The other day I discovered two left over hard boiled eggs and two soft avocadoes. When I looked at them together the proverbial light switch went off in my brain- avocado plus eggs equals guacamole. I learned that math from my mother. No, it isn’t Hungarian-they didnt have avocadoes in pre War Hungary. My mother discovered this recipe in Mexico where she lived after the Second World War, waiting for a visa to enter the US. It’s a keeper, easy to make and if you use light mayonaisse not even terribly fattening . Spread it inside a tortilla wrap add chunks of fresh tomato and cucumber slices and you’ve got a wonderful light meal.
My mother’s Egg Salad Guacamole
TWo hard boiled eggs
Two medium sized soft avocadoes
One tablespoon mayonaisse
One to two tablespoons finely minced raw onion
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
Peel the hard boiled eggs and cut into chunks. Peel the avocado and cut into chunks.
Mash together or combine using the blade attachment of your food processor. Pulse slowly, otherwise you’ll end up with a smooth baby food like puree. The goal here is to preserve texture. Add the minced onion. Adjust seasonings. Serve with fresh vegies, crackers or as a sandwich spread
Refrigerate
Do not freeze
Serves four to six

The last time I was in New York I stared hard at a bottle vanilla beans.I’d never seen them in Israel and I’d heard that they were amazing and I wanted to buy the bottle but…..my sensible self kicked in.
“that bottle is glass. What if it shatters in the suitcase.
My spontaneous impulsive self fought back. I’ll take my chances or use bubble wrap it.
“But you are leaving today and bubble wrapping is such a pain,” my sensible self replied, and the bottle was left behind. But G-d smiled on me and
Two weeks after I got home I discovered loosevanilla beans on sale at Yom Tov’s gourmet market in Jerusalem.(I am told that you can find them in Mahane Yehuda also) at six shekels.Pricey for something that looks like tree bark , (a bit less than two bucks)but I was elated and I bought two.
The next question was what to do with them. Scraping out the insides of the pods adding them directly to cake batter was one option but my sensible self nixed it. It seemed too decadent and two uneconomical a use for something relatively pricey. The next idea was to them whole in a bag of sugar but my senible self pointed out an that ants crawl into my sugar bags with some regularity.Would I really want my precious vanilla beans to end up in the garbage? So I opted for the most sensible choice-making a bottle of vanilla extract.
Until I acquired those two vanilla beans, I didnt realize that vanilla extract could be make at home but thanks to the internet I learned that vanilla extract is a snap to make. It’s a two ingredient recipe. My favorite kind of cooking!
Until Yair Lapid raised liquor prices-to curb underaged drinking, he’s not my favorite politician but on this he has my support-alchohol used to be cheap in Israel. Now it’s not. I paid NIS 26 (about $7) for a miniscule tiny airplane sized bottle of unflavored Absolut vodka but never mind. I was so excited to be able to make my own vanilla.
There is really nothing to it. I split the beans with the tip of a sharp paring knife but you don’t even need to do that. It’s enough to break them into a few randomly sized pieces and scatter them hither and tither in the bottle. . For this, it’s wisest to first empty out the booze, using a funnel, add the broken pods and then funnel the booze back in on top of the broken pods.
After that store in a cool, dark place (not the fridge, but a closed cabinet is fine) and wait about six weeks. Open and voila, homemade vanilla. If you want to be fancy you can strain out the pods, but you don’t have to.
Ingredients
1/3 cup absolut or other unflavored Vodka
Two whole vanilla beans cut into small pieces
Combine and store for six weeks. Use as you would any other vanilla.

