In the Sukkah We Shall Sit for 7 Days...

As the Jewish New Year holiday season continues into it's final stretch we are in final preparations for sukkot.  I procrastinated planning our sukkah with a sense of overwhelm.  Most of my holiday focus is generally on menu planning, food shopping, cooking, baking and finding enough freezer space. My husband took care of building the structure, electrical wiring and some back-up fans as protection against the impending heat wave. I was tasked with interior design. 

I felt a certain amount of pressure for the decorating of our sukkah to be a great experience for my kids and me together and at the same time a desire for it to be elegant and welcoming home for the next 7 days.  Childhood memories crept in with what seemed like hours of standing on ladders, cutting string, hanging and re-hanging all of the shiny decorations until they were correctly fastened and I quickly realized having my kids share this process with me from start to finish would be fun for nobody.  

I finally felt the inspiration today, (there's nothing like the last minute- the holiday begins after a full work day tomorrow) and ran a quick errand to Michael's Crafts. They had some fantastic floral arrangements, really pretty silk hydrangeas in fall jewel tones that would be perfect.  I caught a roll of burlap twine in the sale bin on the way out and the best little hint, translucent, elastic fish wire meant for jewelry making and voila our elegant sukkah awaits...my kids will add the finishing touches in the morning, putting their personal stamp on it and making this a great experience for all.

And because I can't resist, a sample menu for the holiday.
Chag Sameach!

Round Cinnamon Challahs

Chicken won-tons with apricot dipping sauce

Prime Rib Part Deux

Braised Honey Mustard Garlic Chicken Thighs with Shallots

Roasted vegetable platter: beet Fries, brussel sprouts, squash

Mashed Parsnip Soufflé with Caramelized Onions

Cherry Tomato Crisp

Shitake Asparagus Green Salad 

Chocolate Caramel and Pecan tart

Berries

Why is This Night More Fun Than All Other Nights?

With Passover quickly approaching most of us are so focused on spring cleaning and menu planning that we often forget about some fun ways to prepare for a family Seder that can be the real highlight of the holiday.  

My children spend weeks in Jewish day school preparing for Passover.  They learn the order of events, scour their classroom cubbies for bread crumbs, and sing every known tune about frogs in Pharoh's bed.  They come ready to the table with their personalized projects and the evening usually culminates with their performance of the Four Questions. Nothing is unexpected.

This year I challenge you to turn the tables.

Instead of sitting back and waiting for them to bring all the excitement to your table, surprise your kids with some fun Seder activities that bring this holiday ritual to life and keep them engaged even after they secure their Afikoman prizes.

These fun Seder ideas will delight your kids with the knowledge that you did more to prepare for commemorating the Exodus from Egypt than grind the apples to make the Charoset:

On My Way Out of Egypt, I Couldn't Live Without My... 

Gather some random items around the house and place them in an old suitcase or funny looking bag.  Make sure the other adults at your table dont see what you have selected. Items you put in the bag can range from obvious to ridiculous; some examples are sunglasses, stuffed animals, band aids, plunger, comic book etc. The prep for this game is particularly fun to do with the kids; they'll love being the ones to select the items and force the adults to do some improv.  

Pass the bag around the table at various points throughout the Seder and have the person who gets it dig in to pull out an unidentified item and quickly come up with a reason to explain why they couldn't leave Egypt without this essential item. The fun of having no idea what object you are going to get and the spontaneity of having to perform in front of your company will no doubt generate big laughs.

Seder Bingo

What better way to capture all the details during the seder than to turn it into a Bingo Game?  My sister ingeniously created this Passover Bingo Board for her website FunInJerusalem and suggests playing it with marshmallows as Bingo markers (reminiscent of the marshmallows our father distributed to us anytime we participated in our childhood seders- while sneaking a few of his own).

Bingo can be played by young and old and include everyone at your seder table. The kids will love competing with their grown relatives and friends.  The board is filled with Passover images that appear throughout the story of the Haggadah, and is a great way to get the kids into it long after the Four Questions are over.

