Holiday Time in Boca

Thursday, December 6, 2012 – Holiday Time in Boca

Definitely not DC

Even with holiday lights in the palm trees, it’s hard to believe that it’s December.  Temperatures in the 70s when Hanukkah and Christmas are right around the corner?  I’m feeling a bit disoriented here in Boca Raton, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  It just reinforces the sense of being far from the DC area. 

It’s an interesting cultural experience.  I turned on the car radio to a Haitian station, yet in many ways, this part of Florida is reminiscent of Long Island, where I grew up.  Unlike in northern Virginia, you will find plenty of kosher-style delis around here.  Any time you feel like having a bowl of chicken soup with matzoh balls or a plate of blintzes, you’ll be able to satisfy your desire within a few minutes’ drive.  On Wednesday, I met up with some cousins from my mother’s generation at Ruven’s Deli in Delray Beach.  One look at the restaurant’s display case, with its array of sliced meats, fish, and salads, triggered a certain nostalgia for the foods of my childhood.    

While we studied the menu, the waitress set down one heaping bowl full of coleslaw and another one brimming with sour pickles.  Since I rarely eat meat, I wasn’t going to order a piled-high corned beef or pastrami sandwich on rye (although I briefly entertained the thought of getting a Reuben sandwich).  Cousins Sylvia and Shirley, both in their eighties, ordered identical lunches:  cold borscht with sour cream, and tongue sandwiches.  Yuck.  But I enjoyed the whitefish salad, a bowl of mushroom-barley soup and a few bites of a pickle.  And we all shared a plate of delicious rugelach for dessert.  

With cousin Sylvia at Ruven's Deli in Delray

Chilled borscht with sour cream and potatoes

Mmm - delicious rugelach

Not all of the food I ate during my visit was traditional Jewish food, however.  With Bryna, my aunt, I dined out at a Thai-Japanese restaurant and had an excellent Daimyo roll (tuna, salmon, hamachi, asparagus, avocado and roe).  And today, my last full day here in the Florida sun, Bryna and I treated ourselves to lunch at Seasons 52. I didn’t even have room for a mini-dessert by the time I finished up my arugula salad with portabella mushrooms, truffle oil vinaigrette, and Parmesan and the delightful autumn vegetarian sampler.  Perhaps I should explain that one of my goals here in Florida is to help Bryna put on a few pounds – without gaining any weight myself!  

Autumn vegetarian sampler at Seasons 52 in Boca

My aunt Bryna, stylish as ever, with Claudette

 

In order to maintain my weight, I’ve been trying to get some exercise everyday.  Friday morning I went out for an early nature walk.  Here’s my report:

Clouds – zero

Birds – 1 slender aquatic bird with a long narrow beak standing by the lake (a heron?); one zaftig (that’s Yiddish for quite plump) duck with a red face walking down the sidewalk; two white gulls flying high overhead

Palm trees – at least 300 (I had to stop counting)

Tennis players – a couple of dozen

Geckos – zero (do they sleep late?)

Humidity level – let’s just say that I call my new hairstyle the Florida-Fro

Elliott is managing just fine during my absence.  He was even invited over to have dinner with our neighbors (thank you, Pam and Bud).  When I spoke to him on the phone, it sounded like he was having a great time.  Maybe I should get away more often.