It’s hard to find that perfect gift for the high school or college graduate — something personal and thoughtful but also useful. It’s even harder for distant relatives and friends of the graduate.
Cash and gift certificates can be a tad too impersonal (albeit useful), but you don’t want to break the bank. Whether buying for a high school or college grad, here’s a list of unisex gifts under $50 sure to make the grads give caps off to you:
Quad Camera
Accoutrements’ Quad Camera takes four pictures per click, creating four segment images that capture motion. The prints from this camera are great for creating kitschy wall art for apartments or dorms. This plastic no-flash camera uses standard 35-mm film. You can find this cute little camera at ZGallerie stores. ” target=”_blank”>koshergiftbaskets.com. $14.95.
Traveler’s Journal
This brown traveler’s journal is the perfect size to tote on graduation trips and record adventures and memories along the way. It lies flat so it can be written in easily, and refill sheets can be purchased. ” target=”_blank”>www.swissarmy.com. $16.
Tassel Photo Frame
Let the grad keep a reminder of the special day with this photo frame with tassel keeper. The frame has a space for a 4 x 6 photo and a cardholder and enough white space around the photo for friends and relatives to sign. ” target=”_blank”>www.amazon.com. $19.95.
Crate and Barrel Beach Chair
Grads are ready for a little rest and relaxation after graduation. Heck, they’ve earned it. This Maui Beach Chair lets grads catch some rays and relax comfortably in this comfortable padded chair with foam headrest.
The steel-framed chair adjusts to three positions for comfortable reading and tanning. It comes with an easy-carry shoulder strap so it can be taken anywhere from the back yard to the beach. Available in sky blue, cherry red and citrine yellow. ” target=”_blank”>www.target.com. $29.99.
Touro Teardrop Mono
This minitravel backpack is the ideal backpack for the graduation “I’m off to find myself” trip. This one-strap adjustable pack is dual density, with padded foam to keep out moisture from summer showers. With a built-in pocket and U-shaped front, it comes seven of colors — from candy pink to sky blue. ” target=”_blank”>www.william-sonoma.com. $49.95.
Jewelry artist Gail Goldin grew up immersed in Jewish culture and scrap metal, a combination that helped inspire her Modern Myths collection.
She comes by this unusual convergence of influences through her father, Steven Goldin, a freedom fighter in Poland who helped fellow Jews escape over the Alps during World War II, before building his own business in the U.S. scrap-metal industry. The family belonged to an Orthodox shul in Detroit, although they weren’t Orthodox.
When Goldin put this all together — stirring in some life experience and a fascination with universal spiritual symbols from world cultures — she first made silver rings adorned with carved Asian good-luck beads called netsukes. Out of these rings came the idea for her Modern Myths collection. Several Modern Myths pieces combine stones with beads, mounted in ornate bezel designed silver.
She finds her beads at craft shows, ethnic shows, and antique shows and each bead is a cultural history unto itself: Ethiopian medicine-man carvings, Egyptian scarabs and African bone masks. The look is simultaneously ancient and modern.
She’ll be showing and selling her work this weekend at the Santa Monica Crafts Market alongside jewelry artist Beth Rosengard, glass artist Josh Gelfand and Judaica artist Shula Baron.
Goldin, whose notable clients have included the White House, knew she had found her calling on her 35th birthday when a psychic told her that in past lives she’d made “power objects” as a medicine woman that gave people strength. She believes her jewelry brings together disparate cultures in a healing way. This sentiment applies to her Jewish heritage, as well.
“I am the oldest child of a survivor of the Holocaust,” said Goldin, a resident of Studio City who earned a master’s in metalworking. “We eldest children have a special burden to please our surviving parent, because they have suffered enough, and we want to make to make it up to them. So I guess I needed to be a sort of healer, and I am still anxious to heal, not only my father, but the world, by sharing these talismans.”
The 20th Santa Monica Crafts Market, takes place June 10-12 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main Street. $6 (adults); free (children 12 and under). For more information, call (310) 285-3655 or visit Spectator – When Metal Meets Mettle Read More »
A talking clock, a lovely owl and an orange tree become friends with Zack and Zoe in their adventure through the new children’s musical, “A Kid’s Life.” Producer/director Keith Markinson, son of Tony Award-winning producer Marty Markinson, designed the show with children ages 2-6 (and their parents) in mind. “A Kid’s Life” opens today and invites your children to make new friends, too, and learn life lessons about the importance of nature and the preciousness of time.
