Friday, April 22, 2011

In Memoriam

Last year at this time, the BP gulf spill had just happened, but our family didn't really notice. We were dealing a tragedy closer to home. On April 19th, 2010, Bad Cohen's dad died from a sudden and unexpected stroke while on a trip to New York, at the ripe age of 66.

Only a week or two after he had led the family seder, heard his youngest grandchild sing Mah Nishtana for the first time, he was gone. Last week, reading The Fifth Passover Question: Who's Going to Lead The Seder? was sadly relevant.

Because it's a leap year, his first yahrzeit doesn't come until mid-May. So we are stuck with an awkward extra month, in which we haven't unveiled his headstone, in which we are still experiencing new "firsts" (the first family seder without him), but the secular calendar says a year has passed.

The apple and plum trees are blooming; I'm putting in new flowers and bushes in a corner of the yard where, 12 years ago, he and my brother-in-law dumped the excavated dirt from building the deck where my son now plays. He would have loved it - a new shady spot to sit and watch the kids play when the rest of the yard is hot in the summer sun.

We still miss you, Opa.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Peeps Passover

an oldy but goody. If you have never seen the Flickr set for Passover Peeps, you've never truly "experienced" the Exodus.



See them all on Flickr

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Snow Pants and Toboggans

We're going to Cleveland.

(please ignore the noise, that's just me frantically purging books, furniture, etc. as I deal with the thought of moving again.)

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Veggie Seder Redux

We're having the same vegetarian friends over for 1st night seder this year, and Bad Cohen is still on his restricted diet. So now the meal has to fit all the same Passover menu issues from last year, but be new and innovative. But at least I've made sure someone is bringing matzah ball soup.

This year's menu, so far:

During seder



  • Crudite and artichoke dip

  • Charoset

  • Matzah

  • Hard-boiled eggs

Dinner



  • Veggie matzah ball soup

  • Gefilte fish (Bad Cohen won't eat it, but everyone else can)

  • Roasted vegetables (sweet potato, cauliflower, butternut squash chunks)

  • Cucumber, fennel, and onion Israeli-style salad w/herbs

  • Bean or lentil based stew, prob with Moroccan spices

  • Lemon cake w/lemon curd and strawberries

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Beatles' Seder Playlist

Amy Meltzer at Homeshuling is proposing a fun-for-grownups seder theme: Beatles!

I got a little hooked on the idea, so to help her along, here's a playlist:

Honey Badger Zen

I'm thinking of inviting the Honey Badger to Passover this year. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't pester me with questions about whether what we're serving conforms to his demanding and contradictory diet, or the brand of matzah I bought, or whether I ACTUALLY checked for chametz on the top of the kitchen cupboards where we store things we never use.




Which makes me wonder, why doesn't Sassy Gay Friend ever interrupt someone going crazy with Pesach cleaning to say, "What, what WHAT are you doing?!"

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

This is disgusting, people.

Ok, I'm all for Passover cleaning, but do I really need to wait until the week before to clean out my "snacks" drawer at work? It's sort of like cleaning under the couch cushions. Only much, much deeper. Disturbing that I'd still choose this chore over starting my taxes.

Friday, April 01, 2011

Snow vs. Squish

We are faced with the choice of moving to one of two places so Bad Cohen can continue his grad school career:

  1. Santa Barbara: 3 of us crammed into 650 sq. ft. student housing with no yard, nice weather but everything is crazy expensive

  2. Cleveland: we could buy a farmhouse outright, but it snows 7 months of the year and I might not be able to find a job

Opinions?