Passover Personalities 20 Questions

A backward version of charades, each person at the seder is cast in the role of a Passover character, but the catch is they don't know who.  Create paper crowns with a card attached to the front facing the crowd so that the table can see the players character even though he cant see it himself.  The player then gets the opportunity to ask 20 questions he can come up with in order to figure out which Passover character he is playing that night.  


Some obvious ones include Pharaoh or Moses, but you can also add some fun ones, like wild animals from the 10 plagues or the wicked child of the Four Sons. Kids love guessing and leading each other with clues to figure out their Passover characters.

Frog Finder
What's the Passover story without a recounting of the frogs that plagued Egypt and found their way into every crevice of Pharoh's palace?  Buy a simple sheet of green stickers such as these circular labels made by Avery and quickly stick them in various hidden and obvious spots all over the house.  Wait until the kids get antsy and announce that the plague of frogs has taken over the house. As the Egyptian clean up crew, they are challenged to see how many frogs they can collect on a plain white sheet of paper.  


The winner with the most frog stickers collected wins some special honor at the table or a replica of Moshe's staff, anything to keep them proud.  This one can go on for quite a while and give them some time to stretch their legs, though the warning of course is that you may find little green frog stickers for months to come depending on how meticulous your little sleuths are.


Most importantly have fun, it's the best way to show your kids how much you care about the day.


What are some of your best Passover Seder hints to liven up the festivities? 

It's Party Time

This past weekend, I had the great fortune to jointly host a post wedding celebration for our good friends Ian and Sharona.  Apart from the obvious nostalgia I shared with my husband for being a newly married, young couple in love -- for those in need of clarification, we are still very much in love, still young, and most definitely a couple, but somehow not quite the same -- it was such a fun opportunity to plan a great party at our home from soup to nuts.  We jointly hosted our evening soiree with friends Miriam and Ari and shared the responsibilities for party planning and execution, making it both more manageable and a great shared accomplishment.

Though it would be hard to determine which aspect of the party experience was most enjoyable, perhaps the greatest satisfaction came from seeing our home transformed from its regular living layout to an open space filled with the sounds of celebration.

The food wasn't bad either. We went with a dairy inspired menu: Hors d'oeuvres of bruschetta, polenta and crudite; Appetizer of french onion soup; Main dishes of almond and herb crusted salmon, caprese, quinoa salad and portobello parmesan lasagna; And a finale of caramel chocolate torte and white chocolate cheesecake... No doubt a food enthusiast's delight!

For more photos of our evening and at-home party planning inspiration check out the full album slideshow after the jump...

And Next, An Internship with Frank Lloyd Wright

Coming up with an activity to entertain my 4 year old is often a challenge during her brother's homework time.  After school there's lots to accomplish -- dinner to eat, showers to be taken, relaxation to be had, and of course the ever important bedtime.  But this year, homework has made it's way into our nightly rituals and it's staking a claim on a good percentage of the evening routine.

While I'm working on establishing our own household best practices on homework (for another post), I often find it hard to entertain our pre-schooler during this time.  Turning to anything media related is too much of a distraction for the 1st grade scholar, and I often need the time myself to pull together our dinner after a full day at the office. In comes my beloved Pinterest to the rescue.  Whether it's Design, Spaces or Provisions, I love using this site for cataloging fantastic ideas- virtual inspiration at my fingertips. 

On a recent perusal through my Pinterest muses, I noticed a photo of a great activity, perfect for entertaining my 4 year old while improving her innovation skills.  And the best news was that it wasn't something that would send me to the store for a long list of random crafts.  All I needed was a colander and some pipe cleaners.  I gave them both to her and was quite impressed with the modern architecture she produced, and yes the homework could be completed without interruption...

Edible Housewares

I love this idea for cider cups using apples.  It would make a great honey dish for this holiday season.  

This is an easy project to make with the kids.  Just make sure to saturate the cored out flesh of the apple's center with lemon juice so it doesn't brown.

The cinnamon sticks pictured here are also a great addition to use for a honey spoon.

Source: bhg.com via Alison on Pinterest