Lionden Landing

Froggy is modeling her new Pesach dress.  I started it much later than usual and really debated not making it at all but I am really glad I did.  She is so happy with it and it suits her.  I have never made a jacket before and I am very very pleased with how it turned out. 

There is lots and lots of baking this week.  We will deliver Purim baskets in costume on Purim as a whole family. There are about 15 baskets we need to prepare so that is lots of baking.   Sunday - Salmon Chowder and homemade bread Monday - Marinated Chicken, couscous and green beans -  I also need to make cupcakes for the Girl Scout Birthday Party Tuesday - ZPizza - bake hamentashen , make truffles Wednesday - Rustic Butternut Squash Tart ( a new experiment will post recipe if it is any good) and a spinach salad Thursday - Chili , make spiced nuts Shabbat - we are having lots of guests this week so planning has started early.  Froggy specifically requested Roast chicken.  - Gefilte fish loaf - cut with cookie cutters. matza ball soup spinach salad roast chicken glazed carrots some form of kugel hamentashen  brownies Salmon Chowder Recipe   Ingredients   oil for sauteing 1 small onion minced 1/2 cup celerychopped 1/2 cup bel...

Yesterday was Rosh Chodesh Adar I.  Why Adar I?  Because this is Shanah Me'uberet (literally a pregnant year).  In English we call it a leap year.  Froggy was very eager when she saw that we were entering Adar that Purim was just around the corner.  She was more than a little disappointed to learn that even though this is Adar I, Purim is still over a month away.  This is Froggy's first Shanah Me'uberet so it took some explaining as to how Adar I came to being and how it is different from Adar II In the fourth century, Hillel II established a fixed calendar with a 19 year cycle.  The cycle is very complicated to remember until you look at it musically. The pattern of leap years follows the major scale: for each whole step there are two regular years and a leap year; for each half-step there is one regular year and a leap year. I explained the process particularly with the scale because I find that the most fascinating.  What boggled her an...

I was just granted a reprieve. I thought I was going to need all the holiday presents ready in time for Thanksgiving since we are seeing the family then but had not planned to see them at Christmas. The Daddyman decided that even though it means three long drives in three months, we will be visiting the grandparents for Christmas as well as Thanksgiving. That means I now have extra time for finish gathering all the presents. The only ones I need to take now are the niece's birthday gifts.

I believe that reading books about a topic help children process and understand and engage with the topic. We love to read a whole passel of books for a couple of weeks around each holiday. It helps Froggy understand the timing and cycle of the year. So without further ado here are our Friday Finds for Pesach Pesach is Coming and Pesach is Here - by Hyman and Alice Chanover. This wonderful pair were written back in the '50s but they are timeless. In these books, Mimmy and Joel get ready for Pesach and celebrate Seder with their cute family. Everyone helps and everyone enjoys the experience. Let My People Go - by Tilda Balsley. This was a new find for us from the PJ Library last year. We fell in love with it and now include it in our readings every year. It is a raucous, lively retelling of the Passover story. But it is more than that. It is a script with each charactors lines in a different color to make an easy production for young people. One year I would love t...