Casa De Gato - Life and Hobby. Life with kids.

Baby Teething Toys - New Collection at Casa De Gato on Etsy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 07:24:00 +0000

I am happy to announce that new spring collection of baby teething toys is now available at Casa De Gato store on Etsy.

These new flower's teething toys are perfect for keeping your baby occupied.

* The flower rustles when crumpled
* Beads to slide through loops and rings at both sides
* Bright colors, different textures and forms to develop scenes and fine motor skills
* It can be hung (on a mobile, baby stroller, baby carrier, when breastfeeding/bottle feeding)
by sliding the big bead into the thread loop.
* Made of 100% natural materials, safe for teething baby

2 wooden rings are used.
The big ring is made of ash tree and measures about 6 cm (2.2 inch) and perfect for baby's hand.
Perfect for teething baby. Great baby shower gift

Made from 100 % cotton fabric and cotton thread, ash wood rings and Juniper wood beads.
Washable. Hand wash with mild soap.

The nursing toy can be made in any fabric I have available, if you see any particular sample that you like in my shop, please, contact me and I'll make special one for you.

Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoa) in Israel

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 21:01:00 +0000

This time I allow myself to copy the post of my FB friend.

Tomorrow is the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoa) in Israel. For us Israelis the memory of the holocaust is still fresh, alive, strongly involved in our lives, tattooed in our grandparents' skins, persistently participating in our art, our literature. We can escape it. We can't forget.

But the world forgets. Some have this forgetness on their agenda. Some just don't care. But most of the world, merely doesn't know. Doesn't know a simple, amazingly simple - yet the most complicated sentence of them all: 70 years ago the Nazis decided that Jews are a problem and "solved the problem" by murdering 6 million Jews.

Dear friends overseas - we need you to join us in saying: NEVER AGAIN! We will not forget. We will not ignore. We will make sure it never happens again. NEVER AGAIN!
...
Please share. Please tell. Please mention. Please enforce Godwin's law. Remember and have others remember the holocaust. NEVER AGAIN we say. Please say it with us.

Best Wood for Teething

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:07:00 +0000

Most of the babies like to teeth and chew different things. It is essential to find a right toy for this purpose. It has to be safe for the little one: no choking hazard, soft enough not to harm the young teeth but also durable enough to withstand the process.
We usually think that teethers have to be made from a hard rubber like material but here is may be a better and more natural option. A nursing toy that is made from wood may be a perfect teething toy.
The next question is what kind of wood will be best for such a purpose?
The wood needs to hold up well in water and be hard enough to endure sharp baby teeth and be non toxic and free from toxic additives.
For example, ash, maple and birch have the necessary qualities for a teething ring or a nursing toy. These types of wood are hard enough according to the hardness scale. The new collection of nursing necklaces with teething rings of Casa De Gato has rings that are made from unprocessed natural ash tree.
As an opposite, pine and oak are not good. Pine is too soft and could be chewed apart too easily and oak may splinter and injure the infant's mouth.
Another important question is whether the wood should be finished. The possible options could be natural oil and bees wax. Nut oils might be a problem, since some people are allergic. However, if the toy is sanded up really well, there is no need for a finish. It will get chewed off anyway.

Next time I will look into cleaning of wooden baby toys.

Subscribe to the blog posts to stay tuned.

Spring in The Desert

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:48:00 +0000

Spring is a beautiful time when everything is bright, clear and new. I always liked this time of the year and wanted to see how it feels in different parts of the globe.

Flowers in the Desert

Today I want to show you spring in one of the most arid places - Timna valley,
that is located on the western edge of the southern Arava desert, about 30 km (some 17 miles) north of Eilat, Israel.

The desert has some green color now

The climate in the southern Arava is extreme desert, characterized by very high temperatures in the summer, minimal precipitation (annual average of 20 mm.), intense radiation and relatively low humidity. The rain comes in short powerful bursts, leading to frequent flooding in spring and fall.

Timna’s animal and plant life are typical to arid zones. The most common tree is the acacia, an important food source for animals.

