I am a strong advocate of universal Hebrew literacy in the community and this project is a great contribution towards that goal. Good on you, Israeli Leadership Council. Hat tip to Shirah of Hebrew Play for pointing out this opportunity. Pay Shirah a visit, she has lots of great information on promoting Hebrew in the US – and if you are in Boston area, you can find out how to meet up and play in Hebrew!

The other kitchen of this winding tale is a mud kitchen, which we didn’t do this week. I cleared out a spot for it, where we used to store the recycle bins. By angling the grill a bit and moving around the bins, I made a little  play space. Not the most glamorous, between the air conditioner and the recycling, but Ash loves it. We didn’t start the mud kitchen, though, because I didn’t find the materials I was hoping for lurking in the depths of the storage closet. In the meantime, we tried the water pouring wall from the summer fun list…which was a big flop, and not just because the materials I gathered didn’t work that well. Ash was completely uninterested in it: as soon as he saw the bucket I’d filled with water, he ran to get his matchbox cars and happily dumped the water over them and that was that.

Which proves my theory that a bucket of water is the best thing ever. I’ve been known to put one on a towel in the middle of the kitchen in the dead of winter.

And so the tale of two kitchens continues.

Right now in my supermarket, there are some local, seasonal vegetables. They’re hanging out in a display meant to look like a farm stand: humongous tomatoes, corn, and a nice array of summer squash. All the summer fruits I love so much are on display – peaches, plums, and apricots – but they’re still trucked in. I’ve been ignoring the produce section in favor of farm stands, farmers’ markets, and the quarter-portion of a CSA box I share. But as soon as the summer harvest is gone, I’ll be back to the produce section and then I’ll have to contend with its strange insulation from growing seasons and geographical limitations.

My goal for this coming year is to collect and make use of seasonal recipes. Here in August I’ve been concentrating on recipes that use summer squash, corn, tomatoes, eggplants, lettuce and other greens, potatoes, and all the summer fruits. I’ve been noticing that some of my favorite veggies are either winter crops, like brussels sprouts and cauliflower, or root vegetables that keep well for the winter, like carrots and sweet potatoes. I realize I can buy just as nice a cauliflower in the super right now as I will be able to in November, but then what will I do with all the beautiful zucchini? There is something exciting about waiting for the season.

Some summer recipes on my to-try list:

• Cherry tomato and beet salad from The Boreka Diary
• Cucumber salad from Urban Organic Gardner
• Garlic pickles from בריאות בקלילות, a new favorite cookbook
• Summer squash and chive pancakes from Skinny Taste – I made these already (with whole-wheat flour) and they are amazing
• Tomato, basil, and corn soup from Barefoot and Cooking
• Mara’s kale and potato au gratin from Kosher on a Budget
• Ari’s Simpler Moussaka and figs with honey and feta from Ari Cooks
• Beefy zucchini from Real Food, Allergy Free
• Mimi’s Meatballs with swiss chard from Israeli Kitchen
• Grilled beef cigars from JoyOfKosher
• …And some kind of impromptu pesto before the summer is over

Got any more for me?

While we’re in the business of making the play kitchen, I figure we should also set up a mud kitchen, which is at the top of my summer fun list. I’m not sure what we can use as the base for the mud kitchen, but it may well be lurking in our storage closet behind all the cardboard pieces I’ve stacked in there for the indoor play kitchen. I’m going to use the mud kitchen as an excuse to rid my kitchen of stuff I should really toss, like old nonstick pans and way expired spices. (I am okay with the newer nonstick I already own for limited low-heat use, but I don’t plan to buy any more for health reasons.) We may have to round out our mud kitchen with a few items from the dollar store, but I’m hoping we can repurpose all of its components from home. After nearly four years of obliviousness to birthdays, Ash is in full-on birthday appreciation mode and I think he’ll love “baking” mud birthday cakes. All right, I’ll admit it, I kind of like playing with mud too. Still.

Anniversary Peach Cake (parve)

• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 3/4 cup + 1 tbs unrefined sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp + generous dash cinnamon
• 1/2 cup walnut halves
• 3 peaches, sliced

In a medium-sized bowl (or in your stand mixer), cream the coconut oil with 3/4 cup sugar. When blended, add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Blend in the baking soda, then the cinnamon, and then the flour.

Place the walnuts in a small bag, seal the bag, and crush with your hands. Mix about half (1/4 cup) into the batter, and set aside the bag. Pour the batter into a round cake pan. Arrange the peach slices over the top.

To make the topping, add a generous dash of cinnamon to the remaining walnuts in the bag. Add a tablespoon or so of sugar, then re-seal the bag and mix well. Pour over top of cake.

Place the cake pan on a lined cookie sheet (it may drip slightly) and bake in a medium oven (180°C /350°F) for about 30 minutes. The edges will be crisp and the center just cooked through.

Nature Play

• Make a mud kitchen – lots of ideas here and here
• Try some land art
• Build some gnome/fairy houses - I didn’t realize this is a”thing,” but I loved doing it as a child!
• Catch some bugs in jars and examine under a magnifying glass
• Make a shell necklace

Outdoor & Active

• Ima-kiddo yoga in the backyard – I need to get my hands on this book (originally in English) to use as guidance
• All the swimming we can get in!
• Explore our local and local-ish state parks and beaches
• Make an obstacle course in the backyard
• Croquet – buy a set? DIY somehow?
• Build a water pouring contraption
• Visit a farm

Art Activities

• Make a fresh batch of playdough, reserving some for mixing with bits of flowers, twigs, and leaves – I use the “playclay” recipe in MaryAnn Kohl‘s First Art, which is amazing
• Sidewalk paints – we’ll use powdered paints in place of food coloring
• Rain art – another idea from First Art
• Splatter art outside on the grass
• Make a travel Shabbat candle box – not really to do with summer except that summer is a good time to do Shabbat crafts (though some clever people have thought up Tisha be-Av crafts)
• Make some garden ornaments – clay? Mosaics?

