wedding planning, thanksgiving, anzacs in beersheva and Israeli driving tests... December 03, 2007 |
Ok, so from the title of my blog, I think it is safe to assume that I have been rather slack on the old writing front. What can I tell you? It's been a busy month! Not long after my beau and I formally announced our engagement, a mutual friend of ours offered to host a l'chaim for us. Originally we had no plans to do anything too fancy (actually, anything at all!) but I am very grateful to our friend for ensuring that this did not happen. We ended up having an absolutely gorgeous engagement party at our friend's home in Jerusalem's historic German Colony. We were particularly touched when he presented us with a volume of teachings by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov and all our friends wrote inscriptions on the inside cover. It is something we will treasure for many years to come.
Here's a photo of the happy couple (i.e. us!)
We had originally thought of getting married in June sometime, but for a number of reasons (none interesting enough to bore you with in this blog) we have now decided to have the wedding in early April. With only four months to plan, we had to get on to finding an appropriate venue quite quickly. We're having a smallish wedding (minute by Israeli standards!) and it is actually quite difficult to find suitable venues that accept smaller bookings. Thankfully we only looked at a handful of potential venues before settling on Merkaz Shimshon-Beit Shmuel, which is in the centre of Jerusalem - actually a five minute walk from our apartment. It has the most breathtaking views of the Old City - worth the price of admission alone! We are really thrilled with the place and I am sure it will be a magical setting for our wedding. Fingers crossed the skies are clear on the day so we can have the actual ceremony outside on the terrace.
More turkey peas (sorry, a family joke)
A couple of weeks ago it was Thanksgiving. Despite living in Israel, given the number of American migrants here, there are no shortage of Thanksgiving celebrations going on around the place. My good friend Elisabeth invited us to come to her apartment in Tel Aviv where she was hosting a Thanksgiving party with turkey, trimmings and all. I offered to make something and so I made (for the first time ever) a sweet potato pie. Can I just say, OMG! This pie is amazing. So amazing that I feel the urge to share the recipe with you. You don't need the excuse of Thanksgiving to bake this yummy pie!
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon flour
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust - either Graham cracker (biscuit) crust or shortcrust pastry
Directions
1. Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
2. Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugars, milk, eggs, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, ginger, lemon juice and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
3. Bake at 175 degrees C for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a soufflé, and then will sink down as it cools.
A bit of R&R
Last weekend we decided to head for the Negev and visit my relatives who live near Beersheva. More than anything else we were in dire need of recharging our batteries and how better to do that that chill out in Omer for the weekend? Most of the weekend was spent doing bugger all except sleeping and eating, but we did manage a nice drive into Beersheva - a city which continues to undergo massive development as Israel's major southern city.
Two interesting places we checked out were; Tiv Tam - a massive supermarket (akin to megamarts in Australia) which I found slightly freaky due to the large Christmas tree planted at the entrance (balanced out nicely by an ad for Chanukah on the other side of the front door) and a large selection of pork products proudly on display. For a second I had to pinch myself and remind myself that I was actually still in Israel. The reason behind such flagrant disregard for Jewish (not to mention kosher!) traditions is largely due to the large Russian community in Beersheva, many of whom do not keep kosher and "celebrate" Christmas, not as a Christian holiday per se, but as a more secular one. Still - tinsel, Christmas cards and little plastic Santas seem ridiculously incongruous in this country.
Our second stop on the whistle-stop tour of Beersheva was the ANZAC cemetery and WWI memorial. "What?" I hear you say, "Anzacs, in Israel?" Here's some fascinating history for you:
On October 31st, 1917, 800 mounted Australian troops charged through Beersheva in then Turkish-occupied Palestine and captured the desert town, irrevocably changing the direction of the Sinai and Palestine campaign during World War I.
Anzac Day Commemoration in Beersheva
You should also check out Greer Fay Cashman's interesting article in the Jerusalem Post.
Have license, will travel
Following on from my earlier blog about the trials and tribulations of obtaining an Israeli driving license, I am thrilled to announce that I passed my test yesterday!
I ended up taking a dozen or so lessons with an excellent instructor (not too bad I thought, considering the fact that I haven't driven in over seven years!) and despite being very nervous about taking the test, in reality, it was quite a breeze.
Thankfully, I was only required to take a simplified practical test - but even so - many people warned me that Israeli driving testers rarely grant a license on the first test (even a transfer license like mine). I was told not to get my hopes up too much and certainly not to be too disappointed if I failed the first time, that was normal.
