sarah in nyc

All of our Passover stuff got put away. All of our during the year stuff is back more or less in its place. This could not have been done without the gracious good spirited help of my kids. We had a slight blip when none of us could remember where we had put our dairy silverware. I was at that point so tired that I couldn't even remember what the silverware looked like. My husband found the giant tote bag. And if you were wondering what our dairy silverware looks like it is a mix of silverplate from as early as the 1920s and as recent as the 1950s. Yesterday our older son baked our first loaf of bread. While I really hadn't missed bread during Passover,  eating my first slice of home-baked bread in a few weeks, I was reminded about what a truly wonderful thing bread is. With the holiday over, it was time to get back to work. I spent a long time yesterday typesetting text for an atara.  My client wants a selection of prayers that are meaningful for him on the atar...

Most beautiful spring days with the universe in bloom over the past several years have had me indoors. The beautiful blooms didn't get along with my face and I had to enjoy the glories of springtime from photos my husband took for me. The only nice side effect of my new sesame allergy is my allergist suggested a new allergy protocol which meant that I was able to venture into the park this afternoon. It even looked like our horseradish plant was hoping to go outside. The horseradish stayed home and I went out. Before I take you to the park with me...every apartment building in the city is responsible for the plantings around it. Tree pits  (the bit of earth around trees)are planted or not. Most tree pits are planted in a sedate manner with some impatiens or tulips in a single color. I was delighted to see these tree pits. they felt like a par-tay. I walked down the hill towards the park. Everything was blooming. ...

The matza balls got made. So did the iconic no-gebrochts chocolate cake.  There is a tradition to not use matza in cooking- in ways that it will become wet. People who follow that tradition call matza that is used in cooking or baking or broken up into soup Ge-brochts - or broken. My family doesn't follow that tradition but we do make a very excellent no gebrochts  chocolate cake. Here you see it hanging out upside down to maintain it's height. It released beautifully from the pan. My mother would have been pleased. Other years the top had broken so I had to camouflage the ugly with chocolate custard and fresh strawberries. This year I could serve the cake unadorned.  This is the recipe for the cake. Mrs. Mael's No Gebruchts Chocolate Cake preheat oven to 325 9 eggs separated beat yolks with one cup sugar until thick and  the color of butter stir in 8 oz melted bittersweet chocolate stir in 2 cups chopped walnut...

We are winding down and up simultaneously for the big night. Like every year, my head is filled both with the living and the dead. I am looking forward to seeing our guests around the table. My oldest sister arrived last night laden with treats. Our daughter and son-in-law arrive later today.  My sons and I have been scrambling to do all of the various tasks that need to get done. At 7:30 there will be a dozen of us at the table waiting for my husband to begin reciting kiddush. We in our own way have also invited those who are no longer with us to be part of our seder. We will be using the tablecloth my parents purchased in Israel in 1955.  The soup has been cooked according to my father's methods. The matza balls in the soup are done according to the recipe of Bubbie Katz whose namesake just gave birth to a little girl. We will end our meal with Mildred Jacobs' no-gebrochts chocolate cake. The table will be set and every dish plattered with clouds of pars...

Growing up in Boston the fact that Passover was according to the Torah, Chag ha Aviv,  the spring festival, was more or less an article of faith. While there was a  teeny chance that the trees might be blooming and the daffodills might be out, it was far more likely that as Pesach was beginning the old and tired snow dregs would still be piled up next to the street. Here, despite the see-sawing weather that bounces from day to day between shirtsleeve weather and down coat weather it really and truly is spring. We have made progress on our Passover prep. All of the silver has been kashered. We have made three or four batches of Passover puffs. I have already lost count. The maror top sitting on our livingroom window sill conties to grow. The folks on the Kosher Costco facebook group are all a-buzz because the Kosher for passover kugels this year are from a supplier whose kugels are not up to snuff. I woud like to suggest this as an alternative......