Ruby Tuesday - You Never Know What You're Going To See In Ft. Tryon Park

I've said before that Ft. Tryon Park is one of my favorite places in the neighborhood. It's lovely in all seasons and they run some very nice programs. Last week they had the annual Renaissance Fair, which is always fun. Don't ask me what the New York Scottish Pipes and Drums have to do with that time period, but they were there too!

Don't miss out this coming week. The Ft. Tryon Park Trust will hold the park's 75th Anniversary Homecoming Event in honor of the park's special birthday, on Sunday, October 17th.

See more Ruby Tuesday photos with a little or a lot of red in them here.

Food Photo Friday - The "10 Second Rule"

Every family has their own standards for the "10 second rule". Some hold the exact 'zman', while others will look the other way for 20, 30 or {gasp!} 40 seconds. Some will apply it only to dry foods, while others will allow it to wet foods if they are particularly yummy and/or contain chocolate.

I'm going to let you in on a deep dark "G6 maiden name" family secret.

Some of my kin have taken the 10 second rule to a whole other level ;)

Many moons ago, a Sheva Brochos was held in my childhood home for my cousin Sammy. What a wonderful simcha. What delicious food! WHAT A GORGEOUS CAKE FOR DESSERT.

Oh, it was beautiful! You should have seen it...... BEFORE this photo was taken, that is.

(Click to enlarge)

You see, when the time came to serve dessert, my mother brought the particularly lovely looking cake into the dining room for all to admire. Ooohs and aaahs were uttered all around. She then left the dining room in order to return to the kitchen and cut the cake for serving. At least that was the PLAN. Unfortunately, she tripped in the hallway and the entire cake landed perfectly FACE DOWN on the foyer floor. I won't mention any names or anything, but a certain uncle who witnessed the debacle, was completely unfazed and cut the cake right then and there, flipped it over piece by piece and sent it back in to the dining room on dessert plates. No one was the wiser.... that is, until today...........

Cartoon Thursday

Now tell me this. Why can't dieting be that simple??

Wednesday's Wacky Signs - "Bein Adam L'Chaveiro"

Spotted on a wall in Williamsburg.

It really can be that simple if we let it......

Hat tip: Scout

Eat, Sleep, Pray, Repeat...

... and much, much more.

As you can see from my last posting prior to Yom Tov, the weather held out and we were able to pack the entire kit and caboodle into the succah for one final day of dining al fresco (and the much anticipated, once a year, "stacking allowed" dish policy).

We attempted the whole "squeeze three families, comprising eleven people (and three pack 'n plays) into one three-bedroom apartment" thing again, but this time we actually had sleeping provisions for three of those people in my mother's empty apartment in our building. Sleeping arrangements aside, I fondly recall how my father used to point out that regardless of space, the maximum number of people always seem to congregate in the narrowest part of the living space. Close family - close quarters - loud voices - and we loved every minute of it.

Simchas Torah was absolutely beautiful and replete with "Jahres" niggunim (that's when they sing the choir pieces in a patchwork of all the the tunes used throughout the year strung together as one), majestic dancing and totally "off-schedule" happy little children on sugar highs. My favorite parts though, have to be watching Avram dance with our grandson and hearing our two year old granddaughter say, upon watching Avram dance the "formal dance with the Sefer Torah" after Kriyas HaTorah on the bima, "Opa dance niiiiice!!!".

On Friday night we were honored by the presence of Avram's aunt at dinner, and after Joey walked her home and all the dishes were done (I would intimate that Joey was just trying to get out of doing the dishes, but I must admit that he did the lion's share before bentching), we engaged in a marathon session of Bananagrams that lasted well past midnight. I thought it was over when the lights went out and we were left in the soft glow of the Shabbos candles, but one of my children mildly rebuked me, "What? Your eyes haven't adjusted yet??!?". So the band played on.....

Avram and Joey made a much-appreciated presentation in honor of my birthday (c'mon - who else gets personal-sized ice cream and gorrilla glue for their birthdays, huh?), and before you know it, the triad of three three-day Yomim Tovim, came to a close.

Today has been marked by load after load of tablecloth and towel laundry (I didn't even know I owned this much...) and a deafening silence. There's also NOTHING TO COOK!!! How odd is that???

For a bit of post Yom Tov humor, head on over to Something Different's blog and read her post entitled the Top Ten Signs You Have Just Endured a Three Day Yom Tov.

Succah Hop Final Stop - Have A Seat At Our Table

.... and have a wonderful Yom Tov!

(it looks like our granddaughter Kayla was getting an early start while we were setting the table...)

GWC2D Succah Hop Meets The Chossid On Chol Hamoed...

Avid readers of my blog may be familiar with my "Chossid On Chol Hamoed" photos.

This is my favorite (taken back in 2008 - notice the shtreimel resting beside him), but others are here and here.

Well, since I am up to my neck in Succah Hop pictures, I thought I'd combine the two in one posting.

