S/O shabbos morning menu - interesting meals you received

kalsee

Mon, May 08 2023, 6:51 am

The other thread reminded me of something that happened more than 10 years ago

I had recently moved to a new neighborhood, and had a baby shortly afterwards. A neighbor very kindly offered to make me a meal, which I was very grateful for.

She brought over at suppertime - a loaf of bread, freshly baked in her bread machine. And a pat of butter. That's it Smile

And she was proud of it too! She kept on sayin how delicious the bread is, how much she enjoys making it.

I was a little shocked at first, but got over it.

10 years down the line, and enjoying her friendship all these years-
I see that there is a tremendous difference in our relationship with food. She and her family are just not into food. They don't eat much, they don't like food that has a lot of flavors they prefer plain food. they don't enjoy variety. they don't enjoy food, in general.
A regular supper in her home - a package of crackers, some sliced cheese and cucumbers.
A shabbos meal is a plain baked salmon (some lemon on top) served with a bowl of corn (from a can)
So it's no surprise that she assumed she was giving me a gourmet meal Very Happy

What interesting meals have you received?

amother

Blueberry

Mon, May 08 2023, 8:48 am

This is very specific. What if your neighbor is on here?
What if she’s even me??

Okay, it’s not me. You might even tell me she doesn’t speak English so this won’t be a problem.
But often enough I see posts like this, and wonder whether anyone recognizes themselves in the story.

amother

Fuchsia

Mon, May 08 2023, 9:02 am

I go out for Shabbos meals for the company. If someone were to make me a meal, it would be to share love and support. B”H I always have enough food in my house, be it crackers, a can of tuna, frozen pizza, or granola bars, that I am actually never hungry and dependent oh what others serve me.

I have left Shabbos meals and thought that I am not going to be able to eat for a week (amazingly 2 hours later I am still ready to eat again) and I have left Shabbos meals knowing I needed to stopp at home to eat solid food before heading to the park or parent/child learning/wherever we were going.

amother

Mustard

Mon, May 08 2023, 9:11 am

amother Azure wrote:

I was once invited for lunch on the last day of Pesach, and we had matza brei, salmon, cheeses and salads. It was great after a week of heavy meals. (She knew the gebrochts weren't an issue.)

I grew up with this being standard on second day of every YT. I only don't do this in my house because of assorted dairy and egg allergies in my family

amother

Yolk

Mon, May 08 2023, 9:26 am

The one time I actually had a meal train type of thing where people brought me meals after birth 2 people signed up to bring us food for shabbos, which I was really relying on because I was really not doing well and didn't have a lot of helpful support/help, the one who had signed up to bring most of the food for shabbos never showed up and never ended up bringing anything. I never heard from her after either. She must have forgotten and either never remembered or been too embarrassed to say anything.

Mon, May 08 2023, 11:14 am

After I had my first baby, a neighbour made us cholent. It was not particularly nice. She told me she’d taken it out of her freezer! From then on, whenever people have offered me meals, I always say I’ll make the cholent myself (unless it’s my mil or mother).
On the other the hand the same neighbour made us a pasta and scrambled egg dish which was delicious and I have made it many many times since then.
You win some , you lose some! 😉
(Unfortunately she is no longer alive (so I have no worries about her reading this), she was a fantastic person and a wonderful neighbour and her neshama should have an aliyah)

amother

Hawthorn

Mon, May 08 2023, 11:19 am

s1 wrote:

Frozen cholent 🤢

Someone actually posted on a local group chat that her cholent hasn’t been coming out good lately… she makes one big pot and then freezes it into smaller portions. Oy.

amother

Whitewash

Mon, May 08 2023, 11:23 am

I have a friend who grew up in Morocco. She serves all kinds of very labor-intensive, time-consuming vegetable dishes that she calls "salads." They're delish, but I don't ask for recipes anymore because they always require a lot of chopping and long, slow cooking with constant stirring. Not my style of cooking but I do enjoy eating them!

amother

DarkYellow

Mon, May 08 2023, 11:25 am

Someone once called me and said how much she would like to send me a meal. I had just gotten married and was working in another state, coming home very late each night. We made up which day she would prepare supper. She said she wouldn’t be able to bring it to me so my husband was going to pick it up.
I couldn’t believe what she sent.
A bag of lettuce with some dressing and some cookies that were misshaped that she said her kids baked.
I was waiting for her to call us to tell us that she forgot to give my husband the main course.
No phone call
No supper
I wasn’t sure what that was all about.
It was many years ago. I probably put something else together for us that night.
I do remember calling her the next day to thank her. She accepted the thanks 🤔.

amother

Scarlet

Mon, May 08 2023, 11:26 am

amother Hawthorn wrote:

Frozen cholent 🤢

Someone actually posted on a local group chat that her cholent hasn’t been coming out good lately… she makes one big pot and then freezes it into smaller portions. Oy.

