Difference between revisions of "Blog/June 2009/Jun 26th"

Latest revision as of 16:01, 3 July 2009

June 26th (See this week's devar torah)
Send Ron feedback on this blog

Hi again!

Not too many things to report this week, although the shabbat meals the girls and I prepared in honor of Esther's birthday were "ok" -- but not close to what she would have made. Not surprising, that. However, they were much appreciated by the recipient, which is as much as one can ask for.

Sarah found out this week that she has to take the "oral Torah" bagrut on Sunday, even though she didn't have the class! We are still trying to understand how the school could "miss the boat" so badly and make her take a test she's clearly not well prepared to take. They refused to excuse her from it, also; which I really don't understand.

Daniela has taken to knitting socks. I'm not sure "why socks?", but that's what she's doing. Hats too. So if I need a hat or more socks, b"h I can count on her. The first attempt at a sock looked kind of like a cast for a broken ankle -- but her work's improved.

Two weeks ago I mentioned that Hilbe (fenugreek) is a natural anti-diabetes medication. It's also a common spice, used primarily in Indian cuisine. The capsules sold as a supplement to help with blood-sugar control cost around 90 NIS for 45g (90 capsules, 500mg each). That works out to 2,000 NIS per kg. This week, Esther picked up a kilo of Hilbe in the shuq for 24 NIS -- 80 times cheaper. Then she found a health food store selling it for only 10 NIS per kilo, or 200 times cheaper than the packaged "supplement"! The supplement people aren't going to be getting our money any time soon.

Here's one recipe for Hilbe -- an adaptation for those of us who want to help control metabolic syndrome. Use it to spice up whatever you want; stir it into soups, or put it on your sandwiches:

3 tsp ground fenugreek seeds. pour (lots of) boiling water on them and let them steep several hours
2 tsp turmeric
0.5 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp hot red zchug
2 crushed garlic cloves
0.25 tsp cardamom
1 crushed red tomato
0.5 tsp salt

Put everything but the Hilbe in a food processor and grind together. Then drain off the water from the Hilbe (whatever is actual water -- the seeds will have become a gelatinous residue in the bottom of the dish). Put the Hilbe in the processor and whirl away several minutes, perhaps adding water if the mixture is too thick. It will thicken further as the seeds are broken down. Makes a cup or more of prepared Hilbe.

This recipe has a number of beneficial ingredients:

Hilbe -- lowers triglycerides and cholesterol; reduces blood glucose levels
turmeric + black pepper -- wide variety of health benefits
tomato -- contains lycopene, a strong anti-oxidant
garlic -- antibacterial; may have benefits for the cardiovascular system

Last week I mentioned the plumber coming to fix a leak in the ceiling of Daniela's room. I also mentioned that I didn't think it was really fixed. It turns out I was right; and in the meantime, the power to her room has been turned off because the GFCI to the house cuts off all our power if her room is powered on. That's because the electrical conduit in her room is still wet. The plumber is coming back this week, though; we hope he will actually fix the leak this time.

Until next week,
Shabbat shalom!

