Olive Days Bonus Materials
Have a drink, spin some songs, make a challah,
and prep for your book club or just a cozy night of reading.
Themed cocktail & zero-proof recipes, meal and snack ideas from the book, Rina's challah recipe, a bespoke playlist, and book club questions are all here.
To invite Jessica to your bookclub, click here.
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"It broke my heart to see the trees but not the fruit," she said.
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"Do you go through all of life looking for what's absent?" he asked and moved closer to her. He didn't smell like cigarettes or weed. He smelled only of olives, acrid and thick.
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2 oz. olive oil-washed vodka (see below)
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1 oz. Campari
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1 oz. fresh blood orange juice
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1 tsp. simple syrup
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Orange bitters
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Blood orange and kalamata olives, for garnish
In a shaker filled with ice, shake 2 oz. olive oil-washed vodka, 1 oz. Campari, 1 oz. fresh blood orange juice, and 1 tsp. simple syrup. Strain into a coupe, float a dash of orange bitters on top, garnish with a slice of blood orange and pitted kalamatas.
To fat wash the vodka: combine 10 oz. vodka with three tablespoons of your best olive oil in an air tight container, shake several times over the course of six hours, and freeze upside down, for at least 24 hours. Strain through double coffee filters quickly, before the oil can melt. Washed vodka is shelf-stable, but you might want to keep it in the freezer for extra-frosty drinks.
Other Olive Days Cocktails & Zero-Proof Drink
The Orchard
You couldn't pick fruit on Shabbos, but the orchard offered its gifts just the same. Mostly she gathered olives. There were only two olive trees, but they were old and fruited madly in the early summer...
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2 oz. gin or vodka
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1/4 oz. dry vermouth
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6 drops lemon bitters (or orange, if you must)
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Olive oil, fresh rosemary, and kalamatas for garnish
Stir gin, vermouth, bitters, and ice. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with several drops of olive oil, a sprig of rosemary, and olives.
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Rina's Slivovitz Old Fashioned
She had to clean the house, finish sewing costumes, print the delivery lists, then strain the plum brandy she put up after last year's Purim, so David could pass it around at shul. Her slivovitz was famous.
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3 oz. bourbon
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1/4 oz. plum brandy
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6 shakes plum bitters (or Angostura, if plum not readily available)
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1 tsp. simple syrup
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Cherry for garnish
Stir bourbon, brandy, bitters, and syrup with ice. Strain over ice cubes into a rocks glass. Garnish with a cherry.
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The Zero-Proof
Purple Stain (not pictured)
She rolled around a bit before she stood, the olives like beads in a massage chair, and then went back to her tent to strip off her shirt and examine the patterns of their purple juice.
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1 oz. lavender syrup (Torani, Monin, or homemade, see below)
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2 oz. club soda
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3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
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Fresh blueberries
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Basil, for garnish
In your serving glass, muddle a few blueberries (lightly mash them). In a stirring glass, mix lavender syrup, lemon juice, and ice. Strain into serving cup, top with club soda, mix lightly, and garnish with a generous sprig of fresh basil.
To make lavender simple syrup, mix one cup sugar, one cup water, and 1/2 cup food grade dry lavender flowers. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and immediately remove from heat. Let sit until cool, then strain out lavender. Store in a jar in the fridge for up to a month.
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Olive Days
To be fourteen again, singing under the stars at camp, white blouse mottled with purple, mind ripening, body like new fruit.
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2 oz. gin
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3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
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3/4 oz. simple syrup
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Olive oil and lemon peel for garnish
In a shaker, combine gin, juice, syrup, and plenty of ice. Shake well. Strain into coupe and garnish with six-to-nine drops of olive oil and a lemon peel.
Olive Days playlist
Curated by Jessica to get all the Olive Days vibes. Spin it in order as you read, or get chaotic and hit shuffle.
Book Club Questions
Click here to download the guide.
