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The Raw and The Cooked

Simple Meals + Honest Book Reviews + Practical Living

Exodus 35:1- 40:38 | Vayakhel + Pekudei | “He Assembled” + “Accounts”

This week, we close out the Book of Exodus with a double parsha Vayakhel and Pekudei, as happens every so often to compress the Torah’s 54-parshas into our 52 week Gregorian calendar. 

Another smooth week over here, despite the clock adjustments of the dreaded Day Light Savings. Though, now that the days are getting longer — and we’re getting small tastes of summer — our spirits are higher than ever. Which again, fittingly, mirrors the close of Exodus itself. The Israelites’ spirits are high. God is with them.

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Microhabits: The Tiny Behaviors That Hold Your Home Together

This week’s podcast episode kicks off a brand new four-part series about something that many mothers quietly struggle with: how to actually run a home in a calm and sustainable way.

Whether you live in a small apartment or a busy house full of kids, pets, and never-ending laundry, there are still daily tasks that need to happen in order for life to function smoothly. Over the years, raising four young children, I’ve realized that the difference between a home that feels chaotic and one that feels manageable often comes down to something very small.

Not big cleaning days or well done organizational systems, but tiny habits.

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Moroccan Braised Lamb

Hey friends! Last week we celebrated Purim, and in an effort to organize the family recipe binder I hope to pass along to my girls one day, I’m finally typing up what I’ve been making every single Purim since we became a family that needed one. This recipe is delicious, relatively easy, and has such a rich, complex flavor — I promise, your people will be impressed. You don’t have to wait until next Purim to make it, though in this economy, it stays a chag recipe for us, reserved for special occasions. One more thing: the leftovers are even better than you can imagine.

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Exodus 30:11-34:35 | Ki Tisa | “When You Take”

This past week felt choppy. There’s no other word for it. Purim fell on a Tuesday, which meant all four kids were home, we went to synagogue fully clad in costumes. There was joy and noise and hamantaschens — and also no gym, no routine, no walk, no quiet. By Thursday morning, I was already behind on things I thought I’d have done by then.

I didn’t publish my podcast last week. I didn’t publish a single blog post last week. Estate planning paperwork, taxes (more taxes), scholarship applications, birthday cards I’m falling behind on, and things on my to-do list kept piling up. By Thursday, I felt quite overwhelmed, and exhausted. And as usual, Ki Tisa landed pretty on point for the week I was having. How about you?

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Exodus 27:20-30:10 | Tetzaveh | “You Shall Command”

Another really smooth week over here – everyone’s healthy, the weather has been so good to us, and all is running well and good on the home-front. You know the saying, “When Adar enters, Joy increases.” – Talmudic proverb (Taanit 29a). And what a relief, because it was truly a rough, tough, and l-o-n-g winter. I’m looking forward to baking hamentashen’s with the children this weekend in anticipation for Purim on Tuesday. The kids have off school for the holiday, we’ve already mapped out our costumes, the excitement is building. There’s something really joyous about Adar, like we can finally exhale.

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Sourdough Pancakes

A typical school morning breakfast around here: sourdough pancakes, maple syrup, and scrambled eggs (and sometimes fruit). I try to have breakfast on the table, and big kids up dressed, with their beds already made by 7:15am, and then it’s teeth brushing, hair combing, backpack stuffing – water bottles, lunchboxes, snacks – socks, shoes, and jacket, out the door by 7:45am.

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