Switched!!

Yesterday, after my son got home from school and work we got to work switching the house over. 

Many small tasks add up to be sort of monumental. The Passover stuff is hidden away all over the apartment. My son and I just kept plugging away until we got the kitchen more or less in order. 

I knew that as soon as we got set up I had to get my first cooking task done. Several years ago we went on vacation to Lancaster County. While most of the Amish delicacies were not foods we could eat, we fell in love with pickled beet eggs.They taste good, but the color is insane. The white of a properly pickled beet egg is magenta. The line where the yolk and the white meet is positively technicolor. I don't remember which one of us suggested that we could serve pickled beet eggs on our Seder plate. Those Amish beet eggs have been part of our Seders ever since that vacation.

So as soon as I unpacked the dishes and pots I put two dozen eggs up to boil. Once they had cooled I measured the juice from two cans of beets and then measured out the same amount of sugar and vinegar. (There is also a variant of the recipe made with salt but you know how to use Google too)) I simmered the beet juice, sugar and vinegar in a pot and then added the eggs and let the whole concoction simmer for about twenty minutes and let the whole thing cool. Once it was cool I filled the jar with the eggs, the beet brine and the cut up beets. 

By Seder the eggs will be gorgeous. Some of the people sitting at the table don't like beets, they will get plain eggs.

I  invited us to a friend's house for Shabbat dinner. My friend had wanted to take our son out for lunch to celebrate his birthday. I figured I could bring all of the food, and my bread loving family could get their challah for Shabbat. 

Through a couple of complicated but sweet plot turns there will be a whole lot more people at the table (all of whom we love) and I don't have to be responsible forall that much of the meal.

We are bringing THIS

It looks a bit like the photo parody of getting ready for Passover that has been floating around Facebook, where an entire living room is completely covered in foil. This is not a bed of foil . The smaller package holds spicy meatballs in a tomato reduction. The larger package holds

flanken bones served with caramelized onions. The Brussels Sprouts roasted with mushrooms and chestnuts are in the fridge. 

I start the vat-o-soup after Shabbat. I have a tower of 7.5 dozen eggs in my fridge.The serious cooking starts soon. I am surprised that my credit card hasn't melted from all the use it has been getting.

Shabbat shalom!