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lavendersparkleThis year I tried not to get too stressed about Pesach prep but failed and still ended up having a couple of sleepless nights. Despite that, by the time it got to the time for the seder I was feeling happy and relaxed and energised by the arrival of my guests (particularly Alice who arrived early to help and made the ratatouille). This year we expanded from last year and had four guests. As well as Alice, who came last year, there was: Xose, a Spanish Roman Catholic and Alice's boyfriend; Beccy, an Israeli leftist, who, due to her upbringing on a Socialist kibbutz had minimal experience of religion prior to meeting some members of the Cambridge Egal Min crowd; and Anthony, an Australian PhD student who is trying very hard not to overrun and was a great help with the singing.
The menu was vegetarian and almost vegan. We had a roasted beetroot instead of a lamb bone and lentils instead of an egg. I also tried to make as much as possible from raw ingredients so that I didn't have to spend too much on kosher l'Pesach certified food.* The menu was:
boiled eggs in salt water (and a boiled potato for me)
carrot and coriander soup
Nut loaf** with rosemary roast potatoes, broccoli, curly kale and ratatouille
Tea pouched pears with chocolate sauce
The seder went well, particularly with the addition of Anthony for the singing. Alec was against fiendish in his hiding of the afikomen. Xose did appear at one point that he might die due to not realising what horseradish was until he had a big chunk of it in his mouth. We had Kedem rather Palwin this year and I prefer it's super sugery goodness although the rest of the guests (apart from Beccy) found it a bit much. I made the mistake again of forgetting that, despite all of the jokes and moaning, the seder actually isn't that long and that I need to put the roasties in earlier. Next year I shall try putting the over on when we begin and putting the potatoes in about 20 minutes after that. At the end of the seder we sang The Land which Alice was unamused by as she is still in denial about the Lib Dems being better than the Labour party.
*I still somehow managed to spend over £70 at Kosher Kingdom for one basket of groceries.
** I used this recipe but I used kosher l'Pesach falafel mix rather than stuffing mix because I couldn't find any. I also used smashed nuts rather than sliced nuts because shoving them in a bag and whacking them with a sturdy bottle is easier than slicing.
The menu was vegetarian and almost vegan. We had a roasted beetroot instead of a lamb bone and lentils instead of an egg. I also tried to make as much as possible from raw ingredients so that I didn't have to spend too much on kosher l'Pesach certified food.* The menu was:
boiled eggs in salt water (and a boiled potato for me)
carrot and coriander soup
Nut loaf** with rosemary roast potatoes, broccoli, curly kale and ratatouille
Tea pouched pears with chocolate sauce
The seder went well, particularly with the addition of Anthony for the singing. Alec was against fiendish in his hiding of the afikomen. Xose did appear at one point that he might die due to not realising what horseradish was until he had a big chunk of it in his mouth. We had Kedem rather Palwin this year and I prefer it's super sugery goodness although the rest of the guests (apart from Beccy) found it a bit much. I made the mistake again of forgetting that, despite all of the jokes and moaning, the seder actually isn't that long and that I need to put the roasties in earlier. Next year I shall try putting the over on when we begin and putting the potatoes in about 20 minutes after that. At the end of the seder we sang The Land which Alice was unamused by as she is still in denial about the Lib Dems being better than the Labour party.
*I still somehow managed to spend over £70 at Kosher Kingdom for one basket of groceries.
** I used this recipe but I used kosher l'Pesach falafel mix rather than stuffing mix because I couldn't find any. I also used smashed nuts rather than sliced nuts because shoving them in a bag and whacking them with a sturdy bottle is easier than slicing.