Happy, Joyous Carbs!

Breakfast today was awesome, and hopefully the start of an annual tradition.  We had two different kinds of quiche, noodle kugel, HOT CHOCOLATE, French toast with real maple syrup, fruit salad and a whole bunch of other stuff.  Everything was home-made and everything looked super delicious.  Rabbi Levy, Amy Dattner Levy and Linda Cohn-Rosenberg put on a sing-a-long and sang, among other things, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and "Happy, Joyous Chanukah."  What could be better than carbs, music, and friends?  Join us in January, folks, for another great meal.

A little holiday sing-a-long, with

Rabbi Levy, Amy Dattner Levy, and Linda Cohn-Rosenberg

Anna (in her Chanukah sweater) and Leslie

at the breakfast dessert table. 

Arlene and Orianna dishing out the main courses.

The blessed volunteers,

with ET-in-Chief Bonnie Leshin at the center

(in apron).  Thank heaven for them.

Rabbi Levy (on right) and Bill have a chat.

Breakfast on Sunday at Etz Hayim is going to be great.

We are ready for Breakfast tomorrow.  French toast, eggs, quiche, hot chocolate, fruit salad.  It's going to be great so please join us!

Etz's Elijah's Table in December is a Breakfast!

We are trying something different this year.  We're having breakfast at Etz Hayim Synagaogue for our December Elijah's Table:   real eggs, real quiche, real french toast, real goodies.  Please join us!

Thank you for Thanksgiving.

Thank you to all the folks who contributed to the Community Meals Network Thanksgiving Day meal -- those who peeled and chopped in advance, who helped with getting out the notices, who cooked and served on the day of the event, and who attended.  It was wildly successful.  We are thankful.

Salvation Army Lt. Kathryn Mayes, DECOFT senior warden Maggie Mackie-Ciancio,
and Salvation Army Lt. Kathryn Bender were three people at the heart of the effort this year.

A wonderful crowd.

Free Thanksgiving Day Dinner on Thanksgiving!

Go Fund Me!

I am excited to announce the "Go Fund Me" page that the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration and Etz Hayim have set up together to raise money for Elijah's Table, a joint project of our interfaith campus that provides free meals to the public. Please contribute, if you can, and please spread the word on your FB page. It would be GREAT if this could "go viral," and we could raise enough money to continue to provide FREE and delicious dinners to those in need for the next year or two. Here is the link: 
https://www.gofundme.com/fundelijahstablefreemeals.

Photos from today's meal:

Santa Claus came to town!

Folks posing for this snap shot.

The Etz Restaurant: Great food, great customers, and a great staff.

What a fabulous meal tonight at the "Etz Restaurant":  Pizza, veggie lasagna, salad, brocoli, zucchini, and dessert.  So much good food, so many wonderful customers.  And, thankfully, new volunteers to help us spread the cheer.  A million thanks. 

One of our new volunteers.

Three new volunteers, including the youngest!
What does the baby contribute, you ask?  Smiles, of course!

Lovely ladies.

Handsome men.

"Gorgi" salad.

Veggie Lasagna is a Hit.

Bonnie made vegetable lasagna for August's ET at the synagogue and it sounds as though it was a huge hit.  (I was out of town, so, sadly, didn't have the opportunity to chow down.).  We're having pizza and lasagna in September.  I hope you'll join us.

The chef.

We always have greens.

Get on board for the best food in town.

"Give me a L, give me an E, give me a S, give me a H, give me an I, give me N: what does it spell? FABULOUS!"

Well, the Leshins did a fabulous job on Sunday assuming control over the synagogue's Elijah's Table.  Even without a caterer, they managed to put on a delicious meal of tuna, egg, pasta, and garden salads, fresh fruit, cheese, and cake.  Yum!

"Thumbs up" for a great meal!

The remarkable couple, the Leshins.

Give me a "V" for "Victorious" and "Volunteers."

We are so grateful for you!

I am blessed.

