New England Mamas

It's hard to be Jewish at Christmastime

It used to be, in the more civilized days of yore, that Christmas revelry was confined to that period between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.

You would consume vast amounts of turkey and sit in a stupor watching football games as your family argued around you, and then you'd struggle off the couch, put on your coat and drive across the state to get plenty of rest for.....

You want applesauce with that? Totally lovable Latkes

Latkes. Yum. Love them. Here are my recipes for both plain potato pancakes and curried sweet potato latkes. You'll love them. Honest!

Time to make the Sufganiyot. . .

In Israel it is customary to make doughnuts, aka Sufganiyot, for Hanukah. Because doughnuts are fried in oil, they make a perfect treat for hanukah, especially after a nice big latke dinner where you're stomach is groaning already from all those potatoes fried in oil. Here are a few recipes I've used over the years, but the most popular, in least in our house, are jelly donuts.

Here is Joan Nathan's recipe for Sufganiyot from The Jewish Holiday Kitchen and after the recipe is her note on the history of the Sufganiyot.

Hanukiyot are not menorahs, part two

(see part one here)

I've had so much fun looking at and collecting hanukiyot over the years. My family has a pretty decent collection including the one I had as a child, one I bought in Toledo, Spain, a couple the kids made, and of course their childhood hanukiyot as well. The one from Toledo comes with an interesting story. For those of you who aren't history students, Toledo was, prior to 1492, a largely Jewish city on a hill in central Spain, about 60 miles south of Madrid. Toledo was well known as a city that was not only tolerant of its Jews and Muslims, but that encouraged trade between the 3 major religious populations until their expulsion in 1492 (Jews) and 1502 (Muslims). 

Today when you visit Toledo, the Spanish guides and residents try desperately to downplay the Alhambra Decree, aka the Edict of Expulsion for Jews ordered by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel on March 31, 1492. If they are directly asked "What happened to all the Jews?" they will say things like "Oh, when the Jews left Toledo..." implying that they left of their own volition and not because they were forcibly thrown out of the country by Christians intolerant of their religious beliefs.

I was poking through the shops when I found one that had, way up on the tip top shelf of his store, a brass hanukiah. When I asked to see it, the shopkeeper told me in Spanish that it wasn't the right number of branches and nobody wanted it because it wasn't Jewish. Ahem. In my broken Spanish I explained that it was a hanukiah and not a menorah, and that indeed I did want it for just that purpose. I took it home with me and have used it ever since.

Here are our hanukiyot. I'm sure we'll add to this collection as the years pass.

And now, part two of the great hanukiyot hunt.

Hanukiyot are not menorahs!

Unbeknownst to many families, Jewish families often purchase a hanukiyot for each member of the family so that everyone has a special hanukiyot of their own to light on Hanukah. In our small family we've gone overboard, not surprisingly, and each of us as at least two hanukiyot to light during the holiday.

I've been collecting photos of beautiful hanukiyot for years now. Because I've collected so many different designs, over 50 in fact, I can't possibly present them all in one post. So I'm presenting a variety of different types of hanukiyot that will ensure you'll find at least one you love and covet.



Secret Spaces, Hidden Gems: I'm HUNGRY!

The Busy Bee is a diner. Not a fake, Johnny Rocket's type diner. A real live, old fashioned, corned beef and cabbage, pot roast dinner with mashed potatoes diner. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, the Busy Bee is one of our absolute favorite restaurants.  The food is good, the atmosphere is amazingly nostalgic, the staff hilarious, the menu extensive, and the prices are unreal. 

The Busy Bee is located right outside of Audobon Circle on Beacon Street, right on the Brookline-Boston Line. It is essentially in a BU neighborhood, but so many old neighborhood types frequent the restaurant that you would never know it's so close to a major university.

I discovered the Busy Bee when I moved to Boston for graduate school  in 1976. I lived right around the corner from this dingy looking place, but my roommates told me it was absolute gold inside. Once I ventured in, I was hooked. It's cheap, dirt cheap. The food is all home cooked right on the premises. It's delicious food and the atmosphere... well, if you're older than dirt you'll remember the John Belushi "Cheeseburger cheeseburger" routine on the original SNL. That's the Busy Bee. It's a family owned place. The family is Greek. They yell at each other. The same customers have been coming in since the beginning of time. Everyone is friendly, but the waitresses can be a bit brusque if you take too much of their time.

Yelp says: This is a breakfast spot/diner with an extensive menu at dirt-cheap prices. Get past the nondescript exterior to find an establishment that has been doing business for decades. Service is fast and swift, so it is a great place to head for one of those quick-yet-satisfying meals. Regulars have been returning here; some for decades; for heart-stopping breakfast platters and lunch and dinner specials that are easy on the wallet, if not the cholesterol levels. Does not accept credit cards; accepts cash only."

That's exactly right. They got the entire essense of the Busy Bee on one little paragraph. As a long time customer, I can remember when they only used those cone-shaped cups that sat inside a silver holder. Now when was the last time you saw those? And the plates? They are divided into portions. It's 1958 all over again. But this isn't nostalgia happening. This place just never changed. A few booths, some seats at the counter, old dusty plants in the window... it could be anyplace in America.

