In an Absence of Guest Bloggers.
So it’s midnight and everybody’s asleep* but me and I’m still stuck writing a blog entry. Remember Guest Bloggers? Ha. And after all those dishes I washed!** This is the thanks I get! Snoring!***
So the first thing that happened is that I was sleeping the sleep of the just and/or the afflicted by ME this morning and didn’t hear the phone ring† so when eventually I got†† upright and looked at the time I was Filled with Dismay. No, of course I didn’t look at my phone machine, I’d have heard the phone ring, silly. So I stumbled around the house tripping over hellhounds and heaving things into corners and thus symbolically out of the way, just in case someone wanted to come here for any reason†††, and eventually the phone rang again and it was they, having just shot past their turn-off. But they’d successfully escaped Heathrow [airport], which I think is pretty epic of them. Once they’re down here I can tell them what to do; around Heathrow they’re on their own. Heathrow exists in another dimension of reality. I think Diana Wynne Jones should write a book about Heathrow.‡
The rest of the day has mostly been a long episode of everybody trying to keep everybody else awake (with varying degrees of success). I’m feeling hard done by here so while I had told my friend I was nobly forbearing from naming her and her daughters‡‡ . . . I’VE NOW CHANGED MY MIND. So, my friend, Hannah, which is a perfectly nice name and means ‘grace’ or ‘full of grace’‡‡‡, walked hellhounds with me, and then we had lunch at the mews§ and then Hannah and her husband and I went off to raid Tesco’s [supermarket: I think it's now the biggest UK supermarket chain] for Passover food. It’s Passover. Who knew? Well, lots and lots of Jews. I’ve even had Passover with Hannah and her family before, so this is a trifle embarrassing. What’s even more embarrassing however is that the monster Tesco’s near here . . . had no Jewish section, no Passover section, no matzohs. Come on. Even us gentiles cook with matzohs and matzoh meal occasionally.§§ And their gourmet section carries far more exotic things: Thai and Indian and Chinese and Mexican and stuff I don’t even recognise. And no matzohs. Fortunately Hannah had brought a few wrapped up in her sweaters§§§ so we could make our matzoh sandwiches with the bitter herbs and the charoset ¤ but really. I blush for Hampshire. And I’m sure I’ve seen matzohs here: granted I used to bring boxes over in my sweaters, but it took me a few years to embrace fully that, as Peter kept telling me, England is a civilised country. And the last time I bought them was in London, but even so . . .
And we had the story and everything: Ruby, youngest child, told it, and I was interested, in a family of two daughters, the Four Sons become the Four Children. We had a certain amount of trouble counting up the right number of plagues, but we all remembered our favourites: wild animals, locusts, boils. . . . ¤¤ And then we tucked into the roast chicken, the tsimmes,¤¤¤ and the potato kugel.? And we had my secret stash of Green & Black’s for dessert. Unleavened, you know. But . . . these New Yorkers. They expect delis in tiny backwoods Hampshire towns to be open past 5 o’clock on a Saturday. Puhleez. Fortunately I get twitchy without some Green & Black’s in the house so I could supply a need. Now I’ll just have to be twitchy till . . . well, till tomorrow morning. The newsagent’s sells Green & Black’s, and I can buy some after service ring.???
*Notably including hellhounds, who have had a fascinating day full of new stroking hands and voices going ‘awwwwwwww’.
** Here’s one for technology: out of three houses we have only one dishwasher–of the plug in, rather than the two-handed, variety–down at the mews. Today it broke.
*** I have long believed that dogs and cats have the Sleeping Postures of Boneless Abandon thing cornered, but today I learnt that human teenagers are contenders.
† This probably has to do with the pillow over my head to shut out (a) daylight and (b) happy carolling early risers across this very narrow little road, but I hear howling hellhounds just fine through any number of pillow slips and duck feathers.
†† Make that ‘crashed’
††† Inquisitiveness counts. I would accept inquisitiveness. I love other people’s houses. I don’t much like walking around town, I’d much rather get out into the countryside, but I’m afraid I shamelessly enjoy staring through people’s windows. I will blog about this some day.