Tiny Flowers of Acacia

I will be happy to see your photos of spring and get familiar with new places :)

Purim 2013 or Warning: Flying Spaghetti Monster is coming!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:48:00 +0000

Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman.
According to the Book of Esther, in the Hebrew Bible, Haman, royal vizier to King Ahasuerus, planned to kill all the Jews in the empire, but his plans were foiled by Mordecai and his adopted daughter Queen Esther. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing.
Purim is celebrated by giving reciprocal gifts of food and drink, giving charity to the poor, a celebratory meal, and public recitation of the Scroll of Esther, additions to the prayers and the grace after meals. Other customs include drinking wine, wearing of masks and costumes, and public celebration.
Wearing masks and costumes is main and most extincting part for the kids.

Tracking baby toy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:51:00 +0000

It is super important to have a toy when you are on a long track. It could be very boring to your child just to sit on your front or back when you are enjoying sightseeing, not to mention that you still need to feed the baby while tracking. In this case you might want to have something for him/her to play with. The toy should be easy to carry, washable, simple and not expensive and most important it should fit you tracking clothes and be attractive for the little one - in other words ideal for outdoor trips.
You can find such nursing toys in Casa De Gato.

Spring Fashion: Headbands and Sun Hats

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:21:00 +0000

The fresh breeze of spring is almost here. It is a very bright and happy season which is always giving me new ideas and good mood. My new colorful headbands are great accessory that will allow you to take a small piece of spring with you or put it on your baby's head. All my sun hats and headbands have a wide scale of sizes, so you may choose one for any age.

As always the new colors are coming, subscribe to the blog to be updated.

Hot Pink Rose Headband - Gir... CasaDeGato $14.00	Crochet Rose Headband - Girl... CasaDeGato $14.00	Orange Rose Headband - Girls... CasaDeGato $14.00
Grey Flower Pink Crochet Bab... CasaDeGato $30.00	Crochet Headband-Girls Photo... CasaDeGato $15.00	Crochet Baby Sun Hat /Orange... CasaDeGato $30.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

2013 Nursing Necklaces Collection

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:48:00 +0000

A few months ago I got a generous present from my friend - a collection of small fabric pieces. The beautiful colors gave me an inspiration and here is the result - a brand new 2013 nursing necklaces collection. I created a lot of new flowers based on the best seller of the previous year - orange flower necklace.

The new necklaces are an elegant combination of crocheted beads with fabric flower. The necklaces are made of Juniper wood beads, cotton fabric and thread which makes them natural and safe for baby teething. They are also perfect to complete mom's or any woman's or girl's outfit.

The collection is not fully published yet, so subscribe to my blog and stay tuned for updates :)

Colorful Nursing Necklace / ... CasaDeGato $24.00	Crochet Nursing Necklace / T... CasaDeGato $24.00	Crochet Nursing Necklace / T... CasaDeGato $24.00
Crochet Nursing Necklace / T... CasaDeGato $24.00	Pink Crochet Nursing Necklac... CasaDeGato $24.00	Nursing Necklace / Teething ... CasaDeGato $24.00
Nursing Necklace / Teething ... CasaDeGato $24.00	Mom Nursing Necklace / Teeth... CasaDeGato $24.00	OOAK Teal Nursing Necklace /... CasaDeGato $26.00
Lime Lavender Nursing Neckla... CasaDeGato $24.00	Flower Nursing Necklace / Te... CasaDeGato $24.00	Elegant Black White Nursing ... CasaDeGato $24.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Our New Waldorf Dolls

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 19:24:00 +0000

A Waldorf doll (also called Steiner doll) is a form of doll used in Waldorf education. Made of wool and cotton, using techniques drawing on traditional European doll making, its appearance is intentionally simple in order to allow the child playing with it to improve or strengthen imagination and creativity. For instance, it has no facial expression. Its legs and arms are flexible, allowing natural postures.
Traditional Waldorf dolls are made from cotton interlock knit fabric and wool stuffing. They are often entirely natural. Typically the trademark long hair of a Waldorf doll is made of mohair or boucle. Some doll makers use alternative hair material such as wool, rayon, and cotton. The facial features of a Waldorf doll vary with the maker. Most Waldorf dolls have small suggestions of noses, their eye and mouth colors are generally varied with each doll.

Wikipedia

I found about this philosophy about 2 years ago on the wool felting class. One of the girls there told that she is making such a doll to her daughter. At that time I read a lot about this view and liked it very much. For more than a year I wanted to buy one, but was not prepared to pay the high price. Most of the toys are handmade and therefore are not cheap. Now I see two reasons why I couldn't afford for myself to buy a doll. Firstly, I didn't have a daughter yet and more importantly, I didn't see something I would have really loved.
When I found LaFiabaRussa store for the first time I understood that I have to adopt one of her dolls. I waited patiently for the right moment - the first birthday of my daughter. I decided to order two dolls from Okasana, so I can bring a gift to my best friend's daughter too.

