Roasted pumpkin soup
chicken pot pie (chicken has been cooked and shredded)
stuffed cabbage and meatballs
rice
chicken schnitzels
duck sauce
spinach kugel
carrot kugel
roasted potatoes (sweet potatoes and white)
challah
Mexican brownies
pineapple upside down cake
green salad
citrus salad

Not a bad start for today considering I didn't start cooking until 12:30 and here it is, 6:30 p.m. and I'm STILL awaiting my fresh vegetable and fruits order.

I got to the industrial area of Ariel around 9 a.m. The fruit store was just opening it's doors and the delivery truck hadn't arrived with the fresh produce so I window shopped for a bit, bought disposable aluminum pans and papergoods. Went into the clothing store and was happy to see that I can get NS his winter wardrobe right there. I went to the Judaica store only to find out they were sold out of the wooden beams we needed to keep the bamboo mats from sinking into our Sukkah.

And then I went in to "Kfar haSha'ashu'im". It's a chain of toy stores around Israel and frankly I wasn't impressed with the ones I've been in, in Jerusalem. The aisles are tiny, the shelves are crammed with everything and I always feel claustrophobic going in. But not the one here in Ariel... HUGE store, well laid out, nice aisles. THey have a nice arts and crafts section, toys for all ages, puzzles, games, ride on stuff, etc. And they had the Crayola crayons I've been searching for!! So I got NS a box, I got the girls a couple craft things to make for the Sukkah and I think when Zach's dad is here, I'll have him get NS a table and chairs.

Then back to the fruit store. The truck was being unloaded so it took a while for me to get my list filled. I also had to improvise a little because they didn't have everything I wanted. And then of course they had things I didn't know I wanted. Dessert one day is going to be a citrus salad - pomelo, red grapefruit, clementines and pomagranite seeds.

When I went to pay, I asked for delivery. (Mind you, it's about 11:00 a.m. now). She said no problem, but some time after six.

Uh... not that good. But there's no way I can get this all home myself. Thankfully after looking over my menu, I was able to make good headway into my cooking.

The veggies arrived at 6:40...

ok, turns out we have the girls for Shabbat after all.

Zach is ready to sell them to the carnival or something.

Meat dish turned out to be: Roast that was browned in a pan, with cracked pepper, minced garlic and cumin. Put into the crockpot on a bed of onions. Added wine to the pan, added tomato paste, added black pepper, oregano, sweet paprika and poured it into the crockpot. That is now crockpotting.

Two-toned potatoes are done, but I'm not really sure how good they're going to taste. They're from Wed. and were underdone then... put them in the oven this morning for another hour.

Spinach kugel is in the oven. Turkey necka nd veggie soup is done as are the noodles for them.

Need to do something with the chicken... am thinking usual rub...well a dry rub since we have no oil...and roast.

D2 is making a cake and is acting like she's never baked before. D1 is washing dishes... let's hear it for slave labor!

I still need a digital camera to borrow....

Today was a nice day...had Zach help me put away the wooden Sukkah pieces that were strewn all over our yard, so we don't look THAT white trash...

Did three loads of laundry today...

Got industrious and cleaned the stovetop...

Which someone is punishing me for because water must have gotten insde and now when I try to turn on my oven, it shorts out the entire house.

That is correct...It is Sabbath Eve and I HAVE NO OVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, the broccoli, caulifower, carrots are steamed on the stove.

Instead of baking the stuffed zucchini and peppers, I made it like I would stuffed cabbage: A layer of thickly sliced potatoes on the bottom of the pot so the good stuff doesn't burn.... then the zucchinis, I diced onions and put it on, then poured some tomatoe sauce, then added the stuffed peppers and made meatballs with the leftover meat, added the rest of the sauce and it's simmering away on a medium flame.