‡ Although I was deeply tickled at my friend’s younger daughter being riveted by the fact that Heathrow is surrounded by fields full of sheep. It always had that effect on me, back in the days when I was a tourist.
‡‡ Her husband didn’t promise to Guest Blog, so he’s safe. Furthermore I need him in a good mood because he’s the Tech Boy and I want him to take action photos of hellhounds.
‡‡‡ Which, if I do say so, fits her rather well
§ Which is when we found out the dishwasher is bust
§§ Although really what can you expect of a supermarket that does not carry Green & Black’s Dark Chocolate Mint.
§§§ I told her, never mind late April, bring woollies. It was, they told me–as Rebecca, her elder daughter, spilled out of the car on arrival in shorts–82 degrees in Manhattan when they left. It didn’t get above the mid-forties here today.
¤ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charoset By the way, salty parsley is rather good. And I don’t see what apples, cinnamon and raisins have to do with mortar.
¤¤ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder#The_Four_Sons And you can scroll down for the plagues.
¤¤¤ Slice a little fresh ginger, saute in butter; boil your carrots till nearly tender, throw in the pan with the ginger, add about ¼ c white wine, 2 T honey, ¼ c currants, and cook a while over a low flame.
? Six grated potatoes: Hannah admitted that grating potatoes is boring. One grated onion. Mix with salt, pepper, 2 beaten eggs, some chopped parsley and (shock! Horror! It’s Passover! It’s all about fleeing slavery and unleavenedness!) about a teaspoon of baking powder. Generously olive-oil your baking pan–you want the kugel less than an inch thick, so choose your pan accordingly–350 degrees for about an hour. It should get crunchy top and bottom.
?? But I still have to write my own blog entry!!!
??? ARRRRRGH. These question marks SHOULD be little house symbols, but it’s now after one o’clock and I’m not going to try to cope with it tonight!!!!
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Congratulations on apparently having a wonderful day with your best friend, a lovely passover meal and still managing to post your blog for the day, despite the ME. You were in my thoughts a lot and I hope all the good energy sent your way was being received.
Waiting for a lot of Pictures.
Any action shots of Robin along with action shots of the hellhounds?
Speaking of Heathrow – I believe it to be one of the circles of Hell or to be devised by the minions of Hell – kind of like the M25 London motorway in Good Omens (great book by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett but you probably already know the reference).
Have you read Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams? Heathrow goes up in a great roaring ball of flame. I often have macabre thoughts about Heathrow exploding (of course, exploding with no one in the airport since all people will have conveniently been evacuated by a serendiptiously timed supernatural event) when I find that once again the damn airport lost my luggage and I am in yet another foreign country with no clean underwear(I travel a lot). I actually broke away from security on my last trip through Heathrow when they forcibly tried to take my bag away from me. They chased me through the terminal for a few minutes but lost interest (Note: I don’t recommend this tactic to ANYONE, it was one of the most frightening moments of my life).
In regards to lack of matzoh, I am horrified to think of a place with no ready access to matzoh. OK – in full honesty, I’m not Jewish. I’m Asian but I grew up in NYC and matzoh recipes have always been a part of my life (because most of my childhood friends are Jewish), along with corned beef and cabbage, pasta and meatloaf. My mom just added kimchee and soy sauce to everything (Kimchee spaghetti is still a personal favorite). Anyway, just wanted to commiserate/add my thoughts on Heathrow and lack of matzoh. I don’t think I could live in a place lacking crucial resources like delis and matzohs. *shudder* but love makes you do strange things. =)
you probably already know the reference).
******** Absolutely. Couldn’t live without it. :)
Have you read Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams?
********** Can you repost this over on Pollyanna so it gets into our future booklist something-or-other? Please?
Heathrow goes up in a great roaring ball of flame. I often have macabre thoughts about Heathrow exploding (of course, exploding with no one in the airport since all people will have conveniently been evacuated by a serendiptiously timed supernatural event) when I find that once again the damn airport lost my luggage and I am in yet another foreign country with no clean underwear(I travel a lot). I actually broke away from security on my last trip through Heathrow when they forcibly tried to take my bag away from me. They chased me through the terminal for a few minutes but lost interest (Note: I don’t recommend this tactic to ANYONE, it was one of the most frightening moments of my life).
