Melon Display

    

We were in Jerash, Jordan...lost. Bill saw a cluster of guys and stopped to ask them for directions. We were right beside these neatly aligned and creatively presented melons. Seeing this cool melon display almost made getting lost worthwhile!  

Jordan Olive Oil Factory

  





One day, on our way to teach Bible studies in northern Jordan, our translator took us by an olive oil factory. His family, who had an olive grove, used this factory and he knew the owners. 

It was olive harvest in Jordan and each family brought their olives to a factory like this for processing. 

First, the sticks and leaves were separated from the olives, the olives were then mashed, and the oil was separated from the solids. The olive oil was then poured into containers that each family would take home with them. Men and women waited there in the factory for their olives to be turned into oil. 

The owner grabbed a (used) plastic water bottle and filled it with oil. He handed it to us. It was a gift for us. We accepted graciously but must admit that we did not use the oil. Although it was fascinating to see how locals process their olive oil and it would be impossible to get oil fresher than this, we were quite sure that the sanitation was probably not up to par. 

Nevertheless, the people were excited to have us visit their factory. It is possible that we were one of the few Americans to ever step foot inside it. 

Vine Road Restaurant

       

If you are ever in Jerusalem with your own rental car, as opposed to a bus tour, we highly suggest a stop at the Vine Road Restaurant in a moshav just off of Highway 1 called Beit Zayit (House of Olives.) They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Vine Road Restaurant is one of the best we have ever been to in Israel. Fresh, healthy, and soooo delicious. 

The environment is delightful too. Dining at the Vine Road Restaurant is like eating in a garden. And you can not just enjoy the flowers, but buy them too, plus jars of olive oil and more.

Vine Road Restaurant Recipe

The Sweet Potato Salad was our favorite meal at the Vine Road Restaurant. Israelis use a lot of sweet potatoes when they cook. This recipe has sweet potatoes in the salad and sweet potato chips on top. Sound strange? Trust us. It is wonderful!



Here are the salad ingredients as we replicated them. 
(Sorry, we don't have the exact proportions. We go by taste.)

Lettuce varieties
Red onion, thinly sliced
Cucumbers, cubed
Cooked, cubed sweet potatoes
Feta cheese (There are many good kinds of feta available. We like Mt. Vikos Feta Cheese from Greece. If you want to go native Israeli, there is a good Israeli cheese at Trader Joe's called Pastures of Eden. Both of these have wonderful flavor.)
Sweet potato chips (We recommend the Terra brand.)
Mustard Date-Honey Dressing (You can probably find Date Honey at a Middle Eastern grocery store or the ethnic section of your grocery store.)

Enjoy!

Spices

Spice shop in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City

Pizza Roma Car

In Nazareth, we passed this tiny restaurant with a car on its roof. The name of the restaurant is Pizza Roma and I assume that the car on the roof is advertising pizza delivery, although I am not positive. Clever advertising, for sure. I just hope that the roof is sturdier than it looks!