Kitchen Adventures

• Bottle up some homemade chocolate syrup – like this or this, but with the sugar content drastically slashed and therefore potentially ending up as a big fail
• Experiment with more ice cream and frozen yogurt recipes, to go with that syrup
• Try some new homemade artikim – like these or these (but with all full-fat dairy, that’s how we roll)
• Make a batch of sourdough starter, with the goal of making this challah
• Find more salad ideas – I love my tomotoes and cucumbers in lemon and olive oil, but sometimes one needs a change
• Perfect a honey-sweetened rendition of lemonade
• Try some recipes from my new copy of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, a birthday present from my sister!
• Test out zucchini bread recipes, although it looks like I’m going to have to give our zucchini plants a little help in the mating department first

What fun stuff do you have planned for the rest of the summer?

I hope everyone had a nice Shavuot holiday. I made mushroom-stuffed blintzes, caprese salad with fresh basil from the garden, and chocolate mousse for dessert.

I am also going to take a short break from blogging. We have been hoping to have more children for a long time, and we had another setback this week. I know hope will come back to me, but it hasn’t yet, and I need to wait for it quietly.

Shabbat shalom.

Lag ba-Omer, one of my favorite holidays: rained out. Yet another reason to make aliyah.

My brilliant idea for bilingual garden markers: rained out.

Look how cute they were:

Although more than a few boldly withstood the downpours we’ve been having, I have to admit that most ended up looking like this:

So, still a work-in-progress, our little garden and its markers.

As a child of the “Israeli diaspora,” I’m an expert at conducting love long-distance. Sometimes, actually, it feels like I’m too good at it – that it’s all too natural to have all those people I love so far away from me. Luckily, I don’t have to resort to the tricks of my childhood anymore, which included making cassette tapes to send to my grandparents. (Yeah, phone calls were that expensive in the eighties.) The internet really has shrunk distances and I’m so grateful. Though it’s nowhere near enough.

Whether you’re interested in keeping in touch with loved ones, keeping an eye on what Israelis are actually talking about, or just knowing what’s going on beyond the US media bubble, I hope you’ll find something here to connect you to Israel.

• Use Skype video chat. This is probably not news to anyone nor will it be of use to those who don’t already know someone ba-Aretz, but it’s at the top of my list.
• Read the Israeli press (and not just the headlines and opinion pieces). Much of the Hebrew-language press is being translated into English, for those who don’t read Hebrew – although it does not always reflect the current content on the Hebrew site, as Maya of Becoming Israeli points out. If you want a mainstream, middle-of-the-road newspaper, try Yediot, which has a great web presence (better quality than the print edition). Don’t stop at the front page: check out the culture section too, although it’s very limited in English – no food, for instance.
• Listen to Israeli radio and watch Israeli TV at the Israeli Broadcast Authority online – they have a newly-launched English site. I listen to the classical music station (88FM) while I work at home and that way I also get news on the hour.
• Follow events you’re interested in on Achbar ha-Ir (Hebrew), Time Out Tel Aviv (Hebrew and English). I subscribe to the kids’ section of Achbar ha-Ir via RSS, so I can kind of keep an eye out for trends and events concerning kids. This is primarily of interest for those considering aliyah, but can also be a nice way to keep up with cultural info. (Did you know that the Israel Museum reopened last summer after an extensive renovation?)
• Stock up on Hebrew-language CDs . Music is a universal language; even if your kids don’t understand Hebrew, they can learn Israeli kids’ songs, which play a huge role in kid culture in Israel. Outside of Israel, Judaica stores usually have a limited and expensive selection, so if you are in North America I recommend Sifrutake (NYC-based) and Tzomet Sfarim USA (LA-based). Both sites can be navigated in English; Sifrutake has a larger selection and better prices. (My links are directly to the Children’s CDs sections in English).
• Put YouTube to good use – you can find some nice playlists for kids, show your vehicle-obsessed child what buses or trains look like in Israel (just an example), or sing along with gan kids (just search for your favorite song and chances are you’ll find a video of gan kids singing it). If you’re scouting out places to live, you can try to get a picture of what they might look like by typing the town name into a search.
• Get in touch with your local Israeli Consulate. Mine sends out at English-language newsletter with Israeli and Jewish events taking place locally. Maybe yours does, too. The Embassy of Israel to the US has a nice website.
• Get an Israeli phone number through Bezeq - I have a “local 03,” which means family and friends in Israel can call me as though they’re calling Tel Aviv (03 area code). To call Israel, I dial a local number to get to an operator, then proceed as though I’m dialing within Israel. It’s easy, cheap, and much better quality than the satellite calling plans we used to use. All you have to remember is whether it’s daylight savings in Israel or not (+6 or +7 hours from EST). The fact that calling is so easy and cheap really helps with psychological distance.

I love that books for children have such a central place in Israeli kid culture, we make pajamas out of them. In the States I’ve seen Dr. Seuss pjs and sheet sets and some Eric Carle clothes and fabric amidst the sea of animated characters, which always makes me happy. But Eric Carle just doesn’t do it for me. Miriam Ruth, Leah Goldberg – I am powerless against that sort of nostalgia.