Golden Dreams: Parshat Vayeshev

In this week's parsha, Joseph dreams his famous dreams (you know the play!) where he imagines himself as ruling over all, including his brothers. He makes the mistake of sharing these dreams with his brothers, who are anything but pleased, and then he is sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. Joseph is very far from his dreams, working as a slave, and then thrown into jail at the end of the parsha. But then, there is a little glimmer of hope at the very end of the parsha, when Joseph interprets two fellow prisoners' dreams. The hope is that the prisoner who is then let out of prison and sent back to work for Pharaoh, will remember Joseph and then help him out. We have to see what happens...or you can read ahead or see youtube clips of the play!

One lesson that I take from Joseph is to keep dreaming. Even when things get tough, even when the dreams seem impossible, to keep dreaming.

And to those of you living the dream: whether that means you are living in New York City, in Israel, joining the army (shout out to my brother Josh!), or somewhere else great that you enjoy, it's about appreciating what you have and hopefully continue dreaming.

In honour of the dreams, dreamers, and dream interpreters of this week's parsha, I present the Golden Cocktail. May all of our dreams turn golden:

Golden Dream Cocktail

3/4 oz cream
3/4 oz orange juice
3/4 oz Cointreau
3/4 oz Galliano

Or, skip the cream, or replace the cream with ice cream and then blend ingredients together.

Vayeitze-A Reunion Drink

Family reunions can be tough and we learn that they were tough on Jacob in this week's parsha too. Jacob takes a journey from Haran back to his hometown in the land of Israel. In anticipation of the upcoming reunion with his estranged brother, Eisav/Essau, Jacob sends messengers to check out Eisav's group. Jacob also begins to take precautions with his things and the tents that he and his family were living in. But, in the end, the reunion of the brothers is a peaceful one, it even included a brotherly embrace! They did not need the liquid courage that many of us seem to crave in anticipation of upcoming family reunions during the holiday season. But, I just discovered this drink called a reunion cocktail and I adapted it a little big for you all.

1/2 oz. Brandy, sherry
1/2 oz. Triple Sec
1/4 oz. Lime Juice

P.S. Just FYI, I am VERY excited for the upcoming family reunion of my own that is coming up at the end of December! And am not concerned enough to need the drink to get through it, I am just plain looking forward to it.

Parshat Toldot: Red, Red, Cocktail!

Parshat Toldot: Red, Red, Cocktail

In this week's parsha, Rebecca is told that she is going to be expecting twins! These twins will be the beginnings of two new nations. When they are born, it is said that the first-born, named Eisav, is born with lots of red, red hair.

Eisav is known as the outdoorsy son, the one who hunts animals for fur and food. He had a bad reputation, for some reason, but I have recently found some positive in him. He was connected to nature and to animals, and felt fit and comfortable spending lots of time outside, which not everyone can do.

This weekend, people who live in the US are going to be giving thanks at their Thanksgiving tables. I would like to challenge you all to think about something in nature that you are grateful for, like Eisav, the red-haired twin. In honour of Thanksgiving, a fall holiday associated with fall colours, like red, I present a very red drink! Maybe it will inspire you to think of more reasons to give thanks....

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Adapted from a recipe from the food network website:

Ingredients

• Ice cubes
• 2 ounces pomegranate juice
• 2 ounces gin
• 5 to 6 ounces club soda
• 1 ounce red wine
• Fresh or frozen raspberries

Directions

Fill a tall glass with ice cubes. Pour in the juice and the gin; stir to mix together. Lighten the drink with a generous splash of soda. Float a layer of red wine on top by pouring it over the back of a wide, flat spoon. (Don't worry if it doesn't float; it tastes great either way.) Drop a few maraschino cherries and raspberries into the glass. Drink.

Oh Baby! Parshat Vayera

Baby Bellini

Babies seem to be on the brain in this week's Torah portion and also in the lives of some people who I am close to. I'll start with the Torah, while you fabulous readers try to figure out whose babies I am referring to.

In this week's parsha, Abraham and Sarah welcome three guests to their tent. They are a fine example of what hosting guests are all about: they give food, drink, and are attended to with care, even though it was a very hot day and Abraham was in a great amount of pain at the time. The guests later reveal that they are in fact angels and God's messengers. One of these messengers tells them that Sarah will have a baby!

