Book & Cook

“It is time for me to tell you about your uncles,” said  Meme  Milli. I loved  Meme  Milli, she was the best person I have ever met. You can never do wrong with her, at least when it comes to her grand kids. Even when one of my cousins stole some money from her. She just gave him more money.  The “ Jukitta ” story was hers. She told it to me a few times, but the most favorites were the stories about my dad and his brothers. She didn’t tell me much about her daughters except that they were very pretty.  After my husband, your grandfather, passed away, your dad had to take over many roles. One of them was to take care of his brothers and sister. Yes, I had some help from the husband of my older sister Mayssa. If I needed help disciplining the kids, he would step in. What I didn’t know was that he also spoiled them. When your uncle Claude was getting into a fight with the neighborhood kids and usually lose, he would run crying to my sister’s house, a...

“Long time ago in a land far, far, away lived a small beetle, ‘ Jukitta ’ was her name.” Dad started to tell us a story. We were all sitting on the floor around him in Aunt Marie’s Back yard. It was one day before Vivi’s Bar-Mitzvah”. Vivi was there with his sister Inez, his brothers Avram and Motke, my cousin Batyah and her baby brother Ofer, My cousin Yudit and her brother Haim, and even Momi Uncle David’s son and his baby brother Ranni. Our eyes were fixed at My dad’s direction listening to his story. I heard this story already before, from  Meme  Milli yet I always loved it and anyway, Dad was a great storyteller. And now that he had a little wine to drink, he was a little funny too.  This was late at night after a very eventful day. We were in Ashkelon, an old city in the southwestern part of the Israeli shore. It dates back to the Philistines. Remember the story of Samson and Delila? Well, it happened there. On the shoreline stretched an archeological park. Many cac...

“Nanou, Avi” Mom called to us, “Put a pile of underwear, socks, your nice Shabat shirt and pants, and a few changing cloths. We are going on a little trip for a few days. I will pack all of it in a suitcase.” Mom and dad planed a trip for the whole family to Jerusalem. I have never been to Jerusalem. I knew people from Jerusalem. Do you remember  “Yehoshua HaParu'aa”?   We were going to visit him and his family.  The way to Jerusalem was not an easy trip. We had to take a bus to Netanya’s main bus station. On the buss we had to stand in the isle because it was full. From there we took another bus to Tel Aviv. On this bus we had to make sure we sat right behind the bus driver or Avi would get seasick and throw up all over. In Tel Aviv we took a short bus ride to the train station. The station was crowded, and it was hard to find a good spot for all of us to sit together. My little brother and I had to run along the train and look for a few empty seats for all of us. “I wan...

"Look at this," said Mom as she opened the mail. "You've got an invitation to appear in court. Help me read this. It says Mr. Nani Haim Tibi you are subpoenaed to appear at The Court of Peace on 9 am., Monday, January 5th.  "What is it all about?" I asked. "It's probably about the accident you witnessed." "What accident?" "Last year. The one with the boy and the bulldozer. The one you saved. The one you kept on talking about for six months." "I did not," I responded defensively. “It wasn't my fault that everybody kept asking me about it.” "Anyway, you have to go to court, and probably you'll have to tell the story again, and I'm sure you're going to like it." "But Mom", I said, "what about school?" "I'll have to give you a note so your teacher can excuse you from school on that day. You'll have to go to your girlfriend Dafna and ask her for your homework....

If you were looking for a romantic place where you can take your girlfriend or wife at night, or even a place where you can take you your kids for a quite relaxing afternoon on the water you would go to “ Na h al  Alexander.” A river named after Alexander the great. It was a bout ½ hour bus ride north of Netanya. A short walk from the station would bring you to an interesting restaurant on the northern bank of the river. It had a big aquarium filled with a shark in formaldehyde. Yes, a real dead shark. I remember looking at it mesmerized every time we stop there and wonder; how can anybody eat with that smell of formaldehyde in the air. Next to the restaurant was a nice wooden dock with wooden rowboats lined up for rent. Some were for two and some for four or even six. Depending on the size of your group. Further away at the end of the dock was a smaller extension where fishermen stood and tried to catch some fish. Mom, Dad, Avi and I went to Nahal Alexander on one afternoon. We re...

Ever since we moved to this rented house it seems like our financial status was getting slowly better. This house was on a large private land with 2 large bedrooms. One was our parent’s room and the other one was Avi’s with all of our toys. My bed was set up in the foyer. Mom was working ½ a day and Dad started to bring work home. He returned to his original love as part time - Jewelry making. Dad and I collected wood that floats on the beach and with the few big pieces we found, we managed to build a jeweler’s bench and put it at the far side of the foyer where he would work every evening after he came back from the daily job he had. Working hard and many hours Mom and Dad were saving money to finally buy our own house or apartment. The yard of our home had a nice collection of trees; a date palm tree right in the center front, a big old olive tree on the right of the hose bordering with our neighbor. On the front left side, we had a guava tree and a rare fruit called “Annona - sweet ...