I do that and it tastes delicious

amother

Whitewash

Mon, May 08 2023, 11:33 am

I spent a Shabbat with a friend who was volunteering on kibbutz. After tefillah Shabbat morning, we went to her "mishpacha," where we had kiddush followed by challah, eggs, salad and fruit. I was a mite disappointed, but maybe my expectations were wrong, it's kibbutz, not much money, not much meat, Mediterranean lifestyle, they do things differently here.

An hour or so later, we all went together to...the chadar ochel, where an enormous traditional Ashkenazi Shabbat meal was served. What I took to be Shabbat lunch was merely kiddush.

Another time a friend invited me to her parents' house for seudah shlishit. We sat in the living room where a big bowl of peanuts was on the table. Again, I was a bit distressed because I had walked for well over an hour to get there, and had figured on getting a bit more than some nuts and candies. I ate enough peanuts to bury an elephant, but that's what there was.

After about two hours, they opened up a set of sliding doors to a previously-hidden dining room, where my friend's mother served a standard seudah shlishit with the usual egg and tuna salad, sliced veggies, crackers and so on. The confusion was, I think, in the way the invitation was worded. Not "Come on over and stay for seudah shlishit" but "Come for seudah shlishit." When people say "come for such-and-such meal," I assume that means the meal will be served shortly after the guests arrive, not a couple of hours later.

zaq

Mon, May 08 2023, 11:38 am

amother Scarlet wrote:

I do that and it comes out delicious

Like you, I have no problem with frozen cholent, but apparently some people tolerate cholent only hot off the fire, not a few hours later and not previously frozen. I'm deeply pained when I see people make a huge cholent and then dump half of it in the trash because they refuse to eat leftovers. They can recite tehillim by heart all day and all night but bal tashchit they never learned.

WitchKitty

Mon, May 08 2023, 11:47 am

amother DarkYellow wrote:

A bag of lettuce with some dressing and some cookies that were misshaped that she said her kids baked.

I think you posted this story once already.
It stayed in my mind.
Or maybe your neighbor gave this meal to another poster too.

Once when my mother gave birth a neighbor sent over supper: Chicken with no spices, and challa kugel. (Which to me feels like eating her leftover challah)

tichellady

Mon, May 08 2023, 11:49 am

I love the meals I got. not all of them were my taste but I could tell there was a lot of love put into each meal.

I don't cook traditional so hearing the meals people find exotic is making me laugh. these are all regular things I serve.

fwiw, I have been to meals in israel where there was just cholent and challah and while it wasn't my favorite, I certainly didn't feel the hosts were out to get me. people have different relationships to food, to how shabbat should look, and what is an ideal shabbat meal. it's ok to go out of your comfort zone sometimes

watergirl

Mon, May 08 2023, 11:50 am

amother Hawthorn wrote:

Frozen cholent 🤢

Someone actually posted on a local group chat that her cholent hasn’t been coming out good lately… she makes one big pot and then freezes it into smaller portions. Oy.

I was once a guest at someone’s house for shabbos lunch and they serve the most delicious crockpot soup I have ever had in my life. I complement of the wife and she laughed, telling me she tried something new that week, and was so happy that it worked out - last week’s cholent that she had frozen, in the crockpot with fresh lamb, new veggies, and spices. I actually ran into that woman a few months ago, which was about 15 years after that meal and told her how I remember how delicious it was!

amother

Camellia

Mon, May 08 2023, 11:55 am

In sem I once went to Chevron for Shabbos. They served a stack of crepes, bowls of sweet soft cheese, fruit fillings, and more. It was the most delicious Shabbos day meal I ever had and I've often wished we didn't have a minhag to eat fleshing Shabbos day!