Hakuna Matata in Hebrew :)

Preserving Sukkot

If any holiday is most worthy of preserving it is, beyond a doubt, Sukkot (in my opinion). When I read this post on the Velveteen Rabbi's blog last year I knew I had to make etrog preserves. Like hers mine wouldn't set so I followed a few different web sites' advice to reboil, adding more pectin and sugar. I ended up oversetting them but they still tasted fine. To carry along the fall theme I used apple cider where ever the recipe called for water.

Last year I managed to get 3 etrogim from various people, this year I just had 1 so I only got 2 jars of jam. I'll use one for Tu B'Shevat and one for next Sukkot. My sons and I also planted the seeds in the hopes of growing an etrog tree.

Next year I am thinking of making candied peel instead of jam.

Etrog Preserves

1 etrog
1 knob of ginger
1.5 c apple cider (or water)
1.5 c sugar
1 package of pectin

cut up etrog as small as you'll want it in the marmalade.
put it in a bowl with 1.25 cups of cider. cover with saran wrap and leave at room temp. overnight.

Put etrog and liquid in a saucepan and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Process jars and lids in hot water bath. leave in hot water or put in dishwasher on heated dry.

Take ginger and .25 cups of cider and puree. Strain and add liquid to pot. Bring to boil, add sugar and pectin. Start stirring and keep stirring until jam is set. this can take a while. take a cold spoon and remove a spoonful of jam. Bring it to room temp and touch it to see if the jam feels about the thickness/ consitency you want.

Pour into jars, seal & invert for 5 minutes. Flip over and let cool. Touch the lid to see if lids sealed - if not you'll need to freeze or refridgerate.

If you don't know how to make jam here are step by step instructions

Do the lulav shake!

Our sukkah is up!

Minus the schack! I swore last year I was going to buy a bamboo mat for the roof but our sukkah had to be rebuilt from scratch this year since the original did not weather Wilma, Frances, Jeanne, Ivan, et al well (not from being up but from being stored outdoors).... so the money just was not there.

Our sukkah came out great. We had to make it about half the size that we are used to since it needed to fit on our patio (we moved into a developement with an association & lots of rules). I had to actually get permission to put this up!

We put two trellises (that Ed edged with wood that was about 1 inch wide and about .5 inches thick) together with door hinges - we made two sets of those & those actually formed the two corners. We just fastened the two sets together with cable ties & made a roof structure. the whole thing can be stored in three pieces and those sets can be folded... pretty cool!

Here is it without all the decorations or the palm fronds



Next year I will get the mat - even though we love the look of the palm fronds the stress of looking for them drives me a little nuts.

So Ed told me that he does not enjoy attending Chabad & thinks I am sending the kids mixed messages. He went to an Orthodox synagogue growing up and did not enjoy it at all. He also said if the kids sat in services at Chabad that they'd get just as many dirty looks since they can't sit still. It's just that they can leave and run around outside there and can't at the Reform synagogue. He's probably right, they will NOT sit still. I do wish they'd sit in services - at least till like Lecha Dodi (like if we could make that our agreement) but they will not - and as with food I just can't force them but I can & do eat healthy around them & hope/pray that it will eventually make a difference!

He likes the same things I do about the Reform synagogue - womens' role in services, music, social action, innovative ideas, tunes, etc. but is not around on a daily basis and has no idea how hard it is for me to just keep going against the tide. And his feelings about Chabad are gut feelings. He even said "I'm sorry you are getting upset but this is just the way I feel" - can't argue with that!

I just love how welcome we feel... how cared for and taken in - I don't get that anyplace else here. The only other place that I felt like that was at the Reconstructionist synagogue in Broward.

sigh.