Fresh from the Tree!

I was hanging out the laundry and I noticed my neighbor's Shesek (loquat) tree, dropping rotten fruit. Their tree is taller and larger than ours, and the fruit on it gets a lot more sun. So I wasn't surprised that theirs was overripe. (I do find it sad that they have about 12 fruit trees in their yard and really don't harvest them. I haven't yet asked them if we can take their fruit - how silly am I?)

So I checked in on ours, and discovered that some of it is ripe. So we harvested the ones we could reach with our ladder (there's a whole bunch that's too high for us, very sad. Any ideas how we can get it down without a) hiring someone b) buying a new ladder or c) damaging the tree?).

They are delicious.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

It has been so rainy here. It is absolutely incredible. Last November there was barely any rain (well, probably a little - I don't remember when exactly that incredible storm knocked over the tree in our landlord's yard!), and this past week, we have had one storm after another. Maybe I should put this up in more detail on my defunct-for-now "Northern Lights" blog! That would be an idea, don't you think?

Anyhow, I was inspired by a friend to consider foraging as a food option. There seem to be all sorts of weeds and wild plants sprouting, and rumor has it, tons of plants are... EDIBLE!

So I'm wondering, how many of you ever pick wild plants and eat them? How do YOU know what's edible and what's toxic? (and how are you sure?)

I'd love to basically avoid grocery shopping this week, except for a few things I thought of picking up for our ex-pat Thanksgiving celebration. I think I will push off my order from the health food store for another week - that 250 NIS minimum order for delivery is overwhelming me, as I don't have such a long list of staples I buy from the health food store right now (sadly, as I used to be a Whole Foods and Trader Joe's junkie, but it's just not feasible for us right now).

So - back to menus!

Tonight's Menu:

Split Pea Soup

Baked Potatoes

Crustless Roasted Vegetable Quiche - quick recipe: chop (as large or small as you want) your favorite vegetables (I'm using red peppers, kishuim, onions, garlic, and all the sad looking tomatoes from last week) and roast in the oven till browned (with olive oil and sea salt). You will need to roast a LOT of vegetables, they shrink in the oven! Fill up your quiche pans or casserole dish. Make a custard of eggs, milk, and spices (add gevinah levanah for an Israeli twist). Pour over veggies, top with cheese. Bake at 375 F till it's browned and done.

Pomelit

Tuesday Night, Aug 30, 2011

Today I decided I have to work on getting my family to eat more lentils - they are an amazingly frugal source of protein! My oldest son requested rice, so I figured it was a classic combination.


However, my family members don't really like rice and lentils together, so I had to get creative.
Here's what I came up with:

Choice of:
Brown Rice 
Whole Wheat Spaghetti


Sauteed vegetables with red lentils in tomato sauce


Fresh fruit