Shabbat dinner: 4-30-10

Every week, we cook shabbat dinner here.

It has become a bit of a tradition in Arenillas. It has become normal to hear Ecuadorians discuss last week's challah, the unlimited possibilities of kugel, or the raw material for making farfel.

Friday night dinners are my favorite time of the week. I have explained this before, but it bears repeating. More so than a religious event, dinner is a time to be spent with family and friends. The week is over. One need not worry about the week that was or the one that will be. One can simply focus on enjoying the food and conversation at the dinner table.

Friday night dinner has become an institution in my house. Some things are constant. Each week, I make a challah and (almost every week) a dessert crisp. I borrow tables and chairs from the ceviche restaurant across the street.

What does vary from week to week are the rest of the menu, the guests, and the shenanigans that are bound to ensue. As a way to remember these dinners, I have decided to include a shabbat dinner feature on the blog. That way, I can share these meals with you and easily refer to the dinner menus.

It has also become a great bonding experience for the volunteers in the area. There are a few other volunteers nearby, and Friday night dinners are a great opportunity for every one to get together.

Without any further ado, last night's dinner:

Menu
Challah with raisins
Blintzes (cream cheese, chocobanana, apple cinnamon)
Hash browns
Fritatta
Blackberry/peach crisp

The menu was a success. One easy metric for shabbat dinner success is the amount of conversation at the table immediately after the food is served. Aside from asking for a certain dish to be passed, the only sound was that of silver wear tapping plates for about ten minutes.

Another metric is the food coma ratio. I think last night's meal achieved an 83 percent food coma ratio.

I have not made blintzes before but learned that they are relatively easy and delicious. An instant classic. They will be back on the menu in two weeks for shavout shabbat. We decided to focus on the sweet blintzes filling but are resolved to attempt savory blintzes one week. Pretty maids all in a row...



This was the first time that I added raisins to the challah. I would say it was well received.

Sarah made a veggie fritatta. We had planned on making a quiche but when we learned that a fritatta is a quiche sans crust, our quiche turned into a fritatta.

Last week, we were kind of bored of making the same crisp dessert so many weeks in a row. But when I brought out dessert, there was nearly a mutiny. The guests demanded a crisp. And well, we had to capitulate.

What broke?

For three consecutive weeks, something in my house has broken during shabbat dinner.

Two weeks ago, my fridge broke during dinner. It spent a week in rehab but is back and better than ever.

Last week, one of our guests tripped over and broke my fan. It spent a day at the repair shop and is now functioning again.

Yesterday, the guests were carrying my glass table (my landlord's glass table) from the kitchen to the living room when the bumped into the door. The glass table top fell and shattered.


Should I start locking all of my stuff up before people come and putting protective plastic on everything else?

Overheard

"Ian, when you go back to the States, you should open up a restaurant."