Passover/Good Friday Open Thread
You can probably guess which holiday I'm celebrating, given the way I ordered the title of this thread.
What's everyone up to this weekend? How do you observe/celebrate Passover and/or Easter?
We are hosting 19 people around our Seder table this evening. This includes six current and one future (my son, who starts this fall) Michigan students! Our celebration includes another family whose son is a current Engineering freshman at Michigan; he's bringing along five friends who otherwise wouldn't have anywhere to go for Passover.
The table is set. Brisket (the second round of cooking; I first cook it for a few hours, slice and then let it sit overnight in the fridge) and gefilte fish are in the oven. Chicken is marinating and awaiting a 5PM appointment with the oven. Various vegetables are relaxing in the fridge in advance of being roasted. A ten-pound bag of potatoes awaits peeling, boiling and mashing.
Only been two "fails" thus far. My wife spilled some gravy out of the roasting pan when she took the brisket out of the fridge. (In her defense, I chose to use one of those cheap aluminum pans that you can buy at the grocery store for a few bucks; was trying to reduce the after-dinner cleanup.) She also mistook cilantro for parsley and bought a few bunches by mistake. (Anyone need any cilantro???)
Wishing everyone a meaningful and joyous weekend, regardless of which holiday you celebrate (and even if you don't)!
Blessings to all and here's to another chance to get it right, on and off the field.
Hope everyone has a nice, relaxing and enjoyable weekend with friends and family.
For me, Easter Sunday with a large extended family. Looking forward to a proper, home cooked meal and watching some NBA/NHL playoffs this weekend... followed by Thrones at 9pm sharp!
I saw Nick B posting some quotes from Don Brown this morning. Patiently waiting for Isaiah Hole or someone else to post the full interview on YouTube ...
I suppose you do have a large extended family, NK. About 100,000 or so, right?
And by "home-cooked meal," do you mean wildlings and northerners?
Yes, yes I do...
takes a lot of flesh to feed an army of 100k strong.
Get out of work a little early today to sing for our Good Friday service. Usually one of my favorite services of the year, not only in its significance but also the music.
Stepping inside a church for the first time in years to celebrate my cousin becoming catholic and then having dinner with everyone Sunday afternoon. Is it standard to have mass at 9pm on Saturday? Seems awfully late to me, but i'm not a follower. Just going to support family.
I think 9 p.m. on Saturday is, historically speaking, when the snake talks.
Not standard.
But the Saturday Vigil Mass is very unique... you'll see things there not seen during any other service in the year.
Plus, it's three hours long. That's why the 9 PM start.
The first hour is in the dark.
(Answering in the spirit of the question and not trying to bring religion into the blog). It’s not the standard Mass but is typically the most involved Mass of the year. Typically parishes do a Vigil Mass on Saturday (usually starting between 5 or 6) that is the first Mass celebrating the Sunday liturgy ( borrowing the Jewish concept that the day begins at sundown). The Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday is different in that it is the typical point where converts are officially received into the church; and it includes a substantially larger # of readings from various parts of the OT and NT (normally there are 3 in total plus a Psalm and the Easter Vigil has I think 9 plus 4 or 5 Psalms) along with baptisms and confirmations for the people joining. If you’re into it it’s beautiful; if not it’ll feel like a drawn out boring thing ( sort of like watching Michigan v OSU from 1971). Hope that helps.
It's standard for the Easter Vigil Mass. Some churches do it (at least in part) outside, so make sure you check the weather before you go. It really is a beautiful mass.
I'm looking most forward to the 10:45 high mass on Sunday. Shrine breaks out the big guns for Easter; big choir, brass horns, and that big beautiful pipe organ. My heart is cold and black and even I usually shed some tears.
Then it's off to the in-laws for some sort of overcooked beef I'm assuming. Which I'll actually be looking forward to since meat is forbidden until then.
It’s at 9pm because it has to start after sunset for liturgical reasons. The Mass starts outside the church where the pascal candle is lit, then transitions inside in candlelit darkness symbolic of Jesus in the tomb and then transitions to light in celebration of the Resurrection, which happened sometime overnight given the empty tomb was found in the morning.
With Easter just about as late as it can be this year, sunset is pretty late, hence the 9pm start. It is long, and it is beautiful. I’m in the choir at my parish and am really looking forward to the music we will be singing.
Amen. EXPECT immature comments will be coming from those that don't accept our beliefs. Even though we live in a country founded on religious freedom and protected by courageous men & women that gave their lives.
No immature comments from me. Those services sound beautiful. My daughter, a religion major in college (and not a Christian) loves going to Easter services.
Hey. Let’s give people the benefit of the doubt instead of pre-emptively negging them. In my experience on this board (and in real life), folks react negatively to proselytizing but are pretty cool if religion gets brought up otherwise.
Is this the drinking thread? If so, I'll be perusing my beer fridge in about 20 minutes.
