Passed Over

Edie was a bit cranky last night and threw up for the first time -- not spit up, but the real deal. She got to sleep late, woke up early and did not follow her usual nap routine. The thermometer were a few degrees hot, not a huuuge fever but enough for us to cancel our trip to deep dark southern NJ to spend the first night of Passover with my cousin and his branch of the family. I'm bummed about it, as this is the one time of the year I get to catch up with them (and it's all about the food, some items which have been made by various home cooks in my family for decades), but that will have to wait a few months.

Edie seemed to be in good spirits, despite not having an appetite. Eventually she got down to bed in the mid-evening, but not before really wearing out B, who took the day off to make sure Edie's health was taken care of. All in all, not a day I wish to repeat soon.

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with sablefish and babaganoush, mint iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made the green tea again last night, this time with half the mint syrup (8 cups of tea to 1/2 cup syrup) and it came out perfectly -- barely sweet, just enough to round off the bitterest notes and leave a hint of mint in it's wake. It really tastes like green tea. I probably couldn't sell this to the mass population, but it rings my bell and is in the daily checklist. The sugar is so minimal I'm comfortable calling this a non-dessert.

AM SNACK: 10am, bits of farfel here and there for adjusting seasoning
Cooked up a mess of stuffing with bits of matzoh called farfel, including onions I caramelized for 4 hours last night, sauteed onion and celery, freshly grated ginger, salt & pepper, and most importantly, lots of chicken fat and good double-strength chicken stock to moisten it, all bound and enriched by a few whole eggs. Made a separate batch with whole wheat farfel for private consumption...

AM SNACK: 11am, glass of iced mint green tea

LUNCH: 1:30pm, 5 pan-seared cornmeal-dredged scallops, collared greens, whole wheat matzo farfel, a little kimchi, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
A healthy well-rounded lunch. Bought a bag of frozen scallops as an experiment, quick-defrosted under water and dredged them in corn meal, corn starch, salt and paprika. Pretty good. Finished the left over collards (seems a bit too juicy, but palatable), a large portion of this morning's farfel (oh my oh my tasty) and some hot fermented cabbage from the back of the fridge.

DINNER: 7pm, deep fried shrimp wrapped in phillo, chicken and vegetables in a spicy sauce over sticky rice, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, ramekin of dark chocolate chips
Technically, the first dessert of the week, -sigh-. I think something about the stress of Edie being under the weather and my wife being a stress-case kind of manifested itself in this great urge to eat chocolate at a totally inappropriate (but quiet and peaceful) time.