April 09 2009

First Seder 2009

Last night my granddaughter Rachel hosted her first Seder in her new home on Long Island. Wait till you hear about the spread she put out… rosemary chicken; roasted asparagus, string beans and fennel; and lamb that she roasted for SIX hours. What a cook… what a spread! I was so proud and wish everyone in the world could have tasted her lamb… unbelievable. My daughter Frieda made my Butternut Squash Matzo Lasagna recipe… you really can’t tell that there isn’t any pasta in it. My daughter-in-law Sharon is also a great cook she made crispy potato latkes with homemade applesauce. For dessert Gertie made chocolate mousse in white chocolate cups, Rachel made her famous Matzo Bark, but this time she put raisinets, shredded coconut and roasted mini marshmallows on top (this addition was my all time matzo bark favorite). I made my Famous Chocolate Peanut Butter Matzo “Pretzels”. The food was marvelous and everyone left satisfied and filled with love.

As usual Jacob and Nathaniel had an eating contest, which they do at every family holiday meal. Each one tries to eat more then the other. I guess boys will be boys. They ended up in their usual spots post dinner… doubled over on the couch grabbing their stomachs and swearing they will never have another eating contest again. That is until tonight’s Seder at my daughter’s house where they will most definitely go at it again.

There was, of course, the usual Seder antics. I must tell you none of this nonsense used to go on when I was a boy. We used to sit through a four hour Seder all the while minding our manners. Nowadays the kids run the show and it can really turn into a calamity of errors. Shouts from the table included “Where’s the salt water?” and “We have to wash our hands again?” The Seder leader (who will remain nameless) forgot to hide the afikoman. My brother Morty was on his game. He showed up with yard glasses for beer that he bought at Bed Bath and Beyond and proceeded to try to convince someone… anyone… to use it as a wine glass. And of course he was monitoring everyone’s wine flow all night. The Passover Seder is not as serious as it used to be, but we ran through the basics and we were all together which is what is most important to me.

Comments:

Oy! It sounds like the spread was to good to be true. Our Sedar was less than appealing but we had your motza brei this morning that completely made up for last night.

My son Jacob, he is 10, as usual had questions about the holiday and I could not think of the answer. Perhaps you can help. Why is Pasach 8 days?

By Solomon on 2009 04 09

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In the Torah, Passover is referred to as Pesach or Chag HaMatzot, meaning “Feast of the Unleavened Bread.”