In regards to lack of matzoh, I am horrified to think of a place with no ready access to matzoh. OK – in full honesty, I’m not Jewish. I’m Asian but I grew up in NYC and matzoh recipes have always been a part of my life (because most of my childhood friends are Jewish), along with corned beef and cabbage, pasta and meatloaf. My mom just added kimchee and soy sauce to everything (Kimchee spaghetti is still a personal favorite). Anyway, just wanted to commiserate/add my thoughts on Heathrow and lack of matzoh. I don’t think I could live in a place lacking crucial resources like delis and matzohs.
*********** Well, we *do* have delis. And I’m hoping maybe there was such a *run* on matzohs that Tesco’s merely ran out and they’ll order more in next year. . . .
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. . . you wouldn’t like to POST a recipe for Kimchee spaghetti, would you? :)
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Glad to hear the friends got there safely, epic adventure and all. (They should count themselves lucky, I think, for surviving Epic Adventure. I mean, it’s England and there are all kinds of magical stories about England… If I ever visit England (unlikely, but a worthy ambition), I’m going to make sure I prepare myself for being transported into a fantasyland version of England. I’ve read enough books. I know better.)
Ahem, anyway.
My house doesn’t have a dishwasher. Sometimes I wonder if I miss it, but then I remember my parents’ house in Texas, which had a dishwasher, but the worst water pressure in the world, too, so it didn’t really matter. One still had to wash the dishes before…washing the dishes. My grandmother had a rolly-around-the-kitchen dishwasher when she was still alive, but she never used it for washing dishes. It was storage space. ;)
but I’m afraid I shamelessly enjoy staring through people’s windows. I will blog about this some day.
If you get lots of photos in your email from your devoted readers — shots of their windows into their living rooms — just remember, you brought this on yourself! ;) (At least, we hope it’s their own living room, not their neighbor’s.)
That sounds like a fun blog post. *grin*
Lastly, you should include sleeping ferrets with the boneless list. I’ll have to find a picture of someone sleeping half in and half out of their hammock. I wish I’d managed to get a picture the time Oscar zonked halfway through the tunnel between their cages.
Okay, lastly lastly for real this time. You’re a good and brave woman for posting so late when the Guest Bloggers failed you. Chocolate for you! :D
Glad to hear the friends got there safely, epic adventure and all. (They should count themselves lucky, I think, for surviving Epic Adventure. I mean, it’s England and there are all kinds of magical stories about England… If I ever visit England (unlikely, but a worthy ambition), I’m going to make sure I prepare myself for being transported into a fantasyland version of England. I’ve read enough books. I know better.)
******** And you’re totally right. The thing I have found however is that fantasy-England is HERE all weirdly mixed in with normal-stupid-life England. It’s one of the things that’s so confusing. Especially if you’re a lifelong Anglonut and then find yourself LIVING there. Wha’ . . . wha’ . . . huh . . .
My house doesn’t have a dishwasher. Sometimes I wonder if I miss it, but then I remember my parents’ house in Texas, which had a dishwasher, but the worst water pressure in the world, too, so it didn’t really matter. One still had to wash the dishes before…washing the dishes. My grandmother had a rolly-around-the-kitchen dishwasher when she was still alive, but she never used it for washing dishes. It was storage space. ;)
********* I have mostly *not* had a dishwasher but . . . GUYS USE MORE DISHES WHEN THEY COOK. Also during high days and holidays at the old house we sometimes sat down more than twenty. That’s a LOT of dishwashing.
but I’m afraid I shamelessly enjoy staring through people’s windows. I will blog about this some day.
If you get lots of photos in your email from your devoted readers — shots of their windows into their living rooms — just remember, you brought this on yourself! ;) (At least, we hope it’s their own living room, not their neighbor’s.)
That sounds like a fun blog post. *grin*
*********** I said I LOVED looking in other people’s houses. I didn’t say I APPROVED. :)
Lastly, you should include sleeping ferrets with the boneless list. I’ll have to find a picture of someone sleeping half in and half out of their hammock. I wish I’d managed to get a picture the time Oscar zonked halfway through the tunnel between their cages.
