Vegetarian Cooking at Zafririm

Saturday 13 July

Today we drove up to Zafririm, a small village in the hills where Sherry and Vernon are kind enough (and have warehouse space enough) to store our excavation's artifacts, put up tables and shadecloths for us to work at, and let us live in the trailer their daughters usually share.  Zafririm means "breezes," of which there are few to moderate the intense heat. 

That evening Holt cooked his heart out for the six of us (including one cranky vegetarian) and Vernon: in the outdoor oven, which the various yard kittens kept trying to jump into, he baked little acorn squash halves stuffed with fresh figs.  

He also made ratatouille using bay leaves off the tree and rosemary from the bush and tomatoes off the vine; and a dessert of sautéed apples and the fresh, giant, extra-sweet mulberries that Vernon picked off his giant tree this morning. 

All this was received and eaten with barely a thank you, as if we were still at the steam table at the sports center.  So much for making an effort.