In short

[magid]

+ Apartment officially kosher for Passover.
- Took far too long to get it that way.
- Generally exhausted.
- Still have groceries to acquire.
- And other errands to do (to wit: stops at the bakery, the bike store, and the post office).
- Realized I'd gotten all milk chocolate bars instead of dark.
- Didn't go for a bike ride today.
+ Will go tomorrow, in between the cooking.
- Have no set menu for first days still.
+ That gives me flexibility for whatever looks good at Russo's.
+ Volunteering at $nonprofit.
+ Which means I have now heard about an upcoming christening that will have a kosher caterer. (*boggle*)
+ And was taken out to lunch.
+ Having seder plans.
+ That do not involve me hosting.
- Last year's preserved lemon experiment was a failure.
+ The other three pint experiments (candied peel in Sabra liqueur, dried plums in slivovitz, dried peaches in slivovitz) were successful, though I find the slivovitz is rather harsher than the Sabra. Any suggestions for how to use them (other than just plain eating) welcome. (Note to self: get kfP booze again and pay it forward to next year.)

• gefilte fish baked with spicy pepper-eggplant spread
  
• turkey meatballs in tomato sauce
  
• green salad with mandarin oranges and chicken breast, and a wasabi vinaigrette
  
• ground turkey sauteed with winter squash, collards, and garlic
  
• ground bison sauteed with cranberries, spinach, and caramelized onions
  
• candied citrus peel, possibly dipped in chocolate
  
• baked apples with walnuts, ginger, and black pepper
  
• baked potatoes with cheese
  
• green deviled eggs (wasabi sauce, possibly garnished with scallions or chives)
  
• sweet potato stuffing with walnuts, onions, mushrooms, and sage
  
• lavender roasted potatoes and onions
  
• spiced nuts
  
• thick soup: onions, spicy sausage, lacinato kale, sweet potatoes, mushrooms
  
• vichyssoise
  
• chicken soup with ginger
  
• sauteed onions and zucchini with cheese
  
• roasted fruit with honey
  
• fruit compote (fresh and dried)

I find that the most onerous limitation in my Pesach cooking isn't the lack of chametz (nor the desire to replicate chametzdik foods), nor even kitniyot (however annoying that is, especially for some of the less obvious things in that category), but having fewer interesting condiments. It makes it more of a challenge to make a meal with as complex a flavor profile.

Comments

[majes.livejournal.com]

I am your GM, and I poke you. You should put some thoughts out into the discussion as to how you want to spend your inbetween time and how much of it you want. *poke*poke*

[magid.livejournal.com]

So noted. I've had lots of vague ideas...

[rethought.livejournal.com]

Lavender with potatoes and onions? Interesting.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Didn't really do much for roasting; I'm thinking that adding more before baking would be better. (It's nice on foccaccia, though that's not quite relevant for me this week...)

Oh, and I use the leaves, which are really pretty.

[gothtique.livejournal.com]

You are WAY ahead of me...
I am not even gonna start until first thing tomorrow morning... and hopefully I can get the kitchen respectable before noon so I can start cooking!

Bought a whole leg of lamb this year (not cheap!) but I wanted a REAL lamb shank and not just some old chicken bone as a stand in!

Got dates for the charoset. Gonna try a new recipe.
This is one of those times of year when I really wish I had more Jewish friends and my family weren't so far away.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be this far along if I cooked on Shabbat/Saturdays... It's the 3-day holiday (Shabbat and first two days of Pesach) that makes it trickier than usual.

Lamb is one of those funny things for Pesach: I know there are people who deat it specifically to remember the eating of the lamb before the Exodus (and the sacrifice brought to the Temple when it was standing), and there are people who specifically don't, so it won't seem like an offering when there isn't a Temple to offer it at. My family falls into the latter group, so I've never had lamb at the seder (nor the rest of Pesach, come to think of it; too spendy with all the other food expenses).

Yay for interesting charosets!

[gothtique.livejournal.com]

One of the benefits of being married to a Goy!
Usually he does all the cooking on the weekends... He loves to cook and those are his days off.
But this year, I want to cook. ( Okay, I might make him turn the stove on for me...)

I do lamb almost every year... and I don't know why. Did my grandmother always to lamb? I honestly can't remember when that became tradition.

In college I lived in a house that was about half and half jewish, depending on the semester... but we would always do a seder, atleast one of the two nights.
College student style, you know we were a little loose with some of the rules... but suprisingly serious with some of the others. I remember a very passionate discussion while dinner was being prepared about marking the doorway with the actual blood of the lamb we were cooking.... and that was *before* the required 4 glasses of wine! We only had lamb that one year... the other years it was brisket.

I should post that story.... thank you for reminding me of it.