*********** Oh, ferrets, definitely. And a lot of other animals really. I just know cats and dogs best.
Okay, lastly lastly for real this time. You’re a good and brave woman for posting so late when the Guest Bloggers failed you. Chocolate for you! :D
********** I’m so glad you wrote! :)
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The thing I have found however is that fantasy-England is HERE all weirdly mixed in with normal-stupid-life England.
Oh gosh, yes, I can see how that would make it even more confusing. So I suppose you have to be prepared for Epic Fantasy Adventure at any time…
GUYS USE MORE DISHES WHEN THEY COOK.
That is SO true. They obviously aren’t planning for the near future, or not thinking about the poor woman who will be slaving away over a hot sink. They’re probably thinking, “Oh no! This spoon is slightly dirty because I stirred something with it. Better get a new one. And another one for backup.” ;)
I’m so glad you wrote!
I’ve been reading every day! I’ve just been quiet without a lot to say, and you already have plenty of comments to fuss with without adding randomness from me. :)
Here’s a photo of Austin without bones: http://flickr.com/photos/69585952@N00/2428198216/
(The one next on the list is the same pose, but with a giant ferret yawn. That pooooor exhausted thing. And the ferret photo previous is Simon’s feet. Right before I grabbed them and squeed. ;)
Here’s a photo of Austin without bones: http://flickr.com/photos/69585952@N00/2428198216/
(The one next on the list is the same pose, but with a giant ferret yawn. That pooooor exhausted thing.
******* And look at those TEETH! If i were a rabbit I would TREMBLE!!!!
And the ferret photo previous is Simon’s feet. Right before I grabbed them and squeed. ;)
******* I don’t seem to be able to hit the right buttons. But I like Diego and Diego flailing. :)
http://www.shrjc.com/
This is the URL for a Jewish congregation in Southampton. With only Hampshire as a geographic location, I don’t know how close it is to y’all, but I’ll bet you can find someone who can tell you where to get matzoh.
I too am shocked that TESCO didn’t have them … after all, the grocery stores here in Vermont have a full line of food items for Passover. Your challenge has got me thinking about looking for gluten free matzoh … or a recipe to modify. Our monthly potluck did not fall on Passover this year, but it could happen.
I just can’t remember if the Jewish families include anyone who is gluten intolerant. It is hard to believe that in fewer then ten families the only things which no one is allergic to/morally opposed to are rice, beans, most fruits and veggies, and fair trade chocolate!
Anyway, best of luck to you and a joyful Passover to Hannah and her family.
The skating librarian.
There is something magical about the sheep in fields around the airport. I remember when I first went flying over the English countryside on a train and thinking “OH MY GOD! It really does look like the movies! (especially “All Creatures Great and Small” did anyone else watch that tv show?)
YES! I loved it. I want to get the entire collection of the series so I can watch it over, and over, and over again. I will brain-wash my daughter into liking it, too…
I’ve always wanted to sit in on a Passover meal… but I don’t have any Jewish friends who still do Passover (I have a friend from high-school in Toronto who is Jewish, but he’s not very organized about it). *sigh* Oh well. I’ll just read about other people’s experiences and use my imagination(:
And that carrot recipe is now one of my favourites! Thanks!!
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Happy Passover!
we had a 12 people Seder here last night and two dishwashers of the human variety – my stepsister and myself. I heartily sympathise!
I think the chocolate makes up for any lack of matzoh, lol, although you did have some courtesy of your thoughtful best friend :)
may we all be free from anything cumbersome in our lives, be it ME or anything else!
Well, there’s lots and lots and lots of varieties of charoset. I was raised jewish, and we weren’t all -that- observant, but Passover meant making half a dozen kinds of charoset and gefilte fish from scratch (which turns out amazingly yummy…. even if it’s a TON of work!).
I don’t know how this stuff was being made, but charoset gets a lot more mortar-like when you run it through a food processor. The various dried fruits (and of course some versions are heavier on this than others) turn it into a very thick gooey spread that can quite easily glue stuff together.
