Oh, puh-lease

Really? "Few and bad were my years"? Really? First of all, I don't know what more can a person ask for. A life of adventure, romance, wealth and progeny. True, no TV or iPhone. But other than that, Ya'akov was as blessed as can be expected and then some.

Let's look at the things that made his life "bad":
 
1. He had to run away from home to save himself from Esav. A. And whose fault was that? B. How would he have met the love of his life otherwise?
2. Rachel died in childbirth. This, might I remind you, was a common occurrence in those days. It's tragic, yes, but people have faced greater tragedies and did not grow so bitter.
3. His sons were a bunch of wild hooligans. Whose fault is that? Had he been a better father, he would have had a better control over them.
4. Yosef was believed to have died. OK, that is horrible. Agreed. But at the time of Ya'akov saying his life was short and bad, he had just been reunited with his son. Shouldn't he be giddy with joy?

How about the "short" part of the complaint? Isn't life measured in quality more than quantity? And anyway, when he gave that answer, he was not dead yet. In fact, he lived for 17 years more after that. True, his father and grandfather lived longer. But who in their right mind would want their lives? Not having a child until super old age and then being asked to kill him? Being offered as a sacrifice by your own dad? Ya'akov had an joyful, easy life in comparison.  What's to complain about?

The truth is, I can relate. Not only was he Jewish (i.e. master complainer,) but he had spent his life moaning and groaning, never noticing the blessings in his life and instead concentrating on the obstacles. I am exactly like that. I've been fighting my nature for years now, trying to acknowledge my many blessings and ignore the aggravations. Some days I even manage to be happy for a moment or two. But mostly I complain. And, really, there is always something to complain about since life is never perfect. And, as everyone knows, I was promised a perfect life. Wish I could take it back and get a refund. 

Anyway, Sunday we visited my friend Debbie's house. We had a cooking competition. Guess who won? Guess who complained before, during and after the competition? Debbie's daughter, Tzipora, called me "a sore winner." That's Ya'akov, right there. He got the birth right, the blessing, the beautiful wife, the 12 sons, the riches and he still isn't happy. 

Happiness comes from within, obviously. Yitzchak was calm and happy with his life. Yosef left behind slavery and jail and acknowledged his excellent position. Moshe was humble and uncomplaining (well, most of the time.) Ya'akov had every reason to consider himself blessed. But there must have been something inside him (like there is inside me,) that prevented him from being happy. That made him always find the bad stuff, the annoying things, the misery in every situation. Sometimes I feel for the poor guy. Then I get annoyed with his whining. Because, after all, I, too, am the type to find fault in everything.

Here's the dish that won the competition. It was a collaboration of my cooking prowess, my oldest daughter's knack for combining things that do not seem as if they can be combined but turn out even better than expected, and my youngest daughter's flare for building and organizing unique arrangements.

I can't give you exact amounts. We were in a cooking frenzy and made things up as we went along:


Finding-the-good-in-everything fruit and yogurt parfaits


Mix together in a baking pan: 1 bag of frozen chopped rhubarb, 1 bag of frozen strawberries (chop them a bit), 1 can of drained peaches (chopped), sugar, and flour (I don't know how much. You've made things like that before, haven't you? The sugar is to taste, the flour is to thicken things up a bit.)

In a small bowl mix together flour, brown sugar, a handful of finely chopped walnuts and cinnamon. Rub in cold butter until it looks like wet sand. Again, no idea about amounts. You need enough to loosely cover the fruit in the pan and it should taste good. Play around with it.

Spread the flour/butter mixture evenly over the fruit in the baking pan and bake at 375F  until the topping is a bit browned (I'm guessing here, the oven temperature kept changing as people added things and took other dishes away and I just judged the readiness of the dish by the color of the topping. 30 minutes?)

Mix plain (non fat is fine) Greek yogurt with sugar until it's sweet enough to please you.

Layer yogurt in serving glasses (you want dishes that are see-through), add a hefty spoonful of the fruit bake, top with more yogurt and sprinkle with some cinnamon sugar (or maybe just cinnamon, I was not around for that part.)






And then, try not to complain about the fact that I am giving out a recipe with almost no measurements, and concentrate on how good this is. Wish I could do the same, but I am too much Ya'akov's descendant to get by without complaining. 

Still, it's the effort that counts. I hope.