Saturday, April 11, 2009

Grace in Small things #11

Ceder Part Two was with my father's side of my family.

1)  I was voluntold to make charoset for the second Passover ceder.  I've never done it before.  I downloaded several recipes from the internet, and then combined them to make my own version.  It turned out so well that people actually took second helpings.  Success!

2)  My 96-year-old grandfather still has enough of his marbles intact to say the Hebrew blessing for the ceremonial wine.  He mumbled his way through it with sincere sentiment, in his gravelly/whispery old-man voice, and my heart swelled.

3)  My father's cousin, who I haven't seen in many years, was at the ceder with her husband.  She brought photos of my grandparents as a young married couple, standing with my grandmother's parents at the door of their grocery store - the family business - in 1942.  My grandmother was a pretty lady.  And her father was very dapper with his moustache, wearing a white fedora with a black band.

4)  My grandfather used to belong to a "gang" called the Anti-Snitch Cats.  They build a clubhouse in a field, but hobos took it over as a permanent residence.

5)  I bummed a ride partway home with a car full of "the kids": five of us in my generation.  I'm the oldest and the youngest of us is 23.  We turned up the radio and sang along with Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer".  Squashed shoulder-to-shoulder in the backseat with a cousin from Hamilton who I only get to see a few times a year, I felt that total comfort-among-friends that becomes rare after university, when everyone goes their separate ways and gets really busy.  Good times.

13 comments:

Warped Mind of Ron said...

OK I officially want to attend a sedar at some point. I mean a tasty meal and interesting stories. Glad your grandfather was there to participate, it must really bring a connection to the past to have someone that has lived that long.

wigsf said...

Bon Jovi has that effect on otherwise sane normal people.

Anonymous said...

Well done!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on a successful part II! It sounds like many blessings flowed your way. Happy Easter, too. :)

LL Cool Joe said...

Glad things are going well and you are enjoying the the Spring Break!

It's cool you find so many positive things to blog about. :)

Happy Easter!

Sparkling Red said...

Ron: He was born in 1913. Can you imagine that? He's like a living time machine.

WIGSF: Yeah. Actually my favourite Bon Jovi lyric isn't even from that song. "I'm a cowboy. On a steel horse I ride. And I'm wanted, (waaaaaanted!) dead or alive."

Unsigned: :-)

Darcknyt: Thank you! I wish you a Happy Easter too. I didn't blog about it, but I was in church on Good Friday morning and I'll be back for Easter. God should be pleased - I'm attending all His celebrations! ;-)

LL Cool Joe: Believe it or not, things have been pretty stressful in my pre-wedding life here. I'm reaching sometimes to remember the positive things in my day. It would be really easy to find long lists of things to whine about. But gratitude is better for my spirit.

Keera Ann Fox said...

"Living on a Prayer" is best sung loud in a crowd. :-)

That charoset sounds tasty! I wonder if you'd share your mash-up recipe?

Scarlet said...

I can just picture all of you singing Bon Jovi in the backseat of a car...at the top of your lungs! lol

Happy Easter, Chica!!

Jenski said...

How wonderful!!! Happy Passover. :-)

Jameil said...

what did you put in your version? i (usually) love seeing cousins i haven't seen in years. you should get your grandfather one of those no snitching shirts popularized by rappers. that would be HILARIOUS!! lol. j'adore old pics!! J'ADORE!!

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

I make charoset every year for our sedar. And the one thing I love about it is all the iterations. It's easy to change up (and not to mess up) and then you can find a recipe that really fits you best. Yay!

Sparkling Red said...

Keera: This is approximately the recipe. I improvised somewhat:
Peel and then grate 3 apples
Crush 2 cups of fresh walnuts
Mix the apples and walnuts with some lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, cinnamon and sweet wine (the sweetest you can buy) to taste. I used 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 4 tablespoons of wine in my mix. Then it should sit for a couple of hours at least for the flavours to blend. Serve on top of matzah.

Scarlet and Jenski: Thank you! :-)

Jameil: The "recipe" is in my reply to Keera. I haven't seen a "no snitching" shirt but I think I'll have to get some for my family!

Nilsa: I like recipes which allow room for creativity. :-)

Keera Ann Fox said...

Thanks so much, Spark! It looks both easy and very tasty! I have never seen matzah in Norway (what Jewish community we have is in Oslo), but Scandinavia offers a wide variety of unleavened breads ("flat bread") so I'll find something similar.