Pesach Make-Your-Own Charoset Oasis

There are many different ways to observe the holiday of Passover.

In my own personal custom, I'm pretty committed to the idea of one Seder, on the first night of the holiday. A second seder has always felt, well, secondary. It lacks the excitement, the enthusiasm, the delight (albeit short-lived) of that first taste of matzah. 

But I love a good party.

So I don't usually turn down the idea of a second-night-of-Passover Party.

Oh, and since I also love to teach and discuss and enjoy traditions, I don't mind throwing a few of the Seder customs into that second-night-of-Passover party.

Often, our second seder is somewhat experimental. 

So this year, we tried a few new things.

First, we set up a tent in our living room. Our living room isn't very big, so the tent took up most of the space. But it did allow us to ask a fifth question - "what's with the tent!?"

I had hoped it would spark a discussion of what it would be like to wander in the desert, what we would pack if we had to leave on a moment's notice. Alas, it wasn't quite as sparky as I'd hoped. But the kids loved having a tent. And Big Bear loved having a room of his own.

The more successful innovation was this Make-Your-Own Charoset Oasis:

(As named by my friend Rabbi Anne Persin, who says, "we're traveling in the desert and we stopped at this oasis for some charoset!")

I put out bowls of chopped nuts, chopped apples, chopped pears, mandarin oranges, toasted coconut, and raisins. I pre-soaked the apples and pears in wine, and I left a little extra wine on the table for those who like it extra-mushy. We also put out honey and cinnamon (not pictured). Even my kids who don't usually like charoset got into the fun, and adults did too. (Bananas came up as a suggestion, and I waited to cut them until the last minute and then I forgot. Oops.)

I think it might be fun to ask people to suggest their own ingredients, or to ask them to bring a bowl filled with a charoset ingredient and its significance toward the lessons of Passover. Either way, I think I've created a hit with this one! 

In case you're interested, we also watched some of our favorite Pesach videos and had a little discussion about freedom, slavery, and plagues. Yael said the four questions (even though she got both giggly and shy) and I quizzed all the kids about all that they knew about Passover. And of course, we ate a yummy meal! We celebrated with friends and family and I consider it to be a wonderful and fun success!

How were your Seder experiences? 

Did you try anything new? Please share....I'd love to learn from you!

Family Traits

There is something about the apple....falling...not far from the tree? You might say so.

The other day, I took this adorable picture of Yael and Solly:

After I took it, I thought to myself, "bummer, that there's that bag between them" (it was over her shoulder) but I made sure not to say a word. I didn't want to over-stage the picture, I didn't really mind. After all, look at how cute they are! So I was pretty content.

Then Yael comes over and says, "let me see the picture." I show her, saying how nice it was. She says, "too bad the bag is in the picture between us!"

Another day this week, I found myself saying the kind of words my parents used to say.
I had a flash of "oh-my-gosh-I'm-my-parents."

One generation leads to the next leads to the next....

I'm my parents.
And my daughter is me.

Let the circle continue...

Spelling Lessons

Me to Yael: How do you spell Yael?
Her: Y-a-e-l. Okay, ask me another one, ask me about my brothers.
Me: Okay, spell David.
Her: D-a-v-i-d. Now Sammy.
Me: Okay, spell Sam.
Her: S-a-m.
Me: Now spell Solomon.
Her: (long pause) S-o-l-l-y.

Me: Close enough.

I adore that the very most important people in her life are her brothers.
Her teachers tell me that she talks about them all day long.
I hope they are always close and connected and best of friends.

I hope they always seek out each other as they do now.

Our Chanukah History

While taking out the Chanukah decorations, chanukiyot, dreidels, and books from the Chanukah box, we "found" all the things that the kids have made for Chanukah over the years.

Thus, a new tradition is born:

And then we found this one, which their Ima made a looong time ago.

So they insisted on taking my picture with it:

But I couldn't resist also taking a picture of the back.

Yep, I was a documenter of things even then.

How do you document your family traditions and memories?

I {heart} 23 Tishrei

The 23rd of Tishri is the day after Simchat Torah. The day after Sukkot ends. The day after the chagim are over for this year. There are no holidays until Thanksgiving.

(There are, in my family, four birthdays coming up in the next eight weeks. But that's a different story. And a different post.)

So it's time for me to return to regular blogging.

Or, just putting up pictures and hoping that you don't notice my lack of posts because of how cute my kids are.

This guy is 10 months old. He now has one little tooth.

Oh, and he can walk. At least 10 steps in a row. The other kids get so darn excited when he does it that he falls down from the delight in their excitement. Eventually everyone will get over it, right?

Check out this handsome devil. These are his "handsome clothes" (his words) that he wore for the holidays...he is doing so well with kindergarten, I'm so impressed. Every day he comes home with a new Spanish word (he's in a dual-language program) and he can count to 40 in Spanish. Plus, he's a total comedian.

My pony-tailed girl-child has a million ideas every day. She wants to keep wearing her flip-flops even though it's really too cold and she refuses to wear a coat. She "reads" books out loud in her own foreign language and she tells stories in the shower. "Character" does not even begin to describe her and she is soaking everything up all around her every day.

Anyone for a haircut? Not this kid, who is so proud of his funky messy hairdo. No amount of bribery seems to be working to get him to contemplate a new look. Good thing he is very handsome even without a comb. He came home from the first week of school with the joyous announcement that fourth graders can take out "as many books as they want" from the school library. (Previous grades, obviously, had a limit.) He is testing this rule as often and as much as possible.

So that's what's going on in our family. How's your post-holiday life going?

