sarah in nyc

 Just before Passover, I washed my bedroom curtains. I noticed that the lace curtain, the one that Victorians would call the glass curtain because it is the one next to the glass window had developed holes. These curtains had begun life as my living room curtains about thirty years ago. My husband kept saying that since they are made out of lace they ought to have holes in them. I think that he really wanted me to avoid unnecessary work. The holes were beyond what I could tolerate. While my old curtains were the height of late 80s early 90s interior design style finding such curtains or even such yardage wasn't easy in 2025 where minimalism is prized. Eventually a bit of internet searching turned up some yardage that would work well enough. The fabric arrived a few days ago and now, we have a new pair of glass curtains in place and unfiltered morning light won't make my husband miserable. They even look OK at night. Actual time to cut, sew and put up these curtains? probably le...

 Now that Passover has been put away I can give my attention to Nini's Nova Scotia inspired tallit. The tallit is inspired by Nini's sense of the divine when she is "back home" in Nova Scotia. These beautiful photos are Nini's. A Nova Scotia weaver created this tartan to celebrate her home province in the 1950s. I wore skirts in this tartan from infanthood through my college years. The colors in this plaid are OF the place. Nini wanted to include the tartan in her tallit. The other day I bound the edges of the pine tree stripes with the Nova Scotia tartan. I love how the bit of yellow silk thread in the trees picks up the yellow stripe in the tartan. Since I took these photos I have spent the time to pull the loose threads to the back.  When I design a piece I have IDEAS, and to see them come together as I had imagined is just a joy. Here are the trees  placed just above the stencilled and embroidered fog. I know where the journey of this tallit to end up but I do...

 In a couple of hours the last days of Passover begin.When I post again, the holiday will be over and our kitchen will be back to Chametz. So a few reflections... My name is Sarah and I suffer from Jewish Hostess Delusion. After I finished slicing fifteen lbs of brisket I was sure that there is no way that it would be enough food, so I cooked two chickens, just in case. I made three different kinds of potato side dishes because they each looked far too small to serve to our crowd. I baked two large cakes and also made many small sweets...because of Jewish Hostess Delusion I don't know if the quantities of food shape shift between cooking and serving but I assure you that I was truly worried about our guests going hungry. Our guests did not go hungry. Our kids took home generous amount of food and we still have enough to get through the rest of the holiday. Our dishwasher died after our second Seder mid wash. A new dishwasher got installed today.  There are some people who do n...

 I hope that all of you had lovely Sedarim, we certainly did. It was wonderful to celebrate along with our nearest and dearest. As I prepared for the holiday I really missed being able to turn to my two cooking buddies Miriam and Shawna. I always loved consulting with each of them as I planned and cooked meals for Passover. Sadly, neither is still in the land of the living.  I especially feel the loss of my friends before the holidays--because now I have to cook without them. I kept thinking about Shawna as I decorated Mrs. Pascal's sponge cake. I topped the cake, (which was the tallest cake I have ever baked-- either of the Passover or the regular variety) with a tart lemon custard. We had a batch of beautiful but sour strawberries in the fridge and I sliced them up to top the cake. I kept thinking about Shawna and how she would approach making this cake lovely for the table.As I sliced and placed the berries I had a conversation with Shawna in my head. She probably would hav...

 The very first Passover that was celebrated in Egypt the night before the Jews were liberated is known in Rabbinic literature as Pesach Mitzrayim/ Passover in Egypt. That first Passover was celebrated in two tenses as it were, in the present and also anticipating the future to the redemption of the next day and the future retelling of the story. Every Passover since then is celebrated in three tenses--- in the past remembering that very first Passover, in the present-- the Passover we are currently celebrating and also our future redemption. Remembering Passover of the past isn't just remembering the first Egypt Passover. It is also remembering Passovers from both our personal and our historical past.   I had classmates whose father was a concentration camp survivor. He used to put on his striped concentration camp uniform as he began retelling the story of the exodus from Egypt.  My father, who was SO particular about how Hebrew was pronounced used to chant one of ...