devarim

Once again, am I torn between being grateful that we are permitted to cook on festival days (as opposed to Shabbat, when cooking is forbidden and reheating is tricky) and being somewhat annoyed at myself for using this halachic tidbit to leave so much work over to do on yom tov instead of having it all done before so I could focus a little more on the religious and social aspects of the day. Alas, as things stand now, I will be staying home from shul tonight to get the roast into the oven, make salad dressings, chop up vegetables and apples, slice gefilte fish, and fuss over table settings. We are out for both meals Tuesday, but Wednesday morning I plan to get out of bed at the butt-crack of dawn to get the Monster Brisket (pondage in the double digits) into the oven (I'm making Ruth's Seven-Hour Brisket) and cut up potatoes, parsnip, and mushrooms for the Grand Earthy Side Dish. It's a good thing that we go to the "auxiliary" minyan at our shul, where the service runs faster (plus, no rabbi's speech!) and so we can get home before most of our guests arrive. (You'll note that the brisket recipe calls for some extra attention during the last hour.)

All of that, in addition to the chicken, green beans, kugels, sweet potatoes, cakes, apple crisps, and various other foodstuffs that are already prepared and need only warming and service. At least we'll have enough food for roughly seventeen thousand people, just in case. In case of what, I'm not sure, but so far this year we've had at least one last minute surprise, so there's no telling what else may happen. But the next guest to show up will be eating on paper, because I believe we're out of china.

May you all have a good and sweet me!