The 17th of Tammuz - Repairing the Breach

I've made some progress looking for Uncle Jack. It's not very pretty and somewhat chilling.

I was never able to learn Uncle Jack's real story. Grandma said he "fell in with a bad lot." I think my father told me Jack's father wanted nothing to do with him but that Aunt Lil kept in touch with him in the 1930s.

Uncle Jack was arrested in Boston when he was young. Drove a car in a robbery, which he claimed he was not connected with.

In 1930, he was living with a wife and stepson in NY.

I found the stepson who died in 2005. His widow spoke to someone who is helping me, and said that he grew up in an orphanage and then on the streets before he joined the Navy.

This stepson had a son, who is not mentioned in his obituary.

That's three generations - father estranged from son, stepfather estranged from stepson, father estranged from son.

In a letter to the stepson's widow I wrote:
I think that, if my great-grandfather Mandel had everything to live over, he would have tried to find a way to reconcile with his son, and that in some way I am carrying the desire to make some healing of this breach.

Today, the 17th of Tammuz commemorates the day the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem. Only today I realized that when we gave Sasha the middle name Yakov, we were also naming him after Uncle Jack (Jacob) Pezrow/Pesarevsky.

Jackson Browne - the best!

I got up this morning and was thinking of this Jackson Browne song. Thank G-d for Google - otherwise I would have had to remember the words myself!

It's a little maudlin, but if you know the music, you might like it. And this youtube is awesome!


Your Bright Baby Blues by Jackson Browne

I'm sittin' down by the highway
Down by that highway side
Everybody's goin' somewhere
Ridin' just as fast as they could ride

I guess they got a lot to do
Before they can rest assured
Their lives are justified
Pray to God for me, babe, he can let me slide

Well, I've been up and down this highway
Far as my eyes can see
No matter how fast I run
I can never seem to get away from me

No matter where I am
I can't help thinkin', I'm just a day away
Where I wanna be
Now I'm runnin' home, baby
Like a river to the sea

Baby, if you could see me
Out across this wilderness
There's just one thing
I was hopin' you might guess

Baby, you can free me
All in the power of your sweet tenderness
Yeah, yeah

I can see it in your eyes
You've got those bright baby blues
You don't see what you've got to gain
But you don't like to lose

You watch yourself from the sidelines
Like your life is a game
You don't mind playin', to keep yourself amused
I don't mean to be cruel, babe
But you're lookin', confused

Baby if you can hear me
Turn down your radio
There's just one thing
I want you to know

When you've been near me
I've felt the love
Stirrin' in my soul, yeah, yeah, yes I have

It's so hard to come by
That feeling of peace
This friend of mine said
"Close your eyes
And try a few of these"

I thought I flyin' like a bird
So far above my sorrow
But when I looked down
I was standin' on my knees

Now I need
Someone to help me
Someone to help me, please

Baby, if you need me
Like I know I need you
There's just one thing
I'll ask you to do

Take my hand and lead me
To the hole in your garden wall
And pull me through, pull me through

Fruit upside down cake

So I think the thing to do with too soft or too sour fruit like plums these days is to make an upside down cake. I've been experimenting with this.

I've been using a glass pie dish, which is probably a mistake. I think it covers too much area, so the cake is not deep enough. OTOH, it's a nice shape. Maybe an 8" round cake pan would be better.

Cover the bottom with whatever fruit you want. If the fruit is sour, sprinkle it with sugar and also cinnamon if you want.

Make the cake - today I used
1 and 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
sift together

mix separately
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter or oil
1/2 cup milk (use juice if you want)

Add wet to dry and mix. Spread on the fruit. Cook at 400 for 25 minutes until cake is done.

Alen said this was not as good as last time, when I made it with butter. This week I used oil. But I think last week I used a different cake batter like this:

3 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter or oil
no milk

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

And baked at 350 for more time - about 40-45 minutes.

If you try either way, let me know how it turns out.