Lionden Landing

I am sick and the thought of food is repulsive.  Unfortunately when you are in charge of other people that does not really matter and you need to still feed them.  Monday - Goodbye dinner for Aunt F Tuesday - picnic at shul - tuna fish, crackers, cheese sticks, carrots and hummus and clementines Wednesday -pizza(we still have sauce) and salad, start brisket Thursday - fish ala jenn rice, keen snap peas Shabbat Dinner - Challah, Gefilte Fish loaf, pasta faguli, asian slaw, Wednesday brisket, roasted broccoli, baked sweet potatoes, Shabbat Luncheon - out Seudah Slishit - hummus and veggie tray, tuna salad, asain slaw, challah and the same desserts. Desserts/baked goods - banana bread, mocha crinkles,

Since our first trip to the Cherry Blossom festival lacked actual blossoms, we took advantage of the arrival of grandparents to try again. Going back with the grandparents turned out to be an even better idea than I realized when I had it.  They had never been and had always wanted to go.  Score me! An interesting fact about cherry trees, they blossom all over not just on branches.  Froggy had fun finding blossoms in unusual places.   Her favorite part was the weeping Cherry trees right down by the Potomac. Being covered in blossoms makes for a happy Froggy.   The grandparents thought is was great as well

We have a little visitor with us this week who takes lots of attention which may leave me little time to cook.  Keeping that in mind I am planning as simple a menu as I can while still being healthy.  We are also running around to lots of appointments which makes menu planning even trickier.  I am firm in my commitment though not to resort to eating out . Monday - Fish sticks, peas and mashed cauliflower Tuesday - Picnic at Shul - tuna fish and crackers, carrots sticks and strawberries for dessert Wednesday - Chicken Tika Masala (simmer sauce) Naan, some green veggie whatever looks good in the store. Thursday -Pulled Chicken (in freezer), roasted broccoli, and tatortots. Shabbat Dinner- Challah, gefilte fish loaf (in freezer), chicken noodle soup, corn, black bean and avocado salsalita (new recipe), herb roasted chicken, snap peas Shabbat Lunch - Out Shabbat Seudah - Veggies and hummus, cheese tray, crackers, same salads as dinner Desserts - Molasses Cookies, Sm...

We planned our annual trip to the Cherry Blossom Festival for one day before the predicted peak bloom.  I was worried because last year we went towards the end of the festival and all the blossoms were well past prime.  This year nothing had bloomed yet.     I felt bad because we took friends with us who had never been before It all turned out wonderfully though because everyone was in good spirits and just wanted to have fun together.  Since the trees were not calling to us with their beauty, we turned the opposite direction from where we walk normally and explored more of the festival activities.  The girls got to pretend to be the mascot of the festival.  I have no idea what his name is but he is on everything. They got to help make a friendship mural with children from Japan.   Each girl add her own special piece of art work to the mural. The rangers are taking pictures of each section of the mural and sending them to Jap...

Thinking Day was back in February.  But Abba just discovered these pictures on his phone.  Froggy and her friend C. were invited to help with a very special ceremony.  Two of the girls in the Jewish Ambassador troop were being honored for completing their Gold award.    The leaders of this troop have run a troop for observant girls since the girls first started as Daisies.  Their littlests are now Juniors bridging to Cadettes this year.    Froggy and C. were honored to participate and be the new torch bearers showing that there still are observant girls in Girl Scouts.

One of our Chol HaMoad trips was to the zoo with Aunt B and E..  One of the best things about going to a familiar place with new people is seeing it in a whole new light.    E. very much wanted to see the snakes and alligators so we all went into the reptile house, a place we never visit.  We got to see some very colorful frogs as well as some strange snakes.   The most special treat of the day was watching the panda bear eat his treat.   We decided to have our snack with the panda It was a surprising cold day but everyone bundled up and ran around and a great time was had by all.

Dinner  Challah Gefilte Fish Loaf Minnestrone Soup Strawberry Spinach Salad Orange Glazed Chicken Green Beans Roasted Sweet Potatoes Homemade Gummi Worms / hearts Chocolate Covered Carmels M&M Cookies Kiddush is out Seudah Veggies and Hummus Cheese and Crackers Salmon Salad Same Desserts 

Pesach is over. Vacation is over.  It has been tons of fun but it is time to get back to work.  And part of that work is making a menu for rest of the week. After a week of no bread Wednesday - Pasta, sauce, garlic bread, salad Thursday - Chili, chips and salad Shabbat - Dinner - Challah, Mandu, Miso Soup, Salmon, Asian Slaw, Corn Salad, Rice, Keem, Strawberry Shortcake Sushi . Luncheon - out Seudah - Leftover salads, Mock Sushi (with tortillas) of cream cheese, smoked salmon, cheese slices and romaine. Chocolate Chip Cookies,

Sunday before Pesach, Froggy's choir put on a mock seder for the preschool crowd.  Abba took Froggy while I stayed home and cleaned. I know better than to try to share all but here are a couple of highlights.   Poor Froggy's frog hat is too big and keeps sliding down over her face. I love the mad dash to open the door for Elijah

 Froggy finally finished the dress for her doll.  She even hemmed it.  This was much more ambitious a project than originally intended but it taught some truly valuable lessons.  Froggy followed through and was able to experience real pride in her accomplishment.  I did not require her to do the hem. She chose to because she wanted it to be "right" for her doll. 