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 {{blog}}
-{{bheader|June 19th|Devar/5769/Korach}}
+{{bheader|June 26th|Devar/5769/Chukat}}
 Hi again!
-Another jam-packed edition of the Aaron family follies for your perusal!
+Not too many things to report this week, although the shabbat meals the girls and I prepared in honor of Esther's birthday were "ok" -- but not close to what she would have made.  Not surprising, that.  However, they were much appreciated by the recipient, which is as much as one can ask for.
-One night this week we went to see the [http://www.lightinjerusalem.org.il/ Jerusalem light festival].  Click on that link -- that's right:  a tourist-oriented event whose web page is only in Hebrew.  Their web-site isn't all that wasn't brilliant, unfortunately.  The most interesting part of that outing was seeing our next-door neighbors there (who expressed surprise at seeing us "so far from home").
+Sarah found out this week that she has to take the "oral Torah" ''bagrut'' on Sunday, even though she didn't have the class!  We are still trying to understand how the school could "miss the boat" so badly and make her take a test she's clearly not well prepared to take.  They refused to excuse her from it, also; which I really don't understand.
-Another night, we attended the first "Maale Adummim Anglo Forum".  I want to avoid offending anyone from our "Anglo" community who reads this blog (I know of several), but in my opinion it was a terrible waste of two hours of my life.  There was no explanation of what the "forum" expected to accomplish (goals, that is); so there were seemingly random presentations (children from the local music conservatory playing some pieces; the mayor giving a speech which seemed somewhat like a fund-raiser, and a comic).  The comic -- someone I've seen around fairly often, but didn't know he was a comic -- was so depressing, by the end of his routine I was ready to slice my throat.  This was more of a waste of my time than the light festival -- since at least before that we had a pleasant dinner with a friend of ours.
+Daniela has taken to knitting socks.  I'm not sure "why socks?", but that's what she's doing.  Hats too.  So if I need a hat or more socks, b"h I can count on her.  The first attempt at a sock looked kind of like a cast for a broken ankle -- but her work's improved.
-Yet another night, we went to the Jerusalem Book Fair.  That was promising (we all like books), but I didn't see anything I was particularly interested in.  However, Esther did get some cookbooks.  It's impressive just how many people come to these fairs.  While we were there, a couple thousand people were milling about the stalls looking for something new or interesting.
+Two weeks ago I mentioned that ''Hilbe'' ({{wiki|fenugreek}}) is a natural anti-diabetes medication.  It's also a common spice, used primarily in Indian cuisine.  The capsules sold as a supplement to help with blood-sugar control cost around 90 NIS for 45g (90 capsules, 500mg each).  That works out to 2,000 NIS per kg.  This week, Esther picked up a kilo of ''Hilbe'' in the ''shuq'' for 24 NIS -- 80 times cheaper.  Then she found a health food store selling it for only 10 NIS per kilo, or 200 times cheaper than the packaged "supplement"!  The supplement people aren't going to be getting our money any time soon.
-Though we replaced all the pipes in the house before moving in, we discovered a spreading leak in the ceiling in Daniela's room.  Since she's on the second storey and there are no pipes above her room (and the roof is bone-dry), we were mystified as to what the problem could be.  So I stayed home one day and we called in a plumber; who told us he was stumped, and that in order to figure out the problem we would have to open a hole in the roof's insulation and dig into the roof -- and that it would end up being expensive.  So he suggested we contact our homeowners' insurance company and see what they cover.  I hadn't even considered calling the insurance company; but we did.  They in turn sent their own plumber out, and after a bit he discovered that one of the electrical conduits leading into the house was saturated with water (not a good thing!).  So he blew into that conduit, and expelled a lot of water into our house, just where the hot-water "boiler" switch is.  Anyway, he sealed off that conduit -- but we still don't know why there was water in it, or whether or not the actual problem was been fixed (my suspicion is 'no').  Just so you know, the plumber charged less than our insurance deductible of 500 NIS (roughly $120 for you USA'ans) so it didn't matter we called them.  But if the leak continues to spread, we'll call them back and then it will probably get expensive.
+Here's one recipe for ''Hilbe'' -- an adaptation for those of us who want to help control {{wiki|metabolic syndrome}}.  Use it to spice up whatever you want; stir it into soups, or put it on your sandwiches:
+* 3 tsp ground fenugreek seeds.  pour (lots of) boiling water on them and let them steep several hours
+* 2 tsp turmeric
+* 0.5 tsp ground black pepper
+* 2 tsp hot red ''{{wiki|zchug}}''
+* 2 crushed garlic cloves
+* 0.25 tsp cardamom
+* 1 crushed red tomato
+* 0.5 tsp salt
-Having to work from home while waiting for the plumber(s) was excruciating, since I have to transfer large files back and forth -- and my internet connection has always been pretty slow.  So I upgraded from (ostensibly) 2.5Mbps to 5Mbps.  The difference is most impressive -- and the price difference was minimal.  I say "ostensibly", because when I actually measured my connection speed it was 1.2Mbps (whereas now it really is 5 or thereabouts).  No, that doesn't mean you can email me large files...
+Put everything but the ''Hilbe'' in a food processor and grind together.  Then drain off the water from the ''Hilbe'' (whatever is actual water -- the seeds will have become a gelatinous residue in the bottom of the dish).  Put the ''Hilbe'' in the processor and whirl away several minutes, perhaps adding  water if the mixture is too thick.  It will thicken further as the seeds are broken down.  Makes a cup or more of prepared ''Hilbe''.
-That man in the White House is trying to cozy up to the Muslim world.  Of course, he is doing that by simply [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTAyNzFjMmMwOWJjYmFmMTA2ODdjODZmZmQ0MWE1Mzg=&w=MA== making stuff up] -- such as that Hindu, Chinese and European discoveries were due to Muslim influence, or that Israel's justification for existence is [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124476334397008215.html the Holocaust] (as if we weren't here thousands of years before that Austrian vegetarian psychopath started on his killing spree).  If you don't think I'm correct, you may want to read a [http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/06/who-should-we-believe.php Muslim woman's take on Obama's Cairo speech].  You should also view [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RlIuywN5WQ this honest response to Obama] from Moshe Feiglin.
+This recipe has a number of beneficial ingredients:
+* ''Hilbe''  -- lowers triglycerides and cholesterol; reduces blood glucose levels
+* turmeric + black pepper -- [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090420123051.htm wide variety of health benefits]
+* tomato -- contains {{wiki|lycopene}}, a strong anti-oxidant
+* garlic -- antibacterial; may have benefits for the cardiovascular system
-So it is important that our Prime Minister Netanyahu [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/131833 not give in].  And in fact, the [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244371095741&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull speech he gave] was a pretty good one.  And the [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244371107342&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull fakestinian reaction] was not only predictable, but good for us in the long term.
+Last week I mentioned the plumber coming to fix a leak in the ceiling of Daniela's room.  I also mentioned that I didn't think it was really fixed.  It turns out I was right; and in the meantime, the power to her room has been turned off because the {{wiki|GFCI}} to the house cuts off all our power if her room is powered on.  That's because the electrical conduit in her room is still wet.   The plumber is coming back this week, though; we hope he will actually fix the leak this time.
-To end on an upbeat note: tomorrow is Esther's (secular) birthday.  We (Sarah, Daniela and I) have prepared the shabbat meals from A to Z (or from א to ת).  OK, we didn't bake challah -- but the girls took care of all the ''salatim'' and dessert, while I concentrated on the entrees.  We'll let you know next week how they came out.  Or perhaps Esther should let you know how they came out... or maybe not.
 Until next week,<br>
 Shabbat shalom!
-{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/June 2009/Jun 12th|Jun 12th||}}
+{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/June 2009/Jun 19th|Jun 19th|Blog/July 2009/Jul 3rd|Jul 3rd}}

Difference between revisions of "Blog/June 2009/Jun 26th"

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Latest revision as of 16:01, 3 July 2009