The food? Thick potatoes with onions and all the good stuff for the homefries.  Eggs made to order and made to perfection. Ohhh, the hash.  A delightfully fattening mix of corned beef, potatoes, peppers, onions, and about a half-pound of butter, probably. Get the Fresh Fruit Bowl to-go, which for $3.25, it's brimming with pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, grapes and melon.

Besides the $5 breakfast....my other favourite aspect is that all the waitresses yell at you in their thick New England accents.  Having someone yell "WADDYA WANNT? WHITE OR WHEAT?? I AIN'T GOT ALL DAY" in regards to what sort of bread you want toasted, is the most delightful way to start the day. The waitresses are always available with a "Hi Hon" or "Sure Dear" (albeit somewhat snarky - picture Alice, Vera and Flo from Mel's Diner) to start the day. 

From Peter screaming for French Fries behind the counter to the cranky waitresses with a heart of gold, the entire staff oozes authenticity. Try the Cheeseburger Deluxe (still under 4 bucks I believe) or any of the great daily specials. Best cole slaw in the city and the fries are deep fried just right.

I've been going here for about 30 years. I remember when the staff, (mostly family members) would be fighting with each other so loudly, I fully expected fisticuffs. Didn't make for casual dining although now it's quieter even with same waitress though She's "a doll" and quickly makes you feel like a regular by berating your ability to place your order in a timely fashion. She's just kidding though.

I had to think long and hard to decide whether or not I wanted to share this Hidden Gem. But my daughter, who is a huge fan of their corned beef, said it would be wrong not to. So go, but if you see me there and it's crowded, thats MY booth you're sitting in.

Secret Spaces, Hidden Gems: I Want Candy

 Every summer my children and I make a pilgrimage. Not to a religious site, not to learn how to meditate or do yoga. Nope, we head north to Maine and go to Yummies.

For those who don't watch the Phantom Gourmet or aren't familiar with the outlet town of Kittery Maine, Yummies is an enormous candy store. Not just any candy store.  A store that prepackages nostalgic candy as well as pretty much every kind of candy bar and box you've ever seen. Not just American candy either. Oh no, they have international favorites as well.

Yummies has the largest assortment of salt water taffy I've ever seen. They have some really 'interesting' flavors but my favorite, by far, is creamsicle. With root beer float coming in a close second.

Yummies carries a huge supply of chocolate candy, some custom made, some repackaged in the back of the store. They make their own fudge, they have gigantic lollypops and quite a bit of the type of candy you  might find in a 1950's penny candy store. They have gigantic gobstoppers, candy cigars and cigarettes, pop rocks, red hots, wax lips, and gummys in every shape and size.

They also have a little gift shop, but honestly, who wants to spend money on souvineers when there is candy to buy? Not us.

We've never bought as much as a post card there. But we've come home with bags and bags of candy.

If you're heading up to the beach in Maine, make sure to stop at Yummies. It's not just candy, it's an adventure.

Secret Spaces, Hidden Gems: Where the roads end in Maine

Back when I was an infant, my aunt and uncle decided to buy themselves a little private space away from the rest of the world. My Uncle was the head of a prestigous medical school in Boston, my Aunt owned an art gallery in Cambridge and they were the parents of 3 kids. They needed a place to regroup where nobody could find them. A place that was hard to get to, absolutely gorgeous, and didn't have electricity or a phone. When they said "getaway" they meant getaway.

They bought an island in Maine. An entire island. A small island, but it is an island that has always belonged only to them. Now that my Aunt has passed away, my cousin has the island, and as it has always been, the family is invited up for the first 3 weeks in August when the water is at it's warmest and the loons are singing loudly in the lake. The blueberry bushes are overladen with tiny wild berries, the lake is filled with fish, and the scenery is at it's best.

Of course, locating this island isn't for the faint of heart. It's a six hour drive straight up the Maine Turnpike to Lincoln, where you get off and start another hour or so of traveling right towards the Canadian border. At Springfield, hang a right at the gas station (it's the only on in town) and go down the dirt road to the end. At the end of the road there is a private camp. Stand on their dock and yell as loud as you can while waving like a lunatic. Sooner or later someone on the island will see you, get a canoe out, and come to pick you up.

The island is right on the border of Penobscot and Washington Counties, about an hour outside of Canada in the middle of Syslodobsis Lake. It has three structures on the island: the main cabin, the girls cabin, and the boy's cabin. The main cabin has a kitchen, two propane refrigerators, and a bit of a living room. The other cabins just have beds and a bathroom. Oh, and bats. Every cabin has bats. You learn to live with them. I'm not a huge fan of sharing a space with bats, but heck, it's better than some other animals, like bears.

Every summer eagles come onto the island to partake in our fish leftovers. They are magnificent to watch and they don't seem to mind us as long as we just sit on the porch and watch quietly.