It was an awesome evening.  After saying both the HaMotzi and Grace (the two lovely ladies in the top photo helped), we had pizza from Sal's, which they kindly provided to us at a huge discount (http://www.sals-pizza.com/locations/derry-nh), and three kinds of ice cream from Moo's, which they gave us for free (http://www.moosplace.com).  My grand-daughter (the gorgeous princess-looking person in the last picture) sang two songs (Colors of the Wind and When I Was Your Man), and got lots of applause.  Everyone got to watch me cry.  I am truly blessed.  

We said both the HaMatozi and Grace--and were honored by a special from-the-heart prayer

by the lovely woman in the striped shirt.

Rich helped serve the delicious pizza from Sal's.  We had salad, too.

Bill always wants to be next to the prettiest woman in the room

(my grand-daughter in red).

Pizza Party this Sunday!!!

We're having a pizza and ice cream party at Etz Hayim this Sunday for our Elijah's Table.  Come join the fun!

Blue skies, pink shirts: Sunday May 21 at Elijah's Table.

It was another great day at Elijah's Table, as illustrated in the pictures below.  Please join us at the synagogue on June 25 (not our usual 3rd Sunday, because that will be Father's Day), when we will be serving pizza and ice cream from Moo's.  And enjoy a great Father's Day.  DCOFT's Elijah's Table will be held, as usual, on the second Sunday of the month.  

Pretty in Pink #1.

Pretty in Pink #2

More lovely ladies.

The girl with the ice cream.



Have a Happy Easter, Everyone!

I hope you all have a Happy Easter - or a Good Passover.  Elijah's Table will be serving at the Church of the Transfiguration on Sunday, April  9.  There will be no Elijah's Table at Etz Hayim Synagogue on the 16th, because that will be Easter.  We at EHS will see you in May.  And check out the other free meals available in the area on the right-hand side of this page.

Enjoy the holidays!

The value of a good "thank you."

Our lovely leader-for-the-day set a joyous and grateful tone for the evening by commenting on the beautiful weather,
noting that tomorrow is the first day of Spring, and
reciting the "Shehecheyanu" before the prayer for bread,
thanking G-d for "giving us life, sustaining us, and enabling us to reach this special day."  

This guy thanked us for a good meal,
and a bag of cookies to take home. 

I thanked these guys for having such great photogenic beards.

These ladies praised our leader-for-the-day for her wise comments and great voice.

And we all must give special thanks to our indispensible volunteers.

Thanks for the kisses.

The unseasonably warm weather brought out a great big crowd and, thank goodness, because we had a TON of food:  eggplant parmesan, baked ziti, mac and cheese, broccoli, and and assortment of green beans (sesame green beans, green beans with baby tomatoes, and garlicy green beans), plus cake for dessert. And just in case all of that wasn't quite enough, we gave out chocolate kisses. Please join us in March.

Lots of people waved for kisses.

"I'll have as many kisses as you'll give me."

 

Thanks for the kisses.

They wore their Valentine's Day colors.

Even big, burly guys love a kiss.

We're honored!

Today, Elijah's Table received a donation from the Exchange Club of Salem in support of our free meals program.  It was a huge honor for us to receive this donation, which will be shared by Etz Hayim Synagogue and the Derry Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration and used to support our joint meals program.  And we are honored every month when you choose to have dinner with us.  Remember: the church generally serves its Elijah's Table dinner on the second Sunday of the month, and the synagogue generally serves dinner on the third Sunday of the month.  Please regularly check the list of free meals, on the right-hand side of this page.

See you soon!

And many thanks to the Exchange Club. 

From left to right:  Maggie Mackie-Ciancio, Senior Warden of DCOFT's Vestry,
Dina Michael Chaitowitz, VP of  EHS's Board of Directors,
and Stephanie Daniels, Secretary, Salem, NH, Exchange Club.

A cup of kindness.

I love this picture, which my friends sent me from Elijah's Table while I was out of town, missing the January festivities.  They wanted to fool me into thinking that things were falling apart without me, but of course they weren't:  In addition to eggplant, they served lasagna and salad, and they held a sing-a-long to "Auld Lang Syne" and Harry Belafonte's "Day-O" song.  Sounds delicious AND fun.

Please join us next month, when we "take another cup of kindness."