L'Chaim! To Life!

 38 years ago, on the 27th day of Cheshvan, my parents became parents, at the very moment I was born. I was named for my maternal grandmother, Rasha Gansbourg, of blessed memory. My mother was just 10 years old when her mother passed away at the young age of 37. As I grew up I was pleased to learn that I had multiple cousins sharing my name! I was not the first "Rashi cousin", that honor was given to my cousin Rashi Minkowicz of blessed memory. My cousin too passed away at the young age of 37.

One year ago today, I turned 37 - and with that came a year of uncharted territory. I suddenly found myself in a place I had never been before, and I wasn't quite sure how to navigate it. My mind was on overload and thinking all sorts of things I hadn't quite thought about in the past - but have now changed my life forever while I moved towards the elusive 38.

During the past year, while it was a rocky ride, I did have some moments of insight. While I prayed for the year to go quickly, and to hit number 38 in good health and happiness, I also learned a few things about life itself. As Jews, we begin each day by reciting the "Modeh Ani" prayer. We thank Hashem for giving us a new day. As my year progressed, so did the meaning attached to this prayer. Sure, I had been saying Modeh Ani my whole life, but now it really resonated with me. With each Modeh Ani I became more and more aware of the true gift that life is, thanking  Hashem for the gift of another day - and every moment of each new day. It occurred to me that when  Hashem allows me to open my eyes and greet a new day, then I know I still have a mission, a purpose, something more that Hashem wants me to accomplish.

As the days went by I became keenly aware of the importance of savoring the moments we have with our loved ones. I became more mindful of that fact that only G-d really knows how much time anyone has - and suddenly each good morning, good night, and I love you became more meaningful to me.

In the interest of being perfectly honest, this past year was not all flowers and roses and moments of inspiration. I shed quite a few tears during the year, for the loss of my grandmother whom I never met, for the loss of my cousin whom I loved dearly and tears for my personal prayer to make it through the year in peace. I admit that I was truly overcome with a wide variety of emotions the minute the stars came out last night, making it the 27th of Cheshvan, and bringing me to say that I am 38 years old. I am so grateful to continue to be blessed with the gift of life and to continue doing my part to make this world a better place.

And with that I conclude with "L'Chaim!" - To Life!! May we all realize the gift we have in life, and use our opportunities to the best of our abilities.

Seems you are still reading...good job!! So I will share a recipe from my birthday Torah and Tea celebation. This recipe was given to me by my cousin Rashi who lives in California - and it is a always a hit!

Lemon Meringue Ice Cream

2 containers Rich's Whip

5 eggs separated

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 cup sugar

Beat the Rich's Whip until thick. Add in the egg yolks, lemon juice and 1/2 a cup of sugar. Beat a little more until well mixed. Spread the whip and egg mixture in a 9 x 13 pan, cover and put in the freezer. 

After the ice cream part has frozen, beat the 5 egg whites with the remaining 1/2 a cup of sugar. Beat until peaks form. 

Remove tray of ice cream from the freezer. Spread the meringue mixture over the ice cream. Put the ice cream tray in the oven on broil for 30 seconds, until the meringue is nicely browned. (Another option is to use a kitchen torch to brown the meringue) Enjoy! It is delicious!

Pure Joy For Yom Kippur

While sitting on the couch last night and reading Shaya a book, we suddenly heard the garage door open. I said to Shaya, "Mushky's home!" and he went running for the door! After his mad dash to the door, Shaya opened the door to the garage and found Mushky walking up the stairs with my father right behind her! (Thanks to the Dad for driving to Richmond and back to pick her up!!) When Shaya saw Mushky, what I saw was absolute, pure joy. He started saying "Mushky's home! Mushky's home!" and the look on his face was worth a million dollars! My father watched the scene and shared that the drive was worth it just to see the joy on Shaya's face. We are of course all thrilled to have Mushky home - our family went right back to feeling whole the minute she walked in the door! 

Heart feeling complete once again, with my kids dancing to music in the kitchen, I got back to work on cleaning the kitchen. While emptying the dishwasher I did some thinking. 

With Yom Kippur approaching it occurred to me that I could learn a thing or two from Shaya's joyful happy dance at Mushky's arrival at home. Like most things in life, we can approach Yom Kippur from any angle we choose. We can go into this most special day of the year with fear and anxiety. We can worry about the what ifs, we can wonder if we have truly repented - or we can go into Yom Kippur with a joyful heart and mind. We can enter these 26 hours that we spend together with Hashem in a joyous way. We can look at Hashem through the eyes of a preschooler and talk to Hashem with joy and confidence. We can choose not to worry, we can choose to dance with joy as we ask Hashem, our Father, to bless us with a year filled with goodness that is sweet and not hidden behind challenges. We can greet this holy day with the simple and pure joy that I witnessed in my home last night. 

May Hashem bless each and every one of us with a year filled only with revealed blessings! May each of us be sealed for health, wealth, happiness, peace of mind and of course the coming of Moshiach! 

With that I share a recipe for a salad we will enjoy at our first pre Yom Kippur meal today! 

Beet Salad

Spring mix (check for bugs accordingly) 

Sliced beets (I buy the precooked ones) 

Fried sliced mushrooms

Diced red onion

Olive oil

Lemon juice

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy! 