Yesterday they finally arrived. I can't stop playing :)) I am fascinated. The dolls breath love and warmness. They have an amazing smell and adorably soft hair. It is a real pleasure to hug them. I ordered girls without cloths, so now I am doing nothing but planning and sewing new stuff for my new toys. The second doll is staying with us too :)

Please meet them: Maya and Oksana.

Snowy Jerusalem

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:42:00 +0000

Israel is a tiny country, however you can find there up to 18 climate zones. The weather can change dramatically within 30 minutes car ride. One thing is common though - it is not snowing often here.
Today was one of the fairy days when almost everything stops in the Holy City.

Snow in Israel is a rear commodity - people admire it but they are not used to the consequences.

Almost all traffic stops when first snowflakes reach the ground. People stay at home and try to make as much photos as possible to impress their unlucky neighbors who live 30 minutes away and clearly don't have this happiness to see the snow.

They may try to drive to the place, but as I said - we don't drive in the snow, so they probably won't reach it :)

The snow won't last long - 2 days at most, and it is suitable for sculpturing only for the first few hours, so the enthusiasts in need of making a snowman must hurry!

Man's Best Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 18:43:00 +0000

When the Man waked up he said, 'What is Wild Dog doing here?' And the Woman said, 'His name is not Wild Dog any more, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always.

Rudyard Kipling "THE CAT THAT WALKED BY HIMSELF"

I always had pets when I was a child: cats, birds, aquarium fishes, hamsters, turtles and even frogs. But I never had a dog. My parents always wanted to adopt one, but they thought that we, as a family, were not ready for the responsibility.

When I got married the first thing we did as a new family was adopting a dog :) At that moment I realized how much effort and dedication it requires to raise a dog. I also understood that I will never see such a blind love from any other creature ever.

This year I decided to start a tradition in my blog which will be called "Wednesday Dog'. Each Wednesday I will be telling you a short story about some dog, each time a new one. I have already collected a number of stories but I am welcoming you to join me. Please, send me stories about your dogs and I will publish them, so at the end of the year we will be able to create a whole photo board of Man's Best Friends :)

THANKSGIVING DAY giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 06:48:00 +0000

My fellow Etsy artist from Etsy Russian Team is having THANKSGIVING DAY giveaway. I am very serious about this one, since I like her patterns and I have a lot of plans how I can use them!
Enter to win by clicking on the picture:

Enjoy!

5 Facts Worth Knowing About Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 06:41:00 +0000

Coffee is an amazing product. Coffee cultivation first took place in southern Arabia; the earliest credible evidence of coffee drinking appears in the middle of the 15th century in the Sufi shrines of Yemen. Coffee bean is a seed of a cherry fruit that grows on a tree or a bush. Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world second only to oil. There are over 50 species of coffee worldwide. However, I like tea much more :).

My little daughter has been waking up too early for the whole past week. It didn't seem that she was going to reconsider her schedule, so I had to reconsider mine. Although I am a morning person, but even for me 3am is still the middle of the night. So... I started drinking morning coffee and found that it is a very nice habit. I am adding a spoon of ice cream and we are both enjoying our cup of coffee - Liya is playing with my spoon while I am drinking.

Coffee with an ice cream is good, but I wanted to find some more recipes. I went to Google of course :) It always amazes me how much information is shared over the internet. I found a few ideas for coffee preparation, but I also found many things about coffee that I didn't know before.

Did you know that:

1. Coffee was first discovered by a goat!
In the 9th century Ethiopian shepherds noticed
that goats act strange after eating the cherries
from the coffee tree.
This fact wasn't documented until the 16-th century.

2. Originally coffee was eaten. African tribes mixed coffee beans with fat and made energy balls :)

3. All coffee in the world grows in the bean belt.
Hawaii is the only state in US that grows coffee.

4. 70% of the world consume Arabica coffee, which is mild and aromatic. The remain 30% drink Robusta, which is more bitter-tasting but has 50% more caffeine than Arabica.

5. Kopi luwak , or civet coffee, is the world's most expensive and low-production variety of coffee.
It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract.