Rina's Challah Recipe
Shosh broke the eggs one at a time into a small bowl used only for that purpose, checked for any spots of blood, then slid each clean egg into the large wooden mixing bowl, the only treasure Rina had claimed when her grandmother died.
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Ingredients:
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2 oz. fresh yeast OR 4 packages dry yeast
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3-1/2 cups warm water
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3/4 cup white sugar
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1-1/2 tbls. salt
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1/4 tsp. turmeric
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13 to 14 cups flour
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6 eggs, slightly beaten
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1 cup oil
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1 egg yolk + 2 tsp. water, for glaze
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Method:
Yields 4 loaves, can be halved. Rina would separate (or "take") a one-ounce piece of dough before baking, say a blessing, and burn it like an offering in the back of the oven. Read more about the custom here.
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Dissolve yeast and one tsp. sugar in the warm water. Let sit for ten minutes. If it doesn't foam, throw it out and start again.
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Add the rest of the sugar, salt, turmeric, and half the flour. Mix well.
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Add the eggs and oil, then slowly stir in most of the remaining flour...humid climates will take more flour, dry climates less. Dough will become thick.
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Knead for ten minutes. Dough will be elastic and spring back when pressed. Click here for kneading tutorial.
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Place dough in a large oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for two hours, punching down after the first hour.
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Divide dough into four parts, and then divide each part into three equal parts and form into balls. Roll each ball into a rope, about 14" long.
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Braid each loaf from three ropes of dough, starting at the middle and working down one side, pinching the ends and tucking them underneath, then flipping the loaf and braiding the other half, finishing the same way. Click here for braiding tutorial (braiding from middle technique starts around 37 seconds). Place loaves in well-greased pans or on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Cover and let rise 45 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Whisk together the egg yolk and 2 tsp. water. Brush each loaf lightly with the glaze, being careful to get all surfaces but not let it pool at the seams.
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Place in oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 30 - 45 minutes, or until lightly browned and hollow sounding when you knock your knuckle on the bottom.
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Cool on wire racks.​​
Meal & Snack Ideas
From the Book
She didn't taste as she cooked. The recipes were from memory; they would taste the same as always, taste like Sukkot, like the dust on the Sana Ana winds that blew hot through the holiday.
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Sweets:
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Cheesecake
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Apple bread
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Hamentaschen (Purim cookies)
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S'Mores
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Almond cookies
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Donuts filled with homemade strawberry preserves
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Snacks:
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Skor bars and Diet Coke
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Persian cucumbers (!)
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Peaches (save the pits)
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Grapefruit
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Challah dipped in olive oil
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Burekas (filled pastries)
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Meals Ideas from the Book:
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Rina's weeknight dinner
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Chicken schnitzel
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Cucumber salad
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Fruit compote
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Rina's break-fast
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Cheese blintzes
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Bagel spread, with lox
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Road trip lunch
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Grilled cheese
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Pie
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Will cooks for Rina
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Sopa de ajo
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Home-griddled flour tortillas
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Pineapple
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A stew for Shabbat
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Vegetarian cholent
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Challah
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Rina's Purim Feast
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Lentil-and-tomato soup
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Stuffed turkey breast
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Butternut-squash-and-mushroom pot pie
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Green beans with pistachios and date syrup
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Three varieties of triangle-shaped hamantaschen pastries
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Slivovitz (plum brandy)
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Rina's eight days of Sukkot
(pick-and-choose)
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Tabbouleh
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Cold sesame noodles
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Corn salad
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Noodle kugel
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Squash soup
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Barley soup
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Zucchini fritters
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Tzimmes
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Broccoli pies
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Green salad
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Salt-cured salmon with dill
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Brisket
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Baked chicken
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Raisin challah
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Fruit compote
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Apple strudel
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A non-kosher mess
(at your own risk!)
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Spaghetti-Os
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Wonder Bread
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Spray cheese
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White cheddar
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Brie
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Sliced turkey
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Chicken salad
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Hot dogs
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Cookie dough ice cream
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Zinfandel