Passover

So Friday I spent all day cooking and cleaning in preparation for Passover. It's a fun holiday, but definitely not easy. I set the table...

Dan and his mom helped me make mini seder plates for everyone. Over the course of the meal you eat special foods- green vegetable (parsley) dipped in salt water, matzah, bitter herb (horseradish root), and a sandwich of matzah and horseradish. TO speed things up, we have always made little plates in advance so everyone has their items right there waiting...

I made a beautiful brisket (among other yummy things).

Dan's parents came from Virginia to visit for Easter, so they came to passover.

As did these weirdos: That's Katie, Nicole, and Rich, all fellow mission controllers. We took a nice picture too, but I prefer the goofy one.

After eating all those special foods, retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt, and saying a few prayers, it was time to eat!

Red and white quinoa with artichoke hearts in the front, kugel (Jewish stuffing) next, then salmon and brisket.

After dinner, I brought out dessert. As I mentioned, Passover rules out most normal desserts. I made special sponge cake made with matzo meal and potato starch and homemade lemon custard topped with whipped cream and strawberries. And homemade candied lemon peel.

And when I realized how many dishes I still had to clean, I thought it best to end the night this way. (Just kidding, I got plenty of help from Dan and his mom and I went to bed with a mostly clean kitchen). I just love me some Manischewitz. For the next 8 days, no breads allowed. Here we go!