Wildlife Woodland Christmas Giveaway - Worldwide

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:37:00 +0000

Christmas is when magic happens, when Santa appears and when you find a lot of gifts under the Christmas tree.
When I was a little girl I believed in Santa and always waited for this wonderful morning to come. I waited to get something special and for many years Santa was bringing me lots of joy and fun.
I grew up and unfortunately understood that my mom was the one to put gifts under the tree and no need to wait to midnight - Santa will not appear. But the fairy Christmas mood was left with me and I want to pass it to all other people and especially to all the children.

I decide to give this set of hear pins to the lucky one who will be chosen randomly at the 1st official day of the winter. Hopefully the post will work perfectly and the gift will be delivered before the holiday :)

So three amazing hair bobby pins crocheted by me from pure cotton are waiting to be won. The prize will be sent to worldwide.

Enter to win!

The giveaway works as follows:

First you leave a comment and then sign in the form below to provide your name and to state that you have commented (please use the same name).

After you indicate that you have left a comment on this blog post, you will see options for additional entries such as blogging (3 additional entries), sharing at Facebook (2 entries more), etc.

Even if you are not interested in those additional options, you will need to register your comment using this form in order to enter, because the winner will be chosen automatically with the help of this software. If you do not do that, you will have no chances to win, sorry.

PS. You will get 25 more entries if you buy something from us on Etsy. In that case, your chances are growing dramatically, and if you happen to win - I ship all items for free! (If you do buy, please send me a note to delay shipping until the end of the giveaway).

Of course I do not think that it will entice you to buy if you did not want to initially; however if there is something in the shop that you fancy anyway, why not use the opportunity? This includes my past customers. If you have already bought from me, you qualify for the additional 25 entries! Claim them and indicate your Etsy user name in the form.

This giveaway is open worldwide and comes with free shipping as long as you have a valid address (no P.O. boxes please). You should be 18 years old and above to qualify. All entries of the drawn winner will be verified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top 10 places your dog must visit in Israel

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 19:44:00 +0000

It is so important to plan your trip carefully, so you can enjoy the new country. Experienced tourists advice is always appreciated. This is 'top 10 must to go' places from one of the Israeli experts in dogs attractions - Jarna, the Great Pyrenees.

Historical and cultural sites:

Knesset of Israel: A very important political site, pool and jogging tracks are open to the visitors at all seasons of the year.

2. Mishkenot Shaananim neighborhood: This is quite a boring place, however it is good if you need to walk your family out.

Outdoor activity for the whole family:

3. Forests of Canada Park near Latrun

4. Forests of Ayalon Valley: There is a great opportunity for jogging and mud baths.

5. Mitzpe Masua in park Brittania forest: Fresh water is available for drink at any place.

6. Kola forest near Modiin and Rosh ha Aiyn: Great place for mud bathes as well at the winter or early spring.

7. A great place for those who want some physical activity, Yarkon Park at Tel aviv

Swimming sites:

8. Canals near Gan HaShlosha National Park

9. Yen Lavan, a spring in the vicinity of Jerusalem area

And last and hottest by all means, high difficulty outdoor activity:

10. Judaean Desert

More places to visit, find here.

Kids Bedroom Rennovation Design

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:48:00 +0000

Design of the kids' room is challenging, when the room is small, it is challenging even more. My kids are growing up and they will move to their own room soon, so I decided to go through the new kid's furniture trends to get an inspiration.

I browsed lots of examples, but decided to show only the best matching to my goal: decoration of a very small room for two toddler kids.

According to Feng Shui nothing should be stored under beds and bunk beds aren't the best choice. It is also not recommended to hang things above the head. This is exactly what I always felt intuitively. Surprisingly, I found a lot of bunk beds and under bed storage spaces in the contemporary bed rooms' designs. Well, it is space - justified, but we are looking for the comfy feeling, aren't we? As always, let's try to find a compromise.

The first one that I really like is a modern and quite a minimalistic design from http://designvarious.com collection of interiors:

This is a very clean and light furniture complex. No massive storage units under the bed and the bunk bed is modified, so only part of the body will be under the second level. And it is quite compact.

A similar approach, but more girly style here:

A somewhat upgraded twist of the idea above, just much more massive on the indoor design portal:

The next one I found on http://hepok.com/ideas-kids-bedroom-furniture/, there are many other interesting ideas, so it is worth a visit. This is for a really tiny room, but it came out surprisingly light. Nice walls and matching window treatment. Bold vertical lines allow to wide the room visually.

