So.

Today was mostly good. I got to work on time, and while I had a full inbox, it was all stuff I could do quickly. My boss had a project she wanted me to do, but given that I kept getting more and more stuff in my inbox, I barely started. Fortunately, she thinks that my daily work - writing up listings, entering them in the computer, distributing them and filing them in the appropriate binders - is more important, and since I was doing that nonstop today, and she could see that, that's fine. So, when I left at just after five, I had both an empty inbox and an empty outbox. I left nothing for the Thursday/Friday person to do in that regard. I'll probably find a bunch to do on Monday, though.

Except the office is closed for Rosh HaShanah.

I did find out I had a synagogue board meeting this evening. Thrills. I'd forgotten. Jonathan couldn't be there. He spent the afternoon at a rheumatologist, and needed to make up the time at work. He went because he's had this pain in his elbow for months, since before Passover. Believing it was gout, we embarked on a low purine diet that has had little or no effect on the gout. This means that I've cooked *one* meat meal a week, where he ate a chicken thigh. The rest of the time, we ate eggs and cheese and fish, and not trout or salmon, but flounder and sole. We also forswore mushrooms and asparagus. I could eat out. He grew rather frustrated.

The doctor doesn't think it is gout. To test it, he ate a hamburger tonight. We will see. She thinks it's bursitis.

Meanwhile, it was 5PM. The meeting was at 7:30, and there was little point in me going home. So, I did a little shopping. I just got my new clothes for the fall, including a two piece skirt/jacket outfit. Jacket is clearly meant to be worn by itself, but it closes too far down for me. So, I bought a package of white crew neck t-shirts, and I'm going to cut off the sleeves and a lot of the lower part, and wear it like a dickey. I think that will look good. I also got socks and a steamer.

And I stopped by the other comic book store. The one I don't go to much, because it's out of the way. The guys there, whom I suspect of being a gay couple, remembered me when I used to come by every Tuesday night, after I had a session with a friend a block or so away. But she went away for the summer, so I haven't been coming by. Good thing, too, because I never go the conclusion to the Bruce Wayne: Murderer series, and I got it there. Lovely issue.

The meeting itself? Complete waste of time. I should resign. I mean, I don't even go to that shul anymore. Shrug.

Rosh Hashanah prep, PI

kassrachel does her prep right - she concentrates on the spiritual aspects.

I do the practical stuff. It's lots easier. :)

So. I have a holiday coming up. That means new clothes, something we usually honor in the breach, and food. But this time, I needed the new clothes.

Today, I got the food. The menus for the upcoming holiday are as follows:

Friday Night:

"Good luck" foods: apples dipped in honey, pomegranates, fish. Each has a special meaning for the new year, like sweetness, children and success.

Baked chicken with thyme and lemon.
Steamed carrots
potato kugel
green salad

wine
round challahs

Lunch:

Mesclun salad with goat cheese, pecans and pears.
Wine, challah rolls.

Saturday night dinner:
Homemade alphabet soup with cheese
baked sea bass over vegetables
sugar free ice cream
round challah, wine

Sunday Lunch:

Leftovers from dinner, if any, or omelets.
challah/wine

I'm making the soup now, except for the alphabet noodles, to be reheated Saturday night. The fish will be purchased tomorrow and arranged over the veggies, and kept covered in the fridge until after full dark on Saturday night, when I will slide it into the oven, obeying the laws of cooking on a holiday. After I get that ready, I'll make the dishes for the meat meal. It's all very simple because I do nothing hard. I even bought the potato kugel.

Soup

There was a time I made soup every week - not the traditional chicken soup, although I know how to make that, and make it very well. I learned from the best - my mother. Everyone's mother makes the best chicken soup, after all - although I do also like my Yeminite friend's lovely spicy brew. But we rarely had chicken soup on Friday night.

Instead, I made a hearty meal type soup every Tuesday, at least in winter time. These would be thick with meat and beans and vegetables, and I found ways to make them taste different. What I did was come up with a "master" soup recipe. I first got the idea from reading "Moosewood Cooks at Home", where the compiler threw in a line about all you had to do was saute onions, carrots and celery in a pot (the "holy trinity", you should excuse the expression) and go on from there.

And that's what I did. The basic recipe is as follows: chop up a large Spanish onion. Slice a pound of carrots and a stalk of celery thinly, so they fit on a spoon. Heat up a good, sturdy five quart pot, add oil and toss in the veggies one by one, and cook until soft. Toss long cooking ingredients, flavorings and the indispensible bay leaf in, add a quart or so of liquid and simmer. Prior to serving, put in items that don't need long cooking. Serve.

Long cooking ingredients: beef stew, cut small. Beef neck bones. Lamb neck bones. Chicken wings. Turkey wings. Turkey legs. Turkey carcasses. Soaked beans. Lentils. Barley. Potatoes. Sweet potatoes. Dried mushrooms (add fresh with the sauted veggies.) Whole garlic cloves. You get the idea. Note: if using meat on bones or big chunks of meat, take it out before serving and remove from bones and put back in pot. Put the bones back, too, if they're large. Bones = flavor.

Flavorings: fennel seeds. Wine or vinegar (add to sauteing veggies). Freshly ground pepper. Peppercorns. Dried herbs. Parsley. Dill.

Liquid: water. Crushed tomatoes. Stock. Water plus bullion cube if you must.

Extas: frozen corn or other veggies. Cilantro. Lemon juice or a slice of lemon. Scallions. More fresh herbs. This is also the time to add fresh fish if you're making a fish soup.

Variantions: mushroom barley soup: fresh mushrooms with veggies. Pearl Barley and meat with long cooking. Dried is also nice, and add the soaking liquid with the liquid. I like turkey here.

Meatball soup: use crushed tomatoes and water for liquid. Make tiny meatballs out of ground meat, matzo meal and spices. Use Italian seasonings and garlic in the soup and the meatballs. Bring soup to a boil, and plop the tiny meatballs in one by one. Simmer.

Turkey bean sweet potato: exactly as it sounds. Use cilantro at the end if you like cilantro. It needs vinegar or wine to give it some depth. Smells like thankgiving.

Fish chowder, Manhattan style. Make vegetable soup. Add potatoes and thyme. Whenthe potatoes are cooked, take enough soup for one night and transfer to a different pot. Bring to a simmer and add firm white fish in chunks.

I love soup.