Moving right along

Today I cooked lots of meat. How much meat you ask? Three briskets and two giant London broils. All of them got the same coffee/spice rub

All of the meat is now sliced up and in the freezer all three gallons of it.

I also made a gravy out of the pan drippings.

Now it’s time to think about dessert. My nephew is joining us for the first Seder. He is severely nut allergic. Passover desserts tend to be chock full of nuts, if they are good. If they are bad they are made with lots of matza meal.

I made some of these coconut apricot balls for my nephew.

I could only find Turkish apricots which are missing that tang that in necessary for good apricot flavor. I cheated and added a couple of shakes of citric acid. The smashed apricots and coconut is all that’s in these apricot balls, or as my kids call them, apricot turds, or doodies.

Despite my kids’ name for them, they are delicious.

Claudia Roden’s excellent Jewish cook book has a recipe for Sephardi fruit and nut cookies that are made out of dried fruit and nuts that have been run through a food processor and baked.

 

I suppose I could have actually consulted the cookbook. But instead I just added pecans to the smooshed apricots and some dates plopped them on a baking sheet and added a pecan to the center of each one and baked them.

These aren’t the most elegant looking cookies, but I have seen worse. They do taste good though.

 

I have a mess of baked sweet potatoes, pears and apples baking in the oven right now. I guess I could call it a baked tzimmis.   I also need to make another side dish. My daughter’s boyfriend is allergic to potatoes. Between the no nuts and the no-potatoes  it’s making some of this meal planning something of a challenge.

I think tomorrow I will start baking cakes. Tonight I have to iron a bajillion tablecloths and napkins.