Long weekends for my family are an excuse to eat, eat, eat. This year, my parents asked me if I would like to cook dinner for the fam. I guess now that I’ve started this blog, I’ve become the designated chef. Don’t get me wrong, I was so excited about it!!! My first time cooking for my family (I mean a really well planned out meal), first time hosting a dinner in this apartment, and my first time cooking a turkey! I’ve actually never roasted a whole bird of any sort, so I was a little nervous. (I was praying it wouldn’t be dry. I hate dry turkey.) To make things more challenging, my boyfriend is celebrating Passover and isn’t eating leavened bread. So, I spent most of my free time searching for recipes and ideas for Passover-friendly options and putting my menu together. I ended up overlooking one thing. I made a cucumber and feta appetizer, and I was not serving dairy for Passover purposes (not to mix meat and dairy according to Jewish dietary laws). Totally overlooked that one…oops. 😦 But, I love a good challenge! We had a tiny table that couldn’t even hold all the food I had made, but it was a good meal and a fun time nonetheless.
My mother is the queen of turkey roasting. She’s perfected the art and has her own secret marinade she uses. Everyone says her turkeys are the best they’ve ever had. Delicious and so moist and juicy. (No pressure.) My mom always buys the biggest turkeys she can find. The last turkey she made was a 37 pound turkey the size of a lamb. I thought I’d be smart and buy an appropriately sized turkey so that we could finish it. In the end however, I guess I really am my mother’s daughter, I got so excited about trying new recipes I made twice as much food as I should have. I spent about 10 hours in the kitchen. Exhausting weekend!
Here is a list of what I prepared for the dinner. I’ll be posting all the recipes in the next few days.
To Start:
Cucumber Feta Boats. Recipe here.
Kale & Lettuce Salad (with a mixture of other veggies) in a Tahini Dressing
Cauliflower & Lima Bean Soup. Recipe here.
My Mains:
ROASTED TURKEY (obviously) + gravy + cranberry sauce. Recipe here.
Roasted potatoes (cooked with turkey)
Matzah Stuffing
Crispy Fish Balls. Recipe here.
Roasted Asparagus and Caper Berries
Braised Coconut Spinach & Chickpeas Over Sweet Potato
Dessert:
Maple Baked Apples
This Hungry Kitten 
Mmm, that dinner looks delicious!
Sounds like an amazing and modern take on Passover. Kudos to you for tackling all this. I was raised Jewish and still do not get all the Passover rules correct. We made coconut macaroons for a more observant relative and it turned out they were not quite Kosher for Passover because I forgot the rule on not using utensils that have touched chametz during the year.
Haha, I got really into it this year. My boyfriend is Jewish so I thought I’d get into the spirit. There’s so many rules! I was trying not to mix meat and dairy…that was hard. A lot of things like butter I just use so regularly I don’t even think about it.
Looks amazing and sounds very much like my family meals 🙂 Passover is a great excuse to eat lots and lots of food!