Date Night

My friend Bronwyn shared this recipe with me:

Date Tart

1 pkt. Dates- chopped
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 1/2 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
2 oz/ or 60g butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Chop dates and add 1 1/2 cups of boiling water with bicarbonate and pour over dates and let them soak while you are preparing other stuff

Cream the butter and sugar with hand mixer/ food processor

Beat eggs with salt and vanilla- add to butter mixture

Add sifted flour with baking powder together. Add dates with water to cake mixture

Put into a greased dish( largish deep dish ) and bake at 350 for 30- 40 mins. Test to make sure it's cooked!

SAUCE:

While it's cooking, In a pot put:

10 Tablespoons brown sugar
6 Tablespoons butter or marg
1/4 pint cream

Boil together for 3 mins u til well mixed. Leave on stove to keep warm. When cake is ready, bring out the oven and with a knife, slowly ease sides from the rim of dish. Pour sauce over while cake is hot, all over so the sauce can soak in. Put cake back in oven for 2 mins, allowing sauce to bubble a little and take out. Let cool. Can be served with cream, ice cream,,,,

If served at a later time, heat the cake and serve warm!!

Enjoy

So I made this, but not the topping and baked it in a bundt pan. I cut the water down to 1 cup and replaced the margarine for 1/2 cup of oil. I also used 8 ounces of medjool dates. The final product looks good. We'll wait til tonight and see how it goes.

Fig Jam Part Deux

I made it again! This time, however, it was super satisfying to pick beautifully over ripe fruit, take it straight to the kitchen for a bit of prep work, and then nurse it through a cooking process bringing it to a deliciously delectable homemade bowl of sweetness. It's so much easier then anyone realizes but yet seems so elegant and complex!

Soccer Mom

This afternoon I am the futbol/football mom shuffling car loads of kids from school to practice back to school to home back to the park, etc. This is exactly what I imagined being a mom would be like; gatorade, smelly boys and homework to tackle. I just didn't imagine doing it in business clothes. I always knew I would be a working mom and when I wasn't a working mom, I for sure was not, at the same time, a stay at home mom.

Somehow I am managing to keep it all together -trying to be great at my job, great with the kids, great as a wife, and sometimes not so great at keeping house (I thank my lucky stars for the weekly visit by our amazing housekeeper). I know that I have a great support community with family and friends and co-moms tackling the same challenges I have. Together we stand united in our amazing professionalism and parenting skills.

Now, I wonder, where exactly can I squeeze in a nap?

Fig Jam

My in laws love me and that I know is a rare thing in this world. They show their love in all sorts of ways and lately it has been by sharing their figs! My mother in law has what I believe is a mission fig tree (they're smaller and purple) and my sister in law has a green variety, much larger than the purple ones and not as sweet - maybe they are Adriatic or Calimyrnas, but I can't really l know - I'm just taking wild guesses, as I am definitely not an expert on figs, one of the ancient fruits of the bible.

Today I found myself with more figs then we could ever eat, so I decided to make jam. With about 25 figs in total - both varietals included, 1 1/2 cups of sugar and the juice of one lemon, I went to work. I simply washed the figs and cut off the stems, threw everything in a pot, and brought to simmer on medium heat. I stirred every so often and after an hour or so found that the mixture had reached a great consistency.

I don't own any jam jars, so I placed the whole thing in a glass bowl that I will store it in the refrigerator. I suppose if I learn to can, I can increase the fig jam life span to last till the next ice age. Oh well, we'll just have to enjoy until it runs out or goes bad.

In any case thank you Romi and thank you Lili for showing your love.

End of Summer

The end of summer is coming near.  Summer wasn't exactly filled with "lazy days" but it certainly was a slower paced time then the rest of the year.  When I reflect back, I think we accomplished quite a bit of fun, even if we didn't take a long vacation.  Included in our summer fun were:

• Mommy and Me reunion with friends we met when Andrew was just born
• A huge family Shabbat celebration hosted at our house!
• Shore fishing
• Two separate weekends in Mammoth, enjoying the great outdoors and the hospitality of the Sierra's, including a trip to Bodie and Mono Lake.
• Multiple visits to Zuma Beach where we were able to reconnect with old friends and stay in touch with new friends
• Time with family and swimming with cousins
• Spa day with my girlfriends
• Baseball
• Birthday celebrations for me, Papa, Sharon, Joey, Valerie and next week for Adam!
• Archery
• Fourth of July celebrations
• Castaic Lake
• Wedding dress shopping with Valerie
• Mini Golf
• Bowling
• Hurricane Harbor
• Back to School shopping

In thinking back, we really crammed a lot into those short 10 weeks - including camp and work! I even managed to clean out a closet or two!

Now it is the start of the new school year and our summer fun and memories will be behind us. Homework awaits after all!

New for 2012

I stopped blogging when I returned from Israel because the trip was over.  It was an amazing journey and a fabulous vacation.  What I have realized since July however is that life in and of itself is an amazing journey and just because THAT trip is over, it doesn't mean that all our trips are over.  Disembarking from an airplane didn’t mean the end of our travels; rather it was just stepping off that stone and on to another.

I doubt that I will accurately be able to depict or describe the events of the last half of 2011 and the first part of 2012.  Maybe I'll remember something or come across something I want to share and maybe I will travel back into recent memory to build on all we have to celebrate and enjoy....maybe. After all, the last few months have been a whirlwind and just plain ole' life as it happens. 

Hanukkah Sweatshirts! Andy, Noonie, Adam.  Can you tell?

San Francisco!

Golden Gate Park

Some of our Northern Cal Cousins - Stephanie's kids!

Alcatraz lurks....

The Golden Gate Bridge and Andy of course!

Clear day in San Fran. 

Riding a Cable Car - wouldn't be a trip to San Fran without it!

Andy's Bday celebration at school. 

Cousins - Josh, Noah, Adam and Andrew at Shabbat at Meme and Papa's!

Our Family!  Yamato Birthday Tradition!