Cheesecake and Whipped Cream

What is this--like a million calories?

Rich cheese cake.

Whipped cream spilling unto the sides.

Chocolate and sugar topping. 

Your pants will never close again after this!  ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Cheesecake and Whipped Cream

Ah, German Chocolate Cake

Ah, that's not a bad looking German Chocolate Cake. 

Pecan, coconut, and chocolate frosting. 

Wouldn't mind some gooey fudge filing on the inside, a little more icing all around the outside, and some cherries on top.

 How can this be bad? ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Ah, German Chocolate Cake

Wedding Speech for Minna and Nafi

Blessed are you, Hashem our G-d, Sovereign of all, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.

Let me express today my complete joy and thanksgiving to G-d for bringing us to this sacred time, when we join the handsome chasan, Naftali (Nafi) Meles to my beautiful daughter, Michelle (Minna) Blumenthal.

I was blessed with my wife Dossy to have two absolutely beautiful and incredible daughters, Minna and Rebecca. All three of these women are the loves of my life and the apples of my eyes. They are beautiful outside of countenance and most importantly, inside in their neshamas (souls).

Now as well I must thank the Almighty for blessing me with two amazing sons, both after my namesake. My Hebrew name is Abraham Naftali, and 3 years ago we were blessed to have Itzchak from Israel come into our lives and marry my daughter, Rebecca and become a son unto me. If you remember in the Torah, Itzchak was the son of Avraham and also he married Rivkah (Rebecca).

And again, today, Hashem has shown me his blessings and mercy and brought Naftali into our lives to marry our daughter, Minna. My middle name is Naftali and again, I welcome my namesake Naftali Meles into our family as my second son.

So truly I am blessed and have so much to be grateful for, bli ayin harah, with now 2 lovely daughters and 2 wonderful sons.

Both Minna and Nafi are the mezinkahs, Minna in our family, the Blumenthals, and Naftali in the Meles family—the last child of each of our families to be married off, so this is a great and truly joyous occasion.

I want to tell you a little about Minna and Nafi today.

Minna is an incredible young woman. She is a deeply religious person with a heart of gold, who always looks to do right by Hashem and others. Minna is also thank G-d celebrating the completion of her Master’s Degree in Communications just a few months ago, in June, from Georgetown University and she has been working for Homeland Security, since she was just 16 years old. She has brought us so much nachas and please G-d this is just the beginning for many more accomplishments in her life.

Nafi, who I have come to know this last year, is an incredible young man. Nafi is a wonderful Jew who learns weekly with a Torah partner, and is dedicated to making a wonderful Jewish home with Minna. Just last month Nafi completed a highly prestigious internship with the Department of Defense, and is moving forward, please G-d, with his career ambitions as a permanent government employee and rising star. As many of you know, Nafi is also an accomplished drummer and he comes to us in Rockville with drum set and all. I think eventually they’ll need a bigger apartment.

Minna and Nafi are joining together today to build with G-d help a bayit ne’aman B’Yisrael, a lasting house in Israel. They have a wonderful love and understanding for each other and with Hashem as the 3rd partner in their marriage, I am confident they will be very successful in building their home and family.

I want to take the opportunity to thank the Meles family for having such a wonderful son as Nafi to share with Minna and us, and for joining our families together. I pray that Hashem will bless this beautiful loving couple with many, many years of health, joy, parnasa, and peace! And of course grandchildren for all of us! Amen!

I also want to thank each and every one of you for joining in our simcha today. Unfortunately Covid has limited the quantity of the attendees, but it allowed us to focus on the quality instead! Please G-d many more simchas with all of you in the future!

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Wedding Speech for Minna and Nafi

Let Them Eat Cake

Do we see and hear when people are hurting?

Do we pay attention or look away?

Do we even care?

Do we do anything about it?

As queen Marie-Antoinette said when told that her people were starving and had no bread, what did she say? 

Let them eat cake!  

Pray that we are better than that.  ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Let Them Eat Cake

Rainbow Cake :)

Rainbow cake is happy. 

Price is not bad for $3.99.

Calories are horrific at 750!

What happened to the broken blue part of the cake at the bottom--maybe that's where another 50 calories got lopped off. 

Anyway, it's Friday and I want to wish everyone a happy Rainbow Cake weekend and a Shabbat Shalom!

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Rainbow Cake :)

Worst Passover Cake Ever

So this has got to be the worst Passover cake ever. 

It's definitely not kosher for Pesach. 

Not only is it made from chametz, but it's shaped like a chazer (i.e. pig) too.

This thing would be conceptually treyf even on the best of non-Passover days. 

Does it have lard too? 

I don't know for sure, but would it really be a pig cake if it didn't!

This lousy cake doesn't even have an ounce of chocolate in it--have you ever heard of a genuine dessert that tastes like the calorie count it adds up to be without chocolate? 

I've heard of the callous calling people a pig for eating too much cake and being fat, but making the oink oink face directly on the cake itself--and on Passover--is not only insulting, but at $28.95, it's overpriced too. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Worst Passover Cake Ever

Chocolate Turkey Delight

So this is the kind of dessert turkey that will sweeten your Thanksgiving dinner.

Gobs and gobs of white, milk, and dark chocolate.

And they actually shaped it all like a turkey.

Sort of cute, but also sort of sugary disgusting, no?

Generally, I'm not a huge fan of eating turkey either.

Maybe when they boil it in oil, and it's cooked through and through, it actually comes out juicy and not so bad.

But give me a nice piece of beef, and I'll be your pal forever!

A colleague who was a veterinarian and worked inspecting meat plants overseas told me some things about the cleanliness though that made my skin crawl.

"The cleanliness outside of the U.S. is WAY DIFFERENT than here!"--and not in a good way.

Even in places that do maintain clean facilities and healthy animals, the way that "they make the sausage" sounded so unappetizing.

It made me think of all those PETA and other commercials that show the chickens and other caged birds in those crowded and filthy (and diseased) conditions...even aside from the cruelty, it's enough to make you cringe.

He said they mash the meat until it's like just a pink paste that gets shot into the tubes for hot dogs and things like that.

"It looks disgusting!"

Also, they put parts of the animal in that are basically leftover meats from the head and other parts of the animal that did NOT sound desirable at all. 

I'm thinking to myself...FROM THE HEAD.

Uh, no more hot dogs for me, thank you.

I think that I'll stick with a nice steak or burger or something KOSHER and palatable.

You can have your turkey and your sausage and eat it, but not me! ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Chocolate Turkey Delight

Tie Dye Cake

This is a fun cooking experience.

We're making tie dye cake.

It's not yet done--just went into the oven.

Frosting and sprinkles are also on the way. 

In 30 minutes we'll have a very colorful dessert. 

And yum!  ;-)

(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)

Tie Dye Cake