Wine is a key part of the Passover Seder. Happened to be at Costco a few weekends ago and they had a rep from a distributor there with a wide variety of Kosher for Passover wines, so we will be drinking well tonight!
In the past, Kosher for Passover wines were known for being overly sweet and tasting like ass; the past ten years have seen a great increase in the variety and quality of wines available for the Passover holiday!
Alcohol made from grain is forbidden, but now there are some nice Kosher for Passover vodkas. We'll start with that before dinner tomorrow.
Case closed ...
After reading your menu, 1989 UM GRAD, I decided I’m coming to your house so set a place for 20. But I am not arriving until those potatoes are peeled, boiled and mashed. You can also hold the gefilte fish at my spot. Otherwise, sounds yummy. Blessings to all this w/e.
It's a Polish tradition to set an extra place in case someone unexpected stops by. We do that on all the holidays and about 1/3 of the time we end up using it.
Just got home from mass; I'm busy making butter lambs. #polishtradition
There is the same type of tradition for the Seder. You're supposed to include anyone who doesn't have anywhere to go, so there's always a sort of a randomness to the number and nature of the guests.
After we've sat down at the table, we always have one of the kids open the front door, look out and call, "Is anyone hungry? Come on in." They've never found anyone, but we still hope.
Post your address and I'm sure several of the MGoBoard will show up outside your door, waiting for the kids to announce the invitation.
BTW, what time and what's on the menu? Asking for a friend...
/s
(edit: oops, I see now further down the thread that you already somewhat posted the menu and invite to the board, now all my friend needs is an address and time)
;-)
Don’t you mean Cedar table?
You serious, Clark?
Unfortunately i cant make it back to Michigan to spend time with the family this year. On the bright side i have tickets to the Bruins/Leafs playoff games tonight and Sunday to make up for that.
As the years have gone by, the crowds have died and this year it will just be my wife, my mom and I going out for Easter brunch after Mass.
Thanks for the thread UM Grad 1989 and my hat is off to you for providing a home away from home for others to be observant.
We have often done a Christian Seder meal, just as Jesus celebrated the passover meal with his disciples many years ago. For me, this is the most meaningful holiday as a Christian . . . Maundy Thursday, Tre ores and Tennebrae on Good Friday, sometimes Easter sunrise worship, always Easter worship celebrations.
In terms of food, our family marinates butterflied leg of lamb with lots of garlic, olive oil, mustard seed, and several other herbs, and then grills it. Everyone absolutely loves my wife's mediterranean potato salad (potatoes, scallions, olive oil, garlic, fresh parsley, pepper, a few other things . . . no eggs, mayo, or dairy.) Grilled veggies, green salad, asparagus, and several bottles of wine or sangria for those so inclined.
My sister is a semi-professional cook (really a food writer.) Last year she made a wonderful marzipan cake, and our daughter made an incredible gluten free carrot cake. (We've occasionally also had ham in addition, but since virtually everyone prefers lamb, it makes it an easy choice.)
MMMM, lamb
New tradition started a few years ago - break out the smoker for the first time in the spring. Smoker tri-tip. Might actually be a recipe I got from MGoBlog but I don't really recall any more.
You make gefilte fish in the oven? My wife makes ours in a pot on the stove.
Either way, the difference between homemade gefilte fish and the stuff from a jar is so vast...whenever I hear someone say they don't like gefilte fish, I have to assume that it's because they haven't had the homemade stuff.
We don't like gefilte fish but of course one needs to serve it for Passover. So, I did some research quite a few years ago and found that there are high-quality frozen gefilte fish loaves. Some people boil them. Others bake them. The first recipe I found called for baking; our guests thought it was really good so I continue to bake it.
The alternative is jarred gefilte fish, which is not so great.
The loaf we bought this year is from Superior Fish!
Ah! Yes, I prefer the baked loaves to the jarred stuff. But my favorite of all are the boiled ones. Like a big meatball, but with good fish (etc.). Once we got a good food processor it became quite easy to make. This year we used veggie broth instead of fish broth, which I think will make them even better. I can't wait!
Enjoy!
This weekend is going to be just another weekend for the wife and I. Neither of us are religious anymore, but I respect the beliefs of everyone here. Hope you make it a good weekend with family.
Nothing special planned aside from seeing a movie tomorrow night, and the wife literally looking at her watch several times per hour and wondering if its time for GoT yet.
Enjoy this joyous season.
Passover really has two very wonderful meanings.
The Jewish Holiday to celebrate their freedom from slavery.
The NCAA Football Bowl Season Holiday where MSU gets passed over for teams with a better brand.
I'll attend my wife family's Easter dinner as usual. I'm a cradle Catholic but don't practice so no mass for me. My father-in-law will call me a heathen as per tradition.
Will wake up early to help the kids find all the eggs/candy, then watch the church service online before heading out to Easter brunch.
