The Promise Of A Bulb

Things being strange with the isolation stuff going on, we entered into a fun weekend to celebrate Passover and Easter.

I learned a few months ago from a DNA test that I'm 99.4% Ashkenazi Jewish. I knew I was Jewish but was actually surprised at how thoroughly Jewish I am. Mitzi says she loves being married to a Jew :)

I love my Jewish heritage and have enjoyed celebrating Passover from my early childhood. My extended family still does. It's one of my favorite celebrations. Since we can't get together physically this year we decided to do a virtual one.

All of my children, their spouses, and Mitzi's children and their spouses, joined in – most of them online and a few of them in our house. I feel so grateful to get to share this with everyone! It made my heart happy :)

The weekend started a couple days ago. Lizzie's friend Hunter got out of quarantine after arriving back in the States from Honduras and they came up to Zion's Park for the evening, where we are staying at a hotel enjoying the isolation. Such a fun time visiting, eating roasted hot dogs, and perfectly toasted marshmallows from our open fire.

Mitzi and I headed back to our house in St. George Saturday to get ready for the Easter/Passover celebration.

Maddy decided to make a coconut cream pie and a banana cream pie. 100% from Scratch!  She is a wonderful baker, willing to take on difficult projects, and gets amazing results. Here's the process from the crust to vigorously stirring the homemade filling!  Delicious!

I decided to make Gefilte Fish. It's a very cultural Ashkenazi Jewish dish that nobody in our Jones/Janis family likes except me and Damon Jr. We've only ever had the kind that comes in a jar. It's a strong flavor and smell. Since I couldn't find any I decided to make it myself.  I made it from fresh Halibut, fresh onions, herbs, and spinach. Blended together and then baked it. (Here's the terrine recipe). Mitzi had the wonderful idea of adding squeezed lemon and it was amazingly good! She even liked it :)

We also made some Matzo Ball Soup, a traditional Passover food.

Today we set the table for the Passover Seder. What a beautiful setting with what we could hobble together. It's hard to find hard-to-find items right now. Like Matzo, so we used Indian Flat bread called naan :) The flowers are from our front yard. Mitzi planted them a few months ago and they are in full bloom and vibrant.

After the Seder we enjoyed a combined Passover/Easter dinner. Another beautiful setting.

Preston, Hunter, and myself enjoyed some lamb chops. The most tender I've ever had. Mmmmmm. Mitzi and Lizzie avoided it as expected. Maddy was brave and took a small bite! Maddy summed up why they don't like lamb – as she chewed it she said, "It tastes like Grandpa Don's barn smells!" Well, us boys thoroughly enjoyed it, but then we've never shoveled sheep manure either :)

We all enjoyed a wonderful Seder and dinner and Easter. Even the cats! (Well that might not be entirely accurate about Leo & Scout enjoying Easter haha – but their mom did!).