We had a wonderful
weekend, and got to spend lots of time with the children. Ella came over for
dinner and a sleep-over on Friday night, and we even prepared something other
than macaroni and cheese – blintz soufflé - that she liked! We bought food from
the new kosher deli near Sharon and had Simmie and family for Sabbath afternoon.
Then we stayed through Sunday and made dinner for the ten of us on Sunday
evening. After dinner, we played with some of the gifts we had not had a chance
to give the children during Chanukah. While Joshua played with his newest
HexBugs set with Barry and Eliana, Ella and Maya helped Ronen and me put
together a bed we had bought Maya for her American Girl doll. These girls know
how to handle a screwdriver far better than their grandmother does! I’ve
attached some pictures here.
One of the things we
made last night is a very simple and yummy dish from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant
called Saffron Butterflies (which sounds even better in Italian, Farfalle allo Zafferano). When we were packing
to leave this morning, I found half of a half-pint container of cream in the
refrigerator. I was puzzled by this, because we had doubled the recipe for the butterflies,
which called for ½ cup of cream, so we should have used the entire container.
It turns out that when Barry added the cream, he forgot that we were doubling
the recipe. Fortunately he had remembered doubling the other ingredients, so it
was still delicious. But I thought that it seemed a bit less creamy than I had
remembered it. So note to family: we have to do this again soon!
Having all ten of us
for dinner, with so much going on afterwards, brought to mind a television show
of which we have become huge fans: Modern Family. For those who have
never watched this show, let me fill you in. Jay Pritchett, the head of the family,
is married to the gorgeous and much younger Gloria, who has a precocious
12-year-old son, Manny, from her first marriage, and she and Jay have now had a
baby boy together. Jay has two grown children from his first marriage, Claire
and Mitchell. Claire and her husband, Phil, are the parents of three kids with
whom they want an open, healthy, honest relationship: Haley, a teenage daughter
who's growing up a little fast, Alex, a too-smart-for-her-own-good middle
daughter and Luke, a scatterbrained boy. Mitchell is raising an adopted
daughter, Lily, with his long term partner, Cameron. Don’t worry if you did not
catch all that, you will not be tested! I have a hard time remembering all the
names but once you get to know these characters they do grow on you.
Like most television
situation comedies, the antics of this clan are somewhat contrived and not
especially believable. While the warmth of the interactions between these
family members does feel believable, in real life it takes work to make that
happen. There are significant differences in outlook and personality among the
family members, but they are tied together by a collective force that is far
greater than any single one of them. As parents of grown children, and
grandparents of growing-up-so-quickly grandchildren, this is what we are hoping
to achieve. And I think it is that feeling that has me hooked on this show. We
are grateful to our friends Michal and Manny for telling us about it. Our
timing was fortunate, because a variety of cable channels are showing all the
old episodes, albeit in scrambled order. We have over 40 on our playlist at
this point!
This is the time of
year that I begin to wonder if it might be time to start thinking about
relocating to a warmer climate. I guess this weather is the price I have to pay
to be close to our children and grandchildren and continue my love affair with New
York.
Have a good week and
stay safe and warm!
Love,
Rebecca
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