#passover prep

[garlic-and-cloves]

How to make charoset

Step 1: Argue about how much charoset you're going to make

Step 2: Argue about how you're going to slice the apples, and is it worth it to pull out the machine?

(Complain about how many apples there are to be sliced)

Step 3: Argue about how small to slice the apples

(Complain about the machine not working properly)

Step 4: Argue about whether the walnuts are ground up enough

Step 5: Argue about how much of each seasoning to add

Step 6: Argue about whether or not you did everything right in the end

(Complain about all the dishes)

Eat delicious charoset with matzo

Step 7: Argue about why we eat charoset, anyway

[reaching-ruchnius]

This is soooo reassuring I was beginning to get obsessive about like, the cracks in my couch or floorboards but that isn’t necessary. Deep breaths. It’s seriously not as scary as I thought. Ein od milvado fr fr

[internerdionality]

I can’t stop doing this… it’s hypnotic

Also after a year of making ramen, wow did I forget how much easier hardboiled eggs are to peel compared to softboiled.

[stars-inthe-sky]

[solitarelee]

BEAR WITNESS TO THE UNDERWHELMING FRUITS OF MY JEWISH LABORS

THIS TOOK ME ALMOST TWO HOURS. WHY YOU ASK. Because I made everything from scratch. It was my first time making unleavened bread (easier than I thought) and baba ghanouj (exactly as difficult as I thought). It wasn't my first time cutting up a massive side of salmon, though. If you're wondering if I overcooked it; yeah sorry. ;-; I was cooking so many things simultaneously.

ANYWAY CHAG FUCKING SAMEACH THIS IS THE PASSOVER I DON'T STARVE!!!! THIS IS THE PASSOVER I HAVE MONEY FOR FOOD I CAN EAT!

[supercantaloupe]

very good beans and rice for dinner tonight

[quinnfabrayapologist]

I don't thing christians having things for a Seder is them stealing it from you I think they just planned ahead

I didn't say the Christians broke into my house and took food off my plate, but the fact the local church was planning for a Seder in the first place is literally them stealing the concept of a Seder from Jews, and it's made worse by the fact that this area is so heavily Christian-dominated is the reason Jews can't get stuff for Seder.

[nycfoodieblog]

[shapesofglory]

This is for my pesaj prep prior to purim gang

Tanakh Sexyman Finals

[audley-and-cherry]

I'm having an absolutely rollercoaster of a day today.

First, I snapped at my kid over basically nothing and haven't been able to apologize (she's in school, so you know) and I feel like shit for ruining her morning.

Then I got an email from my boss saying, "I love what you're doing with the social media accounts [I've started "a day in the life of an independent bookstore" series of posts] but from now on we'll be providing the writeups." Which is just incredibly fucking insulting and a waste of both my time and skills.

Am I tempted to quit because I make more money from painting AND ALSO don't have anyone sending me insulting emails? Yes, yes I am.

But I'm also thinking of exercising some good ol' malicious compliance— you want to write what gets posted? Okay fine. I will copy/paste as-is without fixing your spelling, grammar, removing all of those fucking elipses, or making your copy readable. Have fun looking like an asshole on the internet.

Then I went to the kosher supermarket and the upscale market co-op and found both schmaltz AND chicken livers, meaning that chopped liver is a go! Struck out on beef tongue and duck fat, tho.

(I did not buy the huge can of gefilte fish, but rather the smallest jar I could find. The huge can was for comedy purposes only.

It has just occurred to me that I forgot horseradish.)

Anyway, now I'm laying on the couch with Cherry, debating taking a small nap before I have to pick my kiddo up from school.

[disgruntled-detectives]

I had this really weird realization in therapy earlier this week.

When we wrap up our sessions, she always asks what I have to look forward to for the week and weekend ahead, and we spend a couple of minutes talking about it. And so at the end of this one I was like “oh nothing much. Gonna relax this weekend, I have class on Sunday night…” and that’s when it hit.

I genuinely *forgot* Easter is this weekend. Like I remembered because my mom is hosting a brunch like she does every year and I’ve been asked to make a bread. But we hadn’t talked about it in a couple of weeks, so it genuinely slipped my mind.

I have been so immersed in Jewish culture and classes and conversion stuff, I completely forgot that the second biggest day in the Christian calendar is coming up.

