Steve and I spent our First Seder at chez Temes. After work, we walked to the UWS and started the meal preparations. Steve and I brought the maror (horseradish) and the charoses (chopped apples and walnuts sweetened with honey) as well as a flourless chocolate cake for dessert.
We all sat around the table taking turns reading from the Haggadas, the book that tells the Passover story. We ate our bitter herbs, the maror and charoses , matzah, gefiltefish and finally the main meal. Dave and Sara made a delicious chicken meal with a cauliflower kugel. After dinner we did not finish the Haggadas -- as Steve says, the sign of a good Seder (more accurately, a good seder meal) is that you don't do the second half. Thank you Dave and Sara for hosting!
Thursday, April 13, 2006:
The next morning Steve and I woke up bright and early to catch our flight to Minneapolis to spend the second Seder with his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. We arrived and went directly to Dan and Stacy's house. We spent the afternoon helping Stacy prepare the night's meal. (Ok, so we helped by entertaining Benji and Zoe....and napping. But I did help with the granola--I was a test taster). Finally, six o'clock rolled around the family members started arriving. It was time to start the Seder.
Here is Dan greeting and thanking everyone for coming.
View from the top:
View from the top: There were 29 people present. In no particular order: Bernie, Jack (Steve's grandparents); Sally, Morrie, Ellen (Steve's aunt, uncle, cousin) and Dan (Ellen's boyfriend); Dan, Stacy, Benji, Zoe (uncle, aunt, cousins--who we stayed with); Wendy, Marty, Marisa, Brian, Jory (Stacy's sister who lives down the street and her family); Nancy, Stephen, Abigail, Rebecca (Steve's aunt, uncle, cousins who live in Arizona)
Here are pictues of the maror on the matzah as well as the charoses. These are eaten prior to the meal, in the portion of the Haggadah that explains the symbolism of the foods - bitter herbs dipped in salt water, maror, charoses, matzah.
After going through the first part of the Haggadah, it was time to dish up the main meal. Stacy made a delicious Chicken Marbella (chicken/olive/citrus dish) with mashed potatoes, asparagas, fruit, and meatballs. Looks good, doesn't it?
And for dessert we had some candies, coffee, and cakes.
Here's SHB with Benji and Zoe!
Friday, April 14, 2006:
We woke up and the first thing we did was go to Dunn Brothers to pick up our daily cup o joes. Dunn Brothers is a local coffee roaster that makes one good cup of joe. If you're ever in Minneapolis (even if you're just in the airport) I highly recommend grabbing a cup.
Later that morning, Dan took Steve, Barb and I to St. Paul. We took a quick tour of the old neighborhood where Steve used to live. Here's the house:
And here's Steve sitting on the steps. (Apparently, there's a cute photo of Steve as a kid sitting on these steps and he's re-enacting it here).
The rest of the morning we spent around the house. We had some time before our lunch engagement, so we took a stroll through a local park. It was beautiful spring day and being outside was a perfect way to spend it. Lunch time rolled around. We enjoyed chopped liver, meats and matzah as well as homemade mozzarella cheese (by Stephen, Steve's uncle). But, the highlight of lunch was the jar of spiced peaches. Yum, yum. Aren't you jealous, Aaron?
After lunch, Steve, Barb and I went to the mall to peruse. We realized it was the perfect time to register--we were outside Manhattan. We walked around to a few stores and found items we likes. After filling out the appropriate paperwork, we were given our tagging gun. Ready, aim, fire!
Dinner was at Sally and Morry's house. We had brisket, chicken, Grandma Gussie's spinach, and salad. For dessert we had nut cake and brownies. Once again, we consumed another amazing meal.
Saturday, April 15, 2006:
I woke up to the sweet smell of Dunn Brother's dark roast coffee. (To the tune of the Foldger's Coffee commercial) The best part of waking up is Dunn Brother's in your cup! Steve, Barb, Sally and I went back to the mall to finish registering. Steve and I were determined to get as much of it out of the way so we wouldn't have to fight the NYC crowds. We did a pretty good job. I caught Steve in action selecting the knives.
After a few hours, we hit a wall and called it quits. And it was back to the homefront for the day.
Dinner was inspired by Rosebud, the half cow Dan and Stacy purchased--400 pounds of beef. We had a Mosow family traditional dish, Sphardi. And for dessert, hot fudge sundaes!
Sunday, April 16, 2006:
Again, we woke up to a fresh cup of Dunn Brothers Coffee. It was a lazy Sunday morning for us since we had to catch our flight at 1pm. We packed our bag and put it on Benji...the bag is practically the size of him.
We said our goodbyes and it was time to head back to reality. Steve and I get the airport and are going through secuirty when Steve realized his drivers license is at Crate and Barrel....yes, he had to leave is ID to get the tagging gun and forgot to pick it up when we were done registering. Fortunately, we were in the MSP airport where people are understanding. Steve put on his nice guy charm and explained the situation. The security guard let him through, but with added security. Thank goodness we weren't in LGA...
We finally made it back to NYC, safe and sound.
2 comments:
So did Steve finally get his ID back? Oh and yes I did take some chocolate from the Easter bunny! You know I would never pass up a piece of chocolate!
Looks like a fun time! Registering is the best.Love, mom
Post a Comment