Also, grating potatoes gets a whole lot faster with a food processor too. Okay, so I’m kinda spoiled when it comes to kitchen toys. I don’t have a dishwasher at the house I live in now, and I keep thinking I need to get one… even just a small countertop model, for the kitchen toys that are a pain to wash by hand. I’ve got a boyfriend to do all the plates and stuff. ^_^
My favorite thing about Passover though? You can actually find sodas with real sugar (instead of high fructose corn syrup) in US grocery stores. It’s a small thing, but it makes me happy.
Yes, they should have ASKED me, I have a food processor, but they only asked for a *grater*. Maybe it was all part of the verisimilitude or something. (Although I doubt the Egyptian slave Jews had graters either really.) I dated a Jewish boy for a while and he thought he was going to scare me by taking me with his parents to a Jewish restaurant and feeding me gefilte fish and I LOVED it. :) Yes, I’m thinking about a countertop dishwasher too, specifically for those things that are a PAIN to do by hand. I didn’t know ANYBODY made sodas with SUGAR in them any more. As Evil White Gods go, sugar is the *friendly* end.
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Heheh at least they didn’t have to try and get it grated using only a knife….
I love good gefilte fish, but don’t really have the time or energy to make it, now that I’m not living at home anymore. Ah well, I’ll probably see if I can’t get my dad to at least save a few balls for me…
And yeah, sugared sodas come out around Passover here in the US. Everywhere else gets them year round (I know I’ve gotten them from Mexico, Canada, and while I was in France/Italy), but there’s something to do with tarriffs or something I don’t really understand that makes HFCS a -lot- cheaper for the manufacturers to use here. Passover time, though, and corn syrup isn’t kosher-for-passover, and rather than lose all the Jews as a soda market for a week, they make kosher soda with real actual sugar… Needless to say, I tend to stockpile it… just a little!
I don’t know if you can find them everywhere in the States, but here in Colorado, there’s a brand of soda by the name of Jones Sodas and they are all made with pure cane sugar and come in all kinds of different and yummy flavors (they even do special silly ones for different holidays like pumpkin pie or lemon merangue or candy cane). I hope you can find them there.
Erika
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“I hear howling hellhounds just fine through any number of pillow slips and duck feathers.”
Similar to the story of the Princess and the Pea, People with Pets are unable not to hear an inappropriate hiccough or anguished dark-hours cry, no matter how deep in sleep they may be! :)
YES. I think I must wake up every time the ferrets make a noise. Granted, they’re in the room right next to my bedroom, but ferrets make tiny noises!
Good thing the alarm clock doesn’t have that effect on me. Oh, wait…
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Good thing the alarm clock doesn’t have that effect on me. Oh, wait…
********* LOL! Yes, exactly! :)
It’s Passover. Who knew?
:)
My impression of Jewish life in the UK is that it is almost frighteningly marginal. Knowing that matzoh is difficult to obtain even at this time of year isn’t terribly surprising, though sad.
in a family of two daughters, the Four Sons become the Four Children. We had a certain amount of trouble counting up the right number of plagues, but we all remembered our favourites: wild animals, locusts, boils
LOL! We use a reform Haggadah from the 1920′s–beautiful art deco-ey illustrations of the Egyptians, but (oddly) no mention of the 10 plagues, it just glosses over them as “afflictions.” So this year we had a photocopied sheet from a conservative Haggadah, and just stuck it in at the appropriate time.
Our seder went off beautifully, as it usually does. My regular contribution (a bottle of Mogen David concord–on sale for $3) was as usual unappreciated by everyone but me. Strangely enough, most other normal adults seem to like wine that tastes like wine, and not like grape flavored pancake syrup.
And hey, baking powder in the kugel? For shame! Though….er…. this might explain why my hostess’ kugel every year is a rather dense mass of potato, onion, and gluten. It’s kind of like oatmeal if you got distracted from breakfast and left it sitting in the pan to glop up. Not that it doesn’t taste fine, but…. Maybe I should volunteer to bring the kugel next year.
Bring on the guest bloggers! Welcome welcome!
