Dear Readers,
Today is the 100th day of my family moving out to our country home due to the national pandemic shutdown. I numbered the days in my Morning Pages notebook, so I know. This strikes
me as the perfect opportunity to reflect on what I have learned from this experience so far. This list certainly won't be exclusive as I keep stumbling on insights, but here goes:
I learned to manage anxiety. That has been a humbling experience, for sure. But even if anxiety still gets the better of me once in a while, I have a bunch of coping mechanisms in my toolbox now that let me get through a bad day. They include practicing meditation, mindfulness, prayer, grounding, and breathing. I practice all of them religiously and they definitely
help. As does avoiding the news and watching comedy shows!
Going with the flow reduces stress and still gets stuff done. I have actually set aside my little black notebook in which I used to plan my days. I still get it all done, even annoying paperwork like the tax return, but I get it done by mostly doing what I feel like doing at any given time. Miraculously there are days when I actually feel like sitting down with my laptop, being efficient and depositing checks or doing budgeting. Of course it helps a lot that my days are pretty much appointment free! Which I love, by the way.
Do it yourself rules. Or: So many things can still be done, just differently and maybe even better. Or cheaper! For example, my daughter has been coloring my hair. Two boxes of Clairol Root-Touch Up at $8.94 and one hour of time in the bathroom
do the trick. And the color lasts longer than what I had been getting at the salon. So now I am wondering whether the monthly salon visit is even necessary? Mind you, I miss seeing my stylist whom I have known for 32 years (!) but perhaps I can cut down to haircuts every three months or so? My husband loves my currently longer hair, and it's less of a pain than I thought it would be. So, if my daughter can teach him how to do my root touch-ups, I might be in for a new salon routine and
saving some money!
Making do with simpler joys. I've always enjoyed improvising and when our lives were so restricted, one had to be inventive to come up with some fun. A friend of mine celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary by setting up a romantic dinner for two
in their airstream, parked in their alley! Is that cool or what?
Serviceberries!
Country life holds all kinds of wonders. I knew that before, of course. But being here every day, beginning in the barrenness of March, through the slow blossoming of spring, to the onslaught of summer heat and fruit, I have discovered all kinds of new things! Remember the serviceberry trees I loved in the spring because they were the
first to bloom? Well, now they are the first to carry fruit! See picture above. My son contends they are not quite ripe yet but we have tasted some serviceberries and they taste a bit like currants, just milder. If you happen to have a recipe for what one could bake with them, please let me know! Meanwhile we're watching those trees and hope we can beat the birds to some of the berries when they are ripe. Ladders will be required!
On a walk recently, I managed to get this picture of a dragonfly
resting in the reeds at one of our ponds.
You have what you have, and what you don't have, you don't have. (And might not be able to get.) This is one of the unique experiences of this pandemic. Hoarding all of a sudden made it impossible to buy toilet paper, baking soda, flour, yeast, or certain cleaning products. I still can't get my favorite hydro-peroxide household cleaner. That has been a sobering
experience in this country of abundance. It reminded me of my Russian and East German friends' tales of standing in line to buy bread or whatever was currently available because they never knew when it would be available again.
Elaborate recipes are doable. I don't think I would have ever attempted making bourekas, the savory Middle Eastern pastries my husband loves to buy in Israel. I know that anything that requires filling dough is a hell of a lot of work. But now, with my daughter, who loves a baking challenge, I set out to make bourekas for Shabbat
recently. It was indeed a lot of work but everybody loved them. Thankfully this effort yielded plenty of snacks for days to come as you can freeze bourekas and warm up them up one at a time for a delicious snack.
Bourekas
Dough
We didn't make our bourekas with the traditional puff pastry as we cannot buy a ready-made kosher version anywhere near here. And homemade puff pastry (phyllo) is indeed too much work, or maybe an adventure for another day. Instead, we experimented and used Julia Child's pie crust
recipe. We knew that works and tastes delicious. So, these bourekas are definitely dairy but anything with puff pastry has to be. No butter, no taste!
Eggplant Filling
I will share the recipe for this filling with you here as we liked that best. However, there are many different fillings you can try to see what suits your taste. We also did a potato cheese one but resolved to use a stronger cheese next time we do this.
1 large eggplant, halved lengthwise
2 tbsp. olive oil
kosher salt
paprika spice
1 medium onion, minced
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
Preheat oven to 400F. Score the egglpant with a few long, 1/4-inch deep cuts. Place on baking sheet, cut side up, and season generously with olive oil, salt, and paprika. Roast for about 1 hour until tender. Let cool.
Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, pepper, and garlic and saute until the vegetables are soft. Let cool.
Scoop the eggplant flesh into a medium bowl. Add the onion-pepper mixture and mix well. Add the mint. Salt to taste.
Preparing the bourekas
2 egg yolks, scrambled
poppy or sesame seeds for decoration
Roll the pie dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut into 5 inch squares. Spoon filling into middle of the dough squares, brush the edges with the yolk, fold into triangles and press to seal. Brush top with egg wash and sprinkle with seeds if desired.
Bake in the oven at 400F for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
So much for my elaborate baking projects. Do let me know if you're attempting any of the recipes I have shared in this newsletter, or share one of your own. I recently got pictures from a reader who prepared the Cauliflower Shawarma I had shared in a previous
newsletter. What fun!
Be well and feel free to write back! I love hearing how you all are faring.
Greetings,
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