Runs through June 19. 11 a.m. (Sat.), 2 p.m. (Sun.). $12.50-$17.50. Brentwood Wadsworth Theatre, 11301 Wilshire Blvd., Building 211, Veterans Administration Campus. (310) 479-3636.
Sunday, June 12
She’s not a Jew, nor does she play one on TV, but that doesn’t stop Amber Tamblyn (of “Joan of Arcadia” fame) from moderating this afternoon’s panel about the changing images of Jewish women and men in the popular media. “Desperate Housewives and Beyond,” as they have titled it, is sponsored by the MorningStar Commission and the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, and features a panel of prominent writers, producers and actors. The audience will be invited to participate, as well.
3-5 p.m. $10. Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. R.S.V.P., (310) 712-5400.
Monday, June 13
Rachel Bailit’s act covers issues from being a “nice” Jewish girl from Needham, Mass., to the ups and downs of life as an aspiring actress in Los Angeles. She calls it “Sugar Happens: A One-Girl Show,” and sugar you get. Bailit’s show displays big comedy (and bosom), and is extended for two more weeks.
Runs through June 21. 6:30 p.m. (wine and cheese reception), 7:30 p.m. (show), 8:30 p.m. (dessert with Bailit). Lee Strasberg Theater Institute, 7936 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 650-7777.
Tuesday, June 14
The remarkable true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite who survived both Nazi and Communist regimes comes to the Geffen Playhouse tonight for a limited four-week run. “I Am My Own Wife” is a one-man play starring Jefferson Mays as von Mahlsdorf, as well as more than 40 other characters including the playwright, Doug Wright, who first became fascinated by her. It garnered Wright both a Tony and a Pulitzer Prize in 2004.
Runs through July 10. $34-$85. 11301 Wilshire Blvd., Building 211, Veterans Administration Campus. (310) 208-6500.
Wednesday, June 15
The inexhaustible Theodore Bikel is the main attraction at the Chabad of Conejo-sponsored “Tradition: A Celebration of Jewish Life.” The show features Bikel performing a sort of “greatest hits” review, and also includes performances by the Keshet Chaim Dance Ensemble and comedian Mark Schiff.
7:45 p.m. $18-$108. Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. (213) 480-3232.
Thursday, June 16
New York Times bestseller, Oprah movie of the week and now Rubicon Theater play, “Tuesdays With Morrie,” has run the gamut. Mitch Albom’s novel about a dying former college professor’s profound impact on his life has touched many already. See the story unfold for the first time, or revisit it in a more intimate setting at the Rubicon today.
Runs through July 10. Rubicon Theatre Company, 1006 E. Main St., Ventura. (805) 667-2900.
Friday, June 17
Was the Wicked Witch of the West really just misunderstood? Long before Dorothy dropped a house on the witch’s sister, the wicked witch was known simply as Elphaba, a smart young girl with an unfortunate skin disorder. Get her side of the story as “Wicked,” Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s musical adaptation of the novel by Gregory Maguire, alights on the Pantages for a limited engagement.
Runs through July 31. $35-$89. 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.
Shavuot, which marks the receiving of the Ten Commandments by Moses, was often referred to as the Jewish Thanksgiving or the “Feast of the First Fruits,” a time when farm bounty and grains were brought to the ancient Temple. The harvest often included wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates.
In modern times, Shavuot inspires the preparation of many delicious and traditional recipes that usually feature a variety of vegetarian and dairy foods. Milk, eggs and cheeses of all kinds are used in abundance.
Blintzes are the most popular of the Shavuot foods and can accompany other foods or be served as a main course. They are thin pancakes or crepes, filled with interesting mixtures. I have included a classic cheese filling, enlivened with sugar-glazed, crunchy apple slices. It makes a perfect holiday dessert. The same basic blintz can be made with a spinach-ricotta combination, and served with yogurt, which adds a perfect dairy accent.
Stuffed Eggplant Rolls are a wonderful choice for your Shavuot lunch, brunch or dinner. Thin slices of eggplant are rolled around a filling prepared with three cheeses plus beaten egg whites. The spicy, garlicky herbed tomato sauce is a perfect accompaniment.
Shavuot desserts are especially tempting and fun to serve family and friends. Desserts your family will enjoy include my Apricot Cheesecake, along with bowls of dried figs, dates and nuts.
Shavuot is a wonderful occasion to entertain informally and since this is an agricultural holiday, decorate your home or table with fresh plants and flowers from the garden. Some Sephardic Jews celebrate Shavuot as “The Feast of Roses” and use roses as the table centerpiece. As a treat for your guests, bake your favorite cookies and wrap them in rose-patterned paper for them to take home.
