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The Raw and The Cooked

Simple Meals + Honest Book Reviews + Practical Living

Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12 | V’Zot HaBerachah | “And In This Blessing”

It feels impossible to believe this is our very last post of the year for my 54 Weeklys Project, which is what I set out to do at the start of 5786. Not sure about you, but I really feel like I blinked, and we’re already reading Genesis all over again. WHERE did the last year go? Time is so odd, isn’t it? I’m not even going to pretend that 5786 didn’t feel like an absolute dumpster fire of a year. My husband and I had a running joke for most of the year, and let me tell you. God heard us, and one day, gave us an actual dumpster fire, as if it were the punchline to a joke only He’s in on: long story short, one beautiful June day, a city dump truck with a full bed of trash literally caught on fire, and dumped the entire load in front of our house. A second municipal truck was dispatched to assist the dumpster fire, only for the second truck to catch fire as well, which proceeded to breakdown in front of our driveway. If I could sum up our personal 5786 as husband and wife, with four children seven and under, that little story would be it. We very much welcome a new year, and a new start. Already this year is starting off on a much stronger foot. I feel prepared to weather the challenges that will enviably blow in 5787. Bring it on!

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Sourdough Loaf

I realized that I don’t have my sourdough recipe written down anywhere, which is wild, because I bake a loaf at least 2x per week, and this recipe should get written down, so here we are. I’ve modified this recipe a bit over the years, but right now, a ratio ~300g water / 500g flour / 115g starter has been working pretty well. The more hydration you use, the harder it is to shape and work with. I also know you can get away with only 90g of starter for a bake, but I find that loaves don’t taste sour enough, so I bumped mine up to 115g. I still do not understand the science behind hydration ratios or how to get insanely gorgeous ears, how to get my loaf to not stick to my bowl after bulk fermentation, the inside crumb varies wildly from bake to bake, and sometimes I find that the less I care the better the loaf turns out. All that to say, I still feel like I barely understand what I’m doing, but by the grace of God, it works.

I want to have a word first on the timeline, because that aspect of a bake was incredibly confusing when I first started. So here’s a quick overview of what I do. I feed my starter around 6pm in the evenings. Around 6-7am the following morning, I’ll then get started with a bake. I’ll mix the stater, water, flour, and feed the original starter. I do my series of stretch and folds in the morning, if I’m home, and keep my eye on it around lunchtime. Usually by early afternoon, it’s ready for final shape before going in the banneton. More often than not, I’ll keep her in the fridge until the following day, when I have more time to bake.

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Deuteronomy 32:1-52 | Ha’azinu | “Listen In”

To encourage positive behavior, our big kids elementary school writes up ‘office referrals’ when children demonstrate Torah values, those of kindness, integrity, respect, and gratitude. It’s a big deal when a child comes home with one, because they aren’t handed out too often. Last week, our older son came home with two office referrals in one day, which was a huge feat.

This week, on our special ice cream outing together (just the two of us, a rare treat), he was telling me about a mitzvah he did, by helping out two of his classmates in art class. After expressing how proud of him I was, I asked if he got an office referral for his mitzvah, and he says, very politely and patiently, no but that’s OK because I know Hashem saw it. It was one of those moments that reinforced that I have a good, and very kind hearted boy on my hands. And in his journey to becoming a good, and very kind hearted man, here was a marker that we’re on the right path. Hashem rewarded us that evening, with a beautiful cotton candy sunset as we laughed and ate our ice cream on benches.

I thought a lot about Ezra’s comment this week, and how Ha’azinu can essentially be boiled down to no but that’s OK because I know Hashem saw it. This weeks parsha is a 70 verse song Moses sings, a poem about God and his relationship to Israel. It’s quite poetic and a beautiful song about the push and pull of a lifelong relationship. And ultimately, I think Ezra got a bullseye, when he acts with kindness, integrity, respect, and gratitude -with the knowledge that Hashem saw, and that’s all that matters.

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke | I Couldn’t Put It Down

Released this past April, Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke has quickly become one of the year’s most talked-about books—and for good reason. I put myself on the library waitlist for the Kindle or audiobook version, only to discover the wait was going to be months long. I debated buying it, but decided to be patient. Then one afternoon, I walked into my local library and found a hardcover copy just sitting there. I practically sprinted over and grabbed it. And then I read all 400 pages over one Shabbat. I refused to put it down.

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Episode 238: Maybe You Don’t Need More Recipes

I’ve been thinking about Jiro Dreams of Sushi lately. It’s a documentary from 2011 about Jiro Ono, the legendary Japanese sushi chef, and his tiny, Michelin-starred restaurant in Tokyo. I first watched it with Alex in 2017, and for whatever reason, it has stayed with me all these years later. Mainly, the idea of mastery of only a handful of things.

Jiro has devoted his life to doing a relatively small number of things exceptionally well. He repeats the same processes over and over, paying attention to tiny details and looking for tiny improvements. There is something almost radical about that kind of focus. And lately I’ve been thinking about what that idea looks like in my own kitchen.

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Summer Meals Part II: One Simple Grocery List, Three Meals, Six Portions

A wonderful perk of summer are the seasonal ingredients available to us: corn, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, peaches… So many combinations, so many rich and decedent flavors. Summer meals tend to be a bit more forgiving, a bit more fun, and a lot less fuss. I’m here for it. Since we have a few more weeks before we change over to fall, I wanted to share another installment of summer meals. One simple grocery list, that turns into three meals for you, with relative ease. I hope you’re enjoying this series, so far, and if you missed it, here is Part I.

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