Happy Homecoming

Lest you think I have fallen off the face of the earth, here I am to reassure you. I survived the ridiculous week, and David made it home in one piece. He arrived Thursday morning, lugging two ginormous duffel bags, which he had purchased at Amazing Savings. Sigh. Anyway, he needed the new bags because our old ones had really had it, and because he was bringing home a lot of stuff - mostly clothes for all of us, because, as you must know, children who live in Israel who do not have the opportunity to shop in America must go naked. It's really a shame. No, no, I am not being sarcastic. But, anyway, on the few trips David does take, we like to take advantage of the awesome online sales and stock up a little. Ayelet was the most in need, as her shoe size does not really exist in Israel in women's shoes. She definitely needed an import, or she really would be barefoot or wearing men's shoes, and there is truly not a hint of sarcasm in what I say. And that was not sarcastic either. Hope you can tell the difference. I am so much more straightforward with audio.

Because the rest of the week preceding David's return was so wacky, I had not had a chance to do any baking, or even much prep work. On Wednesday night, I went to an open house at one of the schools we are considering for Dani. I was impressed, and happy that I went, but also tired from getting home late. On Thursday morning I had to run to the paper goods store that I frequent for business needs, to get a particular item for one of the week's orders. Orders this week were also late in coming, so the quiet week I thought I was going to have turned into a very busy and pressured Thursday. It all worked out okay in the end, but it was a little hairy there for a moment.

One thing I did discover from being up late Thursday was that Ariella was coughing. A lot. Continuously. So really, it was no surprise when she woke up at 6:15 and came down to the kitchen (where I was already at work putting platters together) and announced that her throat and stomach hurt. She was really rather jolly, until about 2 p.m., when she started burning up with fever. Motrin did the trick, but only briefly, and then she was burning up again, well short of the time for another dose. When Shabbat started, she still seemed okay, though warm, but well enough to eat two bowls of chicken soup and her favorite "matzah balls." (Don't know where she got that from, unless it was Chanuka on Planet Matzah Ball, because we always call them knaidlach!) We had a nice time at dinner, which included Shana's friends Michal and Netanya, who joined us for Shabbat all the way from Beit Shemesh. Hopefully, we only embarrassed Shana an acceptable amount. In any case, we would have had a good night's sleep, except for the return of the matzah balls, at about 2 in the morning. Nothing more fun than cleaning up vomit on a Friday night. We then tried to give Lola some more Motrin, which also made a return appearance, about two minutes later. Fortunately, that was all the barfing that took place that night.

On Shabbat morning, David went with the kids to Josh and Ariel's, where we were potlucking with them and Seth and Lori. It was a very full house - Ariel had three Michlala girls and we had Shana's two friends, although Lori's son Dov was in yeshiva, we were still an extra four. But without me and Lola, I am sure it was much quieter and more boring. Ha.

Ariella continued to run a high fever throughout Shabbat. We took her to the doctor Sunday morning. He ruled out strep immediately (and that's why I am lacking the medical license, because that was my first thought), and thought her lungs were a little funky, but not too bad. We made an appointment for a follow-up the next morning. By the time we came back on Monday, her lungs were clear, her fever was gone, and her desire to do homework had vanished completely. Thank God she is back in school, and everyone else seems to be healthy, pupupu, if a little tired from lots of tests (just Shana and Ayelet, let's be honest; Dani is not the king of homework) and Chodesh Irgun activities.

So, this week's cookies. One of the platters was for a Shalom Zachar in Modiin, from a family member who had visited the yishuv over the summer and had been gifted with cookies.

It featured chocolate caramel teddy bears, and blue and white cookies, to honor the "zachar," and the week's flavors: chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookies, cranberry-ginger-pecan cookies, mint brownies, blueberry bars, red velvet sandwiches, and linzer cookies.

Here are a few cookies ready for their close-ups:

Red velvet sandwiches - the classic cupcake/cake in a cookie, filled with tangy cinnamon buttercream.Cranberry-ginger-pecan cookies, featuring two kinds of ginger and a white chocolate drizzleBlue and whites - really cute and yummy.

And that was the week that was. Stay tuned for more, as we are already into the new week's baking!

Dvora