Take-aways? General Chat

There are only a couple of places in the area who will deliver a take-away. On is good and strictly Kasher but it is mainly some sort of pasta with a creamy sauce. Nice but too rich for me.

The other is Domino's but there is a problem in that [1] I do not like pizza and [2] they are not Kasher. However they do do very good salad bowls [everything done after you call] but it really is not summer weather yet.

So, for ages now, since I first "found" my lovely driver David, I would sometimes call him and ask him to please get me schwarma. Not in a pitta but just a load of schwarma meat in a container, plus another container of tomato and cucumber salad, plus loads of various small containers of pickles - whatever.

I do not indulge often but sometimes I really fancy something and there is nothing in my freezer I fancy, so I call David and he will go and get for me.

Only none of the schwarma places work on a Friday because of Shabbat so everything closes early and the schwarma places do not open because of that. However David discovered a place, only open on a Friday, where they cook fresh - not sure what, but I said OK, please get me whatever you think I would like. I believe they have a place maybe in or near Tel Aviv but come to Ashqelon on Fridays.

So he did and he does. I am still trying to work out what he says they have - I am not sure if he even knows, but this morning he bought for me four different types of fish - not fried but oven cooked - not sure but one being tuna and one salmon, both with a tomato sauce and sweet red peppers, one with chickpeas and one with split blanched almonds - not sure what the other two were but hey ho, shove'em in the freezer. I could have had some fried fish but prefer this type. Maybe next week? And six or eight containers of salads. Avocado. Egg. Sweet potato. Chopped liver [?] coleslaw, beetroot - and I think something else. Dunno - just shoved those in the refrigerator - each one about 400g which is more than it sounds. Oh, and they gave him a half size twisted Challa [Shabbat loaf] which they did not put on the bill.

OK, so I have to pay him for his time and delivery - he is a taxi driver and does have to earn a living, but this morning's delicious lot, including paying him for time and delivery, cost me all of ~£44 and the fish will be enough for nearly a week. I do rather like fish - especially if I do not need to cook it!

I have no idea where they are or what else they have, but it is all fresh cooked on site and David said the queues can be really heavy so he goes early.

I would love to go there and see what they have, and if they were there more than just once a week I doubt I would ever cook again! Maybe next week I will ask David to double up on the fish!

Lazy? Who me? Not really but I only have so many spoons each day [that is a disabled expression which I will explain if anyone is interested] so if I can save a few and enjoy what someone else has just cooked for me, why not?

You do not like pizza? That's a first. Now I will say that Dominos pizza isn't very good but it's okay if you get at least 3 toppings.

No, nothing can beat a good curry! I don't think I order a delivery very often (can't afford it too often) but nevertheless they recognise my voice when I ring up!

And yes - please explain the spoon thing Malka!

OK - spoons. I am trying to remember the exact explanation but this should do. It is a disabled saying. We start each day with a handful of spoons. Each thing we do another spoon is taken away. A spoon is like energy. So each spoon used takes away that energy.The spoon theory is a disability metaphor used to explain the reduced amount of energy available for activities of daily living and productive tasks that can result from disability or chronic illness.

Spoons are a sort of measurement used to work out how much energy you have throughout a given day. Each activity requires a given number of spoons, which will only be replaced as the person "recharges" through rest. A person who runs out of spoons has no choice but to rest until their spoons are replenished.

If I can give a personal example. It takes me a number of spoons to even get up in the morning - everything I do needs spoons. Even getting undressed/washed/showered/dressed again takes spoons.

I apologise - it is such a common expression to me that frequently ABs will not understand it.

So, when, as this morning David brought me all that delish fish and those salads, it not only saved me spoons to cook for today, but three more days of delish fish now in the freezer for another spoonless day.

I am still not sure if I have explained myself properly but I hope you understand what I have tried to explain.

I don't like pizza or curry so I guess I'm doomed

Never come across that before. Thank you for explaining it - you learn something new every day!

No you are not. I really dislike pizza and Dominos are only good for me for their salads, which even though are just salad - usually Greek - are great although not really permitted as Dominos are not Kasher.

As for curry - there is no curry house [or Chinese] or actually anything that delivers, apart from Dominos and I only ever want their salads, so I rely on David to bring me schwarma and now the Friday fish and salads. I do not even know if there is a curry or Chinese place in town. Maybe but it has been such a long time since I have been in town, or off the Moshav for that matter.

OK I have to pay David but if I went into town to buy a ready-cooked meal it would cost me the same for the taxi fare. Let him do the purchasing for me and then deliver it!

Okay in defense I absolutely hate curry. I also hate salad but can eat it. I guess everyone likes something different!

My OH doesn't know how I don't starve . I hate cheese, tomato, salad and most veg (exception of peas and carrots.

I'd never make it if I went veggie - much as I'd love to if I could find enough to eat without meat.

Vegetables are limited at the macolet, even frozen ones [apart from peas and carrots, ugh] so I call Avner, who had the previous lease on the macolet, and he will bring me whatever I want. Fresh or frozen. He no doubt makes a profit on what he supplies but at least he does not charge for delivery, Well, he lives round the corner!

It is like the chicken/turkey I got for Pereg and now for Tikva. The people who have the stall in the market live up the road so I telephone, say what I want, and Mikhaël delivers it on his way home.

