The Chocolate Lady's 2008 Parshes Noyekh Survival Guide

Q: What kind of cake did Noyekh bake on the ark?

(Hint: only works with Ashkenazic pronunciation)


A: Mabul Cake!
(recipe pending)

Tastes of Louisville

Things I have tried:
Benedictine and Derby Pie
Thing I have not tried:
Hot Brown (I can't bring myself to provide a link. You'll find it if you really need to)

(ETA) And speaking of hot brown, it's not that often that we eat adjectives, is it? There used to be a candy called Good&Plenty. Is that still around? (yes!), and I think chili is sometimes called "a bowl of red" but you would never just say "I'm having red," unless you were beginning the sentence "I'm having read a book once; I didn't like it."

Can anyone remind me of other edible adjectives?

Chia Before the Fast פֿאַרפֿאַסטן מיט שאַפּנישע שאַלװיע

The Yiddish word פֿאַרפֿאַסטן (farfastn) means eating the meal before a fast, andאָפּפֿאַסטן (opfastn) mean eating the meal after a fast, or breaking a fast. Isn’t it interesting that English has the term “breaking a fast,” but no term for eating the meal before a fast, or at least none I can recall?

איך װעל פֿאַרפֿאַסטן מיט שפּאַנישע שאַלװיע און אָפּפֿאַסטן מערצעשעם מיט עפּלסאָס

Ikh vel farfastn mit shpanishe shalvye, un opfastn mertseshem mit eplsos

I plan to prepare for the fast with chia seeds and break the fast with apple sauce.

Grape Stomping

The sweet and dizzying aromas of freshly crushed concord grapes filled Union Square today, as dozens of discalced shoppers participated in the annual New York State grape-stomping demonstration. I was reminded of this unforgettable episode of I Love Lucy in which Lucy, hoping to "soak up local color" goes grape stomping at a vineyard. Watching it again today, I am impressed anew with Lucy's comic virtuosity. Every part of her body is working; she does not have one unfunny muscle.
But so much of the effect is in the sadness of the story; it is really a shame that she falls out with her vat-mate, and she will be too purple to appear in the movie role she so desires.

The grape guys advised me to go slow and try to find the whole berries. It is very satisfying when you get one. Wine grapes are nature's bubble wrap. Ah, bubble wrap.



Oh yes. Don't let the season go by without trying grape pie.