This historic convergence of calendars will not occur for another 70,000 years. Smarter people than me will reach into Talmud, gematria and midrash and come up with a profound, inspirational, cosmic message. All I want to do is serve a respectable dinner.
My kitchen consists of a 2-burner stove, a microwave and a toaster oven; I had to schedule my cooking accordingly. I managed to make everything except the dessert. No way was I going to attempt to bake a pie in the toaster oven. Cooking the turkey was enough of a challenge. I started Tuesday, making the sweet potatoes, stuffing, braised red cabbage, corn, and with a nod to where we are, stuffed tomatoes. Sid's mission was to find canned cranberry sauce, which he was able to do easily since there's been such an infusion of all things American. The hurdle was trying to find a can opener. 99% of the canned food here comes with a pop top, so traditional can openers are more or less obsolete. The apartment came with the kind that's used in the army or for camping which is more or less useless. I tried several stores in the shuk before I found a normal can opener. Don't even ask what it cost. I just hope we use it more than once.
I made the turkey Thursday morning because I had no idea how long it would take. It was something of a struggle to get it into the toaster oven and it actually came out nicely. I resisted the obvious (serving latkes as a side dish) in favor of that other Hanukkah favorite - soufganiot (Bismark donuts) that have gone modern. Once upon a time all you could get was jelly donuts, and they weren't that good. Now they come with every imaginable filling, and as a measure of how far this country has come gastronomically, they are not at all greasy.
Dori brought 2 friends to share our Thanksgivukkah dinner, so 5 of us were crammed around our table. It was lovely in so many ways. The girls are delightful, each on her own path. We enjoyed listening to their banter - I don't know how long it's been since I've had the opportunity to listen to three 18 year olds talk about their lives and futures. I was glad they ate (and they did eat), but we still have plenty of leftovers.
The weather continues to be unseasonably warm. Hot, in fact. It was 91 in Jerusalem on Wednesday, it cooled down to 80 on Thursday, and it's in the 70's today . That in itself is plenty to be thankful for except for the fact that water is a scarce and precious resource in this country and it can't rain till it gets colder.
For your viewing pleasure, here's our Thanksgiving dinner. May we all live and be well to celebrate many more happy and delicious holidays in peace, health and security.
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