creative jewish mom

The Best Chicken Soup Recipe Ever With Lots Of Vegetables But No White Potatoes!

Photo courtesy of Bon Appetite, check out their chicken noodle soup recipe.

Last Friday afternoon as I was preparing our meals for shabbat, (and taking note of the cold weather forecast) I decided to whip up a big pot of chicken soup as the main course, and the results were so delicious I just had to share my recipe with you. And I'll admit, I love using this blog as a place for saving recipes, so there's something in it for me too! And yes, it is true that it is pretty hard to mess up chicken soup, but know the right veggies to add really makes a huge difference as far as the end result is concerned.

To make my chicken soup even more special and earn it main course status, I also made some croutons, which everyone loved, and they are certainly many steps above the traditional "soup nuts" that so many Jewish families serve with their soup. Just saying folks, those soup nuts are just about the least healthy thing to get your family used to eating, so do keep that in mind!

Ah yes, the recipe, no problem, just keep on reading.....

Craft Schooling Sunday Is Taking A Holiday Break

Dear readers, thanks so much for dropping by and wishing you all a wonderful holiday season. Craft Schooling Sunday is taking a break for the month of December as it has done for the past 6 or so years (lost count!) and I look forward to reconnecting with you all on the first Sunday in 2017. Of course the blog will continue to post crafts, so please don't be strangers as you join me for a slightly hectic crafting marathon over the next two weeks. All the very best!

Super Simple Havdalah Spice Pouch Is Perfect For The Holidays!

 

This simple havdalah spice pouch project is perfect to give as a little party favor this holiday season, and fun to whip up as well. For those who aren't familiar with havdalah, it is the ceremony that is performed Saturday night to usher out the 25 hour period we call shabbat or shabbos. In the havdalah ceremony three blessings are made on material things, one on wine, one on fire, and one on spices. After the blessing is made on the spices all of those where are present sniff the spices, which might be in the form of fresh herbs (in our home we generally use cuttings from my lemon verbena plant) dried spices, or a fragrant natural oil of some kind. The most popular and convenient option is to use dried spices, so these little bags are certainly sweet and useful! 

And of course, one could also use this idea to make little lavender sachets to put in drawers, how about that?

This project is brought to you by sewjewish.com, so I'll stop talking and present you with this fun DIY havdalah spice pouch craft:

Drinking Straw Star Ornament Craft

There is something about colorful jumbo drinking straws that I find simply irresistable, so a few months back on a trip to my favorite Swedish store, I just had to pick up some more straws in a new pastel color range. Fast forward to Hanukkah crafting, and those straws jumped out at me and said "make some drinking straw star ornaments please", and so there you have it! This is a quick craft (once you get the hang of it) with adorable results so make a bunch of these for that Hanukkah party, or hang them around the house! While you are at it, check out my drinking straw hanukkah garland from last year, as well as my drinking star star bursts, and stay tuned for more drinking star crafts! In the meantime, I've got a few helpful tips that I learned while making this craft, so keep on reading.....

Plastic Canvas Star Ornaments With Tassels

As you may have noticed, I have been having lots of fun making Hanukkah decorations using plastic canvas. And now I present to you an obvious addition to my plastic canvas dreidels and  plastic canvas menorahs, ta da, plastic canvas Jewish stars! Just for the record I thought you might be interested to know that truly the idea of using the Jewish star to represent Hanukkah is a commercial invention of some sort, and you won't see any such stars here in Israel being used for Hannukah. People would wonder if you were trying to possibly recycle your decorations from Independance Day! I just had to laugh as I was typing that, but it really is true, that together with the fact that the color blue has nothing to do with Hanukkah (really spelled Chanukah) either!

That said, the Jewish star does represent Chanukah for so many folks out there, so we've got to make some, right? Keep on reading for the number one most important tip for making these guys....

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday!

 

 

 

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, and wishing everyone a wonderful month of Kislev, the Jewish month that includes Chanukah, and thus lots and lots of light! As you may know from past years, I take a break with the party for the month of December, so this week I am sharing features from last week, but there is no link up. The party will resume the first Sunday in January, and looking forward to reconnecting with you all then!

So wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and all the very best in 2017. And with a good three plus weeks until Chanukah, well let the crafting become a major force in your life, you won't regret it! And you will create wonderful memories for your family, most importantly of all.

And now for the features from last week's party, meaning the items that I could share with you here on this Jewish blog!

A fun felt menorah from Jennifer Perkins, and epsom salt candle jars from real coake, an idea that could also be used for a chanukah menorah!

A gorgeous real fruit sugared centerpiece from garden matters, and a cozy yet simple crocheted scarf from simply summer street.

Rain At Last On The First Day Of Kislev And Moroccan Poufs

Chodesh Tov, wishing you all a happy new month, the Jewish month of Kislev! Rosh Chodesh, (rosh means head, chodesh means month) the first day of the month, is a special day which includes special prayers in the synagogue, a half day of school and maybe a special meal or activity for the family. Today I treated my kids with hot chocolate ready and waiting as they came in the door as it was positively pouring, like really really pouring! Where you live you may wish that it sometimes rained a bit less, but here in Israel, the more rain the better. For us given our hillside location that generally means streams of water flowing like rivers down the stairs that surround our house, and down the street a few stories down the hill, an actually very lovely experience as we really get to witness the shear quantity of rain.

As it turns out that we were in such a bad situation with no rain, that if this had been the case during the time that the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem everyone would have needed to fast, if it still hadn't rained today. Sadly we have no such Temple today, and happily it did rain, something like 7 inches overnght, which is a nice amount. It is amazing how the weather just quickly tuns to winter here, and my kids scrambled into the attic to bring down the boxes of scarves and gloves and of course all of my crocheted creations for winter, ahhh so much fun!