The Great Seder Adventure

Passover is my favorite Jewish holiday. I love the story and the ritual, the family gathering, and food. I even don't mind Matzah (the first few days). However, this year, with the seders being Monday and Tuesday, I couldn't make it back home. So I decided to host my very first seder myself. The guest list was 10 people - an almost even split between Jews and the uninitiated, who would be subjected to our singing.

The preparation began with a Saturday morning grocery trip. It took the cabbie and I two trips to get everything out of the trunk into the entry hall

I spent the next few hours chopping, mixing and bundling into assorted cooking dishes.  First up was the brisket -6.5 pounds of meat marinated in an eclectic mix of sweet and sour. The lack of a food processor in the house meant that my guests would be able to admire my onion and garlic chopping skills.


 While the brisket was in the oven, I started the chicken soup.  Despite my aversion to high school Biology, and a month spent dissecting every formaldehyde-soaked carcass in the supply room, I handled breaking down the chicken with aplomb. And I even remembered the bayleaf!

Saturday was not without incident, however. A bit of spilled gravy in the oven led to a smoky apartment and a loud smoke alarm.  However, this time we opened the window, not the door, and avoided evacuating the whole building (see the Great Popcorn Embarrassment of 2009).

Sunday was a much lighter cooking day - charoset, asparagus, matzah balls, potatoes and berry compote.  And of course, re-arranging furniture for my beautiful seder table:

We had a nice little seder, passing the haggadah, using printed transliterations for the Four Questions, and barely remembering two verses of Dayenu.  But we did drink all 4 glasses of wine, and hide the afikomen! Hat tip to H. for his inventive use of dixie cups on the seder plate:

Next year in Jerusalem! (or at least in an apartment with a dishwasher...)

The Menu:
Charoset
Chicken Soup w/ Matzah Balls
Brisket
Arugula Salad
Roasted Asparagus
Potatoes
Berries, Ice Cream, Macaroons

March for Babies!

In honor of Pesach, and the celebration of a 40 year wander through the desert, please donate to another worthwhile march: our March of Dimes Team!

Two times a trend?: The Work(Out) shirt

Exile to the hinterlands of suburban New England does not always provide ample opportunities for the type of social commentary I enjoy. Moving between the client and hotel means spending most of your waking hours in smallish rooms staring at a computer screen.

Sometimes, however, I am able to escape to the gym, to stare at another screen while pretending to exercise. During these brief respites on the elliptical, I am usually surrounded by other members of my tribe, the traveling consultant. Recently, watching these fellow hotel-dwellers, I have noticed a rather disturbing trend: the use of the button-down work shirt as exercise attire. I call it the "Work(Out) Shirt"

The first instance of this fashion violation occurred as part of a larger crime against the well-dressed. Another gym-goer chose to work out in black sneakers, high white socks, madras shorts, a loud blue and pink Thomas Pink button down, and slicked down hair. All he was missing was a tie, and the clashing patterns would have overwhelmed the room.

The second appearance of the Work(Out) shirt came three days later, on another perpetrator of the slicked down hair look. The offender paired a blue button down with gym shorts - marginally less offensive but still slightly horrifying.

I would say that the Work(Out) shirt is now a trend, but I have only seen it twice, not thrice, thus disqualifying it from official Thursday Styles coverage in the NYT. Next time I make it back to the gym, I'm sure the Work(Out) Shirt will be there, waiting, and ready to be declared trend-y (and I'll snap a photo!)