Apple Crisp and Rosh Hashanah

With Rosh Hashanah almost here, it has been quite the busy day - make that a busy week so far! RSVP lists, menus, shopping, setting up guest bedrooms (thanks for visiting Yossi and Zlata - makes our celebration so much more fun!!), cooking, baking and who knows what else! 

With all of the hustle and bustle, it is still not lost on me that one year is ending, and another, brand new year is about to begin. As I drove myself to work this morning I had some quiet time to contemplate the year that is coming to a close. As I made my way through my memories of the year I enjoyed looking back and seeing the many wonderful blessings Hashem has bestowed upon me and my family. Good health, the necessary money to cover our needs, pride in my children, success in the things I have done and the list goes on and on. It occurs to me that sometimes our lives become chaotic - and then we can find ourselves focusing on our stresses and things that don't appear so sweet. 

In the last couple of weeks I have started a new daily ritual with Mushky. A friend had made a suggestion, and it  turned out to be a lovely addition to my daily life. Adjusting to a new school and to life in a dorm can be a daunting task - and I set out to help my daughter, and myself, focus on our daily blessings and highlights. 

We now have this great tradition. Each night we message each other and start by sharing a victory. We share something that we have accomplished, but that was hard or challenging for us. I have loved picking out something each day that makes me feel super accomplished and hearing what Mushky has to say has been a great way to watch her grow. 

Next we share three things we are grateful for. Even on a rough day, we can always find things to be grateful for. I have really enjoyed seeing what my daughter is grateful for each day. 

Then we share a highlight for the day - this is great - it forces us to truly reflect on our day and pick the one thing that "made our day"!

After a couple of days of doing this, Mushky suggested that we begin adding a daily goal. I LOVED this idea...I now go to sleep each night with a solid goal, that I have shared with my daughter - which makes it real! 

As Rosh Hashanah rolls in, I have taken some time to think about my victories, highlights and what I am grateful for in this past year - this activity between me and Hashem - and then I came up with some goals to work on in this coming year. 

May each and every one of you be blessed with a sweet year filled only with openly revealed blessings and may we celebrate the ultimate celebration, the coming of Moshiach, very speedily. 

-Rashi

Here is a recipe for the apple crisp we will be eating for dessert tonight:

Apple Crisp

8 apples (gala or pink lady)

Orange juice

Cinnamon

Oats

Sugar

Flour

Oil

Peel 8 apples and slice thinly. Place in a 9x13 pan. Mix apples with some orange juice and cinnamon. In a bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups each of oats, sugar and flour. Pour oil into the mixture and mix until you have a crumb mixture. Sprinkle crumbs on top of apples. Sprinkle some cinnamon. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours on 350. Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken Wraps

Sometimes as parents we do truly wacky things. This past Sunday we spent the day in Busch Gardens as per Mushky's request before she headed off to school in Coral Springs, Florida. Normally a Busch Gardens day translates into leftovers for dinner - of which we had plenty from Shabbat. But not this day. Realizing it would be some time before Mushky got a meal cooked by her mom, I asked her what she would like to eat for dinner. She requested grilled shnitzel and I agreed.  It felt almost crazy to come home from a day in the sun and start cooking dinner when I had perfectly good food in the fridge..but this is what we do for our kids. We returned from our day out and I got to work on those grilled shnitzel wraps! (Recipe at the bottom)

It has surely been a few strange days as we prepared to send Mushky off to school. While getting Mushky ready to embark on her new adventure, I had ample opportunity to revisit my own journey off to school. It's so strange...23 years later and so much has remained the same - while at the same time she goes off to school with luxuries I couldn't even dream up.

So as I helped Mushky pack I watched her iPhone, iPod and iPod touch get loaded into her bag. Couldn't help but let her know that I traveled with just a walk man - lol! At some point I mentioned that she is lucky because she can FaceTime us but that I didn't have that option - and she replied with "oh, you only had Skype" Hahaha! If only I had Skype! I look back at my 14 year old self and I still can see the tears at leaving home, still can feel the uneasiness as I took a bus to Montreal without knowing a soul. I can still remember the moment I walked into my aunt and uncle's house (thank you Berel and Breindy for three great years with your family!) and eating and then going to my new school for the first time.

I have spent so much time wondering how Mushky will adjust. Wondering how she will navigate an airport all on her own. How she will grow up with out her parents standing right by her side..and then I remember...I remember that I did ALL of that! Sometimes I even wonder how I managed to do the things I did all on my own - but knowing I did tells me that Mushky will do the same, albeit with the help of a cellphone, Uber and who knows what else.

So as I get ready to hear about her first day of school, I remind myself that this too will be ok and that soon enough I will be asking her what she wants for dinner on her first visit back!! Good luck Mushky! I know you will make us all proud!

Grilled Shnitzel Wraps

Chicken breast strips
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Salt
Black pepper
Garlic
Paprika
Oregano

Tortilla wraps
Sliced avocado
Coleslaw
Chopped lettuce

Season chicken breast with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic, paprika and oregano. Mix well. Heat grill to approximately 450. Grill for about 4 minutes on each side. 

Toast tortillas. Fill center with sliced up chicken, cole slaw, lettuce and avocado. (Some of us add ketchup and mayo.) Roll up and enjoy!