First Night

Tonight, after the sun sets, Passover will finally begin. Later this evening, I will be sitting down with my hubby's family and friends for the first seder of the holiday. But before that even happens, hubby and I are going on a little adventure. We are headed to Calvert Farm, about two hours from our home, to plant some onions and lettuce with a group of children from Inner City Outings. This wonderful program takes children from Washington, DC's low income neighborhoods on outdoor adventures. In the past, they've enjoyed camping in National Parks and hiking on local trails. Today will be their first visit to an organic farm. It's funny that we're planting today, rather than pulling and gathering, as Passover actually marks the beginning of the spring harvest in Israel.

I'm especially excited about our trip today because hubby and I own one share of Calvert Farm and we will begin to enjoy a weekly bounty of vegetables starting on May 12th. In less than a month, the first crop will be asparagus. I find this a particularly versitile vegetable. In fact, it's often one of the side dishes on my parents' seder table.

A quick and easy way to serve asparagus is to roast it. Wash a bundle of it carefully, then individually bend them and let them break naturally. Throw out the bottoms and put the spears in a 9X12 baking dish. Add 2 T of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. The oven should be preheated at 425 F. The asparagus should be ready in 20 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Another, very tasty asparagus recipe can be found here. Be sure to skip the soy sauce, as it is not kosher for Passover. Soybean is a legume, of course!

http://testdrivekitchen.blogspot.com/2007/12/easy-fast-delicious-asparagus.html

Okay, before I head out to the farm this morning, I promised you some stories from Passover past.

It's Passover and I'm a freshman in high school. It's 1989 and I'm from South Jersey, so imagine me with teased bangs and crunchy hair dyed blonde with "Sun-in." My aunt and uncle's seder is always packed with people and that night was no exception. The dining room was tight and was often hard to squeeze past the numerous chairs. I did my best as I tried to move from the kitchen back to my seat at the table, but someone decided to squeeze past me and I had to lean back to let them through. Little did I know that I came too close to the lit candles behind me. The next thing I knew my cousin was up and out of his chair heading toward me with a look of "crazy" in his eyes. He smacked my head numerous times before I could even smell the smoke. Yep. A head full of hairspray is a very flammable thing. The seder had stopped abruptly and everyone stared at me in shock while the fire on my head was put out. I felt absolutely no pain, but I truly thought I would die from embarrassment.

I never wore hairspray again.

Okay, I wore mousse. I had to. They wouldn't let you into my high school without it!