I have always liked this story of the first hosted meal, it inspires me to continue to host meals myself, as I hope it does for you!

Mazal Tov to Pnina and Dov Nickerson on the birth of their baby boy Yair Adin! Also, mazal tov to Maggie and Adam Norris on the birth of their baby boy Teddy! So excited for you and hope to meet the babies soon!!

One of my favourite drinks to make for a big meal that I am hosting (especially brunch) are bellinis. In honour of all of the babies' arrival to the world, I will introduce a baby bellini, which is non-alcoholic. Enjoy and here's to more reasons to host celebratory meals!

Recipe for Baby Bellini

-put one tablespoon of berry applesauce inside a champagne glass

-half of the glass full of sparkling peach or blush grape juice

-half of the glass with orange juice

Global Hunger Shabbat

Parshat Lech Lecha

This week instead of choosing a cocktail drink, I decided to put in a little shout-out for the American Jewish World Service Global Hunger Shabbat. Please parooz on ajws.org for readings, feel free to start here:

http://ajws.org/hunger/ghs/materials/09-11-ghs-2011-hunger-prayer_v3.pdf

Shabbat Shalom!

Rainbow Martini

Parshat Noach: A Rainbow Martini

I hope that you enjoyed the drinks from the holidays!

I just recently noticed that the colours do not always show up on my blog, so I am going to try to work on that. But in the meantime, if the colours are not showing up on your computer screen, please know that I attempted to make the blog as much of a rainbow as possible by making the first row red, second row orange, etc.

This week's parsha is Noach, with the Noah and the ark story. I always liked the ending of the story with the dove bringing an olive branch and then a rainbow. The rainbow is supposed to be a symbol of God's promise to never destroy the world again. As a teacher of young children, I tend to see rainbows in the students' drawings a lot. One time, I asked one of my students about the rainbows in her drawings and she answered simply, "When I look at rainbows, I feel happy." I think that's true for many people, young and old, that rainbows help to bring happiness, comfort, and hope.

Not too long ago, Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was held prisoner for years, was just returned home to his family in Israel. This is definitely cause for both celebration and a little bit of wariness and worry for the future: Gilad's future and Israel's future. I hope that this Shabbat can bring us what the image of the rainbow helps to provide: a little happiness, comfort and hope for the future of a better world.

Presenting a rainbow drink!!

Recipe for.....

Malibu Reggae Rainbow

Cocktail - Long drink

2 oz Malibu® coconut rum
1 oz Midori® melon liqueur
3 - 4 oz pineapple juice
1 splash cranberry juice

Fill a highball glass with ice cubes. Pour in the Malibu rum, then Midori melon liqueur (which will sink to the bottom). Gently pour in pineapple juice. Do not shake. Gently splash in a bit of cranberry juice. Do not mix. Drink will be layered, from top to bottom; green, yellow, red.

Bottom's Up! Simchat Torah is Here

Bottom's Up! An Upside Down cocktail

Chag Sameach (Happy Holiday) to you all! I hope that you are enjoying the holiday so far. In the spirit of the holiday season, I will keep this post short.

Introducing...

Bottom's Up!

two versions:

shot:

-one shot of triple sec or peach schnapps

-2 drops of vanilla extract

-shot of pineapple juice

-drop of grenadine

drink:

-one shot of vodka

-one shot of triple sec or peach shnapps

-2 drops of vanilla extract

-4 shots (or the rest of the glass) of pineapple juice

-drop of grenadine

Some of you may think that I chose this drink because during the upcoming holiday of Simchat Torah, that you may say the expression "Bottom's Up" a lot. However, there is another reason besides the name of the drink. If you look carefully, this drink is supposed to look the same if you look at the glass from the bottom up, or from the top down. This holiday is celebrating the end of the year of weekly readings of the Torah portions and the beginning of a new year of weekly readings of the Torah. I always thought that it was strange that we start the new Torah cycle at this time of year and not at Shavuot when we celebrate that we received the Torah. But, this is the season that we people get another chance at a new year, a fresh start. So, we are similar to the Torah in a way, still the same, but in a way different and changed for the new year.

Enjoy the next holiday and...bottom's up!

Sukkah in a Glass

Happy Sukkot 5772!

