Enough Kugel Already

"Yay! Mommy doesn't have to make any more kugel!" Ruby cheered yesterday when we arrived home from our "early bird seder" weekend adventure.

Both of my girls were clearly tired of hearing about my kugel conundrum -- not to mention the sound of the food processor chopping all of those carrots, potatoes, and onions!

I was relieved to finally be done with it myself.

Do you want to know how the kugel turned out? In short, it was a hit -- all my hard work paid off -- and there was more than enough to go around. I ended up making about four batches of the recipe so we had enough for leftovers. Dori will be pleased to hear that the "muffin kugels" were the most popular. She was right -- making the kugel in muffin tins kept it crispy.

The rest of the family pitched in to make it a lovely seder meal.

My cousin Marla made matzoh ball soup that was better than the one they serve at The Second Avenue Deli; Claudia made homemade gefilte fish and mouth-watering brisket; My brother made carrot kugel (he vowed next year, he'd add garlic to spice things up a bit); and cousin Tina baked desserts that were so outrageously delicious, you'd swear they were made with flour (she swears they weren't!)

When I bought the matzoh meal for the kugel, I noticed Streit's slogan is "The Taste of a Memory..." Isn't holiday cooking all about revisiting old memories and creating new ones? Maybe my girls will one day aspire to recreate their mom's kugel.

I can just picture Ruby asking her sister, "Remember when mom nearly went crazy making all that kugel one year?"

How could they forget?

Meanwhile, I promise not to post anymore about kugel...until next year.

Kugel Conundrum

"I'm having a kugel cunundrum," I said to Avo last night.

It was already getting late and it was time to go to sleep.

But first I had to check on the kugel or else I wouldn't be able to rest soundly.

I ended up getting a jump-start on things rather than leaving the cooking 'til the last minute as I had planned. I loaded up a cart with about 30 potatoes and a whole lot of onions and carrots. For good measure, I bought the last two boxes of Streit's matzoh meal (not sure I really need that much, but just in case...)

I doubled up the kugel recipe and found that the potato-carrot-onion mix didn't fit in any of my mixing bowls. Then I went through an entire roll of paper towels and a few dish towels trying to sop up the potato "juice." Now all my dish towels smell like potatoes!

In hindsight, I'm not so sure the muffin tins were the way to go. It seemed like a lot of extra effort pouring the kugel mix into the tins. Then, I packed up the kugel muffins in a plastic bag to store them. I checked on them a bit later and the bag had started to fog up. I guess I put the kugel muffins in while they were still hot and humid.

The bottom of the bag was like a shallow pond and a lot of the muffins were soggy sponges. I sorted through the salvageable ones and left them to dry out on the counter.

"Now I'm not sure I'll have enough for everyone," I griped to Avo.

"Maybe you should make more."

"I can't bear it!"

After a day scrubbing potatoes and "slaving" over the food processor, it was hard to imagine doing it yet again.

"Well, it's better to have too much than not enough."

Which brings me back to the kugel cunundrum: "Do I leave the kugel overnight to dry or do I put it in the fridge?"

Avo suggested I set an alarm for 2 a.m. so I could go and check on them.

I nixed that idea and decided to leave them out.

Luckily, Ruby inadvertently came to the rescue by waking up at 3 a.m.

After bringing her a sippy cup, I tended to the kugel.

And now I'm ready to start another batch.

I'll let you know whether they pass muster at the "early bird" Saturday seder.

Passover Panic

It's official. I'm beginning to freak out. How will I ever have time to make my first ever potato kugel in timer for Saturday's "early bird" seder?

"What were you thinking?" Avo asked last night. "You're doing your food shopping on Friday morning and then Friday night, we're going to see Angelique Kidjo. Then we head upstate to the seder Saturday morning. When do you plan to cook the kugel?"

"Um, guess I hadn't thought it through (as usual)."

To make matters worse, cousin Claudia just informed me that the number of guests at the seder has just jumped to 34!

Luckily, my BFF Dori came up with a good solution: use muffin tins to make individual potato kugels. Rumor has it that this will help the potatoes "crisp up nicely." Thanks, Dori, for reminding me to use non-stick spray in the tins if I go this route (although couldn't I also use paper liners?)

Plus, we won't have to cut the kugel or worry if there's enough for everyone. But forget about making enough for seconds!

One reader requested that I post my mom's treasured recipe, so here it is:

Mom's Potato Kugel

6 Medium white potatoes (2-1/2 lbs)
1 large onion
1 large carrot
1/4 Cup matzo meal
1-1/2 tspn. salt
1/4 tspn white pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup peanut oil

Pare and put vegetables through grinder or food processor (grater disc). Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour into a well greased 1-1/2 quart baking dish (or deep dish pie plate).

Bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees) about one hour or until top is browned and crisp at edges. Serves 6-8

"Does pare mean to peel the skin off?" I e-mailed my mom.

"Yes, my dear. To pare is to peel. In olden days, before such gadgets as veggie peelers, you would use a small "paring knife" to peel vegetables. Thus, the term paring," mom wrote back.

Meanwhile, I found another recipe at Cooks.com that calls for frying the onions first. I'm sure it would taste better, but since I have to make so much kugel in such a short amount of time, I think I'll skip that step and stick with mom's (hopefully) reliable recipe.

The Grown-Up Table

Growing up, when my extended family gathered for holidays, the kids would be relegated to a separate "children's table." Presumably, there wasn't enough room at the grown-up table -- or maybe they just wanted us kids to be seen and not heard.

As you can imagine, it was a big deal when I finally "graduated" to the grown-up table.

Although that was many years ago and I now have two kids of my own, in a way, I feel as if I'm only now worthy of the grown-up table. Why? Because now I know how to cook.

Passover is coming up next week (although my family is having an "early bird" seder on Saturday) and I'm excited. It's the first year that I'm going to be cooking rather than just bringing wine or macaroons.

My cousin Claudia is in charge of delegating cooking responsibilities. She assigned me the task of cooking potato kugel. I should just be thankful I wasn't given the job of making gefilte fish or matzoh ball soup.

The older generation is no longer able to cook, but my cousins and I still rely on their recipes. I plan to use my mom's treasured potato kugel recipe.

(If you strain, you might be able to hear the melody to "Tradition!" from "Fiddler on the Roof.")

I'm not too intimidated by the idea of making potato kugel, but when I think of making it for 28 people (the number who are expected at the seder), I am terrified. What if it turns out rock solid? What if I burn it? Will they send me back to the children's table?

The good thing about kugel is that it can be made in advance. I better start peeling potatoes right away.

Do you have any special holiday recipes?