Do you, you know, *practise* Judaism or just the occasional high holy day with FOOD? :) My friends are the latter although Ruby is studying for her Bat Mitzvah. Manaschivitz–don’t know how you spell it, that’s not right–grape flavoured pancake syrup, YES. VERY LARGE UGGGH. That’s *not* where my Jewish blood manifests. . . .
Bring on the guest bloggers! Welcome welcome!
*********** Yes! It WORKED! It WORKED!! I couldn’t believe it!!! And Hannah is going to blog tomorrow, and I have to name her husband because EVEN HE’S SAID HE’LL BLOG!!!!!!! Gods, I need more *visitors* . . . I had no idea . . . loan people a house and they come all over GRATEFUL.
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Do you, you know, *practise* Judaism or just the occasional high holy day with FOOD? :)
I suppose you could say I *practice*, and yet haven’t got it off quite right yet. :) Am hampered slightly by not being Jewish by descent or upbringing (though I’ve always said my mother is the most hardcore Zionist Methodist I’ve ever known. Her high school was about 50% Jewish kids, so she grew up well versed in Judaism and strongly encouraged me toward same.) I decided I wanted to convert when I was 14, aaaand…. let’s just say Ruby may yet beat me to being a Bat Mitzvah! :) (and mazel tov to her, btw!) Conversion is a timeconsuming process, and when I was in college and afterwards it seemed easier to just Live As If. Now I feel a bit hypocritical about it, and I’ve been giving thought to the topic again in recent years. But like most good reform Jews, I go to temple on a VERY irregular basis. :)
Manischewitz is indeed horrible. Even as a person who far prefers sweet wine to dry wine, I can tell you that I find Manischewitz pretty undrinkable. The Mogen is very sweet and grapey, but lacks the overriding medicinal taste of Manisch. Everyone else at our table–including all the Jews-by-birth–drinks a nice dry white kosher wine, or a non-alcoholic grape juice. So I think it’s less a manifestation of Jewish blood, and more my lowbrow taste in wine generally. :)
The guest blogging is great, now I need to go reread the post and make a friendly welcoming comment!
Sainsbury’s have a better ethnic selection than Tesco’s (I can get tahini in Sainsbury’s, also soba noodles), and Waitrose probably sell matzos, too.
I looked at Anglonut and initially “saw” Anglenut:
Was it a geometry freak?
Some sort of fishing enthusiast?
Some form of edible nut I wasn’t aware of?
Somebody with a fanatic admiration of the ancient Angles?
and then – finally- it clicked. Duh!
Too much translation, not enough life!
Actually, two points about Passover.
One, at least in the US, there’s a matzo shortage this year. I kid you not. People are having trouble finding it and eating it in perfectly respectable Jewish places like Westchester and Philadelphia. =)
Two, you can actually use some leavening in Passover cooking. Mainly eggs, but also baking soda. I bought special Kosher for Passover baking soda to use in making a banana-lime tart (which my husband ended up baking; I had an unexpected bris to attend), and in place of baking powder, I just used the substitution of cream of tartar and the kosher for passover baking soda. Works just as well. Also, cake meal, instead of flour in the tart; I’ve actually made it both ways, and I like it with the cake meal better; it gives it a nubblier texture to the crust.
One, at least in the US, there’s a matzo shortage this year. I kid you not. People are having trouble finding it and eating it in perfectly respectable Jewish places like Westchester and Philadelphia. =)
******* I’ve been thinking I’ll actually *ask*, next time I’m at Tesco’s . . .
Two, you can actually use some leavening in Passover cooking.
******** !!! On what, you know, grounds?
Mainly eggs, but also baking soda. I bought special Kosher for Passover baking soda to use in making a banana-lime tart
********* Oooh. Recipe?
(which my husband ended up baking; I had an unexpected bris
********* Oh dear.
to attend), and in place of baking powder, I just used the substitution of cream of tartar and the kosher for passover baking soda. Works just as well. Also, cake meal, instead of flour in the tart; I’ve actually made it both ways, and I like it with the cake meal better; it gives it a nubblier texture to the crust.
******** What is cake meal?
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