It feels amazing. I have Jewish class on Sunday night because *of course I do*. It’s obvious. It’s truly just another day. The day no longer means anything to me. Like. Christmas doesn’t either but still. The world shuts down for Christmas. I can’t forget Christmas exists. But Easter is different. It’s another huge Christian holiday that truly doesn’t mean anything to me anymore because of course it doesn’t. Of course my Jewish life continues on.

I don’t have classes the last two Sundays of April because of Passover beginning Monday evening of the 22nd and going to the 30th. Because of course I don’t. It’s Passover. (And prep for) It’s obvious.

Idk. I think other people who have converted and those in the process will know what I mean. I haven’t been a Christian in over 15 years. But still. Living in a majority Christian country with a dominant culture it’s like…I��m still surrounded by it.

Not anymore babey!

[jungle-angel]

Lessons In Dinner Prep (Calvin Evans x Reader)

Summary: You and Calvin are busy preparing for the chaos that is Easter Sunday and nowhere is that more apparent than in your own kitchen.

Tagging: @floydsmuse

Looking at your list, you could already tell that Saturday and Sunday were going to be hectic. The house was immaculate, but the nightmare that was prepping for Easter dinner was already giving you a headache.

You looked over at your husband who had been laying on his back on the red checked picnic blanket, arms straight up as he did gentle little airplanes with Ellen, your daughter, her little baby giggles causing you to break out in a smile. Up above, the birds were already chirping, the flowers in the front garden blooming while you remained protected from the sun under the shade of the big trees in the yard. Six-Thirty lay in the grass, lifting his head when he heard Ellen erupting into a fit of giggles.

"Why does this have to be so frustrating?" you groaned.

"What's frustrating sweetheart?" Calvin asked.

"Holidays," you answered. "Last time I was this stressed out was at Thanksgiving and Christmas."

Calvin drew Ellen protectively to his chest as he sat up, kissing her head. "Alright," he said. "Do we know who's coming?"

"Your mother and father, your brothers, your sisters," you rattled off. "I think Dr. Powers said he, his mother and Doris were both coming."

Calvin made a face as he tickled Ellen's cheek. "What about the chain?" he asked. "Anyone we know there?"

"Henny, Marie and a couple of others," you told him. "Rose said that she and Abe were gonna try and come since we celebrated Passover with them."

Calvin could easily see the dilemma you were in, unsure as to how many people would be convening en masse to the house. "Not sure when Ma will be getting together with the ladies for mah-jongg but maybe they can help."

You weren't so sure yourself, but perhaps it was worth a shot.

*****************************

Friday came at last and you were home early since classes at the college only went half days. Calvin had gone to help his father for a few hours, leaving you and Six-Thirty a little time to relax.

Into the house you went, not surprised in the least at hearing chatter in the dining room. Sometimes Pat and the other ladies played until dinner, especially on days like today.

"And ya'll should've seen the shade of red that ol' witch turned," Henny King laughed.

"Oh my God, she must've been redder than Zelda's lipstick," Rose laughed.

"That's still no excuse for being nosy," Marie Bianchi said, handing two of her tiles off to Rose. "And if Freida thinks that she's going to be getting any of my seven layer cookies at the bake sale next week, she has another thing coming."

Six-Thirty yipped and all eyes were suddenly on you, the ladies all greeting you happily and rushing to give you a hug, beckoning for you to come into the dining room with them.

"Oh honey you look stressed," your mother-in-law remarked. "What's on your mind?"

"Just trying to figure out Easter dinner that's all," you said. "The usual stuff."

"Oh God I remember my first Easter when Louie and I moved here," Marie groaned. "First time I ever burned a ham."

"That's nothin," Henny chuckled. "When Paul and I moved it on up here from Georgia, I tried my hand at making a pecan pie and the damn thing turned to mush on the inside. Almost made my mother-in-law sick."

"Oh you wanna hear horror stories," Rose said. "Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law and I made a turkey and it sat too long in the oven. Drier than a popcorn fart."

You laughed a little bit, but you were still a little anxious about the whole thing.

"Don't worry dear," Marie assured you. "We'll finish this round and then maybe we'll see if we can help."

You waited patiently until they all finished before descending on the kitchen to help you with whatever you needed. You and your mother-in-law took care of most of the preparations while Marie and Rose ran to the store to grab all the grocery items on your list.

"Now honey, remember," Henny told you. "The secret to a good blackberry pie ain't just the berries. Gotta put a little bit of lemon zest in it and some cinnamon."