In a way it is like shopping online except I just telephone whoever I want things from, and apart from the basic fruit and vegetables the macolet has just about everything else I need. AFAIK two of the large supermarkets do online shopping but I cannot make head nor tail of their websites. And in any case I know what I want and where to get it from. Or rather who to ask to get and bring to me.

Dominos? Their salad bowls are very fresh - made up when you telephone and even though I do not indulge that often they know that I do not want too much onion and prefer more cherry tomatoes - same price. And that bowl of salad lasts two, sometimes three days. They do not charge for delivery but the order must be at least 50 shekalim. As the salad is 35 shekalim I usually add what they call garlic bread - which is actually a small puffy pizza with garlic on it which cuts into four pieces. And that takes it to ~£12 which I do not think excessive for two days or three good summer meals. Especially with the amount of cheese that they put on top of their Greek salads.

There is no accessible public transport on the Moshav and before Pereg developed epilepsy she would go to the Pension for a few hours day care while I went either downtown or to one of the big shopping centres, taking my little scooter in the back of the taxi. This was before I knew David. But since then I do not go off the Moshav so I use all my male helpers to get what I want.

I reckon the funniest is getting Nir to buy [and deliver] Pereg's freezer, and then a new microwave oven.

I miss Kentucky fried chicken...you have to drive miles and miles to get it here...Oh and proper fish and chips, OMG...not fare.. miss this food so much even though I know its not good for you...

@Andrew Sheldon - way back in another life and another country there were a number of fish and chip places - all good but two were ultra yummy. All were around the same price but these two were really special. And I miss them.

I have never tried KFC - never come across it, and plain burgers are boring but although we do have MacD and Burger Ranch, they do not do cheeseburgers [Kashrut - no mixing milk and meat] and I have no idea what they actually do have, but it sounds boring.

I am more than happy with what David gets for me on a Friday now. Maybe one time he will pick me up and take me there so I can see what they have, but for the moment he has never let me down with what he gets.

He is like the younger brother that I never had.

Same here! We had a KFC open in our nearest city last year, but that's a 60 km drive from where I live! Surprisingly enough although it's not take away, even though I'm in Hungary I can always buy most of the French food I like from Auchan also in the city. -

Yesterday in Tesco I bought some Bassets Liquorice Allsorts and a jar of orange marmalade and my most unlikely purchase was some Garam Flour to make myself some Bhajie.

The thing I miss most though apart from the fish and chips is my South African curry and biryani!

We've got tons of fish and chip shops here (seaside town), but you need a second mortgage to buy 'em these days. KFC is a bit suspect here as there have been a couple of health issues. A new one is due to be opened next year, but hopefully it will be a bit more hygienic than the present one - again second mortgage needed to eat there. We do have McD's of course and we also have lots of lovely little cafes that have good food at far better prices.

This morning we had a full English - bacon, egg, sausage, beans, tomatoes and toast with a cup of tea or coffee for £3.79 each. We go every day and never fail to enjoy it

One of the nice things about staying in a hotel in Hungary is that the majority serve an English breakfast, usually bacon, eggs, frankfurter sausage and saute potatoes. Not quite the same as you get in the UK, but nevertheless acceptable.

Over here you can buy bacon rashers from any supermarket and it's what I call "proper" bacon not like the stuff you seem to get in the UK these days that contains lots of water and tends to stew in the frying pan instead of frying crisply.

South African curry huh, never heard of that one...sounds tasty, I love a good curry..

By the way, I have never commented on the hard core winter weather and all the problems it gave you...Seems like you needed Husky's and a sledge for the most part. It must have been so difficult to cope with and such a different environment, but it seems like you have some wonderful neighbours who gave you support..
Spring is pretty much upon us all now so we all have a lot to look forward to..

OMG...you are just showing off now....Full English every morning....hmmm.. not fair..

David seems a very kind person...You are very lucky....

@Andrew Sheldon - David is a very special guy - I think he is maybe a very young 60? I gave him my Health Fund card on Friday so he could get my March chronic meds, also my hole-in-the-wall card as I needed some cash. And he woke me this morning by telephoning and singing Happy Birthday!

Lucky? I have various people who do various work for me - each one recommended by the one before. David was different - Pereg was having a diabolical seizure. Not a Grand Mal but a sort of focal/weird/totally wrong seizure which was going on for about three hours, and I could not get a taxi to come and take us to the surgery. A young couple who rented a little house the other side of my neighbour, both having cars, refused to take us to the surgery in town. And someone, I have no idea who, called David who came and took us because I had gone into the road and flagged down someone. And whoever it was, called David for me. I think it must have been in 2011 or 2012 - but I have known and loved him since then.

He loved Pereg - and she loved him - and of course he has known little Tikva since she was a tiny puppy and it is another love fest when she sees him!

I know this is a rather old thread [not as old as I am though] but Amit, my optician, had to come to collect a pair of spectacles which something was not right. And before he telephoned me to say he would be here once he had taken his son to school, he asked me if he could get any Shabbat food for me. Apparently not the same place that David gets, and will still get when I ask him - this is another place somewhere in town.

I do not think I will need to cook for a month now!

But I think I need another refrigerator!