A Sweet Memory

My Bubbie Raye died this week.

She was my mother's mother. (My father's mother, bless her, is doing well at 95.)
Bubbie was 93 years old, and had 11 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.

A few weeks ago, my mom was visiting her and brought to me all of her recipes. Some were not much to write home about, but I found what I wanted.

Bubbie Raye did not live in town, so she would come to visit and we would visit her. For all of her traveling years, those visits began with mohn (poppyseed) cookies. She would pull them out of her suitcase at our house or we would find the container in hers. Not-too-sweet, very simple and plain, full of those little black seeds. It never occurred to me that I could make them myself, they were hers.

So when I heard the news that she had died, I went to the store and got some poppyseeds.

And I made cookies...

Her recipe for Poppyseed Cookies (in case you can't read her handwriting)

Beat:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 (cup) crisco

1/4 cup oil

Combine and add to egg mixture

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

Then add 1/4 cup poppyseeds

Refrigerate overnight - roll out and cut into shape with a glass.

Bake at 350.

Now, she didn't say how long - I'm sure she made them so often that was second nature. But I'll tell you, 8 minutes is just perfect. Oh, and I put them on parchment paper, but I'm sure she didn't do that either. 

I have many memories of her, but biting into those cookies?

Very sweet.

Me and my Bubbie, in 2008

May her memory be for a blessing - zichrona livracha.

Snippets: Florida

We took a weekend jaunt to sunny(ish) Florida for a family Bar Mitzvah. Along the way we had some adventures. Isn't life always an adventure with four kids!?

Sitting in the cockpit before our first flight...

Enjoying the warm weather upon our arrival...

The kids could not get over the change in weather. From the low 30s to the high 70s was such a shock to their systems!

Good morning, Florida!

Of course, we had to hit the beach. The waves were pretty intense and it was really windy, so Yael was a little frightened. The boys had no trouble diving right in...

And look who turned 3 months old while we were on our way home...

What were you up to this week?

Circle of Love

I have long admired these necklaces that I've seen on other people's blogs, and adorning the necks of friends. (I've entered more giveaways than I can remember.)

But none of them really spoke to the way I think of my children and myself as their mother.

When we chose our children's names, I was adamant that they be Hebrew names. Not just Hebrew in addition to their English names, but that they be pretty much the same in both languages.

We did pretty well, only one middle name that isn't the same in both languages.

So I wanted something that spoke to that for me. I searched for "Hebrew hand-stamped necklace" and found

Jewish Girl Designs.

And then I ordered this:

Isn't it beautiful? (And even though her prices seem to have gone up, they still seem pretty reasonable.)

I ended up ordering some beautiful necklaces for some lovely B'not Mitzvah girls as well, which they loved.

It's my favorite thing to wear.

Snippets

One of my favorite bloggers has a weekly post she calls "nuggets" - little snippets of her life in a blog post...

So here's my version...snippets of life with four children...

Lots of time spent hanging out together while it's cold and Ima is on maternity leave...everyone always wants to hold the baby. I hear a lot of "he got to hold him longer than I did!" or "how come David gets to hold the baby but I don't?"

 We've had snow. Lots of it. Enough to satisfy my children's craving for snow and then some. Snowpalooza 2011....snOwMG.

 

 

 

I'm participating in the Sydney Taylor Book Awards blog tour. I had to read the book I was assigned really fast, and it was good. You'll see my review on Monday, along with an interview with the author. The full tour schedule is up here.

I've been baking. A lot. It's probably not good for the waistline but it seems to be good for the soul.

Today is Rosh Chodesh Adar I. It's a leap year, so we get to celebrate Rosh Chodesh Adar twice. I think it's nice that we add the month of happiness instead of a more crotchety month, don't you? Here's a poem I wrote for Rosh Chodesh Adar last year. Can't wait to make hamantaschen!

Solly is 8 weeks old. Where has the time gone?

 

 

(I know that last one is ever so slightly blurry but don't you love the smile!?)
Shabbat shalom and Chodesh tov!

P.S. Did you see my new header? Pretty cute, huh?

One Month Haze and Days

While on maternity leave...so far...

We made snowflakes...

Played video games (yes, he's holding the baby AND playing a video game. Such a multitasker, my kiddo.)

And someone turned one month old.

Where has the time gone?

Not much sleeping happens...but there's a lot of family togetherness.
It's so good.

Generations

I am so blessed to have two grandmothers.
One lives close enough that we see her on a regular basis.
She's totally in love with Solomon.

I'm totally in love with the fact that my children know their great-grandmother and that she knows them.

She's seen 95 years so far.

Solly has barely seen 3 weeks.

What a great pair.

Baby Brother Love

This is what's been going on around here.
A lot of sitting around and looking at their little brother.

Telling him stories...about Sammy & Solly.

Yep.
There's so much more where this came from...

I love that they love him so much.

It's a Boy!

Last Tuesday, our new son was born, quickly.
Even though I was waiting and waiting, when the time came, he didn't hesitate.
He just came exactly when he wanted to.







Everyone was incredibly happy to meet him, especially his big sister, who for the last few weeks has been saying, "I want a brother."

Sam was ready to share his lovey (Blue Bear) right away, although since this picture, he hasn't relinquished it again.

The biggest brother loves to hold the littlest one, and he has the rocking motion down pat.

There are four children in our family now...and it's noisy and chaotic and crazy and fun.

Solomon Levi is his name.
It's a big name for such a little person, but I think he will grow into it.

Our little Solly.

I can't wait to get to know him better.