All that talk on Friday afternoon about delis made me thirsty! I don’t know much about beer, but I do enjoy wine and visiting wineries when I travel. Here in California, that’s easy to do! My friend Elad, who lives in Israel, has a small plot of land where he grows grapes and bottles his own wine, but on a very small scale. Last time I saw him, he was telling me about how much the wine scene in Israel has grown. And now I’m starting to notice Israeli wine on the shelves here in the states. If you like to visit wineries, or drink local wine when you travel, and are planning a trip to Israel, here are 12 wineries to visit. Let me know if you’ve been to any of them or tried Israeli wine. Did you enjoy it?

Image source: https://www.touristisrael.com/wineries-in-israel/480/

When I wrote the post about Conde Nast Traveler’s top rated zoos, a few friends were surprised because all I seem to talk about is food and coffee! And that’s true, especially since I returned from my last trip to New York City. I talk a lot about Jewish delis. Have you seen the movie Deli Man? I’ve seen it three times. It came out in 2015. It’s funny, it’s poignant, it’s 160 years of history and deli tradition and it makes you REALLY hungry!

My friends were asking me which of my favorite delis were left out of Deli Man, because they couldn’t possibly talk about all the great ones, and it got me wondering. Did anyone have a list of the top 10 delis, as they did about zoos? Yes! Would I agree? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Do I have a few of my own to add to the list? Well, of course :)

Before we get to the lists I found online (Conde Nast Traveler’s: 10 Best Jewish Delis in America), let’s first define, at least a little bit, what makes a Jewish deli a Jewish deli. In the last half of the 19th century and into the 20th century, Jewish immigrants began arriving in the United States, bringing their culture and their food with them.  Wherever they settled, these immigrants opened “delicatessens” that featured the foods they grew up with in Eastern Europe: bagels, pastrami, matzoh ball soup and chopped liver, for example. While you might associate Jewish delis with New York City, there are many delis across the country that serve Jewish-style home cooking.

Certainly a great deli has to have amazing corned beef and pastrami. I’d add that pickles should not be just an afterthought but hold their own in deliciousness. The menu should be extensive, the bread homemade, and a great bakery helps a lot. While these foods might appear on all menus in the Jewish deli food scene, not all delis get it right.

So which delis made the Top Delis in the United States list? A few delis made every list I looked at! Katz’s Deli in NYC always comes up as the number one deli. I was there on my most recent trip to NYC, and for sure, the corned beef was the best I’d tasted in a long, long, long time. It was delicious. The sour pickles were addicting! Katz’s opened in 1888 and is considered an institution. It’s a wild scene at Katz’s and it’s always busy. It’s a fun place to watch what others order and eat, too!

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It seems to me that everyone has their own must-haves-of-travel list. You know, those little, or sometimes big, items that bring you comfort, or make it easier when you’re on the road and away from home. Maybe your list changes over time, maybe it depends on where you’re traveling to, and maybe you even use these items at home, as well as when you travel.

Harlan at Out and Out recently wrote about a new item he just discovered and added to his list: sesame oil. I’ve been using it for years, every night, whether I’m home or on a trip. And while I agree with what he wrote and the reasons sesame oil is wonderful, he left out a few very important points I want to share with you. It’s the very reason I use it every night, and I’ll share HOW I use it.

For me, using sesame oil started about 10 years ago. My background for many years as a Yoga practitioner and teacher led to an interest in Ayurvedic health practices. I was interested in balancing what Ayurveda calls the three doshas. So that’s when I started incorporating sesame oil into my daily routine! Even if you’re not interested in Ayurveda, travel, as amazing and wonderful as it is, does take its toll on our health. It disrupts our sleep patterns and can be stressful. Sesame oil:

• Promotes healthy sleep patterns
• Calms stress
• Calms the tendency to think too much
• Calms and soothes your nervous system

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