Blintzes (Savory or Sweet)
Basic Batter for Blintzes
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
Ricotta and Spinach filling (recipe follows)
or
Hoop Cheese and Apple Filling (recipe follows)
Unsalted butter, for frying
In a large bowl, blend eggs, milk and butter. Add flour, salt and herbs, blending thoroughly until smooth. Cover and set aside for one hour.
Lightly butter and preheat a 6-inch nonstick frying pan. Pour about 1/8 cup of batter in at a time to form a thin pancake, tilting pan and swirling batter to patch up holes. When lightly browned, gently loosen edges and turn out of pan onto towel or plate. Cool before filling.
Place 1 or 2 tablespoons of filling on browned side, in center of each blintz. Fold lower portion over filling; tuck sides; continue rolling to form a flat rectangle. Place on large platter and cover with plastic wrap until ready to cook.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet. Cook blintzes on both sides, about three to four minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to serving plates and serve immediately with sour cream, preserves or remaining Glazed Apple Slices.
Rinse spinach and remove stems. Place in salted boiling water and boil for 10 minutes. Drain and cool, then squeeze dry in cheesecloth; chop fine.
In bowl of electric mixer, combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, egg yolks, parsley and basil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Cheese/Apple Filling
2 pounds hoop cheese, farmer or pot cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
Glazed Apple Slices (recipe follows)
In large bowl, combine hoop cheese, sugar, salt and eggs. Fold in 1 cup of the drained apple slices. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to assemble blintzes.
Glazed Apple Slices
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup orange juice
3 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
In large heavy skillet, combine sugar, marmalade and orange juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar and marmalade dissolve. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer two to three minutes, just until it begins to thicken.
Place apple slices in large bowl and toss with lemon juice to prevent them from discoloring. Add apples, lemon zest and lemon juice to syrup in skillet and toss to coat. Simmer, covered for 10 to 15 minutes, until apples are soft. Transfer to glass bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and chill.
Makes about 2 cups.
Stuffed Eggplant Rolls
1 pound Ricotta or hoop cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons minced parsley
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried
2 eggs, separated
Salt and pepper to taste
8 ounces mozzarella cheese
2 medium eggplants
Flour seasoned with salt and pepper
3/4 cup olive oil
Tomato-Basil Sauce (recipe follows)
Fresh basil leaves for garnish
Cheese Filling: Combine Ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, basil and egg yolks. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill.
Slice mozzarella cheese into sticks 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide by 1/2 inch thick. Set aside.
Slice eggplant in half lengthwise, 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Dredge in seasoned flour mixture, shaking off the excess.
Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat, and sauté eggplant slices on both sides until soft and lightly browned. Drain on paper towels. Cool.
Place 2 tablespoons of cheese filling across the narrow end of each eggplant slice. Press a stick of mozzarella into the filling. Roll up eggplant tightly around filling. Place rolls, seams side down, in buttered baking dish. Cover with foil at this point and store in refrigerator for one to two hours; do not freeze.
Spoon Tomato-Basil Sauce over each roll and bake at 350 F for 15 minutes, or until hot and bubbling. With metal spatula, carefully place one or two eggplant rolls on heated plates. Garnish with basil leaves. Serve immediately.
Makes about 16 rolls.
Tomato-Basil Sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes with liquid
1 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
In a heavy skillet, heat oil. Add the garlic, onions, red pepper and carrots and sauté until the onions are transparent. Dice the tomatoes and add with liquid, red wine, basil, parsley and sugar. Bring to boil and simmer on medium heat, stirring occasionally until thick, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour into food processor or blender and blend well. Transfer to bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Apricot Cheesecake
1 6-ounce package dried apricots
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
In a small saucepan, combine apricots, apple juice and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Bring to boil and simmer until tender, five minutes. Cool. Puree apricot mixture in food processor or blender and set aside.
Prepare Sugar Cookie Crust and refrigerate.
In bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and 1 cup of the remaining sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in vanilla and 1/2 cup of apricot puree. Pour into prepared springform pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, or until center is set and top is golden. Remove from oven; spread with sour cream topping and return to oven for five minutes. Cool. Remove from spring-form pan; garnish with apricot puree and serve cold.