I have always liked this holiday and it is a special one for my family. I know what you're thinking, that I like Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival, because it usually falls around Canadian Thanksgiving. Well, that is definitely a coincidence, and not the reason that I like the holiday. Mostly, I like the holiday because it is the one time during the year that my whole family on my mom's side squeezes together into a sukkah. Even though it is usually cold and we have to bundle up in our coats, scarves, etc., it is a special time for us to be together.

I remember learning as a child that we eat and spend a lot of time in the sukkah even though it is super cold out because it is supposed to remind us that we are strong and that we, as a Jewish people, can survive anything, even the Canadian cold fall weather. But, then during my 3rd year of university when I studied at Hebrew University, I realized that Sukkot in Israel is actually in fantastic weather for eating outside! So, there went that theory.

My cousins and I even discussed this while sitting in the Samson family sukkah in Efrat. I think it was cousin Maury who spoke about the image of the sukkah in this famous verse that is in many t'fillot:

"hapores sukkat shalom aleinu","הפורס סוכת שלום עלינו" God who protects us with a sukkah over us

He said that this image of a sukkah as a form of protection is kind of intriguing, since it is not always the most protective, stable structure. Why not a building or better yet a fortress? But, as long as God is part of the structure, protecting, then maybe it will make it safer. I think that when you think of an empty sukkah, that it seems fragile, but, maybe when the image of that structure includes people in it, together they make each other stronger and feel safer.

So, this cocktail is an attempt to create your very own sukkah in a glass, complete with brown "walls" to represent the wooden walls of many sukkot and a green and beige top to represent the green and beige schach (roof). This is also adapted from a cocktail that I helped my Sabba make in a sukkah one time when we had a dairy meal. Oh yeah, fyi, this cocktail is DAIRY, so make sure that you're aware of this when you make this cocktail.

Sukkah in a Glass

-take a cold glass and dip the rim of the glass into graham cracker bits

-add the following ingredients into the glass:

-one shot of chocolate liquor or Khalua

-1 and 1/2 shot of chocolate milk

-one shot of peppermint schnapps or creme demint

-fill the rest of the glass with chocolate or mint ice cream

-add a fresh mint leaf on the top

Sweet New Year 5772

Rosh Hashana 5772- A Sweet New Year and a Sweet New Drink

After a long time away from the blog, I have decided to try to get back into it. So, I am welcoming the new Hebrew year of 5772 with a new drink!

Many people consider Rosh Hashana to be a time for reflection on the past year. During the month right before Rosh Hashana, it is a time to ask others for forgiveness for wrongdoings of the past. There is a lot of preparation for this holiday, soul-searching, reflection on past wrong-doings, not to mention the food and drink preparation! Some of us reflect and soul search while we prepare food, so this holiday is perfect for that! There are a lot of foods that are served during Rosh Hashana to help to introduce sweetness, peace and other elements to the upcoming year. For instance, apples and honey, the typical Rosh hashana food, are meant to bring sweetness to the year. Pomegranates, my favourite fruit, is supposed to represent the many many mitzvot, or positive commandments that we are hoping to do in the new year.

Not only are there a lot of tastes to Rosh Hashana, but there are also a lot of sounds to Rosh Hashana, in particular the sound of the shofar. If the food that we eat is supposed to help with bringing a taste of the positive elements of the coming year, then the sound of the shofar is supposed to be like an alarm, reminding us all to do the work of reflection and soul-searching. It can be a bit of a piercing, sour sound to some, but still an essential part of feeling the holiday.

So, I thought that a drink that has both elements of the sweet and sour would be fitting for this holiday to help with reflection and for preparation for the new year.

Introducing...

The Tekiyah Shot

-honey (enough for a squirt on the wrist)

-slice of apple

-shot of tequila

-teaspoon of lime juice

1) pour tequila into a shot glass and leave a bit of room in the glass for the lime juice

2) add lime juice

3) for the shot...first squirt the honey on wrist, lick it!

4) drink the shot

5) eat the apple slice

And as for my reflection, I hope that you all forgive me for abandoning this blog for so long. I am excited to be a part of this again, and I would like to remind you all that if any of you would like to contribute to the blog, just let me know.

Shana Tova U'Metukah/Have a Sweet New Year!