CHAG HA BLINTZIM

If you really want to feel the spirit of shavuos, there are a few things you must know. Remembering, of course, that if you have an allergy to milk-derived products, you might not be truly equipped to enjoy the chag.


CREAMY THINGS

The primary one is that it is a minhag set in stone to eat dairy: cheesecake, blintzes. Cream-filled pastries and puffs, buttery flaky goodnesses. Yoghurty things. Clotted cream on scones with preserves, and saag paneer with raita, rice, and roti. Plus cheeses, like Jack, Drunken Bishop, or Manchego. Red Leicester, Tilsit, Caerphilly, Bel Paese, Red Windsor, Stilton, Gruyère, Emmental, Norwegian Jarlsberger, Liptauer, Lancashire, White Stilton, Danish Blue, Double Gloucester, Cheshire, Dorset Blue Vinney, Brie, Roquefort, Pont l'Evêque, Port Salut, Savoyard, Saint-Paulin, Carré de l'Est, Bresse-Bleu, Boursin, Camembert, Gouda, Edam, Caithness, Smoked Austrian, Japanese Sage Derby, Wensleydale, Greek Feta, Bouzoukia, Gorgonzola, Parmesan, Mozzarella, Pipo Crem', Danish Fynbo, Czech sheep's milk cheese, Venezuelan Beaver Cheese, Cheddar, Ilchester, and Limburger.

[And remember to put the cat outside, she likes the really runny fromages de la belle France.]



I'm afraid I seem to have strayed somewhat from my original brief .........

But never mind.

Everything you NEED to know about shavuos is on Bangitout:
http://www.bangitout.com/articles/viewarticle.php?a=2546
Which I discovered upon browsing into Am Kshe Oref's blog:
http://amksheoref.blogspot.com/
Which was immediately after reading some of Dovbear's stuff:
http://dovbear.blogspot.com/2009/05/your-shavuosrus-palooze.html


No, I did not stay up all night studying. But I feel like I did - I woke up coughing and itching with multitudes of hives in impossible spots. Here in San Francisco we're celebrating ALLERGY SEASON in lieu of all other periodic festivals. This tends to affect one's sleep. I can barely wait until our regularly scheduled programming resumes.

My exposure to creamy things this shavuos can be described as strictly Cortizone 10, Calamine, and Aveeno.
Oh, plus appreciation of San Francisco Cantonese girls, but that is year-round.