Though to be honest, my favorite tradition is watching The Ten Commandments on ABC. Love me some Cecile B. DeMille pageantry.
One of the all-time greatest bits. Thank you for posting!
Home made gefilte fish? Wow.
We're having 37 people (plus one baby) for Second Seder tomorrow night. The most we've ever had is somewhere in the mid-20's. But my daughter just married into a large family. They're having us tonight, and we're returning the favor for many of them tomorrow. Plus two nieces and their husbands from Chicago. Two friends who flew in from Boston. And assorted other relatives and friends. We bought a microphone system to make sure everyone can hear!
We do most of the holidays at our house and love doing it. For tomorrow my wife made brisket and chicken, haroset, etc. Guests are making matzoh ball soup. When people asked what to bring, my wife usually said, "Two bottles of wine, Israeli preferred."
Many people have told us that our Seders are the most fun they've ever had. (You should witness my sister-in-law, a frustrated would-be-actress, do the Wicked Son. I've told her she should take it on the road. And, if you'll excuse some bragging, everyone loves how I lead Dayenu.)
If any of you happen to be in St. Louis and are hungry tomorrow night, let me know and we'll have you "come and eat." (For the benefit of MGoGentiles, at the beginning of the service, we say, "Let all who are hungry, come and eat.")
I hope everyone has a great MGoHolidayWeekend!
Sadly, I won't be in St. Louis but I would love to go a Seder meal sometime. Understanding the Jewish roots of my faith (I'm Catholic) is important to me. Plus, I just like learning about others' traditions. Also, the food sounds delicious.
(Years ago Catholics attempted to have Seder meals, but 1) they didn't really know what they were doing 2) someone finally realized it was the worst form of cultural appropriation)
Maundy Thursday service last night at our church & then went to our pastor friend’s church tonight for Good Friday services.
Easter church in the morning then my family over for Easter dinner (about 40 or so) then Easter late afternoon/evening over to my wife’s family (about 80 or so).
Great weekend!
Spent all day cooking a brisket. Nice 10 pounder, get the meat from Costco. The brisket cuts from there are great, they leave the fat cap on. Sits in the oven for almost 10 hours. Then I let it cool overnight also, but I wait until the next day to slice.
1989, I’d recommend transferring to a glass or ceramic dish out of the metal to store in the fridge overnight. The acid in the tomatoes can react with the metal and make the taste a little off.
also made matzo ball soup from scratch today. First time trying my hand at matzo balls. They were a success!
chag sameach!
April 19th, 2019 at 11:53 PM ^
Started out with Maundy Thursday service last night . . . my son had his first Communion after being confirmed last Sunday. Tonight was the (obviously) Good Friday service, traditionally closing with "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord", which always gets me near tears. Also, the Pastor simulates the strepitus by slamming a hymnal on the altar . . . girl in front of me must have been a noob, as she literally jumped. Playing trumpet in Sunday's service with the processional and a hymn or two. Busy weekend!
I love this thread. Thanks for posting. Thank God for this country that allows us religious freedom.
Our church (Methodist) has wonderful services all Lent long and throughout holy week. My work schedule doesn't usually allow me to attend.
Easter Sunday involves 5 services including a sunrise service. Our Easter service tradition is for our Youth Choir to sing the anthem "He is Alive". We also have an exquisite four hour Easter brunch in our activities center for everyone that makes the celebration special.
The Mass of the Lord's Supper is easily my favorite of the year, followed closely by the Easter Vigil. On Sunday, we are having a brunch in the mid-afternoon for lots of family - 16 people will be here for dinner that includes two kinds of deviled eggs, avocado toast, fruit, French toast, risotto, ham, kielbasa (fresh and smoked), green beans, and potatoes (I think). For the adults, we also have mimosas and bellinis. The kids get raspberry lemonade.
Passover is the celebration that forever and inseparably links Judaism and Christianity. God's eternal blessing for us all.
We've gone to the Easter Vigil Mass a few times over the years (and like was earlier posted, it's long and, unless you know someone being baptized and confirmed, a bit on the tedious side) but not this year.
Tomorrow morning will be celebrating with early morning mass (8am), then celebrating Easter at home with one daughter and my granddaughter as there will be Easter baskets for all (including myself and also for my other two kids who can't make it). And a special gift for my 11-yr-old granddaughter, too---she's outgrown her old 20" bicycle and loves to go bike-riding with Grandpa, so this is a win-win for me. I'll cook up a big brunch, including grinding up some whole bean coffee, but by early afternoon the house will be empty, so I'll then head up to GR to my sister's house to join many of my 8 siblings and their families for desserts and a drink or two.
Oh---and fresh Polish Sausage will be consumed. Grew up in a 50-50 Polish/German blend family and fresh kielbasa (none of the poor quality stuff found on the supermarket shelf but the good stuff from a local meat market) is a traditional must on Easter.