Chapter 14, Radio

"Aunt Marie will be here this afternoon for the weekend," my mother announced one day when I came home from school. I didn't like Aunt Marie very much. She always called me "young boy" with that commanding tone of hers, and then she would tell me what to do or not to do. But I did like Vivi her older son, Ines her daughter, Avram, and little dumb Motke.

Vivi is three years older than me. He was strong, and he knews things that old people know. Ines is one year older than me. She is very pretty, and she loved to tell scary stories at night after Mom shut the lights. Avram is Avi's age. He is nice. And little dumb Motke is only two-and-a half years old.

One day when they came to visit us, Aunt Marie put Motke in an orange crate to play, (we didn't have a crib for him, and he was little anyway), Avi gave him peanuts. The poor thing almost choked. He stuffed them all in his mouth and didn't know what to do with them. Luckily for him, Aunt Marie walked in the door and saw him with his full cheeks ready to die. She jumped toward him, shoved a finger in his mouth, and pulled all the peanuts out.
    "Don't you know not to feed babies peanuts?" she asked with her angry voice. But how should Avi know? He was only three then, and Vivi didn't say anything. He just sat there and laughed.
"What are you laughing about?" Aunt Marie continued yelling. "Shut up, Vivi! I expected better from you!"

Saturday afternoon when we returned from the beach, we showered, ate, and went to my room for the afternoon rest, but we couldn't sleep. Only Avi and little dumb Motke fell asleep. Ines was reading one of her scary books. Avram was playing with my blocks. (They were Avi's then; I was getting too old for them.) Vivi was staring at the air and thinking, I don't know what about. I, on the other hand, didn’t feel it was fair that only Mom and Dad should have a radio. We should have one, too. You see, last Thursday I had checked it out and had seen what it was made of so I can make one for us.

It was so simple. It was a box with an opening in the front covered with cloth. It had three buttons in front, under the opening. The back of the box had one cord that was plugged into the wall. I knew, because Dad told me, that it was connected to the electricity cables that were stretched outside. Those cables go to Tel Aviv where the radio station is. The radio, I believed, works like the stretched-thread-and-two-cans telephone we made last year in the kindergarten. I was sure, the man in Tel Aviv had a can that he could speak to, and it was connected to all the houses that had a radio.

Well, a box was not a problem. I had that shoe box that came with my new shoes for the holidays. I took a piece of cloth from Mom's sewing box and three bottle caps. I made glue from flour and water. With mom's scissors, that Mom told me to be careful with, I cut a hole in the box. Then I cut the cloth to fit the hole. The problem was: How do I stretch a thread from the hole in the wall to my radio box? The thread is too flimsy. I looked all through Mom's sewing box, and then in her extra material pile and even in her knitting bag. There was no thread that could stretch from the hole in the wall to my radio box. I decided to sneak into my parents' room and check the radio out one more time.

They were both asleep. I walked on my tippy toes and looked at the back of the radio.
"What are you doing here?" Mom asked quietly, so as not to wake anybody. But she made me jump. I forgot that Mom is a very light sleeper, and I could never sneak up on her.
"Nothing," I said, "I'm looking at the radio. I want to know how it is made."
"O.K.," she said, "just don't take it apart like you did with grandma's clock."
"O.K." I said and left the room.

It was so simple. It had an electric cord like I saw yesterday when Dad was fixing the light. I went to Dad's tool drawer. It was in the back of the kitchen. I opened the drawer, and there it was, an electrical wire. This one was not even flimsy. It was hard, and it had a copper cord on the inside. I took dad's cutter, and with both hands cut a long piece. I put everything back in place. Dad didn't like it when I don't put things back where I got them.

Back in my room, Vivi was still looking at the air, only this time he was following a fly that was bothering his younger sister. I took the wire, pushed it in the back of the box, and made a knot on the inside like we did with the can phone so it wouldn't fall out. I straightened the wire. It will be better than mom's radio because it is straight like my can-phone. Now, all I had to do was to plug it in.

The hole in the wall was too high for me to reach. I got a wooden chair from the kitchen, stood on top of it, and plugged the straight wire in the hole on the wall while putting the box next to my ear. The sound I heard was not the sound of Mom's radio, nor was it even close. This sound had power! It was vibrating so strongly that it shook me up and threw me across the room yelling "whaaaaw!". I fell on Ines's back, and she jumped up screaming.
Mom, Dad, and Aunt Marie rushed into the room.
"What happened? What happened?" they asked, and just before Dad grabbed the radio from my hands, I heard Aunt Marie saying,
 "Shut up, Vivi! What are you laughing about?"

***

 

Matzah Burika

One of the most favorite food my mom ever made, and I must remind you, I never liked my mom’s food. This recipe has passed through the generations, and I hope to pass it to the next and the one after. It is crispy on the outside, soft and tasty on the inside. 

Ingredients:

10 Matzahs

1 Large Potato

1 Medium Onion 

2 Eggs

2 Garlic Cloves 

Small Bunch of Parsley 

½ tsp Salt

A Pinch Black Pepper

3 TBSP Olive Oil

Oil for Deep Frying

Chop and sauté the onion and garlic. Cook the potato until it is soft, (test with a fork) peal and mash it. Cook one egg to harden and mash it, save one egg uncooked. Chop Parsley and mix with all ingredients including the raw egg.

Wet the matzah under the faucet and let it sit for 10 minutes it will soften so you can fold it. Cut the soft matza to quarters. Spoon the mixture into the matzah and fold the quarter Matzas to triangles. Deep fry them until golden brown and serve. That is, if you didn’t eat them by then.

-----

Cauliflower Pass-Over Dip

 

The tradition for Passover is to dip vegetables in salty water. Yet, some may also dip in any kind of savory dip. Here is one of my favorites.

Ingredients:
½ Head of Cauliflower
2 Garlic Cloves
1 tsp Salt
3 TBSP Olive Oil
4 – 5 Cubes Ice

Preparation:
Roast the Cauliflower and the Garlic until soft and lightly brown.
Blend all ingredients until it becomes smooth and soft.  Serve warm or cold with dipping vegetables.

-----