I haven’t written in ages and thought that it was time I wrote again.
Yesterday made me think what a mad, crazy world we live in. Life has been very hectic and stressful and we haven’t had a chance to go away for quite some time. I had a ride to the train station in the morning and then back home again in the late afternoon so took the opportunity and rode on the train to Herzlia where my bestie (as she puts it) picked me up. She treated me to breakfast at her house and then together with her two youngest kids went to the Herzlia beach. The sun, sea and sand was amazing to the say the least. The time there was so relaxing and exactly what I needed. I had time to shower and change at her house and get on the train to return, only to have the train delayed because of sirens and miss my connection thus missing the ride home.
Being the master of taking advantage of every situation that I am I promptly called DH and made arrangements to meet in Beer Sheva to do our weekly shopping instead of me going on my own on Friday.
So feeling very laid back and rested I got on the train to Beer Sheva, reading my Kindle and just chilling. At some point the train started going real slow (I was told that this was due to a warning of rockets). Then as the doors opened on the train to disembark the sirens went in Beer Sheva. The four teenage girls in front of me started screaming and the soldiers tried to calm them, all this while running to the secure room, which we could not have reached in time, so I and a few other people went off into a stairwell which is well protected. I observed a woman, probably in her forties biting her lip, trying to prevent the tears from falling. Finally we hear the Iron Dome, boom, boom, boom, boom and I saw her shudder with each bang. And the tears were still falling. Ten minutes later everyone had gone on their way but this poor lady was frozen in the spot. It took me around fifteen minutes to talk her out of her freeze. She was literally unable to move.
So my thoughts on this matter were really mixed. I left Herzlia feeling so calm and relaxed and when I reached Beer Sheva I actually still felt like that but I saw how people living in the firing line are feeling and that really is something that I believe the world does not and does not want to understand. The reality is that they are unable to live a normal life, no guarantees that they will make it to work on time, manage to get work done and all this time worrying about where the rest of their family is and whether they are safe from the rockets or their aftermath. Our lives are a mixture of day and night/peace and war. The underlying tension is unbearable.
I am loathe to make political statements but I really think that Bibi needs to show what he is made of now. He gave the talks a chance but there is a limit to our patience and willingness to put up with what is going on. The time for true action is now.
Because this is a food related blog I am giving you a recipe for smoked chicken/quinoa meatballs in cabbage envelopes. Our predecessors used to eat stuffed cabbage leaves and this is a more sophisticated take on the recipe.
0.500 gr minced chicken/turkey/beef
1/2 cup quinoa
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oil
salt and pepper
liquid smoke (2 drops)
1 TBS smoked paprika
1TBS garlic powder
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup water
1 whole cabbage
1 tin of crushed tomatos
1 tin of mushrooms
1 green pepper
Mix all the ingredients (except cabbage, crushed tomatos, mushrooms and pepper) together and allow to stand in the fridge for half an hour.
In the meanwhile bring a pot of water to boil, switch off and put the cabbage in. When it is sufficiently blanched remove the leaves one by one so you can use them.
PUt a tablespoon full of the mix in the center of a cabbage leaf and fold closed like an envelope.
Take heavy bottomed pot, put some oil inside, put on high flame, when it begins to sizzle place two or three cabbage leaves to cover the bottom. On top of that gently place the cabbage envelopes and then add the mushrooms, crushed tomatos, 2 cups of water (or more to cover the balls), the green pepper and if you are garlic lovers you can add some sliced garlic, salt and pepper, chilli if you like it. Bring to boil and then simmer covered for about 45 minutes. Serve with basmati rice.