You took it all in, following their advice as best you could and in no time at all, you had everything prepped and ready to go into the oven or the fridge on Saturday.

"Oh wow!" Calvin remarked as he and his father came through the door with Ellen in tow. "You guys did an amazing job!"

"Thank you," you chuckled, kissing your husband. "Though I did have a little help."

Calvin kissed you sweetly before joining you and Six-Thirty in the living room, relieved that after all the chaos, you could finally relax.

[girlactionfigure]

🔅Wed evening - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

🔻ALERTS..  

Rockets - from Hezbollah - at Kiryat Shmona, Tel Hai, Ma'ayan Baruch, Kfar Giladi, Kfar Yuval

Drones - from Hezbollah - at Beit Hillel, Kfar Giladi, Kfar Yuval, Metulla, Manara, Ma'ayan Baruch, Margaliot, Misgav Am, Kiryat Shmona, Tel Hai 

▪️DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS.. “We will enter Rafah and enter the center camps. Hamas is defeated and in hiding.”

▪️GERMANY FINDS OUT.. Tens of millions of Euros from Germany for the sewer infrastructure of Gaza were diverted and used to build the terror tunnels of Hamas.

▪️FOLLOWING INFO THAT AN OCT. 7 TERRORIST WAS AT HADASSAH HOSPITAL.. Hostage and Soldier family members made their way to Hadassah Mount Scopus hospital following information that a terrorist from the Oct. 7 massacre was receiving medical treatment in the intensive care unit.  Security officials quickly removed the terrorist and took him to an on-base medical facility.

▪️IDF WARNS.. via “sources”,  "We will have difficulty meeting the commitment to create a buffer zone one kilometer from the Gaza border." At the same time, sources warn that Hamas is making an effort to restore its capabilities in preparation for a future attack, while Israel is promoting unprecedented humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. (Walla)

▪️HAMAS BANKER ASSASSINATED.. Muhammad Sarour, 57 years old, who has been under US sanctions since 2019 for transferring funds from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to the military wing of Hamas, was found dead yesterday in a villa in the village of Beit Mary, east of Beirut. He was found in the villa when he was shot (6 bullets) and the 2 Glock pistols used to kill him were found in the kitchen of the villa while they were in a special cleaning agent to eliminate traces.

▪️HAMAS LEADERSHIP - SONS OF LEADER, ASSASSINATED..  Hazem, Amir and Mohammed, three of the sons of Ismail Haniya, chairman of the political bureau of Hamas, were killed in an airstrike on a car in the Shati camp in Gaza.  Haniya says, “I thank allahaha for this honor he gave me. My sons died a martyr's death.”

▪️WAR PREP? .. Min. of Education instructs schools to instruct their students to take their books and supplies home for Passover - possibly allowing for remote teaching.  Min. of Health has instructed hospitals to move primary operations to hardened operating rooms, particularly in the north.  Wise basic prep, or?

▪️YEMEN WAR PREP?  The Yemeni forces raised alert on all land fronts, the explanation, unusual military movements related to the United Arab Emirates.

▪️US WAR ACTIVITY.. Intensive flights of American spy planes in the Persian Gulf and over the airspace of Saada province in northern Yemen. 3 aerial refuelers were also observed over the bay.

▪️IRAN - DEFENSES UP.. “The joint defense base of Khatam al-Anbiya has put all missile units and radar systems on full alert throughout the country.”

🟠 CEASEFIRE TALKS..  Hamas: “The resistance informed the mediators that it is not ready to give up a mechanism for a complete end to the fighting and that it rejects the Israeli threats regarding military action in Rafah.”  The Hamas delegation that left Cairo will not return soon.

[baravaggio]

sophia do u have any vegetarian/vegan holiday recipes 🤲🏼

I'm so glad you asked, of course I do!

Some of these things are from my cookbooks, so anything with a book emoji will be shown below the read more just to save space

Starting with desserts:

Vegan chocolate pie (Nora Cooks) - my favorite one to make for thanksgiving, my family (all meat eaters) loves it so much that I end up making two every year! It's really important to use the tofu that comes in aseptic packaging (the kind that's shelf stable) because the refrigerated kind WILL taste like tofu and you don't want that lol...works great in an Oreo crust or just as a mousse too!

