Twas the night after Sedars...

I didn't write this, but it seems to sum up Post-Pesach depression well (no relation to Post Partum Depression...)

Twas the night after Seder, and all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The fish and the kugel, (oh my, what a taste)
After both Sedarim went straight to my waist!
When I got on the scale, I couldn't believe it!
The treadmill and kickboxing wouldn't relieve it!

I remembered the marvelous meals I prepared;
The light airy matzah balls that everyone shared.
The brisket, the turkey, the tzimmes were oh so sweet;
Oy, let me recline and get off of my feet.
We drank so much wine and recited each plague,
That right now I'm loggy and my memory vague.

So, please no more matzoh, chopped liver or wine
I'll do my aerobics and never more dine.
I'm walking to shul, so what if it's far?
I'm not even wishing I could take the new car.
With 10 lbs. to lose and 12 inches to shrink,
I'm throwing the seder mints straight down the sink!

Macaroons when wrapped tightly, can so nicely freeze.
Give the sponge cake and cookies away, if you please.
Out of sight, out of mind - by this oath I'll abide;
Bring me broiled chicken - romaine on the side.
I'll stick on that program, to my diet adhere,
And let's all get together for Pesach next year!

Something's not kosher in Dulles...

I noted in a blog posting some days ago that Wegman's carries Solomon's brand Glatt Kosher organic beef (and lamb and buffalo). Now this is terrific because as much as I want to support the local kosher markets, they're in Maryland and they're a pain to get to in the early evening -- rush hour. [This is when the GW Parkway becomes the GW Park-n-wait, but I digress.]

Now before Pesach began, I stopped by Wegman's and noticed that the Solomon's in stock was not K-P, which I thought was odd for Solomon's but I rationalized away as being a peculiarity of Wegman's -- not being a purveyor that caters to the orthodox community, I figured they simply were selling Solomon's non-K-P stock from the pipeline. Well I was surprised today when I went back and saw that the fresh Solomon's stock was STILL not K-P.

Strange. Of course, I'm not making cholent this coming Shabbat either, so I can't say I'm all that worried about it either (save being careful not to by the non-K-P stock after Pesach...)

On being passed over...

Well, the Rebbitzin laid down the law. No cholent for Pesach.

OK, she didn't just lay down the law. We sorta chatted about this, reviewed the logisitical options, and decided that leaving the gas oven on in the shul for 73 hours (generally unattended) straight was really not a terribly bright idea, and that the congregation would survive for two shabbats without cholent.

Of course, we also have all this leftover chicken from the sedars -- chicken salad with nuts and grapes anyone?

Kosher food in specialty supermarkets in Northern Virginia...

One of the challenges of living in Fairfax County is that if you want the best selection of Kosher food, you have to get out your passport and machete to venture forth into this strange place called....

...Montgomery County, Maryland

OK, you're probably thinking that going up to Maryland can't be so bad. It's not far, and despite the melodramatic commentary, not THAT horrific an experience.

Well, there is this small issue of the Potomac River, and more to the point the overly congested Capital Beltway and the Cabin John (pardon me, American Legion Memorial) Bridge. What ought to be a 30 minute drive from my home to Wheaton or Rockville is closer to 90 minutes or more on a weeknight.

Suffice to say, this is not a prospect I happily relish.

Fortunately, I've discovered some alternatives, and I'd like to sing their praises today:

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• Wegman's (two locations, near Dulles Airport off Route 28 and near the Fairfax County Government Offices). Wegman's is an upscale grocery chain based in New York State, but has recently expanded to the Washington DC area, with these two stores (they are planning stores in Maryland too). Wegman's has clearly decided to pursue the Jewish market, as they have a dedicated section for refrigerated and frozen kosher foods, including Solomon's Glatt Kosher meats and Neshama brand glatt kosher sausage. The prices are competitive with the stores across the river, although their stock depends on what their supplier has. Still, it beats the Beltway!
• Trader Joe's (Six locations in Fairfax County [Reston, Tyson's Corner, Chantilly, Fairfax City, Springfield, and Bailey's Crossroads] and one in Old Towne Alexandria). Trader Joe's is a specialty grocery chain from California, and they carry Empire poultry at all their locations, as well as Aaron's Glatt Kosher Free Range Chicken in Reston, Tyson's Corner, and Fairfax. Although they carry kosher beef (David's), it's not glatt kosher. Still, there is hope. Maybe we can get them to carry Solomon's too?
• Shopper's Food Warehouse (Fairfax City location only). SFW is a small DC area grocery store, and as such, they try to serve the needs of their local community (viz the larger chains -- Giant Food and Safeway). The Fairfax City location is but a few blocks from Chabad of Fairfax and not all that far from Chabad of Tyson's Corner. Now their selection of meat is not up to Wegman's or ever Trader Joes, BUT, they have a respectable selection of Cholov Yisroel products, a large selection of kosher packaged goods, as well as a large selection of prepared frozen kosher foods.
  

So while at the end of the day, Koshermart, Shalom's, and Shaul's will always have a large consistent stock of foods for the community here in Northern Virginia, it's nice to know there are options here in NoVA itself.

And on that note, it's off to Koshermart. [Hey, it's Sunday, there's no traffic...]

On Birthdays and Candy...

Of course normally on Motzei Shabbat (or sometimes perhaps a bit latter), I'll post the recipe for whatever cholent I made the preceding Shabbat. Well, this past Shabbat I decided that the cholent I made the preceding week was pretty good, but needed tweaking, so I made it again with two changes:

• I used tomato sauce instead of water
• I changed the ratio of frozen vegetables to meat from 2:1 to 1:1

I also used Neshama brand Andouille Sausage instead of beef, although frankly the choice of beef is entirely up to whomever is making the meal.

Since this kiddish we honored our Rabbi and Rabbitzin's 6 YO daughter (soon to be a big 7!), I also bought a package of hot dogs for the kids. This worked out exceptionally well for the kids -- I simply took the hot dogs out of the package, double wrapped them in aluminum foil and put it on top of the cholent to heat up when I put everything up Erev Shabbat. The kids ate 'em up!

And a cute story from Shabbat today.

One of our congregants has a little boy, three or four years old. Cute kid, but then again, all kids that age are cute. Regardless, Gabe comes in and in a quiet, measured, and clear voice asserts:

"I want candy."

[He's four -- if you want Shakespeare, you are in the wrong place.]

He's not loud, and he's certainly not annoying or disruptuve (save me and his dad buckling over in laughter), but he IS determined! It was his mantra that morning, "I want candy. (Pause.) I want candy." and so on.

We did FINALLY get him over to where his Dad and I were sitting and could actually satisfy his request, but in the interim, it was entirely too funny from the perspective of a parent!

Chunky Beef Vegetable Soup

Again, this was an easy dish to put together. But then again, it came from the insert from the box of crock pot liners! Still, it was quite flavorful.

The original recipe called for about a 2:1 ratio of frozen vegetables to beef. I've changed that to 1:1 as there were way too many veggies and not enough beef. It also was, well, um, soup, and I really want something thicker. Maybe next time I will use tomatoes instead of water.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups Vegetable Juice (Bolthouse Farms is O-U parve)
• 4 cups Hot water
• 3 lb Stew beef (cubed)
• 12 c Frozen mixed vegetables
• 4 Medium potatos (peeled and cubed)
• 2 Small onion (chopped)
• ½ c Ketchup
• 6 tblsp beef bouillion mix (3/8 c)
• 1 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Pour liquid (water, juice, ketchup), pepper and buillion into cooker, stir
2. Add Beef, vegetables, potatoes, onions, pepper. Stir

Cook 8 - 9 hours on low