On cottage cheese and other recent phenomena

[This blog is dedicated to my niece, Talia, who stayed with us for 5 weeks and who we are now starting to miss]

Well the cottage cheese prices went down but that hasn’t stopped the protests. We haven’t joined them as our rent hasn’t gone up, but it’s still unebelievably expensive to live in this country.
Fruit is still expensive in the supermarkets, despite it being high summer with glorious weather. I just don’t get it. Somebody must be profiting hugely from those of us who cant get to the markets. Local amenities are expensive, despite our high taxes.

Every week, I read about people drowning in the kinneret and beaches. It’s a small country yet the drownings are a regular feature in the paper. Perhaps its something to do with the fact that costs so much money to go to a beach with a lifeguard! [see last blog] Swimming lessons are a small fortune round here. [and hard to find for kids under 5]. Entrance to the public pool for a quick swim is also pricey.

On a brighter note [te], one of the advantages of coming here is the abundance of affordable dairy produce. Back in the old country, I pretty much stopped buying cheese when Husband stopped working. Once a month I purchased some hideously expensive block of “cheddar” to use for emergencies but we basically avoided the stuff. It became a “treat”. And the cottage cheese really wasn’t all that. Here, it’s really tasty, affordable and easy to understand why israelis love the stuff.

Thing is, old habits die hard, and I often forget that I can give my family cheese as part of a quick dinner, and so after a week I find it, lurking in my fridge, about to go out of date. This was what happened last week, and so I was forced to create dinner from the dregs of my fridge.

I must say, it came out rather well. Shame my niece is no longer with us, she rather liked pancakes.

[If you are interested, recipe below]

Cottage Cheese and Lime Pancakes

[I think you could get about 15 out of this amount, but don’t shoot me if its more/less.]

1 pot 5% Tara Cottage cheese
A big dollop of that 5% israeli “cream cheese”
Half a cup of milk
2 eggs, beaten
Juice and rind of 2 limes
Spoonful of sugar [optional]
teaspoon baking powder
Plain flour

butter and oil for pan

Mix ingredients, add enough flour to make a thick[ish] consistency. Heat pancake pan, melt butter and a drop of oil to stop it burning, drop on big spoonfuls of the mixture and flip when golden. Serve with butter, honey, jam. Or if you want to be really israeli, with Silan [date honey].