I admit that given my test lasted all of seven minutes, I was a little worried as to how I had done, but I really couldn't think of any major screw ups along the way! Two hours after the test my instructor called me to give me the good news, I had passed!
So now I am the proud owner of an Israeli driving license. When I actually start driving alongside all the meshugenahs in this country, I am sure it will be a different story altogether!
Here's a photo of the happy couple (i.e. us!)
We had originally thought of getting married in June sometime, but for a number of reasons (none interesting enough to bore you with in this blog) we have now decided to have the wedding in early April. With only four months to plan, we had to get on to finding an appropriate venue quite quickly. We're having a smallish wedding (minute by Israeli standards!) and it is actually quite difficult to find suitable venues that accept smaller bookings. Thankfully we only looked at a handful of potential venues before settling on Merkaz Shimshon-Beit Shmuel, which is in the centre of Jerusalem - actually a five minute walk from our apartment. It has the most breathtaking views of the Old City - worth the price of admission alone! We are really thrilled with the place and I am sure it will be a magical setting for our wedding. Fingers crossed the skies are clear on the day so we can have the actual ceremony outside on the terrace.
***
More turkey peas (sorry, a family joke)
A couple of weeks ago it was Thanksgiving. Despite living in Israel, given the number of American migrants here, there are no shortage of Thanksgiving celebrations going on around the place. My good friend Elisabeth invited us to come to her apartment in Tel Aviv where she was hosting a Thanksgiving party with turkey, trimmings and all. I offered to make something and so I made (for the first time ever) a sweet potato pie. Can I just say, OMG! This pie is amazing. So amazing that I feel the urge to share the recipe with you. You don't need the excuse of Thanksgiving to bake this yummy pie!
Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon flour
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust - either Graham cracker (biscuit) crust or shortcrust pastry
Directions
1. Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
2. Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugars, milk, eggs, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, ginger, lemon juice and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
3. Bake at 175 degrees C for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a soufflé, and then will sink down as it cools.
***
A bit of R&R
Last weekend we decided to head for the Negev and visit my relatives who live near Beersheva. More than anything else we were in dire need of recharging our batteries and how better to do that that chill out in Omer for the weekend? Most of the weekend was spent doing bugger all except sleeping and eating, but we did manage a nice drive into Beersheva - a city which continues to undergo massive development as Israel's major southern city.
Two interesting places we checked out were; Tiv Tam - a massive supermarket (akin to megamarts in Australia) which I found slightly freaky due to the large Christmas tree planted at the entrance (balanced out nicely by an ad for Chanukah on the other side of the front door) and a large selection of pork products proudly on display. For a second I had to pinch myself and remind myself that I was actually still in Israel. The reason behind such flagrant disregard for Jewish (not to mention kosher!) traditions is largely due to the large Russian community in Beersheva, many of whom do not keep kosher and "celebrate" Christmas, not as a Christian holiday per se, but as a more secular one. Still - tinsel, Christmas cards and little plastic Santas seem ridiculously incongruous in this country.
Our second stop on the whistle-stop tour of Beersheva was the ANZAC cemetery and WWI memorial. "What?" I hear you say, "Anzacs, in Israel?" Here's some fascinating history for you:
On October 31st, 1917, 800 mounted Australian troops charged through Beersheva in then Turkish-occupied Palestine and captured the desert town, irrevocably changing the direction of the Sinai and Palestine campaign during World War I.
Anzac Day Commemoration in BeershevaYou should also check out Greer Fay Cashman's interesting article in the Jerusalem Post.
Have license, will travel
Following on from my earlier blog about the trials and tribulations of obtaining an Israeli driving license, I am thrilled to announce that I passed my test yesterday!
I ended up taking a dozen or so lessons with an excellent instructor (not too bad I thought, considering the fact that I haven't driven in over seven years!) and despite being very nervous about taking the test, in reality, it was quite a breeze.
Thankfully, I was only required to take a simplified practical test - but even so - many people warned me that Israeli driving testers rarely grant a license on the first test (even a transfer license like mine). I was told not to get my hopes up too much and certainly not to be too disappointed if I failed the first time, that was normal.
I admit that given my test lasted all of seven minutes, I was a little worried as to how I had done, but I really couldn't think of any major screw ups along the way! Two hours after the test my instructor called me to give me the good news, I had passed!
So now I am the proud owner of an Israeli driving license. When I actually start driving alongside all the meshugenahs in this country, I am sure it will be a different story altogether!