The days proceed very slowly when you're so far away from civilization. Mostly we stumble into the main cabin for breakfast, either oatmeal cooked over the wood stove or pancakes loaded with blueberries. We tend to eat inside because it's still cold, and the discussion always turns to what we're going to eat for lunch. Depending on what's on order we might head into the teeny store in Springfield or make the big trip to a supermarket in Lincoln.  We have to stop at the liquor store if we're in Lincoln and stock up on spirits of all sorts. There's not a lot else to do at night but drink.

Lunch conversation usually is about who is going to cook what for dinner, and what snacks we'll have at cocktail hours. Everyone brings up food including their favorites, so dinner ranges from the sublime (my Aunt's peking duck) to the ridiculous (sloppy joes).  There is almost always a blueberry pie to eat. Right at 5 it's the cocktail hour and we all sit on the porch and chat about our day. The guys often head out fishing and the women often head out in a canoe and go berry picking along the shoreline.

Once or twice during the visit we'll go antiquing and check out the flea market. You never know what you're going to find. Once I got a purebred Maine Coon Cat at a flea market. I didn't expect to bring home a kitten, but OMG he was adorable.

I haven't been up to the Island in a few years. It's so far, and my kids aren't that interested in being in a place with only an hour of electricity a night. We have a generator up at the Island, but my Uncle insists on lights out at 9 pm. The rest of the evening is spent with propane lamps and flashlights. Teenagers find this incredibly boring.

They are so wrong. There is nothing more delightful than the island in Maine. Trust me on this.

When the rain stops in for a few days

We have had a series of amazingly fun thunderstorms. Fun? Oh yes, we are big fans of the thunderstorm in my family. Especially when it's steaming hot outside and all of a sudden a front moves in, the sky starts to rumble (my son used to think it was God farting) and the lighting puts on a fabulous show. As soon as we hear the first of the thunder, we're likely to hightail it onto our front porch, which is screened in and overlooks the hill we live on right down to the street.

Across the big expanse of lawn we can see the first droplets hit the treetops, and then we count to see if we can guess exactly when the downpour will begin. Once it does, we move as close to the steps as we can, so we can stand right under the waterfall of rain from the porch roof without getting wet. The water falls in sheets there because our gutters, well they kinda suck. But that's OK because we LIKE the way the water falls.

As the rain pours down, the ground can't absorb the amount of water and puddles start to occur. First one right in front of the steps, and then as the rain continues, a river begins to take shape flowing down our driveway. We're on a big hill with a long drive that curves in the middle, and watching the river accumulate is like watching the Mississippi overflow it's banks in miniature. It's a wonderful lesson in erosion, too. The sides of the driveway start to crumble and little bits of the dirt wash away with each storm.

The lightening shows we get here are wonderful. The crack and boom of each forked bit of electricity makes the afternoon sky, all filled with gray clouds and dark ominous rain clouds light up like a county fairgrounds. When the lightening  first starts to light up the sky, we count the seconds until we hear the rumble of the thunder. This tells us how far away the storm is. As it gets closer we all get excited. The kids run from the back porch to the front porch to see which side of the house will get the first drops. Sometimes they'll stick their hands out from underneath the porch roof just to get wet.

If it's hot enough, I'll take my big golf umbrella and just walk out into the storm on our front lawn. It's a grand way to cool off if the storm is not actually overhead. I like to walk in the puddles barefoot and feel like I"ma little kid again.

The rain comes and goes all summer. Right now we've had a storm every day, and soon it will be hot and dry again. I'll miss the rain, but it will return for another viewing very soon. That's one of the great joys of living in New England.

What's a Rolling Rally, you ask?

The rest of the country hates us when it comes to sports. I think they're jealous. Let's fact it, New England has been just a tad bit dominant in American sports recently. Heh.

I think this photo says it all.

Yup, I was at the Celtics rally this morning. This makes my 3rd rally since 2004. It's too cold out for the Patriots. And I'm not really a football fan. I love my Boston Red Sox with all my heart, but I'm a pretty happy Celtics fan these days. It's been 22 years since the Celts last won the finals, and it's been a tough time to be a fan of the NBA in general. All those thugs, all that bad press. And Kobe. Ugh. So not a star.

However, if you think I'm going to miss a rally on such a gorgeous day, you just don't know me very well. I live for the rally. I love to scream as loud as I can and cheer on my teams. I love to see the players up close and personal.

In Boston we know how to do a rally right. We line up the duck boats and load them with players, their family and friends, and we intersperse confetti machines.

We pack the streets 30 to 50 people deep, all wearing the green.

We set off the confetti as the duckboats roll through.

Music is blasting,

People are hanging out their office windows.

The players are having the time of their lives.

They're smoking cigars in honor of Red Auerbach.

And holding up the MVP trophy.

The fans are going nuts!

Kevin Garnett is wearing 10 carats of diamonds in those ears. They're HUGE.

Doc Rivers looks so psyched

Paul Pierce is having a really good day.

Ray Allen looking good despite his baby son's recent juvenile diabetes diagnosis.

House and son.

Yeah, we know how to celebrate in this city. And evidentially, we know how to know how to play sports.

Now it's time to turn back to baseball. Go Red Sox!