Long time blog reader and commenter, the oxymoronic Yekkishe Bekkishe made his annual pilgrimage to our neighborhood to daven Hoshana Rabo in the shul where his grandfather z"l davened. (Some people take their families to the zoo on Chol Hamoed, some people take them to see the Yekkes...)

I captured this photo of him in front of KAJ's Catered Succah.

Here's wishing him, along with all my other readers a wonderful Yom Tov!

Succah Hop - "Today We're Livin' In A Shanty"

This aerial view of a local backyard conjures up images of shantytowns of old...

There are actually MORE succahs in this backyard than the camera was able to capture in one frame.

When living in apartment buildings, you become very "close" with your neighbors ;)

GWC2D Succah Hop Goes To Kansas City

Here is Mara's and her husband Frankie's sukkah, in Kansas City, which was decorated by their three kids! Mara writes a frugal Jewish blog, called Kosher on a Budget, where she's hosting a virtual succah hop of her own. She says everyone is welcome to join!

Succah Hop - Seasonal In Highland Park, New Jersey

Look at the lovely fall foliage decorating Leora's succah! Thanks Leora, for generously allowing me to share your photo with my readers.

The Succah Hop Goes To Munkatch

Thanks again to Yekke Wannabe for sending this video in.

(For some undetermined reason, it's not showing up in everybody's Google Reader. Click to the blog to view and sorry for the inconvenience...)

Succah Hop - The "Why You Can't Find Parking" Edition

Don't you HATE when that happens to you?

All the good spots are taken up by succahs!!!

Submitted By: Yekke Wannabe

WHAT HAPPENED TO MY YESHIVA WORLD BROWNIES?!?!?

In the rush to come up with fresh and innovative menu plans for six meals this past Yom Tov, I tried several new recipes that I culled from various websites around the internet.

One of my personal favorites was a decadent Chocolate Coconut Brownie that I dubbed "YeshivaWorld Brownies", for the website on which I found the recipe. In the madness of pre-Yom Tov cooking, I didn't have time to properly organize and file away all the new things I was trying and relied instead on scraps of paper printed quickly and stuffed here and there between the pages of my cookbook.

Chol Hamoed arrived and it was time to restock and replenish my supply of goodies for the next round. The YeshivaWorld brownies had definitely been deemed a "keeper", so off I went to their website to locate the recipe and whip up another scrumptious batch. But the recipe was NOWHERE to be found. A quick search of their website turned up no results. I doubled back to my Google Reader and searched there. NADA. My chocolate coconut brownies had dropped off the face of the internet!!!!

Now I was starting to panic. Where had my Yeshiva World Brownie recipe gone and WHY?? Could there be some new kashrus problems with coconut that I hadn't heard about that might cause the Yeshiva World to pull the recipe off its site? Bugs? Anasakis worms? Chometz She'ovor Olov HaPesach? WHAT?!?!? Could the recipe have been posted without permission? This was very odd......

My last resort was to sift through all the loose pages stuck helter skelter in my cookbook in the hopes of retrieving the cocoa-stained scrap that had been used to create the original masterpiece. After quite some time searching, I stood up triumphantly waving the crumpled page. I eagerly scanned every word trying to find a clue as to why it had been removed from The Yeshiva World website. I looked at the internet address printed on the bottom of the page...... www.aish.com...... well, don't I feel silly...............

GWC2D Succah Hop - Lincoln Park Jewish Center

We spent some time yesterday in Yonkers at the Simchas Beis Hashoeva of the Lincoln Park Jewish Center. Little did we know that it would double as a surprise Lechayim, when the Rabbi got up and passed out cups of champagne. He joyfully announced to all those assembled that his father had just become engaged to one of the shul's favorite members!

This "green" succah (think eco-friendly, not pine needles) was built by the Rabbi, along with his father, brother and another shul member and uses solar powered lights, recycled wood and wood from sustainable forests.

If you look closely on the floorboards (it would be easier if the tables weren't set up already) you can see a portion of the menorah that was inlaid into the floor design.

Food Photo Chol Hamoed - Marzipan Brownies

Due to an incredible dearth of (non Yom Tov, non Erev Yom Kippur) Fridays lately, coupled with overwhelming reader request both on and off blog, I'm posting this special edition of Food Photo Friday even though it is clearly NOT a Friday. Those of you who are eager for Food Photo Fridays containing old black and white photos and deep dark family secrets, will just have to wait for another REAL Friday to come along....

So stay tuned.....

And enjoy my recipe for marzipan brownies in the mean time.

MARZIPAN BROWNIES

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate (substitution: 9 Tbsp. cocoa + 3 Tbsp. oil)

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 dash salt

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

7 ounces marzipan (or almond paste)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place chocolate and butter in saucepan and heat over hot water until melted. Remove from heat, stir, and then set aside to cool slightly.

2. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. Stir in sugar into chocolate mixture and eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition. Add almond extract. Blend in flour mixture.

4. Evenly spread half of the batter into greased 8" square pan. Set aside.

5. Soften marzipan and roll out into an 8" square. Place marzipan on top of batter in pan. Gently spread remaining batter evenly over marzipan layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes.