Passover Seder Reflection

Problem: What do you do when you are keeping kosher for passover and cannot eat the ice-cream you find in the freezer?

Solution: Make whipped cream.

Jessica and I are terrible. (FYI: Jessica is keeping kosher with me, even though she doesn't have to, isn't she great, folks?) We got a huge craving for sugar to push us through our policy reading, (which um, I still haven't done yet...hehe). We found some heavy cream in the fridge, whipped it up, and had a bowl each, and then put the rest in the freezer for tomorrow night, with leftover raspberry dressing on top of it from last night's Passover cake. Oh my.

Speaking of last night's seder...another "oh my." I cannot believe I decided to prepare such a huge event so last minute. We shopped and cooked the night before and all day the next day. We searched everywhere for a kosher chicken, but to no avail. There must not be many Jewish people in this area...all the Passover food was scattered all over the store. It was ridiculous...I felt like I was on a scavenger hunt! Jessica and Grace helped with the cooking and setting up, and for that, I am eternally thankful. It was absolutely beautiful, with 8 people crammed into the small dining room. We had to borrow chairs and dishes from another house to accommodate everyone. College seders are ridiculous. Nothing matches, and we used the silliest things for serving dishes. For instance, we used old plastic containers for the haroset and maror.

Isn't it lovely? I even put place-cards at each setting!

To wash my hands during the seder, I had to take a weird route to the kitchen. And we had no Haggadahs, so Grace and I made a stop at the library during the day and found a children's Haggadah. But...no others. And everyone needs a Haggadah, right? So I asked my friend from Conn College to bring some along with him, and said it was okay if they were all different because "seder" means "order" and it's all the same thing, right? hahah! Hoo, was I wrong! We had a hard time figuring out where we were. I started off pretty well, but started flailing once I realized I needed to practice my Hebrew reading, and then got really confused...did I skip a step?? Did we miss the 2nd glass of wine?? Oh shoot, we skipped the maror and went straight to the sandwich! I ended up resorting to the children's Haggadah. hahah! Good thing we had it on hand! Luckily, everyone was very patient with me, and laughed at my ways. I did start off with a lovely introduction of explaining why Passover is my favorite holiday. It is a welcoming of spring-time, the best time of year, and it is so special to me because I know there are millions of people across the world, at that moment, who are sitting around a table with their family and friends, Jews and non-Jews, celebrating their freedom from Egypt. For thousands and thousands of years, we have continued this tradition, and we continue to do so today. It is truly special.

The food was fantastic, and I was exhausted afterward.

Menu:

*Haroset (durr)-Made by yours truly

*Chopped hard boiled eggs in salt water (family tradition)--I put wayyy too much salt in it though. It truly tasted like the sea!

*Gefilte fish -from store, but prepped by me

*Matzah ball soup--store bought, and Grace fixed it up

*Citrus chicken/veggies-Grace (DELICIOUS!)

*Salad with spring greens and beets-Jessica

*Flourless chocolate cake with mousse-Jessica, Raspberry sauce-me

Oh, and Elizabeth was a major help with the dishes! :) And our guests helped with dishes afterward. (Thank you!)

Gefilte fish

I barely had any strength to clean. Right now, there's still matzah littering our floor. Uh-oh. And more than ever, I appreciate my mom for preparing all the seders and holiday dinners over the years. (Thank you, thank you, thank you!) It isn't an easy task at all. It made me feel so good to share something important to me, as well as having a chance to share good food and wine with people I love. I was also really proud of us...we pulled it off in the midst of work and studying, and just went ahead and did it because we could. It was completely worth it. It was much better than last year's seder, where I sat outside in the freezing cold with the Chabad group in Amherst, eating partially frozen chicken, and I wasn't allowed to bring in my hot cup of tea because it wasn't "kosher." I was sick for a week after that. So, thank you, Williams-Mystic! I couldn't have done this without you. I felt like it was truly a celebration! And I felt warm and cozy. It was simply wonderful. We finished the off the night with a long period of dessert eating and coffee drinking, finishing up the second half of the seder quickly, and then played a few rounds of Banangrams, (a great game, by the way).

Happy Passover!