Overseas Members

[Phaedra]

To be honest I've been very wary about saying where I live as I was hounded of a Forum [nothing to do with Food, it was a Forum for people with disabilities] when I said where I live.

I do post on a couple of UK Foodie boards, on one I haven't said and on the other, where I have said, I've had mostly very good reactions but some really unpleasant ones.

Being so new here I am slowly but surely going through all the different sections of this absolutely delightful Forum, reading and taking in as much as I can when I'm able to, hence not yet posting very much.

This is so vast a Forum compared with any others I've come across, and I am so happy that I found it. So please excuse me if I don't post much at the moment - I'm still finding my way around.

In addition, because I keep strict Kashrut, there are obviously products/posts/recipes that I cannot relate to - well I can relate to them but have no idea about what various things taste like.

I just hope people here will accept me as just Phaedra, and not "oh, that person who lives in such and such a place".

I very much like what I have seen of this Forum so far, even though I am still plowing my way through each section and sub-section, so I sincerely hope that nobody will feel bad about me because of who and what I am, and where I live.

Phaedra

 

[GB]

We have people from all over the world and of all different. We have other people who keep kosher and have other dietary restrictions as well. We welcome everyone and love getting views from them. I can assure you that you will be viewed as Phaedra as long as that is who you make yourself out to be.

 

[Phaedra]

On this Forum I am Phaedra. It isn't my real name but it is my name here. I am an Orthodox Jew, 68 years young, emigrated from England in 1985 and as from 27 August this year I will have lived here, in Israel, for 25 years.

[The flag outside my little bungalow probably gave the game away as to where I live].

I have always enjoyed cooking and everything food related, and even though I am now limited by being a permanent chair user with a rather useless body, I still manage to shop, prepare and cook food for myself.

The day I have to hand over such things to someone else is a day that I hope will never happen.

I sincerely hope to become a good member of this Forum, as I like it! But please accept that it will no doubt take me quite a while to go through everything and learn what is what and where.

Oh, and please forgive me if my language is a bit stilted at times, as I tend to forget English expressions at times. And of course my English is English English and not American English.

Phaedra

 

[GB]

Where in Israel do you live? I was fortunate enough to take a business trip there last year. My company is headquartered in Israel (in Rehovot). I stayed in Tel Aviv right on the beach. It was an amazing experience. My wife and I are considering having our daughters Bat Mitzvah in Israel (in 8 years) if our daughter decides she wants to do that.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Thank you Phaedra! I was overseas a very long time ago when my Dad was in the Air Force, I made it all the way to Guam, that is the sum total of my travels. Well, besides winding my way through all the states except Alaska.

I'm a Registered nurse, specializing in Geriatric Rehab and End-of-Life (Hospice) Care. However, I've been a cook a lot longer than I've been a nurse and cooking is my first love. I live in Montana with my retired husband and two spoiled cats.

It's nice to meet you!

 

[Phaedra]

Where in Israel do you live?

On an agricultural Moshav in the Northern Negev, 15 minutes by car from the Mediterranean coast. Only I don't have a car so I don't go there any more.

Well within boom boom range from the Strip, but I do not live in a "settlement". My Moshav is well within the Green Line, and was founded by the folks who were thrown out of Djerba, Tunisia, after WWII.

Originally a "tent city" until little two-room tin-roofed concrete homes were built - on an area that had been totally desolate for hundreds if not thousands of years.

I do not "do" politics therefore I won't discuss them, especially as this is a Food Forum.

So now you know where I live. And either I will be accepted for who and what I am and where I live, or I won't. I make no apologies for my beliefs and my choice of home.

I just know that in spite of everything I am happy.

And isn't that the most important thing in life? To be happy and satisfied with what you have?

I have to go offline in just over a couple of hours' time, so wish you Shabbat Shalom and hope to "speak" with you again.

Phaedra

 

[GB]

Shabbat Shalom to you as well.

 

[Andy M.]

I'm looking forward to your sharing your experiences and recipes.

 

[Alix]

Are you having any fires in Alberta or is B.C. the only culprit? The air quality here stinks, but the fires are making some beautiful sunsets.

