Morning short takes

[magid]

Is the restaurant EVOO named after extra virgin olive oil?

Seen on the T: black knit winter gloves with white (glow in the dark?) bones of the hand in the anatomically correct places.

Hannuka tonight.

Working on crocheting projects is good for my mind (making things rather than just thinking about making things), but not always easy on my fingers.

Comments

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

yes, cool, yum, ow!

EVOO

[magid.livejournal.com]

I never thought of it until I saw a post in food_porn. I feel slow.

Re: EVOO

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

that's because it's pretentious!

Re: EVOO

[magid.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean. Just reading the menu makes me long for some comfort food.

Re: EVOO

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I think part of the problem with menus like that is that, because they don't serve "normal" things, they have to pretty much give you the ingredients list as the item's name, which ends up sounding, well, special, in a really grating way.

Re: EVOO

[magid.livejournal.com]

Yes, but they're also being a bit snooty about how [x produce] comes from [y local farm], which is rather more than I'd expect on any menu. Say "organic produce only", or "local produce in season", or whatever, and get on with it.

I've seen menus with the item named, then a description below (sometimes in parentheses), which reads much better, I think.

Hanukah food

[magid.livejournal.com]

I almost never make latkes, due to laziness (not having a food processor to grate potatoes), mostly, plus a small dislike of getting oil spattered everywhere. I'm more likely to make trays of roasted potatoes and onions, which also use olive oil, right?
(My mom started making potato kugels for Hanuka, as a lower-fat variant, so I think I'm less latke dogmatic.)

Of course, it's a great excuse to eat (jelly) donuts. The best Hanukkah donuts I ever ate were made in a basement shop in Mea Shearim (Jerusalem); the line was out the door for the caramel-filled donuts (the only kind they had). Mmm...

Re: Hanukah food

[ichur72.livejournal.com]

I had some of those caramel-filled doughnuts before we left Israel. I'm pretty sure they were from the same shop. Ohm nohm nohm ...

Re: Hanukah food

[magid.livejournal.com]

When I was there, anyway, there was only one shop that made them. All the others were those pink-goo-filled ones that were nominally jelly. Though, come to think of it, perhaps 'sufganiyot' shouldn't be translated as 'jelly donuts', and I'd not expect something better than pink goo.

I remember standing in a huge line that went out the door, and they kept trying to sell their usual pizza, but no one was there for that! And I had to eat one immediately after I bought them, too. :-)

Re: Hanukah food

[ichur72.livejournal.com]

This definitely sounds like the same place -- Uri's Pizza, I think that's the name. We got pizza and doughnuts, but I have to say that the doughnuts are much better. (I find the tomato sauce on most Israeli pizza to be somewhat odd. Not that it's terrible, it's just not what I'm used to.)

Re: Hanukah food

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

Yummy! I plan to make latkes later this week, using half and half potatoes and turnips! I also made some in the fall using potato and pumpkin which came out very well. I don't make them often because it's messy and not very healthy, but, mmmmm.

Caramel jelly donuts!

Re: Hanukah food

[magid.livejournal.com]

Mmm... potatoes and other veggies. Sounds yummy. Though the only turnips I've truly appreciated so far have been the smallish white Japanese kind.

I've also seen sweet potato latkes (some with cinnamon, some with hot pepper).

Side thought: latkes are festive, which means making them for a group of people, which means dealing with the mess and grease for that many more latkes... No wonder so many people buy the frozen ones.

[zebraartist.livejournal.com]

Happy Hannuka!!!

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thanks :-).

I like Hannuka; it's such a low-key holiday. Pleasant, rather than stressful.

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

Just be careful with those candles! Make sure they've burnt out before you go to sleep, please.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Yes, ma'am!

Really, the most unstable Hannuka candles I've seen are also the shortest burning ones, just over the minimum half hour (on non-Shabbat evenings). I light early enough that I'm unlikely to go to bed with them lit.

(I suppose you don't want to hear that I've gone to bed with tealights lit for Shabbat, then, do you?)

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

I inherited a menorah at some point. It takes birthday candles. The whole thing is over in about 10 minutes.

I suppose you don't want to hear that I've gone to bed with tealights lit for Shabbat, then, do you?
Not particularly, no. I have a friend who's house burnt down due to candles, although hopefully the tealights won't tip over and are in metal containers. I have also lived through the aftermath of a house fire and it's just not fun. I understand you are in a difficult position of lighting your house completely with candles during Shabbat, though....

[magid.livejournal.com]

Birthday candles? How... cute.

I'm careful with candles, really. Someone burned zhir's dorm room one year when I was at school, and I don't take chances.

(Side note: I don't light my house for Shabbat with candles. I leave a couple of electric lights on, and a couple on timers. The candles are the ritual used to start Shabbat or a holiday.)