I am hosting a Passover Seder tomorrow night, so tonight the Passover baking began. I no longer do any cooking ahead of time. As usual, my day descended into a panic when I realized there simply were not enough hours to finish an article that was due today and get to the grocery store to pick up my meats and perishables. My day started at 7:30 with a phone interview, and went non-stop from there. Hubby, bless his heart, surprised me by coming home early, and (yay!) getting the groceries.
The baking began with Hubby, who took the lead around 4:30 p.m. By the time I was done with my work, Hubby had already baked a potato kugel (somehow alchemized from a mix for potato pancakes) and a box of Passover brownies. I began the challenging job of boiling water. And microwaving frozen leftover chili for dinner in The Great Pre-Passover Eat-Down (for details of tonight’s Passover Eat-Down, click here).
I even multi-tasked! While the water, which I soon filled with Passover egg noodles, boiled away, I made tortilla strips for the chili (more of the Great Pre-Passover Eat-Down). While the chili microwaved, I rinsed the noodles and let them drain. Eventually, I managed to turn the noodles into a sweet noodle kugel. No phone calls to Mom required, for the first time ever! Did I mention that I baked it in our toaster oven?
After putting the kugel into the toaster oven, I sprinted into the next baking project: Passover cookies (from a box, of course). Now, I’ll repeat that I do not bake, so Hubby came in to supervise, at my insistence. Immediately, he wanted to deviate from the package instructions and use his Ultra Power Professional Mixer instead of my brute strength to mix the dough. A small argument ensued, as apparently, I have gained enough confidence to now have opinions about how to make things in the kitchen.
To resolve our dispute, I did the only thing I could do: I called my Mommy. It was, in fact, the second call of the night to her. The first had been from Hubby, because I couldn’t remember how she turns chocolate chips into brownie topping (sprinkle them over the hot cake and spread them around as they melt, it turns out). Mom resolved our argument: Do not use the mixer on the cookie dough because it breaks up the chocolate chips, which would be a true tragedy.
What do 3/4-inch balls look like?
Now, I won’t go into the details, but suffice to say I required several baking consultations with Hubby. For example, what do 3/4-inch balls look like? That’s what the box said to do with the cookie dough: form into in 3/4-inch balls. I have seen these types of instructions before. Are there strange little baking/cooking rulers out there that I don’t know about?
I’m sure I formed the balls wrong, because I also ended up with an incorrect number of cookies, far fewer than the box promised me. I am still anxious about this issue, as I’m sure it means the cookies will somehow not be tasty because they are too big. I mean, sure, I ate a couple hot out of the oven (oh shut up – you’ve done it, too), but will my company like them?
I made a double recipe of the cookies, and it took two sessions to cook them. They didn’t all cook evenly, so it’s kind of like having three different cookies: one under-cooked, one slightly burnt and one that might be just right.
By the time 9:40 rolled around, I couldn’t cook any more. I felt like I’d accomplished a lot. Until I realized all I made was a kugel and some cookies. Sigh.
I’m taking a poll: Who wants Mom’s Kugel recipe (origin unknown but likely the back of a bag of noodles)? If enough of you ask for it, I’ll put it in a future blog. Right now, I’m about to fall asleep.
Elanna AKA Mom said
Where do I begin? The chicken soup and noodle kugel recipes are from “The Cookbook of Jewish Cookery” which was a bridal shower gift from my friend Joanne. You declined my offer to buy you a copy. Your sister, however, accepted. In seasoning food like chicken or lamb chops, you sprinkle enough of the spices and salt to coat the food lightly. If you taste too much or not enough of something, then you adjust the next time until you learn how much suits your taste. I almost never put enough salt on or in anything for your Bubbie and her family, so I put the salt and pepper on the table because I’m not going to intentionally kill myself or my guests with excess salt. I rarely get as many cookies as the recipe says I will, and you could actually measure 1/2 inch with a ruler to know the diameter of the ball. Matzo ball mix has the dry ingredients already measured so you just add eggs and oil. It’s easy enough even for you. Try it, darling. Oh, and you have never ended up at the emergency room from working in the kitchen. I still have a scar on my left index fingertip from the time I brilliantly tried to slice a pita through the middle to make a pocket. This Passover I cooked and ground the liver for chopped liver ahead of time and froze it. As I was cleaning the blade from the food processor, I discovered that I was scrubbing it with my thumb instead of the sponge in my hand. My thumb is almost completely healed. Now if the burn on my finger would just heal!