I almost took the easy road and was going to recycle some menu ideas from previous weeks. I mean, Moshe is reviewing a lot of the same material. Maybe I should too? But I decided that there's always more Torah to learn, so I would find something new.
In Eikev, we read a section of the Torah that will sound familiar to those who daven regularly, the second paragraph of the Shema. If you've read my blog before, you probably know that I find it particularly meaningful to remember that parts of our tefillot are directly from the Torah.
וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־שָׁמֹ֤עַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מִצְוֺתַ֔י אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם לְאַהֲבָ֞ה אֶת־יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙ וּלְעׇבְד֔וֹ בְּכׇל־לְבַבְכֶ֖ם וּבְכׇל־נַפְשְׁכֶֽם׃ וְנָתַתִּ֧י מְטַֽר־אַרְצְכֶ֛ם בְּעִתּ֖וֹ יוֹרֶ֣ה וּמַלְק֑וֹשׁ וְאָסַפְתָּ֣ דְגָנֶ֔ךָ וְתִירֹֽשְׁךָ֖ וְיִצְהָרֶֽךָ׃
If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving your God יהוה and serving [God] with all your heart and soul, I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late. You shall gather in your new grain and wine and oil—
So, for this week I would call attention to this occurrence and highlight the reward for following the commandment described in the second line - new grain, wine and oil. So, for the menu I'd make kasha (that feels so "grain-y" to me and, bonus, reminds me of my mother and grandmother!), chicken in red wine, and have olive oil for dipping with the challah.
For dessert, you could make an olive oil cake, but something else caught my eye when I read the parsha...in the description of the 'good land' that God is bringing the Israelites to there are the elements you probably know (milk and honey, the seven species), but there is also a line I didn't remember discussing in school or camp before - "...a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you can mine copper." While neither of these would really be good to eat, I figured I could make a dessert that looks a bit like copper, so I found a recipe for roasted plums.
Plums are in season, so it's a great time to incorporate them in the meal and when these are done, they should have a nice copper color. https://wendisaipkitchen.com/2022/10/13/simple-roasted-plums/
You can eat these on their own, or pair them with non-dairy ice cream or a pound cake.
B'tayavon and Shabbat Shalom!
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