Sugar Cookie Crust
1 1/2 cups sugar cookie crumbs (oatmeal, coconut or vanilla)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup apricot puree
In food processor or blender blend crumbs with butter. Transfer cookie mixture to 9-inch springform pan and press down firmly. Spread a thin layer of apricot puree over cookie mixture. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes.
Judy Zeidler is the author of “The Gourmet Jewish Cook” (Cookbooks, 1988) and “The 30-Minute Kosher Cook” (Morrow, 1999) Her Web site is members.aol.com/jzkitchen.
“Second Chances: Transforming the Bitterness of Hope and the Story of Ruth,” by Rabbi Levi Meier (Urim Publications, $19.95)
Rabbi Levi Meier is fond of saying that we are all on a journey, whether or not we know it. Of course, he is referring to life itself, and in his latest book, Meier illuminates that journey by looking at the compelling and sometimes tragic life of the biblical figure of Ruth. His book, “Second Chances: Transforming the Bitterness of Hope and the Story of Ruth,” is at once a rich source of biblical scholarship and a guide designed to help readers deal with their own personal difficulties.
The Book of Ruth, which will be read during the coming holiday of Shavuot, tells of Ruth, a Moabite princess, who marries the son of a wealthy Jew who had taken his family to Moab to avoid a devastating famine in Israel — and, more importantly also to avoid sharing his wealth and food with fellow Jews in their time of need.
Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi, suffer a catastrophe when Ruth’s husband, her husband’s only brother and her father-in-law die precipitously. Naomi is left with two young childless daughters-in-law, neither of whom is Jewish.
Naomi urges Ruth and Orpah, Ruth’s sister-in-law, to remain in Moab, with Naomi returning to Israel to put the pieces of her life together. Orpah decides to leave Naomi, but in a stunning gesture, Ruth declares that she has decided to stay with Naomi. In an act of pure loving-kindness, she states, “Do not urge me to desert you, to turn away from you. For wherever you go, I shall go; wherever you rest, I will rest; your people are my people, and your God is my God.”
This is Ruth’s classic statement of conversion, which is used to this very day when non-Jews convert to Judaism.
As Meier points out, Ruth is not just taking on the form of Naomi’s faith, she is becoming one with it. There is nothing tentative in her action. She is taking on the very journey of Abraham, the founder of Judaism, when God instructed him in Genesis 12:1, “lech lecha — go forth from your land, your father’s house, your birthplace to the land I will show you.”
The parallels between the two are stunning.
Meier notes further, “Any person who would undertake such a difficult, dangerous and frightening journey requires special divine protection. That is what was promised to Abraham when he became the first convert.”
The relationship of Ruth and Naomi is full of compassion and kindness.
“Even when Naomi is confronting her inner bitterness, she extends kindness to Ruth, and Ruth reciprocates in the same manner,” Meier writes. “Kindness as a response to pain, suffering and tragedy is one of the overriding themes of the Book of Ruth.” It is also one of the main themes of “Second Chances.”
Meier states that individual acts of kindness have repercussions well beyond themselves, as when Ruth accepts the generous offer of Boaz (whom she will later marry) to follow his harvesters and glean the grain that they leave behind.
“She leaves some food uneaten, intending to take it home to share with Naomi,” Meier writes. “In this way, Ruth takes advantage of an opportunity to repair the past — she demonstrates how different she is from her selfish Moabite forebears, who wanted to sell bread and water to Israelites wandering through the desert.”
Ruth is ultimately rewarded for her great kindness by becoming the progenitor of King David, from whom the Bible states the Messiah will come.
As a contemporary analyst of the Bible, Meier contributes the insightful perspective of his own experience as chief chaplain at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and as a clinical Jungian psychologist.
His book is both an informative retelling of the story of Ruth and an ongoing extrapolation from it: Throughout his account, Meier will tell about an incident in Ruth’s life and then relate it to common life problems.
The way to transform bitterness and pain to hope, Meier writes, is through personal acts of generosity and kindness. The most important, and the hardest, are acts of kindness within one’s own family.
Some ideas in this profound book came to Meier while he was teaching a monthly Torah class to Hollywood writers. I was privileged to be among them; Rabbi Meier is a gifted teacher.
“Second Chances,” like his teaching, is full of readily applicable observations. Using anecdotes from his clinical and life experiences — and relating them to the story of Ruth — Rabbi Meier personalizes his insights, giving encouragement and strength to those readers who would make the most of their own second chances.
David Brandes wrote and produced the award-winning film, “The Quarrel,” and created and served as executive producer of the Showtime series, “My Life as a Dog.” He can be reached at at quarrel@pacbell.net.
