Preamble

4 more days!  And I will be flying over the Atlantic for my first visit to the Holy Land.  But it's not Masada and the Western Wall that has me anticipating...it's the food.  Food, food, food.  Israeli breakfasts with their savory delights of cheese, bread, olives and salad...bourekas with tantalizing fillings and buttery, flakey filo pastry...shawarma fresh from the spit, falafel, baba ganoush, fluffy pita and of course, coffee.  Did I mention coffee?


My lovely Israeli host has been talking up the food in Israel since we met back in February.  He and I had many a conversation centered around lamenting the sorrowful state of the food system here in the USA, and how fast food here is just abysmal.  He has made countless claims that the cheapest, fastest food in Israel is still fresh and amazing.  Plus the array of fruits and vegetables that can be grown year-round makes for a fabulous experience at the street markets.  


Sure, I'm excited to cover myself from head-to-toe in Dead Sea mud and I can't wait to touch the ancient olive trees...but eating and shopping for edible delights at the markets is what really has me drooling.  


So my plan is to take pictures of most edible things that I purchase as well as meals in an attempt to document the variety of delectables that will make their way to my belly over the next 2 weeks.  

Here is my dinner this evening:  Udon pasta with pesto I created from the basil growing in my little guerrilla garden at the apartment complex where I live, accompanied by cherry tomatoes from my neighbor's garden (that I'm watering while he's away and making certain that no ripe tomatoes go to waste) and a few olives.  I'm so excited to eat olives in Israel!  Olives olives olives.  I adore olives.