Next summer we are cruising to and through Canada for vacation, we should have before, it's only a couple of hours from here, heading north, then west to the coast, south through Washinton and Oregon and back home...a big circle!

I'm in BC at the moment! No fires that I know of in Alberta but I'm sure there are a few here and there. Nothing on the scale of BC though. Come up to Edmonton to shop and we'll hook up for a meal somewhere if you like.

 

[Kayelle]

How very interesting Phaedra...it's a pleasure to meet you. From your pictures I thought they could easily be in the southwest of the USA. Thanks for sharing with us. I'm positive that where you live will carry no negative impact here.
Here's my favorite postcard from my hometown....

 

[Mimizkitchen]

Phaedra welcome to our forum, where you live will have no impact on anybody in this forum, we are a big happy family and we would love your imput... Feel free to ask any questions if you don't understand recipes, and please send some off your own from over the rainbow... Shabbot Shalom... MIMI

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Come up to Edmonton to shop and we'll hook up for a meal somewhere if you like.

I'll be sure to let you know when we start out on our vacation.

 

[Claire]

Phaedra, we have several members from around the world, and we love the extra "zing" that a different country's take on things adds to our cooking, or even other matters. Every once in awhile one of us will help clarify when going from English English to American English if someone gets confused (i.e., English using the French aubergines and courgettes when Americans say eggplant and zuchini, which according to this spell check I can't spell anyway) or helping out with metric. All in good nature.

If I may make a suggestion, having some experience with independently living people who have handicaps, you could start a thread about how you manage cooking from a chair. Hints, helps. Those of us who have friends or are in that situation ourselves would love to hear how you do it and what little things you do to make it easier.

Welcome!

 

[Phaedra]

If I may make a suggestion, having some experience with independently living people who have handicaps, you could start a thread about how you manage cooking from a chair. Hints, helps. Those of us who have friends or are in that situation ourselves would love to hear how you do it and what little things you do to make it easier.

Welcome!

Thank you for your welcome, although I prefer the description "disabled" to "handicapped" - but it doesn't really matter in the scheme of things, does it! I've been otherwise occupied during the last couple of days, hence not being around much, mainly caused by having to have a day out to collect one new pair of bifocal specs - the other frames I chose were nbg so I chose another pair, that were new in since I chose the first lot.

And a day out for me is a bit of a faff to say the least, but I managed to go downtown and do a fair amount of shopping, got a taxi and dropped the stuff off at home, then straight to the Shopping Centre to collect my specs at the opticians, and then have a trundle round the huge supermarket.

I go with my little foldable scooter which fits in the boot - sorry, trunk, of the taxi. And I have to arrange for my little dog to be collected and taken to her dog "Pension" for the dayl

But it's exhausting, and my leg braces really hurt, especially in the heat, so it usually takes me a couple of days to get over such an outing. I don't wear the horrid things at home as I have an electric wheelchair.

Regarding prepping and cooking from a chair - sure there are certain things I can't do, but every kitchen appliance/gadget that I can find that helps me, enables me to manage. I'm so new on this Forum that I haven't as yet had a chance to read much, so whatever I have to offer in respect to advice for someone like myself, could possibly have already been said.

Suffice it to say that I cook everything from scratch, ie no ready meals to just stick in the microwave to heat up. I do use my microwave quite a lot, but it's mainly for blanching vegetables for freezing, or just plain steaming vegetables. Oh and fish is so easy to cook in it as well.

I don't have a "proper" stove any more. Just a 36 litre "toaster oven", and a three burner gas hob, which I will be changing to a two burner one shortly, as I don't need three burners and I do need the extra space a smaller one will give me.

Crockpots/slow cookers are brilliant for someone like my - and even though I live by myself I have three of them, one is 3.5 litre capacity and the other two 6.5 litre. Sorry but I don't know the American equivalent. Mainly for bulk cooking, when it's chuck it all in, switch on, and then freeze in portions when done.

I also have electric frying pans/skillets, which are thermostatically controlled, so can be left without constant checking, stirring etc.

And so on and so forth.

Basically it's anything and everything that makes my life easier, and having to accept that even though there are many things I'm no longer able to do, there's always something else that can go on the menu!

Phaedra