Shabbat Shalom

Today is Shabbat and we closed the site at 2 pm, and headed back to the hotel. Nissim invited us to his house for Shabbat dinner. It was lovely.

Hezy met us at the hotel and guided us to Nissim's house. His house is a contemporary Mediterranean style villa, concrete in construction, with a decorative concrete wall around the front of the house. The neighborhood seems affluent, and the homes seem very nice.

We knocked on the door, Nissim answered and invited us in. The greeting is "Shabbat Shalom". Nissim was a very gracious and generous host. He introduced us to his family, wife Betti, and three daughters, Michal, Anat, and I think Levit. All beautiful and warm. They seemed very pleased to be hosting us.

Our meal was nothing short of fabulous. We started with a traditional Jewish prayer, all of us wearing yamulkes (I was wearing the one that Cathy gave me - everyone loved it) that Nissim sung. His family chorused and sang along at various parts. The prayer was long, but Nissim said it beautifully and seemed to know it by heart.

The first course was multiple salads and dips, including two eggplant dishes - one a creamy type, and the other a sauted dish. There was a hummus dish that was a little spicy but very good, a sauce type tomato dish, and some steamed vegetables. And, of course, Nissim was filling our wine glasses at every opportunity.

What we thought was the main course happened to be the second course. It was a Mediterranean halibut type white fish that was very good. Also served was a calzone type dish with mushrooms. The crust was a little lighter than a calzone, and a little more flakey. More wine, also.

The main dish was then served and the presentation was terrific. Nissim's family must have worked all day to prepare the foods. There was a beef dish, meatballs, potatoes (Nissim made these), and some green beans. Everything was done just right and was delicious. I was stuffed. More wine.

And then, there was dessert. Some sort of ice cream that Hezy said is not made with milk, and a sesame cookie surrounded by excellent strawberries and kiwi. The cookie was similar to a shortbread cookie - dry and full of flavor. I think this would be good with an expresso.

After dessert, Nissim broke out some congac from Normandy France. It was rocket fuel. Anyway, being tired, I need to end this with still much to say about this evening. Suffice to say that the evening was wonderful.