Lyd writes 19 Apr 2008 01:43 pm
Our first seder
We foolishly decided to host our own seder this year … with little Jewish cooking experience, no dinner table, no chairs, no space in our apartment, and no Jewish friends/family to invite. Is it telling that I’m writing about it already, even though dinner is still six hours away?
Our brisket recipe, generously provided by a co-worker who hosts his own seder every year, said to make the brisket a day ahead of time. So last night we were looking over the recipe and considering some modifications (mistake #1). Curtis suggested we add some wine to the water in the bottom of the pan. A great idea, I agreed, except we don’t have a bottle of wine cheap enough to use for cooking. What about the beer we brought back from Colorado last week, I suggested (mistake #2). Curtis couldn’t have been more proud that I had suggested such a beer-conscious and surely yummy technique (mistake #3).
Full steam ahead, we poured half a cup of Ten Fiddy into the basin. So pleased with myself, I took pictures of Curtis proudly adding the beer (mistake #4).
We cooked the brisket, and two hours later it tasted positively divine. I went to bed relieved that our main dish was out of the way, when suddenly it occurred to me …
Beer isn’t kosher! We (I) had ignorantly defiled the centerpiece of our seder, and I couldn’t have been more appalled/embarrassed/disappointed. Thankfully, as mentioned above, I’ll be the only Jew at the seder. I guess I’ll start keeping kosher right after dinner. Not exactly the way it’s supposed to work, but what else can we do? It’s a five pound brisket, and it’s done and in the fridge.
Perhaps the worst part is: Our guests offered to bring a hard-to-get bottle of beer to dinner, and I said no thanks, we can’t drink it at seder … because it’s not kosher! Oy gevalt.