Lovin' the Florida Sunshine

I know, who goes to Florida during Passover, but that was what fit best with my schedule.  I headed to the airport Wednesday morning, and sat down to enjoy this cream cheese and lox sandwich on matzo.

Some snacks for the plane: a hard boiled egg (just the white of course) and a clementine.

Ah, here we go.  I landed in sunny Florida and right away it was off to get something to eat.  It was lunch time, so I don't blame anyone for wanting food at this time.  Too bad there was no way I could enjoy the bagels at the bagel shop.

Grandma had some matzo ball soup.  Yes, these are actual noodles, so not kosher for Passover.  Can you really blame grandma for not keeping Passover?

Then it was matzo brie for us.  This is like the matzo equivalent of French toast.  Motzo soaked in egg and then cooked like scrambled eggs.  They also gave us a chocolate covered macaroon.

Here are some Passover goodies for sale.  Darn it, those bagels in the back look so good.

This is like torture!

I headed to the clubhouse with my grandpa to search the sale racks and we wound up trying out some golf.  My grandpa plays all the time, so he wanted me to hit some balls around.

I can honestly say, no persons were harmed during this time with me at the golf course.  I smacked a few balls and it was lots of fun.  You can actually take your agressions out on a little tiny ball.

Dinner was at Maggiano's.  I know you are thinking there is no way to do Italian food during Passover.  Well, that is almost entirely true.  I will say that I keep Passover, but I am not the strictest person on the planet.  I will still eat corn and rice, but not bread or things that seem like bread.

I ordered a salad to start, but the croutons posed a problem, so I sent it back.

The second salad was much better.

My grandparents had chicken.

Ok, here is where it gets interesting.  I actually ordered the gluten free pasta, which was made from corn.  Yes, technically cheating, but I was OK with this.  It was actually the side dish to my entree.

Here is my salmon.  No way I could eat all of this.

Coffee to help me stay awake so I could get work done.

Spumoni for dessert.

Here is me and grandma at dinner.

That was it for day 1 here in Florida.  Stay tuned as there is more to come.

QUESTION:  Have you ever played golf?

Day 1 of Passover and the Second Seder

I can't think of a better Passover breakfast meal than this:

I had a nice day of pampering on Tuesday before I headed of to Florida, which is where I am now.  First up was a manicure and a pedicure.  This is a very dark purple, similar to the color of my winter jacket.

Then it was hiarcut time and I had her blow my hair out straight.  Since my hair is super curly, it is always nice to have a professional straighten it, because when I do it, it never looks this good.

Close up shot.

Then my mom and I went to the store to pick up some new hair accessories.  We bought a few cute things, but I only took a picture of a couple.

I love this headband.  I got this in light pink too.

Then it was off to my dad's for dinner.  This is Sammie, their westie.  He loves to play.

Here is the set up from my dad's house.

Matzo ball soup for me!

I was excited to get somw whole wheat farfel, which is basically small matzo pieces to add to soup.

Some gefilte fish.  Now, if you do not know what this is, well consider yourself lucky.  Ha, I'm just kidding, but seriously, it is fish, in a ball.  I think of it like the fish equivalent of a hot dog.

There was potato kugel and a broccoli omelette.

Meat for those eating meat.  They did it in a slow cooker.

My stepmom made this veggie casserole for me.  Lots of yummy spinach and tomatoes.  Oh, and cheese!

See, lots of gooey cheese.

Tzimmes

Dessert time, oh yum, berries!

This is a chocolate flourless cake so it is good for Passover.

Chocolate covered marshmallows, with the fish gelatin again, so I ate them.

So, I had 2 very nice seders, good food, and I was with my family.

If you missed the post on the first night seder, check it out.

QUESTION:  What is your favorite color to paint your nails?  I usually do pink, but I thought this time I would go with purple.

The First Passover Seder

This year I was able to come home for Passove and celebrate with my family.  The first night was Monday night and I went to the dinner at my mom's house.  My grandma, my mom and Joe, my sister and her boyfriend (Chris), along with my friend Marie (yes the same one who recently visited me), all enjoyed the much more fun and updated version of a seder that we did this year.  I say updated because we used different, and newer books to read the Passover story from.

Here is the lovely set up at my mom's house.

This was our seder plate.  I think it is the lamb leg (shank bone) that is missing from the tray.  As we are mostly vegetarian, there was no desire to have this, I am sure.  On the tray there is also bitter herbs, green vegetable, salt water (to dip the green veggie in to), hardboiled egg, and charoset (apples, nuts and wine).

Matzo ball soup is a staple for this holiday as bread and leavened products are off limits.  This is made from matzo, duh, hence matzo ball soup!  This was the pot of vegetarian soup.  The other was chicken soup.

Yum!  I was cut off after 1 because I could eat a bunch, but then I am always too full (these expand like no tomorrow!) to actually eat dinner.

I wish I could say I got to help out an cook with my family like I planned, but you know how it goes when you are in town visiting and the time just slips away.  I always feel like I am running late when I am visiting here and it drives me nuts.  So, the good news is most things were already prepared, only a few things for my mom to finish up before the seder started.

This is an apple matzo kugel.  A kugel is similar to a casserole.

This is Tzimmes, which is carrots and sweet potato.

My mom prepared this beautiful salad.

The entree was salmon with the island soyaki sauce from Trader Joe's.  This was really good.

This is a vegetable kugel.

Oh, and asparagus.

My mom also made some chicken for anyone who wanted.

Everything was super delicious and I was glad both Marie and Chris could join us for their first seder.

So, on to the desserts.  Again, this is tough because of the religious dietary restrictions, so there is a lot using coconut and a lot with potato starch. 

This is my sister's matzo brittle.  It is really good.  This year she made it on whole wheat matzo.

One of my mom's friends brought us over this dessert tray she made.  There were meringues and macaroons, and some more brittle.  All of it was awesome.

Oh, and these.  Oh my.  Hey Beth and Astra, look what I found in my mom's kitchen.  These are marshmallows made with fish gelatin.  It didn't even have a fishy taste.  I once had ginger snaps with fish gelatin and it seriously tasted like fish, so I am so happy and excited to enjoy these.  We also have the ones covered in toasted coconut, and those rocked also.

So, that concludes my seder.  It was nice to be home with family.  Today I am heading to Florida to visit my grandparents and I am not sure I will really be able to post then, so if you haven't checked out my last from scratch meal, we made Mac and Cheese, so check it out in my possible absence here.

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever been to a seder?  What is your favorite Passover food (if you are Jewish of course)?  Any favorite food you eat for Easter (if that is the holiday you celebrate)?  If I have left you out because you don't celebrate either holiday, then just tell me what is your favorite food for any occasion?