Job: Writer and Editor (but I don’t work on Chol Hamoed)
Lives: Beitar Illit
Family: I’m at what they call “the accordion stage.” On a regular weekday, there might be just five of us, but when my older sons are home and my married daughter comes with her family, or extended family visits, the meals expand. On Chol Hamoed I’ll invite guests, so it can easily be over twenty people.
Time of supper: On Chol Hamoed, I serve two large meals, because I don’t want to be in the kitchen the entire day. There’s a big brunch at around eleven1 a.m., and a nice hearty supper usually right after Maariv, between seven and eight.
The way I do it: My whole Pesach menu is planned in advance, in detail, together with the items I plan to delegate to my daughters. In general, I’m a creative cook, and when I’m hosting, I really patchkeh.
My big Chol Hamoed secret is a crockpot, so that we can go out together as a family, and rather than facing starving, cranky people when I get home, there’s a delicious meal all ready to eat.
I cook really nice Yom Tov food, but I believe a woman should breathe at some point, so I delegate the prep and cleanup from brunch to my teenage kids on two days of Chol Hamoed. They do it in pairs, and get up early and cook and serve beautifully.
My Yom Tov splurge:
Everything is disposable, so all I have to wash are the pots. I don’t have a Pesach dishwasher and Pesach cooking is time-consuming enough…. I make sure to get beautiful disposable tableware for the Yom Tov seudos, but yes, I did have a very shocked South African son-in-law when he first joined us for the Seder.
For health reasons:
We always have salad or cooked veg. I have one kid who is super picky. I think that’s my punishment for being smug and saying kids can get used to all healthy foods if you play it right. But everyone else eats their veggies.
If someone treated me to a meal out, I’d order:
I always want to order something exotic that I can’t make myself. As I’ve become a more adventurous cook, I find it harder to order within this criterion. Sometimes I just settle for a salad with interesting ingredients. Yes, I could make it myself, but it’s time-consuming.
My favorite spice:
For sure basil — it adds great flavor to everything. And Trader Joe’s mushroom umami spice. It packs a punch on roasted veggies or in a quark-cheese based dip. But it is NOT kosher l’Pesach.
