The End Of A Chag

it is 8:00 p.m.in the holy city of Zefat.  tomorrow night is the second holiday of Pesach.  the pesach holiday officially ends on Saturday night in Israel.  I invited a few guests for the meal.  the kids are going out for the holiday and will come back from the Sephardi clan on Friday night.  I washed the floors this morning very early.  I wanted to watch 'million dollar listings' but I was too busy.

I spent the entire day in the kitchen.  the little kids were at the Sephardi grandma's today.  I took the initiative to cook most of the food for the holiday and Shabbat.  I will make a few salads tomorrow and some battered chicken wings.  I want to make a fresh beet and carrot salad, avocado and egg salad, some coleslaw and a green salad.  I made some kind of pesach barbeque sauce with wine, orange juice and sugar.  it is horrible.  I actually burnt the syrup when I boiled the concoction.  I tried to doctor it with more orange juice and honey but I added salt and ruined it.

I started the morning by peeling lots of veggies and fruits.  I made a dessert of poached pears in wine.  I also made a tomato salsa and peeled the tomatoes and peppers. I made the Niles perch Sephardi style with tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and chili peppers.  that was a whole lot of peeling, right there.  I made a piece of beef in wine and chicken bottoms in a lemon, onion and honey sauce.  I made a small pot of mashed potatoes and a small amount of squash and onions.  I made a soup with chicken necks for Friday night.

I made some honey and orange glazed beets and an eggplant salad with boiled eggs.  I peeled the eggplant, wrapped it in tin foil and roasted them on top of the burners.  the outsides were burnt but the insides were mushy and smoky.  I added chopped onion, lemon and olive oil.  I don't use garlic on pesach so I use a lot of salt and pepper.  that was a lot of work peeling off the burnt parts of the eggplant.  I was thinking of using the disposable grill but I was too tired to go downstairs.

I made a mayonnaise dressing.  the recipe I had for beating all of the ingredients together didn't quite make mayonnaise so I have an egg dressing instead.  hopefully, it will be okay on the slaw.  I wanted to make some kugels but I couldn't get it together to bring up the toaster oven.  it is in the living room storage area under a very heavy wooden board.  maybe i'll make a small amount of potato salad with the mayonnaise dressing.  it has bits of horseradish root and red onion.  I don't use vinegar or mustard on pesach.

I thought about baking brownies but I still have store bought pesach cakes to finish.   I don't think that I have the strength to lift the heavy boards in the living room.  I cracked open the rest of the walnuts and almonds and I peeled the rest of the dates just in case I want to make another dessert.  I am exhausted.  I have to go downstairs now and babysit while the big kids go out with friends.  I also have the little kids here with me tomorrow.  the house is clean, more or less, and the majority of the cooking is done so hopefully, it will be okay.  happy Holliday!