During the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, people would offer the first fruits of their crops as a sacrifice. There´s no Temple anymore, and we don´t do sacrifice. But I thought that I might be able to offer you a picture of the first fruits of the garden I am starting. We are only a few weeks in and don´t have any actual first fruits growing, but I thought I would take advantage of this opportunity to show you some of what I have been working on.
(If you click on the image, it is much bigger and clearer)
Thank you very much for the seeds you gave me before I left. They have allowed me to start a kick-ass garden that I will use as a model for community and school gardens I´ll be starting.
One is that is marks the time when the Jewish people received the Torah at Mt. Sinai. To mark this occasion, it is tradition to stay up all night studying a text. I didn´t find a group of peopel to study with. Instead, I watched Seinfeld episodes until midnight, studying ¨nothing¨ but everything at the same time. I think that´s an adaquate replacement.
It is also customary to eat dairy products on Shavuot. One of the most tradition would be blitzes, a pastry that I have no idea how to make. So I didn´t even try.
But another food that is customary on shavuot is cheesecake. I consulted with my friend David, who is a cheesecake-cooking champion, and made his chocolate macaroon cheesecake. Macaroon is difficult to come by here, so I had to modify the recipe a bit. But the fundamentals of the cake remained strong. I was very pleased with the results.
I also didn´t have a heavy-duty blender. I only had my heavy-duty biceps to mix the batter. Also, I was using a local cream cheese, Toni, that isn´t quite Philadelphia. I know it´s silly to cook with anything different, but Philly wasn´t available at the local tienda. There is also a chance that the sour cream I used was past its prime.
Overall, a pretty outstanding shavuot.
2 comments:
I too once live in a land of no cream cheese. Making your own is simple. All you need is sour cream and a new or very clean kitchen towel or a new diaper. I was going to type the directions but I just founfd them online. Check it out and let me know how it goes.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Relish/How-To-Make-Sour-Cream-And-Cream-Cheese-Recipes.aspx
Whoops. I guess its yogurt!
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