Passover in Halifax - A Fabulous Frenzy

I love this time of year - Spring is definitely heading our way - no more boots (I hope), asparagus is plentiful and my favorite Jewish Holiday - Passover - is here. Our tradition for the last five years or so is to go to Halifax to spend it with my daughter Joanna - at first it was just her and many friends, then it was with Ezra, too - her husband and his family. Now we added a truly wonderful reason to celebrate there..... Boaz, or as I call him - Bo-belicious, because he is. That's him having his first bath in a bath. He's only three months old, so as brilliant as he is - he still can't sit up by himself. He is in his very own bain marie!

Another reason this particular Passover is so special - I got to spend an entire week before the seder with not just one, but both of my beautiful daughters. That's Joanna, Sharron and me with some of the dishes we prepared for the seder.

That's some of the "fabulous" part of the visit...and here's some of the results of the frenzy...

Our Passover Seder Menu

Round 1 - Soup

Chicken Soup with Dilled Matzo Balls

Round 2- Appetizers

Joanna's wonderful Chopped Liver

(I would have stolen the leftovers if there weren't all these airline restrictions about food and liquids, etc...)

Baked Gefitle Fish

(a first for us. I usually am disdainful of baked fish because it always tastes too dry. That said, I won't make "real" gefilte fish because it's poached in fish broth and way too stinky for me. This recipe was adapted from 1000 Jewish Recipesby one of my favorite Jewish Cookbook Authors, Faye Levy)

Green Salad with Avocado and Fatoush Dressing

Round 3 - The Main Course

Joanna's Stuffed Leg of Lamb

This year's variation had a stuffing of mushrooms, farfel and roasted rosemary garlic inspired by a recipe we saw in The Gefilte Variations by Jayne Cohen. Jo also studded the legs (we had 3 to feed all 12 of us) with fresh rosemary sprigs and pieces of garlic.

Potato Kugel

Gingery Carrot Tsimmis

Roasted Asparagus

(The ghost of my mother insists there be some green vegetable on the table) Same recipe just use the oven at the highest heat setting without it being on broil. Cook in top third of the oven.

Round 4 - Dessert

Chocolate Cake

(from a mix - because usually everyone is too stuffed to care -with a drizzle of chocolate sauce and sprinkled with toasted slivered almonds)

Fresh Fruit

(because even though everyone says they'll never eat again, we all somehow still seem to need to nibble on something sweet). This year it was beautiful red, red, red strawberries paired with sweet and juicy cantaloupe slices.

For my Jewish friends...have a Happy Passover. For my Christian friends...have a Happy Easter...and for everyone...enjoy the moments at hand.

By the way, don't forget about Presto Pasta Night. You can still join in the fun. Here's how... I'll be making a Passover Pasta dish.

Related links: Presto Pasta Night Food and Drink food blogging event Recipes menu Holiday cooking