"No money, no honey, and we don't get around a lot" -- Biblical Fast food at Neot Kedumim

On Sunday, a small group of us went to see Ein Karem - the traditional spot of John the Baptist's birth. It was really interesting. We saw two of the three churches that were built there to commemorate this place. It was a beautiful day and there was beautiful landscapes surrounding us. We saw some monks there. One had just begun his monkness/monketry/monkolotry/monkrimage (please help me if you know the word). Anyways, he was from New Jersey and he came up to us smoking a pipe. He was very open and a lot louder than all the monks that I have ever seen. He began to ask us where we were all from and what we were doing here. Then he told us a little about the history of the church we were at that was built during the crusades. He then explained a little about his attire and what it symbolized. It was really interesting to hear about the vow of abstinance. Three things were mentioned. 1) Poverty 2) Chastity and celibacy 3) Obedience. So he said: "we have no money, no honey and we don't get out much" as he swung around the rope with the three sybolic knots. Quite interesting to hear it said in this way from the mouth of a monk. It made us all smile a bit.

Below is the step by step process of how to make Zatar spice. We did this in the middle of a field with these plants growing there. We then made pita bread over a fire and then ate it hot with the Zatar spice that we had made. It was yummy. This was the fast food of ancient Israel. I felt so domestic. HA.

Here is the Hyssop (we call it aregano)

Here is the Sumac (not poison) it tasted like a lemon alone.

Then you grind them together (this is way too much Sumac...but I was just doing it for the picture).Add a little salt.
Grind it to a powder

Cook your pita and put on some Zatar and YUM!