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Salads
The other day the L&M was sitting in front of his computer singing: "Potatoes are cheaper than... Yes, they are cheaper, yes..."... I could not keep still, so finally I said: "Good grief man! Cheaper than what?"... He looked shocked for a minute and then said: "Onions"... He laughed! Well, we both did! Right. It gives you an idea of what a state we are living in; not quite la-la-land, but close to it! But it gave me an idea: potatoes. Have we ever given them the proper treatment they deserve?... Probably. We are, after all, in Column 662.... Somewhere in your Column-land there must be a reference to a Column about potatoes! I think everybody likes them; is there anything better on a cold day than having a hot baked potato? Just holding it in your hands makes you smile! Or hot potato soup? I just went hunting and we have had a lot to say about potatoes, but I do not think we had a special Column for them. Incredible!... My mother used to make a potato soup which was great; I think she made it the old Polish way, with a "zasmaszka" at the end, which is flour and butter fried together, then mixed quickly into the soup before it curdles!... This messy "stuff" was used to thicken everything under the sun! But the soup was always great!

As I am writing this, my window is wide open and somebody under me is making onion soup! I swear it! The smell even now, at 7 in the morning, is making me yearn for it! Just a small bowl, please! Yes, now!

Back to earth, I have not made a potato soup in so many years that I have no idea how I used to make it! But I think I started it by frying an onion and garlic, then added water and the potatoes... grated one potato and cubed the rest - that gave the soup the "body"... Lots of salt-pepper and some herb - just one! Most people make a potato soup with carrots and celery and all sort of things; smoked meat?... Not a bad idea, but I prefer it with cheese. I really think it should be just potatoes... But, for now, summer is coming and we will get back to hot soups when winter roars in!

Let's get back to potatoes; is there anything better than a potato salad with cold meat for a Summer evening meal?... I must admit that I like a plain potato salad, so that one can taste the potatoes! Just boiled potatoes, cubed, with scallion and chopped pickles?... Hard boiled eggs - a must!... And a good dollop of mayonnaise! You can add anything you like; I just found a recipe for a potato salad made by one of the top chefs in the world and it contains: asparagus, tomatoes, cucumber, runner beans and of course potatoes! Plus hard boiled eggs, olives, capers... Amazing, but who needs all this in a simple potatoe salad?... But they do give a lovely and interesting dressing: 3 tsp. dijon mustard, 2 tsp. wholegrain mustard, 4 tbsp. olive oil, 3 tbsp white-wine vinegar and 1 tsp. of honey. Mix that very well and pour over the still hot potatoes.

I am sure everybody has their own favorite potatoe salad recipe, as well as dozens of different other salads, which we will soon be living on, as the heat already is here. We kid each other every year; it is just a warm Spring, we tell each other... The weather is extra warm this year, we will tell each other... Today is really hot, stay out of the sun, we tell each other... It is June! And it is hot, because Summer is here and that is the truth! Summer does not arrive here in August, as we all think it should! This is the Middle East and in arrives in June and it is a total surprise to most of us every single year!

The salads that they produce here, in the Home every day, completely amaze me. There is a plate of four, every day and they differ. Not much, mind you, but they are different every day. And, they use fresh herbs, which is quite special in a place like this; there is always a beet salad, sweet and sour, lovely and refreshing and always grated carrots with chopped pineapple, a real "old fashioned" salad which I remember my mother used to make when I was a child!... I mention my mother again, probably because it was her "yahrzeit" this week and I am thinking of her... Right, back to the salads: there is a mix of red and white cabbage which is one staple and always, but always, some sort of an eggplant salad. No matter if they have fried eggplant with the meat dish - there is a big pile of it every single day next to a pile of mashed potatoes!... - there will also be an eggplant salad on that salad plate as well!

I must admit that I love all salads, dressed or not; my favorite is not even a salad - I love sliced tomatoes with very thinly sliced onions... I use a "mandolin", lots of sea-salt-pepper! Nothing better on a hot day!

I did some cooking this week and flopped miserably; I had some chopped meat and mushrooms, which were not any more in their prime... Last time, I crushed the mushrooms with lots of garlic and fried the meat patties on top, together in a pan... Remember? This time i decided to mix the mushrooms into the meat, with the egg and some bread crumbs... As I had a bit of a left-over-sauce, I dumped the patties into that, cooked them for a while, flipped them over and they were good, nothing wrong with them at all. But there was nothing special about them either! I just thought that there would be a taste of mushrooms when you bit onto one of them... Nah! Nothing...

Send your questions to The Wacky Cook: email: debbiemorgenshtern@gmail.com      

Debbie Morgenstern is the author of "My Life in Israel" and other short stories.
"My Life in Israel" can be purchased by accessing this link: "My Life in Israel"