A Working Mom's Passover Plan

Work Wednesday

Passover, the Jewish holiday that commemorates the Jews'  liberation from slavery in Egypt, begins in two days. Or more accurately, two nights. Although it's my favorite annual Jewish celebration, I've barely started my preparations for Friday night's seder, the eclectic combination of religious service, storytelling saga, songfest and holiday meal with an array of foods (some symbolic, others purely gastronomic) to rival any Thanksgiving feast. And, at this point, Saturday night's seder planning simply hasn't started.

So, you can imagine how I felt when I read award-winning cookbook author Joan Nathan's article in The New York Times last week about her nine-day Passover preparation plan. I love Nathan's imaginative, globe-scanning take on Jewish cuisine and her commitment to preserving culinary history. In fact, I rely on many of her recipes for my  holiday meals. I also like her sage seder advice:  "Make a list. Follow it. Always accept help when offered. And remember to create your own family traditions."

But nine days of prep, including an elaborate gefilte fish-making gathering with six of her friends? Homemade horseradish? Placecards for the guests?  Practice runs for new recipes? Slow-cooked eggs in sand?  "[A]t least five least five variations of haroseth, a mixture of sweet fruit and nuts that symbolizes the mortar used for buildings in Egypt"? Please! Joan! Dayenu! (That's seder Hebrew for "Enough!") Nathan is clearly not a working mom with a non-culinary-oriented job and two young kids.

In some ways, Nathan's nine-day plan reminds me of my grandmother's holiday preparations. Her cooking wasn't as sophisticated or culturally diverse as Nathan's but her holiday preparations were, perhaps, even more intense. She cleaned, koshered, and cooked for what seemed like weeks in a tiny apartment galley kitchen, grinding fish, onions, and meat by hand (Nathan owns up to the KitchenAid mixer, a life-altering invention), baking her Passover sponge cake with cartons of eggs, and setting up folding tables all over the apartment for the guests. (She also put lots of the prepared food out on the fire escape for storage days in advance of the seder. It's amazing that we never came down with food poisoning!)

Like Nathan and my grandmother (and my mom, too, who took over our family's seders from my grandmother), I take the seder seriously even if my own family's traditions that differ from theirs. (For starters, we're Reconstructionists and my husband and kids are vegetarians. So, for example, we use a roasted beet rather than a  shankbone on our seder plate.).  Unlike them, all my Passover cleaning and cooking, will be compressed into two days - tomorrow and Friday - two days that I'm taking as vacation days from work. (I did get a jump start last week by shopping for some special Passover ingredients at a nearby kosher supermarket. Last year, I waited until too close to the holiday and wound up being clobbered by another customer vying for the same Kosher for Passover popover rolls!) I will shop for fresh ingredients Thursday morning and then press go on the Cuisinart. We won't have homemade gefilte fish or horseradish or placecards but we'll have (I hope) a welcoming and meaningful seder and plenty of fresh, appealing food including some South American-inspired Jewish dishes in honor of an upcoming trip to the region. We'll also have our cousin's new version of the ten plagues just published in The Huffington Post, geared for this year's election cycle.

Plus, my seder preparations are authentic. According to the biblical story of Passover, the Jews were in such a hurry to leave Egypt that they couldn't wait for the bread they were baking to rise so they took with them, instead, unleavened cakes of dough - matzah.  There was no time for testing out new recipes or baking eggs overnight in sand. So my own working mom's Passover plan, which involves a lot of shopping, cooking, and cleaning in a hurry is more in line with the original story of the Exodus than Nathan's leisurely nine-day plan. Well, that's what I'm telling myself!

Happy Holidays to those of you who will be sitting down to Passover or Easter feasts this weekend. And to all, enjoy the return of spring and the renewal of the earth.

 Photo by scazon via flickr.com.

 

Comments

[Julie]

to make my large seder easier this year, I'm using the Costco veggie platter for my dipping veggies (having my sister bring fresh parsley), using beautiful paper plates for the dishes, but using all my special vintage serving pieces (many from my grandmothers). name cards are always origami frogs with guest names on them. table also decorated with the plagues (small plastic frogs, beasts, etc.). Happy Passover and thanks for reminding us that we cannot do it all and I don't know how my grandma did it either.

[Marci]

What a great idea, Julie -- paper plates for the dishes, but the nice china, etc. for serving pieces! I was totally stressing over all the dishes I was going to have to hand wash on Friday night, but now I think I'm going to go hit up the party store. Great blog, Stacy. I agree with Joan Nathan - accept help when it's offered. We are hosting at my house because I'm better equipped for all the little kids, but my wonderful mom is making the lion's share of the meal :-) Happy Passover!

[Sonia Rosen]

where in south america are you going?

I love passover too . . and relish the time i get to spend figuring out our menu -- many items of which come from Jews near and far. But many of the recipes do end up with a Latino flavor (gee, i wonder why? but they are very good, i must say). There are a number of fantastic chefs (particularly Mexican chefs) who fuse Latino and Jewish foods with mouth watering results. THis year my modern orthodox family will be in town, so my menu must accomodate them.

So it's Wednesday night. I just finished most of my shopping (I still have to go to the Fish Market in the am for Halibut). Now i have to look over my home-made haggadah and add/edit/replace and print out anew for everyone. I'm still looking for a reading that reflects upon the seeming rise in racism recently -- eg Trayvon Martin and anti-immigrant hatred. I think noting this as a community "plague" is important this year. I also saw a hip-hop version of the plagues, which i'd love to play at seder. . .. but thinkin' that my orthodox family may not go for the electronic stuff, it being a Hag and all. the song they would like!

I've helped clean my mom's house and mine is a wreck. no beds made, legos everywhere, you get the picture. I haven't even had time to take the chametz out . . oy! And now to make the home-made asian inspired gefilte fish (the kids LOVE it!) and the square eggs, and the 3 types of charoset. Chicken soup is done except for the matzah balls. I pick up my brother and his kids at 2pm tomorrow, and then pack food, clothes, etc for me and Eli to decamp to my folks house for 4 days.

hmm. I think i'll open the fridge and get rid of the last couple of beers. that's taking care of some chametz!

so, long story short. Chag Sameach Karen. Abrazos to all. We're kinda missing AS these days . . .

Sonia

p.s. and you know I always love your blogposts :)

[Kelly]

Hmm. . .Actually most of the Mom are always love to work with busy sign. This Passover Plan honestly impressive through by work certainly.