Here is what it looks like

My mother’s menu planning method was to go to the produce market, look around and come home inspired. I see that I’m the same way. The other day I was at Osher Ad (Endless Bliss, in English-that name just kills me every time) and I saw something I’d never seen before -fresh oregano leaves!From Gush Katif, that wonderful company that brings us aphid and bug free produce. Bugs aren’t kosher-for this reason orthodox Jews have pioneered bug free hydroponically grown vegetables and kitchen herbs. Parsley, dill, cilantro and green onions are standards-you can find them not only in speciality markets but also in local groceries, but fresh oregano was something new and exciting. I tossed it into my cart without any idea of what to do with it. Add it to spaghetti sauce? Nah, dried oregano would do just as well. Put it over fish? No. The oregano seemed like a miscast actress taking the place of parsley which was fish’s natural herb. So then what?
Thank G-d for Mark Bittman. If you feel like this blog is turning into a paean to that great man of contemporary cooking, you’re right. That enormous red book, “How to Cook Everything” has become my go to cookbook. Leave it to Bittman to come up with a solution. Oregano infused salad oil! Cook up those oregano leaves in olive oil and voila-a, subtly herbal infusion, perfect for the vinagrette which coats our families Shabbat lunch salad.
And it takes about five minutes to make-my favorite kind of recipe. Here’s how.
Pour a cup of best quality olive oil into a small pan. Add a handful of fresh oregano, stems and leaves. (no need to mince) Cook together on low flame for five minutes . That is long enough for the oregano to infuse the oil with it’s wonderful aroma. Cool. Remove the oregano. Pour the infused oil into a clean glass bottle(no need to sterilize) . Refrigerate. The infused oil keeps for up to two months.
You can substitute or add fresh garlic, basil, rosemary, any aromatic you like. This oil is also wonderful when brushed on grilled veggies, chicken or meat. If you have a pretty glass jar, it can also make a lovely gift
Here are some pictures of the process.

Though we reflexively translate the Hebrew word “tapuach” as an apple, it isn’t clear that this is accurate. Tapuach which was the fruit of the tree of wisdom and also the paradisically scented fruit described in the Song of Songs may have been a citron, or according to some scholars a quince. “Tapuach” is also the Talmudic term for the mound of ash from a sacrifice. In the Rosh Hashana liturgy this double meaning is exploited as we eat the “tapuach” fruit as we entreat G-d to remember the would be sacrifice of Isaac.

Quinces which have a pleasingly medieval sound to them as well as a lovely pineapple like scent are botanical cousins to both apples and pear. Heavy and covered with brown fuzz, these fruits which at least in Israel ripen during the early fall are too sour to eat raw. They are also almost impossible to cut. Even my state of the art Global knife was hardly up to the challenge- I might have done better with a hacksaw. But once they are cooked with honey or sugar quinces redeem themselves. Thye made a wonderful compote-sweet, tart and aromatic all at the same time.,

6 quinces, peeled, pared and cored . Cut them into quarters and then cut through each quarter to form medium sized pieces

2/3 cup of water

1 cup of sugar

pinch of cinnamon

Combine everything and bring to a boil . Then simmer for about an hour and a half until the quinces are soft . Refrigerate and serve cold. Serves eight.

I can’t believe that Rosh Hashana is only a week away. One of my favorite parts of this holiday are the symbolic foods-especially these latkes which are so yummy you might be tempted to eat them all year round. Here are recipes for two.
Gourd or snake squash which is called kra in Aramaic has a double yehi ratzon prayer. That is because the word “kra” has two meanings. Kra can translated as as “to tear”. In one yehi ratzon prayer we ask G-d to tear up any evil decrees (kra roa gzar deneinu).
Kra can also be translated as “to read or to proclaim.” In the other yehi ratzon we that our good deeds be read or proclaimed (veyikriu lefanecha zechuyoteinu).
Like karti (leek) and silka (beet green), kra is customarily grated into patties or latkes.
Ingredients
1 medium-sized gourd
1 small onion
3 eggs
¼ cup matzo meal
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Peel gourd, remove seeds and cut into chunks. Cut onion into chunks. Process all chunks using blade attachment together with other ingredients. Heat a thin film of oil in skillet and fry until golden brown. Approximately 2 minutes for each side. Drain on absorbent paper.
Yields 20 silver dollar sized pancakes. You can freeze, but it’s best fresh.
Leek or Karti
Leek, Aramaic as karti is on the table because of a word play. Karti sounds like karet, to cut off, or its future plural form “sheyikartu”. On the leek, karti we say “sheyikartu soenu,” may our enemies be cut off. Some people may say this is violent or even blood thirsty, but when you consider Jewish history, this bit of edible revenge is well deserved.
Leek patties
Ingredients
1 medium-sized leek.
5 eggs
⅓ cup matzo meal
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil for frying
Preparation
Split leek lengthwise. Separate leaves and run each leaf under cold water to remove dirt and pebbles.
Place leek pieces in food processor along with all other ingredients. Process everything together using blade attachment until you’ve created a lumpy paste—just a few pulses. You want to preserve some texture.
With wet hands, form palm-sized patties and fry until brown on both sides (about two minutes per side). Eat immediately. You can freeze these, but you’ll sacrifice a great deal of the flavor.
Yields 30-35 patties