Yesterday was Erev Yom Kippur, and I had the beautiful privilege of spending it with my family. We had the dinner at my daughter’s house, and those present were my mother, my son Danny, my daughter Randi and her 2 children Noah (3) and Ezra 10 months) and her husband Dan, her mother in law Marsha and her husband Al. I cooked the meal. Here was my menu: challah, sweet and sour meatballs, broiled and baked chicken, cranberry compote- sauce, tangy beets, twice baked potatoes, kasha varniskes, Jewish apple cake, and chocolate chip cookies. Marsha (my son in law’s mother) brought the broccoli, and my mother brought a jello mold. Wow! It was so much fun and so gratifying to make the food and serve it to my family. I wish my wonderful father and my son Benji (away at college) could have been there. I loved how much everybody loved the foodIf my father were there, he would have been the biggest fan! A few things that stand out in my mind are: My mother’s comment - “Judy, I can’t get over how good your food is, I always said that the two best cooks I know are you and Aunt Florence.” ; Marsha’s comment- “Judy, I keep saying that you really missed your calling.” ; how much Randi loved the food; and the excitement and the conversation over the retro 1960’s lime jello mold which was a very big deal for my mother to make as she just doesn’t cook anymore, and which everyone enjoyed; watching baby Ezra devour my sweet and sour meatballs; and the consensus that the stuffed potatoes were the best potatoes anyone had ever had; how sweet Noah was.
I had a great time getting ready for the dinner with my daughter, just loving every second of the preparation as I was busy in her kitchen while she took care of the kids. For some reason I just love more than anything cooking and baking just knowing my kids are somewhere very close - as in the room or the next room.
I’ll be posting the recipes I used that are not yet on this site- the twice baked potatoes, the apple cake, and the beets. The rest of the recipes are already on the site.
