The past few days have been filled with worry, not always at the forefront of my mind, but ready to surface at any given moment. As Hurricane Irma began to pound Florida, those of us who are far away feel powerless, and all we can do is stay-tuned and pray for the best. My sister and brother-in-law made their way inland to Coral Gables from their home in Boca Raton and are currently holed up in a hotel. I had begged, pleaded, yelled and enlisted the help of others to try to convince them to evacuate, but to no avail. And so rather than resort to one of my “go to” responses to stress, ice cream and potato chips, I chose to be productive and cook. On Friday I made chicken soup, zucchini and mushrooms stewed in tomato sauce, schnitzel, and garlic chicken. At 4:00 a.m. this morning I woke up to get an update from the news, fell back asleep for a short while, and not wanting to be far from the phone or T.V. decided to stay home and spend more time in the kitchen. Norm hung around too, and so between the two of us, we managed to make 70 kreplach, cooked up a restaurant size pot of chicken soup, and baked four challahs.
The reality is that Rosh Hashana is also looming and no matter what happens in the next few days, we know that we will be going to Shul and having festive meals. We pray that everyone will be safe, and that this is a case of the storm before the calm. Wishing everyone a peaceful, happy, healthy , sweet, and uneventful Yontif. Shanah Tovah!
I decided to try something different after being inspired by a conversation we were having yesterday about date syrup. A young woman visiting from Israel said her family uses it with chicken and so I decided to try it on challah. Using my basic challah recipe, I made a thick spread made with the syrup, dried Greek figs, and some fresh orange zest.
I cup dried Greek figs diced into small pieces
1/4 cup date syrup
1/2 cup water
1 tsp freshly grated orange zest
Place diced figs in small pot with syrup and water and cook till tender, about 10 minutes. Place in Cusineart and blend till for a minute or so till you have a paste. Add orange zest and remove to bowl. Roll out challah dough to rectangle shape and spread mixture across. Roll up and create round challah.
Enjoy,
Irene
1
Bamitbach 
September 10, 2017 at 10:36 PM
I read your post to “the young Israeli visitor ” and she said the challah sounds amazing. She also suggested that we make salad dressings with the silan instead of honey. She is going to give me a recipe. I’ll forward it to you.
September 11, 2017 at 4:28 PM
That’s very nice of her but we still need to taste it! That’s a good idea!! Thanks.
September 10, 2017 at 10:18 PM
Glad you’re back at it!
September 10, 2017 at 8:17 PM
Oh Irene, I so relate to this! When Harvey was pummeling my friends and family in Houston, I stress: cooked, gardened, drakn(soda), drank(liquor). I hope your sister and husband are high and dry. Sending love. Also, I’m totally going to make this 🙂
September 11, 2017 at 4:30 PM
Hi Shoshanna. My daughter-in-law is also from Houston and though her parents left, there were lots of people left behind. My family is fine now and I hope yours is as well. Let me know what you think. The date syrup comes from Israel. Shana Tovah!!
September 10, 2017 at 3:26 PM
CookIng in times of stress: a very Saiger thing to do. All my best wishes for family, friends, and strangers alike affected by Hurricane Irma, love Gail
September 10, 2017 at 4:14 PM
You are right, I remember your Mom doing the same thing!! Amen and thank you! Love, Irene
September 10, 2017 at 3:22 PM
It’s so hot to do all that cooking and baking! You are a wonder!
September 10, 2017 at 4:15 PM
Well I can’t sit around all day??? Thank you!!!