There are a few good bedroom decoration ideas here (color scheme mostly), but one design I liked:

Well, this is for those who have enough space... However, sliding bed idea may be used in the small flats as well. Thought I don't like it personally.

Another sliding bed option that was found here:

This design solution I liked visually. Even though there is a lot of storage space under the beds, it looks fantastically light and very space-wise. I found it here. This site is definitely must to have a look at.

I will be happy to hear back from you. What did you like? What kind of design solution do you currently have? Do you want to change it?

Christmas Gifts - Be prepared

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:17:00 +0000

You know how it always happens - you start thinking about next Christmas presents right after it passes but you do nothing. When winter begins you are in a rush to get the gifts to everybody and sometimes you buy things just to fill the gap in the list, in the short amount of time you have left and not because you really like them.

I decided to gather a few gift and decoration ideas more than a month ahead when I got an unexpected gift from Tonya from CityCrochet. She just sent it to me without any reason. It is a completely magical feeling when you get such a sudden present - just feels like Santa brought it to you. We've received these beautiful acorns

and a rose brooch.

Since we've got such a cool decoration element for the coming holidays, I want to find more original ideas for the rest of my family. And I am going to share my findings with you!

Amazing christmas decoration stained glass candle holder. This will warm the atmosphere in the house especially when it is freezing outside.

Next on the list are stunning felted toys created by my friend from Israel. She prepared a whole collection for Christmas, but I especially like this one (Vlada's shop):

One more shop, that I like, produces knitted accessories for women and men (and this is very important, at least I am struggling to find ideas for men's gifts).

Everyone has many acquaintance (colleagues, friends that are not close enough), so I was also looking for small gifts ideas - something that doesn't cost much but is cute and positive. And I found these ornaments.

I also came with a new collection of necklaces which are a perfect gift for any nursing mom, but also for any woman that likes country style accessories.

These are just a few ideas, but I hope they'll help to find an inspiration for gift shopping.

Discover Israel: Beauty of Kineret

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:56:00 +0000

Few last weeks were full of holidays and we had a lot of days for traveling. Though we used only half or even less of them, we really enjoyed the places we did visit. One of such sites was Lake Tiberius. We spent two days camping there. Lake Tiberius is a very popular tourist attraction, so I will not tell about it (I simply don't have anything intriguing to add to the well known facts about Sea of Galilee), but I want to show photos that I took at night and very early morning.

Night fishing and stunning view of city of Tiberius:

This is the same view just early in the morning:

P.S. Children slept much better in the tent than they usually sleep at home :))

More places to visit, find here.

Discover Israel: Salt Desert

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:04:00 +0000

There are a lot of places in our tiny country that are worth visiting though they don't appear in a tourist guide. I met my husband in one of those places, and we visited together many other stunning sites. We used to climb mountains and descend into caves which became almost impossible for us after our first child was born. It is quite a hot place even at winter, and at summer I can travel there only during the night hours, which makes it even more difficult for visiting with small children. Our dog Jarna also never had been at Judaean Desert.

This is why we were very happy when our friends organized a small BBQ between the salt rocks and invited us to join. It was late and we wisely decided to take only Liya with us :)
Jarna was mad about everything and galloped from one hill to another, but only in the morning I could really understand how high she had managed to climb. This view is zoomed in, since she was really far and I wanted to see her on the picture :)

Liya slept well in the tent (she is 2 month old here :)) Can you see her there?:)

In the early morning we walked towards the mountains while it was not too hot.

We spent the hot hours in a deep gorge with just enough shadow and even a small pond, where some of us could even swim :), others slept or climbed. Unfortunately not me this time :(

More places to visit, find here.

Toys guid for young parents

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:40:00 +0000

When my first son was born I actually knew nothing about baby toys, just nothing. I knew theoretically that little ones play ruffles, or may be some funny sounding toys, but nothing more. I was looking at the local baby stores and feeling completely lost in this sea of possibilities. I was overwhelmed by all those variations of small and big, cheap and expensive, natural and artificial toys. What will my son like? And more importantly what will be safe and educational for him? I guess most of the new parents are asking themselves the same questions I did.

Well, time passed and I understood that no one can really answer these questions since all children are different and some toys can be perfect for one and be useless for the other. A few tips from parents who have used the toy can really help. So this is what I am going to do in this and a few other publications - share our experience.

