen!
There are articles upon articles in the local and North American press about the wild, exciting fillings, doughs, and- yes- toppings! that people and places are offering. 

Sweet and savoury, small and huge, healthy and multi-coloured, dairy and meat, flaky and crispy, seeded and sprinkled, the triangular ideas are almost endless, and I encourage you to try hamantaschen ideas you've never even thought of before!

But I must admit, maybe it's because my mother is Czech, or maybe it's because of this great thought  I read ( poppy seed is "muhn" in German, and there's a famous poppy pocket cookie called "muhn-taschen" meaning "purses", so because it sounded like " HA-Muhn-taschen" sounding like Haman, that's how it became a Purim cookie!! Isn't that cute?)-   my favourite is still poppy seed!

Poppy seed filling for Hamantaschen-

225 ml milk or water
225 gr ground poppy seeds
190 gr sugar
45 gr raisins
15 gr butter or butter-flavoured margarine
10 gr cinnamon
120 gr ground sponge cake crumbs
5 gr lemon rind
2 tart apples, grated

Boil the milk, poppy seeds, sugar, raisins, butter, and cinnamon in a small saucepan, stirring constantly, till the mixture is almost dry.
Remove from the heat and empty it into a bowl. Stir in the crumbs, rind, and apple. Let it cool.

HAMANTASCHEN WORKSHOP MONDAY EVENING IN JERUSALEM 19:30-22:30
220 shekels per person, call me to register- 055-660-4851.