Orith In Israel : UNDER SIEGE

Tuesday. Willie went downtown to buy bananas. A 5 km walk, just to have some fresh air and sun and ... food. I am at home. Today is Yom Ha-Zikaron: the memorial day for the fallen in wars and in terror attacks. We've got so many of them! many are my childhood friends. But none can visit the graves today. We are asked to stay at home because of the Corona-virus, a large gathering is avoided. Tomorrow is the 72nd independent day for Israel. Tonight, the street will be empty and tomorrow we will have to celebrate on balconies. It is called a Lock-down, a stay-home time to stay healthy.

I call it a Siege.

It is longer then 6 weeks since the decision to keep us all at home. The old people are most at risk, so we get glared at if we enter grocery stores - after all, say the glares- we can deliver! Maybe, but we need to move or our old bodies will seize to function. But, I want to stay optimistic. I rather create than to complain. So I looked at my cupboard today and decided to cook what is available and not go out to buy more. Maybe I'll write up a recipe or two just for fun. It took a siege to remind me that I did not write in my blogs for approximately 4 years.

Technology is taking a lion-share of our time now. WhatsApp communicates to almost everyone we know, not everyone is willing to write back, hard on some fingers. Facebook has its own set of "I don't like it"s. Email is less used since it is not immediately answered. Zoom arrived on the scene for us about a month ago. We used it daily, when our computer cooperates, to pray with friends in Israel and to talk with family overseas. Each has its own set of challenges and I feel that we needed that stay-at-home-time just to overcome some of them.

The borders are semi-quiet. Gaza sent some rockets and the entire world got upset with them. They were supposed to be at home and not going out - like everyone else. Then Syria raised her head and was doing one thing and another and Israel sent some warplanes. Otherwise, it seems quiet, at least no one said anything.

A new emergency government formed in order to fight with the virus and the economic disaster that followed it, as well as, to ensure that we will not have a fourth election right now. Very sketchy information is following them at the moment. We stopped reading the newspaper. We are more into prayers, better for our well being, or watching Netflix which is easier to understand.

So, as I said, I cooked today. A Veggie Chili. Nothing special, an easy dish which uses my fresh vegetable before they wilt. Protein, from beans and lentil included. Here are some pictures and the receipt. Enjoy.

VEGETABLES CHILLI

What it is made of (Ingredients):

Fat of your choice. In my kitchen there is ghee, coconut butter and olive oil.

20 or so very small potatoes

4 washed and sliced different colours bell peppers

1/2 a pack of frozen mixed veggies

4 cut-up carrots

1 large can of tomato puree with garlic

1 can of whole mushroom

1 can of beans in tomato sauce

1/2 cup red lentils in hot-water

1/2 cup yellow lentils (1/2 garbanzo beans) in hot-water

1 large white onion

5 cloves garlic

a dozen strands or so of each: fresh coriander, thyme, parsley, dill

2 Bay leaves

Spices as desire: black pepper; crystallized garlic; sage; oregano; cumin; sweet paprika; strong hot chill; sweet chili; (I tend to measure 1-2 teaspoons of the less hot ones and avoid more then 1/8 of a teaspoon of the spicy ones).