Tonight is the first seder.  We are hosting a few friends for a relatively small seder.  Froggy will be the only child present. 1st Seder - Veggies and guacamole, hard boiled eggs, gefilte fish loaf , Matza ball soup, brisket, glazed carrots, roasted asparagus, potato kugel (from a mix), store bought dessert. 2nd Seder - we are guests.  I am bringing this charoset, quinoa pilaf and a store bought dessert  Wednesday -lamb chops, mashed potatoes and salad Thursday - Oven Fried Chicken,  French fried potatoes, Broccoli Shabbat - Matza, Gefilte Fish Loaf, more matza ball soup, Apricot Chicken, Carrot and Raisin Salad, Butternut Squash with Baby Spinach, Store Bought Dessert. 

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. 

Abba has been taking a Hebrew class at shul.  They have finally mastered some of the basic prayers.  In celebration, Rabbi took them into the sanctuary and opened the Torah to give them a chance to actually read from it. This is his very first time. They are reading the first paragraph of the Shema.

Monday - Tofu Stirfry, Rice and Keem Tuesday - picnic dinner - Crackers, tuna fish, carrots sticks and apple slices Wednesday - Birthday Dinner - Salmon, rice, broccoli, cake and parve icecream Thursday - Science Night - Leftover buffet for the Abba and kidlet Shabbat - Challah, Gefilte Fish Loaf, Minnestrone Soup, salad(what kind?) , herb chicken, green beans, butternut squash, Chocolate Almond Pastry Baking: Molasses cookies  Apple Breakfast Bread

Monday - Pizza and Salad Tuesday -deli sandwiches Wednesday - Pulled Chicken, corn and peas Thursday - BFD Pumpkin pancakes and scrambled eggs. Shabbat - Challah, TriColor Gefilte Fish, Chicken Noodle Soup, Apricot Chicken, green beans, roasted red potatoes, cucumber salad, blueberry crisp Baking - banana muffins, raspberry chocolate chip bars,

I am late in posting this but I wanted to share our Purim fun.   All week prior, we baked hamentashen and filled Mishlach Manot.  We made appoximately 20 mishlach manot this year.  We went to our shul for Havdalah and the Megillah reading.  The theme this year was Disney and there were some amazing costumes.  Abba wore his Pooh Bear costume and Froggy went as Silvermist.  I even got in costume as Haman. The Megillah reading at our shul an raucous affair.  This year they created humourous synopses in English for each chapter which were shown between chapters.  Froggy and the other Kehillah Tefillah kids made the synopses for the final chapter  Froggy's chorus put on a Purim speil for a local shul as well as an assisted living facility.  Froggy is the youngest and newest member of the group.  As such, she has only a tiny part but she did a great job with it. 

After the marathon baking session that is Mishlach Manot Prep, I am looking for a quiet week in the kitchen.  Review Our Persian Purim feast was an interesting evening . The Kortmis Satsivi , was the lose of the week.  The keftes were good and Froggy even deemed them not awful.  The soup was the absolute win of the week.  Menu Monday - Fish ala Jenn, Rice and Peas Tuesday - Cheese sandwiches and veggie sticks Wednesday -quesedillas, rice and beans. Thursday -Salad and Pizza Shabbat -Challah, Mandu, Miso Soup, Asian Slaw, Salmon, snow peas,and homemade parve snickers for dessert Baking chocolate chip cookies,   chocolate chip coffee cake

We found the best online resource for learning vocabulary.  It is Quizlet. And it is free!  It is basically flashcards online but there are games that you can go with it too.  There are flashcard sets for almost every topic you could want.  The best part is that you can create your own flashcard sets.  I made this set for Froggy.  Each time we encounter a new shoresh or word in our Chumash study, we add it to the set.  Froggy loves to play Scatter and try to beat her time. 

 For the first time, Froggy got to exchange Valentines like I did when I was in school. She worked very hard making 50 valentines to share with her friends.  We started with t hese printable bookmarks .    Froggy cut them all out.      Then  she made little thumbprint hearts on them.   We finished them off with a hole punched in the top and a ribbon tied through.  It took her about week of diligent working to get through them all.  She also made a mailbox to receive her valentines.

This week our menu is all about getting ready for Purim.  We will be baking Hamentaschen galore to fill our Mishlach Manot.  The dough is already in the freezer ready to be filled and baked.  We will make some candy as well to put in it and package up nuts so that we have three catagories of brachot in our baskets. In addition to this I have meetings three evenings this week so that makes dinner tricky.   Monday - Crockpot Chicken, tatortots, broccoli Tuesday - Dinner on the go between activities - turkey roll ups, carrot sticks and red pepper dip Wednesday - Science Night - Abba and Froggy will eat without me - Fish Ala Jenn, rice and peas Thursday- Chili and salad Shabbat - A Sephardic Feast in honor of Esther - Challah, Sephardic Fish Balls , Persian White Bean and Noodle Soup , Mouhamara, Sephardic White bean Salad, Kotmis Satsivi , keftes Chickpea Salad and of course Hamentashen for dessert.