The chicken is going to be a bit trickier... Zach is now browning it and I'll made the sauce - apricot preserves, onion soup mix and soy sauce. Then I'll let that simmer for about 30 minutes on the stove. Zach will also be making pan breads since the mini-market didn't have any bread...didn't have seltzer either :(

So... the black and white cookies I was really looking forward to making will have to wait apparently. I'll make a fruit salad for dessert - oranges, grapefruit, pears, apples and strawberries.

Need to get cleaning done though.

Bought the South Beach Diet book and a low-carb cookbook on amazon. Having it sent to a friend who lives in NJ, she's there now for her bro's bar mitzvah. Books will be delivered Friday and she's returning to Israel Wednesday.

For Shabbat, it's just Zach and myself. Friday night we're going to neighbors... the ones that lost a daughter to Downs 2 months ago...their other daughter (also adopted, also with Downs) will be away for the weekend with the school. Shabbat lunch they're coming to us.

Planned menu:

Stuffed zucchinis and peppers (stuffed with chopped meat) in a tomato sauce (just bought an apple corer to hollow out the zucchini)
Roasted chicken (apricot preserves, onion soup mix and soy sauce marinade/glaze)
Wild rice with mushrooms
steamed cauliflower, broccoli and carrots
dessert... maybe fruit salad... or baked apples...depends on the weather

I need a massage.

I'll be making a turkey neck soup with veggies...probably something stew or chulent-like with meat...

Other than that...I have no ideas.

Edit: Having IMed with my bro... turkey neck soup and a meat pie for tonight...and chicken a'l'orange for tomorrow with steamed cauliflower and broccoli.

Chicken a'l'orange:

Enough for 4 pieces of chicken:

3 tbs. each of marmalade, mayo, oj and ketchup. 1/2 packet onion soup mix.

Mix together and heat in a saucepan on a low heat until it's smooth. Pour over the chicken and bake until the chicken is done.

Futher Edit: mini market didn't have onion soup mix or OJ...will have to put that on hold...instead I'll be making a honey mustard chicken...with soy sauce and crushed garlic added...potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions on the bottom...yeah...sounds good.

For some reason, I have a pounding headache. I think it's caffiene withdrawl.

Lasagne is in the oven, zucchini is stewing and pie crust dough will be started in 20 minutes. Then the broccoli pie and pecan pie will be made.

The pecans are from Zach's cousins' trees...they have orange, pomelo, lemon and pecan trees...those are the ones we saw from the vernada...they live in Hod HaSharon, which is near Petach Tikvah and Rosh HaAyin. They have a nice home and we've decided, if we can manage it (after winning the lottery of course), we want a fireplace in our home.

Done:

Veggie soup
Gefilte fish
bread stuffing
eggplant salad
tomato salad
sweet potatoes
baked apples

broccoli is steamed, spinach is steamed, tomato sauce for both the lasagne and stewed zucchini is done. I seem to be having margarine issues...it's hard as a rock and has a waxy feel...and isn't meshing with the flour like it should. I'm going to wait for it to soften up, even though one isn't supposed to do that when making a pie crust...bt there's really no other way.

In about 20 minutes, I'll put together the lasagne.

The house is less clean that I would have liked...girls did not do as good a job as I had hoped... well.... guess what Zach will be doing...

Menu for Shabbat:

Friday night:
Gefilte fish
potato bourekas with mushroom/onion sauce
turkey breast
sweet potatoes
corn on the cob
bread stuffing
white rice
pecan pie
baked apples with strawberry puree

Shabbat lunch:
veggie soup
salatim (hummus, matbucha, trkish salad, eggplant salad, tomato salad)
spinach lasagne
broiled salmon
broccoli pie
stewed zucchini
cheese cake

Veggie soup is cooking, broccoli is steaming as is the spinach. Turkey will be marinading in a few minutes and pie crust will be done soon as well.

We're having 6 or 7 people sleep over...we bought heaters and Shabbat clocks for the rooms. I wanted to buy fabric for curtains, but ran out of time... I'll raid the fabric box and see what we have to spare.