My mom and her husband managed to catch a three-week cold a few weeks ago—that's definitely what it is, just an ordinary rhinovirus, and their pulmonologist is mystified as to how it's hung on this long—and they're on the mend but haven't had a chance to do any Pesach prep. I was very chuffed to make and deliver Seder plates for them, including lamb shank slices that are frankly large enough to be the main course. (We braised them in wine and spices, because my family tradition is to give each person a symbol plate and to eat everything on it, and roasted bones are very symbolic but not very edible.) I thought I'd miss having a Seder to go to tonight, but it felt appropriately holidayish to do this mitzvah instead—and to get to really hug my mom for the first time in a year.

Kit saw me packing things up, said "Gramma's not feeling well, I need to cook", and put on their apron; they were a little disappointed to learn that all the cooking was done, but they carefully helped me put the care package together. They're such a sweet kid.

Tomorrow we'll have a "second" Seder that's actually our first, in person, with our governess and her fiancé. They'll get here mid-afternoon so we can cook together, and then we'll see whether we can get Kit to actually sit through a Seder. We have the PJ Library haggadah, which is pretty accessible (though I don't like its English translations of the blessings at all and will substitute my own), and we've been practicing finding the afikoman by hiding some of Kit's toy matzah. They're capable of saying "Why is this night different from all other nights?" but not of doing it on command, so we may try all reciting it together, or doing repeat-after-me. The youngest person is supposed to ask the four questions, but nothing requires them to do it alone.

And a month from now, we'll do a Pesach Sheni with my mother and brother and stepfather and stepsister, in person, because by then I should have been able to get at least one dose of some vaccine or other, and it will be as safe as it can be to dine outdoors together in what I hope is beautiful late-April weather. It feels very appropriate for it to be a Pesach Sheni; I want to write off the whole past year as tamei from being in close contact with death, and it will feel like a make-up not just for this year's Pesach but last year's too.

Chag sameach to everyone celebrating, and chag kasher v'sameach to those for whom it's meaningful!

Our cooking plan, because it's just so nice to be making multi-day holiday cooking plans and hosting a holiday!

SATURDAY
9 a.m.: quick supermarket run
10 a.m.: make chicken stock
10:30 a.m.: start seven-hour eggs
11 a.m.: eat something
12 p.m.: X takes a break; R, J, and K to farmers' market
2:30 p.m.: J takes a break; R and K make charoset
3:30: R takes a break; kitchen clean-up
4:30 p.m.: start lamb shanks
5:30 p.m.: finish seven-hour eggs
6 p.m.: dollar store run, pack up care packages
7 p.m.: dinner
7:30 p.m.: finish lamb shanks
8:30 p.m.: havdalah, Pesach candle-lighting, K bedtime
9 p.m.: deliver care packages

(I'd originally planned to make risotto for dinner, but we got a bit off schedule, so we ordered in instead.)

SUNDAY
make matzo balls
EVERYONE MUST EAT LUNCH
2 p.m.: start lamb stew
3 p.m.: start Moroccan chicken stew, prep asparagus
pre-dinner part of the Seder
matzo ball soup
steam asparagus, finish stews
feast!
post-dinner part of the Seder
K finds the afikoman
H and L go home
clean up
K bedtime
collapse

(No times once the Seder starts because I don't know how long anything will take. But it should be fine.)

Of course my mother sent me fancy monukka raisins to put in the charoset and of course they turn out to have seeds in them, so I threw out an entire batch of charoset and all my walnuts because I thought the crunchiness was walnut shell. Nope, it's raisin seeds! As I found out when the walnut-free second batch—which is otherwise damn near perfect—was also crunchy. *sigh* Maybe I'll make a third batch tomorrow. I'm glad I bought extra pecans and currants.