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Sukkot;
We are in the middle of Sukkot and what a confusing time it is! I actually forgot that my son in London has two days of the holiday, while we here have only one! I told him to remember that he is an Israeli!... I think that this is the only time in life that it is easier to be an Israeli.

We keep talking about our past Sukkot and remember it with pleasure; our memories are of being with good friends and celebrating happy times. I even miss making the 60 balls of gefielte fish, if you can believe it! It took all day and I think there must be a Column somewhere about that great event! It was a lovely, special time. The building of the sukka out on our large terrace, with friends; we used to have so much to drink before we started, that the Sukkah never stood upright! She always leaned one way or another and we could not figure out what we were doing wrong!

And the next day our "Kiddush-in-the-Sukkah" every year made an awful lot of people happy and I hope they are left with the same memories we have... It was a good and wonderful time for us all!

We have a very large Sukkah here in the Home. It is really quite beautiful; it is white, so all the coloured hangings really make one feel great happiness. It is quite large; there are two tables, lots of chairs and not too many people who use it!

I did do some cooking in the last couple of weeks - not much mind you... this place, as I said many times before, does not lend itself to cooking; you either undercook, overcook or burn the blooming stuff! There is a "high" button on the burner and an "off" sign! Nothing in between!... So go and try and produce a great meal...

I had a surprise when I was shopping in the supermarket last time. I found turkey necks! Remember we used to make them often? We both love them and we eat them, well, if you really want to enjoy them fully, you must eat them with your hands! There is no other way! And I suppose it brings back our naughty childhood memories,! That is why we are so pleased with ourselves! Its great and absolutely satisfying! We are here close to three years, yes we are!... And this is the first time that I spied turkey necks in the supermarket! Should have bought some for the freezer, but did not think of it at the time. I was so pleased that I had those... And it's such an easy meal to cook! I just put them into water and boil them for about two hours. But because here they have to boil on "high", I kept on checking and every time had to add some water to them! By the end of two hours, I had very little liquid left, but the necks were delicious! They were thick and juicy and because they are "koshered" they had this salty pleasant natural taste; no, I did not add any salt to them! I served them with cut up tomatoes with sliced red onions - our latest "salad" which we make practically every day! But you must use sea-salt - the thick-grainy salt! Somehow the regular salt gets lost here and you do not taste it, but the thick sea-salt brings out the flavour of the tomatoes.

The other lovely thing I made was poached eggs on spinach, which we have done already, I think. This time I chopped in the processor two large cloves of garlic and the stems of two boxes of mushrooms; they were white and firm and fresh! If they are not, do not use them! Chuck them out! Into hot oil they went, swoosh-swoosh for a few minutes, add the defrosted spinach. Yes I never seem to find fresh spinach anywhere, so I always keep a frozen pack in the freezer. Just get rid of all the water which has collected at the bottom after defrosting. Mix the spinach well with the mushrooms and cover for a few minutes; then make four indentations, flop an egg into each, grate cheese over it all, cover for a few minutes and close your eyes when you taste the first bite... Heaven!... And as much as we ate, I still had quite a bit of spinach left over. Into a bowl it went and into the fridge, but it came out a couple of days later; I made marvellous patties out of them. I added an egg, a small grated boiled potato and more grated cheese; mix mix, form into patties and fry... Of course in butter, what else???....

The L&M gets those trays three times a day and usually they are well stocked and very good. But there is one thing that is really dreadful and that is when they offer grilled chicken and foolishly I order it. It is really too dry and tasteless to eat so I collect it and put it in the freezer. The other day I was stuck for a meal, so out they all came; while they were defrosting, I made a tomatoe sauce by frying a chopped onion, adding chopped garlic, mix- mix, a small can of tomatoe sauce plus half of that can with water, a good dollop of gin, salt-pepper, a tablespoon of honey... I let that simmer for a few good minutes, then add the chicken and let it simmer a lot more! A life saviour!

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"