Chocolate pecan pie (Isa Chandra Moskowitz)

Cranberry Spice Oatmeal Cookies (Isa Chandra Moskowitz) - these have great flavor but I recommend subbing butter for coconut oil so they don't spread super thin

Vegan Coffee Cake (Vegan Richa) - great for breakfasts! You could easily make them into coffee cake muffins too

📚 Pastry Crust (Isa Chandra Moskowitz's The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook) - great staple pie crust that gets its flakiness from a mix of olive and coconut oils! I use this for savory stuff like quiches and pot pies too. Highly recommend the cookbook, it covers everything from Valentine's Day to Passover to Halloween!

📚 Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies (Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Isa Does It cookbook)

📚 Chai Spice Snickerdoodles (Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Isa Does It cookbook)

Savory Thanksgiving & Christmas things:

Easy Vegan Gravy (Nora Cooks) - really simple & much better than the store bought stuff

Easy Vegan Quiche (Jessica in the Kitchen) - more for lunch/brunch than anything, but I like to make a couple these around the holidays because they're so easy to customize & put together

Vegan Alfredo Sauce (Purely Kaylie) - you can put this on pasta of course but I like to use this to fold into mashed potatoes or make a gratin with during the holidays!

Green Bean Casserole (Isa Chandra Moskowitz) - made this one year at the request of a family member, it came out great!

📚 Maple-Mustard Brussels Sprouts with Radicchio and Pecans (Isa Chandra Moskowitz's I Can Cook Vegan cookbook)

Creamy Polenta and Mushroom Ragout (Good Food) - just comfort food tbh!

📚 Glazed Tofu Ham (Isa Chandra Moskowitz's The Superfuntimes Vegan Holiday Cookbook) - I swear by this and make several before thanksgiving because I inhale them - imo works better as a filling for sandwiches or on the side for breakfast, but could be used as a main dish as well!

📚 Winter Squash Cups with Wild Rice, Hazelnuts, and Cherries (Isa Chandra Moskowitz's The Superfuntimes Vegan Holiday Cookbook) - made this once and used cranberries instead of cherries!

Some Hanukkah stuff! which I highly recommend trying even if you don't celebrate Hanukkah, my family does a mixed holiday celebration so I keep these in my rotation for those occasions:

Latkes and Vegan Sour Cream (Isa Chandra Moskowitz) - can also dip in applesauce or top with caramelized onions if you prefer sweet!

📚 Raspberry Rugelach (Isa Chandra Moskowitz) - classic, chocolate, and raisin variations from her holiday cookbook

📚 Matzoh Ball Soup (Isa CHandra Moskowitz)

And I have to include a couple heavy hitters, these are for if you're serious about spending a lot of time in the kitchen and maybe want to show off a little lol - well worth the effort, but not for everyone!

Succulent Roast Turky (The Gentle Chef) - I haven't tried a seitan turkey that's come close to being as good as this one. Lots of time & ingredients, but well worth the effort

Anything from Miyoko's Artisan Vegan Cheese cookbook - the best vegan cheese you will ever eat. Requires a couple weeks prep because you have to allow time to ferment the base liquid and culture the cheese - I'm starting mine today! I made a detailed post about my experience trying this out here, and there's images with instructions for making the rejuvelac, cashew base, and a Boursin-style cheese in it as well! Of course if you don't want to do all that you can buy the Miyoko's cheese that's sold in stores, those are great too 😅

Peter Reinhart's Bagels (Smitten Kitchen) - if you suffer from lack of good bagels in your area, this is one way to fix that! Bagels are essential to any holiday celebration in my family so I figured I'd include this lol

Here's the stuff from the cookbooks!

Pastry Crust:

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies:

Chai Spice Snickerdoodles:

Maple-Mustard Brussels Sprouts with Radicchio and Pecans:

Glazed Tofu Ham:

Winter Squash Cups With Wild Rice, Hazelnuts, and Cherries:

Vegan Sour Cream:

Rugelach (Classic, Chocolate, and Raisin variations highlighted):

Matzoh Ball Soup:

[rose-in-a-fisted-glove]

I have confirmation that my sister's fiance will be joining us in the kitchen for holiday prep and cooking starting with Passover this year. Its going to be fun!

[justleaveacommentfest]

Last weekend was both Passover weekend and prepping for finals, but I still managed to leave two comments! Which isn't the best but it's something!!!

I still have several bookmarked for commenting, so I think I'm gonna try and hold a self-comment fest this coming weekend to try and make up for it. Hopefully that counts for something?

IT SURE DOES!! AS LONG AS YOU'RE COMMENTING, THIS SKELETON IS PROUD OF YOU!