I want to start with our very new toy, since we've got it as an unexpected present from a very nice girl and also because both my children (3 years and 8 month) surprisingly love it very much. So we've got a pair of Waldorf wooden toys - man and women. I will not tell here about Waldorf's philosophy, since there is lots of info on internet. I will tell that the dolls are wonderful for the toddlers to play role games: you can tell a lot of stories using these dolls, my son is already telling such stories to me. As for my baby daughter - these dolls are perfect for her as well - wonderful size for her small arms and natural wood is safe for teething.

Oksana has a rich choice of the Waldorf toys in her store, she is not only selling the wooden toys, she sews amazing dolls and creates many other unique things. I am completely in love with her cute toys and planning to order the 'GROWN UP DOLL' for my daughter's first birthday :)

Ukrainian Borscht

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:45:00 +0000

The National Cuisine Week has ended. There were many yummy recipes and we decided to try them all. The first choice was Ukrainian Borscht as the dish which is simply enough for mom with small children but is also perfect for dinner. It is quite tricky to cook with two babies, since each one wants to participate in the process in his own manner. So we missed a few steps and ingredients on the way. Nevertheless the soup was wonderful and we will definitely try it once again and while paying more attention to the details.

Shakshouka

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Shakshouka is a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chilli peppers, onions and often spiced with cumin. You can read more about it here.
There are many different recipes to prepare it, but since I am lazy, I use mine which is very much simplified. My family like it and due to it's simplicity we are able to cook it even outside.
First you need to chop and fry till gold color a few onions (I usually take one small onion per portion, but I like fried onions and prefer to put as much as my family can tolerate). Season per your taste.
Next, chop and add tomatoes to the fried onions (take twice more than onions) then fry everything together till it gets soft.

Poach eggs. Season them per your taste.

Cover the pan and fry till the eggs reach the desired state.

National Cuisine Week

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 18:14:00 +0000

National Cuisine Week has started!

Rosh Ha Shana

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 17:36:00 +0000

When I came to Israel, I was fascinated by the amount of holidays here. I knew theoretically what Jewish holidays are, but didn't realize their impact on everyday life of the country. Much more further I counted the actual amount of non working days and understood that it is not that many, it is just that most of them are at fall and in spring. So it makes impression of almost not working season, especially when all the holiday days fall on working days of the week.
The first September holiday is Jewish New Year. I will not tell about it in depth, since all is written many times (for example, in Wiki). It was difficult to get used to the fact that you celebrate New Year somewhere in the middle of autumn, but I overcame it, and now I am fully enjoying these beautiful three days of eating apples dipped in honey, pomegranates and sounding the shofar.
For this coming 5773 year, I wish all of us one of the best greetings I've ever got:
I wish all of us peace in the soul and in the sky. Be happy.

Bulgaria - Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 18:54:00 +0000

Well, I will not tell much, I'll better show more pictures :)
This was the first day when we met the horses. It was supposed to be a 'short' day, but for us it seemed quite long.
We came to the stables and each one got his horse.

I got the only girl-horse named Mavra. She was beautiful :) and quite foolproof :)

During two amazing hours ride to the sea I couldn't take photos, since we left all the potentially 'can fall down' things in the truck.
Finally we arrived to a beautiful lagoon, where lunch had been already prepared for us. However, before we could fuel ourselves we had to take care of the horses. As we found out, horses should take a bath from time to time and that lagoon was an excellent place for a swim. You should know that in spite the fact that horses are good swimmers they do not enjoy the process as expected. So, together with the horses we changed to our bathing suits, meaning that we stripped them of all their bundle on the back: saddle, blanket etc.
Pay attention - we are riding without saddles like prehistoric men.

It is not simple without really knowing how to make the horse (which doesn't really like swimming) enter the water and not to fall down in the process.
Finally the horses were clean...which I can't say about the surrounding water :) - it was full of their excrements - I have already mentioned that horses don't like swimming, haven't I?
We left them to dry up in the sun in ankle deep water and went to feed ourselves. They didn't move an inch - only when their master called them to get out.

After the lunch break we had a wonderful trip back in the truck, while my parents rode the horses for the first time:)

Mavra is a stunning horse indeed... so calm :) She was only neighing sometimes when everybody else was galloping, but she had to walk, because my mother is afraid of fast pace.