A Tasty Week

Things have been calm and lovely here in Israel. The weather is close to perfect, I prefer just a few degrees warmer. I have been catching up with friends, settling into school and finishing up final details with my internship. Hopefully it will begin soon and be a nice experience.

Last week I had a lovely and delicious dinner with my roommates at an amazing Italian restaurant in Jerusalem. We went out to celebrate 2 of our birthdays that were missed over the summer. We had a delicious cheese appetizer – stuffed with sautéed garlic. I had gnocchis but they were really made from semolina, they were delicious. Then for dessert I tired the chocolate gnocchis. There was chocolate in the dough, stuffed with chocolate and covered in a coffee, toffee sauce, it was like nothing I have ever eaten before.

The next night my friend Eric from my Ashdod program came from the north to see me.  We walked around the city and then at dinner at a Middle Eastern restaurant, tons of salads, majadara (rice and lentils), French fries and amazing kebabs. Delicious meal as well.
This weekend I went to a wedding with Idan in Ashdod, it was a very nice wedding- more appetizers than I have ever seen – always food before the wedding here, than short ceremony, than dancing and
more food – fish, chicken, salads, breads, desserts.

Friday I spent cooking with Idan and his mom. We made a chicken stuffed with rice, meat, raisins, parsley & nuts. It was a recipe he learned  in a cooking class he’s taking. We also made some beautiful challahs, one was even stuffed with cooked onions. Yumm…

This was a good week for food.

First Week of School

First week down.

Classes seem great. The professors seem lively, friendly and smart. I am very excited.

It seems a though this semester will be much more practical than theoretical which is great.

It was nice to be back and see all of my friends in my program, know where my classes are and how to sign in to all of the confusing Hebrew U websites. Yay to not being a "first year" anymore.

Last night we all hung out together, ate delicious desserts (I made chocolate chip challah buns) and played celebrity, what a game. Good times.

Today was my first shabbat back, it rained on and off all day so it was nice to stay inside, clean, go through emails and cook a bit. Friends from camp stopped by (Rebecca Brindza and Charolette Harkavy) they are both in Jerusalem for the year. Lots of fun to catch up with people, yet strange when they were your campers/staff and you know them from half way across the world.

Tonight I had dinner with my friends Leah and Jason, they love my challah so this weekend it was a double wammy. Afterwards we played games and hung out. Its amazing how time flies and its lovely having friends in walking distance on shabbat.

Looking forward to more relaxing weekends.

Happy Birthday CHERYL! Love you!

Shabbat Shalom.