It has been awhile since my last post about a family dinner get-together. Passover began last weekend, so tradition brought us all together for a seder dinner at my aunt’s. There are specific things you can’t eat during the week of Passover — basically anything made with flour. Despite the fact that this seems to include a lot of foods, we were all completely stuffed after our delicious dinner. Our actual seder seemed to last only about 5 seconds. It’s hard when you have two 2-year-olds at the table. For the first time in a while, I was the one given the job of reading the Four Questions. This is always done by the youngest person at dinner (the youngest person who can read in this case...). My sister, Rebecca, has always been the one to take on this task in the past, but since I am here and she is in NJ, it was up to me. Good thing our Haggadah was in English! After going over the different items on the seder plate, saying the prayer over the wine and reading through the 10 plagues, it was finally time to eat!
For dessert, we had a flourless chocolate cake and apple strudel. To celebrate Bubby's birthday, we topped the chocolate cake with candles and sang to her. Her big day was a few days earlier, so timing was perfect to wish Bub a very happy and healthy birthday. She doesn't look a day older than 25! :)As always, everything was delicious. My favorite was definitely the artichoke salad, but I have to say my veggies were pretty good too, even if I have to say so myself!I used all fresh vegetables, but you could use frozen too. I didn't measure out all the ingredients because I like to add each little by little and taste as I go, until I find the perfect flavor, but I will give estimates.Honey Soy Vegetables1 whole cauliflower, cut into smaller pieces1 cup Baby Bella mushrooms1 bunch carrots, sliced ~3 tbs honey~3 tbs soy sauce1 lemon, halved~1 tbs brown sugar~2 tsp five spicePut all your vegetables together in a large sauce pan and fill with enough water to cover them completely. Cover and heat on a medium flame. The vegetables will steam slowly. Keep an eye on them, constantly feeling them with a wooden spoon; you don’t want them to steam too long or they will become soft and mushy.
Originally I was going to make honey-glazed carrots, simply using honey, brown sugar and lemon juice. When I realized I didn’t have enough carrots, I quickly scanned the refrigerator for anything else I could use. The only other vegetables I had on hand were mushrooms and cauliflower. Honey seemed too boring to use all by itself if I was going to use a mix of vegetables, so I grabbed the soy sauce and five spice and changed it up. Its a good thing I was short on carrots or I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to come up with this delicious side dish. It was the perfect amount of sweetness to go with the other more savory dishes we had at dinner.