Pesach Menus

Purim has not yet arrived but I'm scanning recipes for Pesach, which coincides with weekends this year.  Two seders, shabbos Pesach, and a Thursday night yontiff.  Some dishes are tried and true, others more of an adventure.  I could make chicken soup or warm up packaged certified broth, then make matzoh balls.  My own is always better though not always worth the effort.  As much as I'd like to try Sephardic or Mizrachi Charoset, the standard Ashkenazi mix of apples, almonds, cinnamon and kiddush wine is both easier and more economical than securing certified dried fruit.  As guests dwindle in number and beef becomes prohibitively expensive, turkey and brisket have given way to chicken at both ends of the Yom Tovim.  Kugel starts with a matzoh base, sometimes lasts the entire festival, sometimes gets replaced at the end by potato kugel.  And some type of nut cake for dessert at each end of the week.

As a consequence of targeted suppers, it becomes a week of fleishig each evening, mostly scrounging for meals earlier in the day.  Yet one of my more fulfilling challenges, a blend of planning and execution with tangible results.