Happy Passover!

Haggadah and Seder Plate

Haggadah and Seder Plate

Yes, as an inquisitive and spiritual person, I strive to know, learn and understand others’ cultures, habits, religions, way of life and existence. Passover is one of these things. I have heard of it, and like many, I was clueless about it. My lack of knowledge only made me wonder more but the information I got was not enough to beat my curiosity. I was not satisfied. I wanted to experience it, be there, be present at the ceremony, feel it.

20140401_192953I have a handful of Jews friends, many are non practicing, so the possibility of me being invited to the Judaic ritual, was this much, zilch, well at the present time however. So, the minute I got the chance to experience Seder dinner, I jumped right in. I canceled my previous engagement, hop on my car and to the supermarket I went to purchase some Kosher goodies for the occasion. And there I was with pals from the Bible studies, dining Kosher meal and learning about Passover. It was an humble experience I may add, one I won’t soon forget. One thing I remember, the holiday dinner can take up to a long time and consists of holiday meals, special prayer services, abstention from work, songs, sacrifices…

Passover began today at dusk.

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Boiled Eggs

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Romaine Lettuce

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Matzah and Horseradish

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Matzah

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Matzah

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Soup

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Sweet Potato

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The Wine

The Wine

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Italy, We Went

img_8614_1On Tuesday, October 9th, twenty three members of Our Lady Of The Lakes Choir, yes I sing in a choir, plus nineteen parishioners departed Miami International Airport on an overseas journey, via Alitalia Airlines at 4:15 PM bound for Italy. They woke us up at around 1:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, approximately 6:00AM in Italy, for breakfast and not long after that we landed in Rome.

Hooray, we arrived. Yeeehh!

It was hard to believe that we were actually in Italy after looking forward to this trip for more then a year. We had many pancakes scrambled eggs, sausage, orange juice breakfasts, count eight, garage sales and an Italian night dinner fundraiser to help us achieve our dream, but like troops, they came rushing supporting us all the way.

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Tickets

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Selling tickets

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Selling tickets

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Selling tickets

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Sausages – Breakfast

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Breakfast is ready

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An happy customer

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A smile from our choir members – Garage sale

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Garage sale

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Getting ready to serve dinner wearing apron, IKEA cloth and made by me – Italian Dinner.

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Setting up the tables – Italian dinner

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The team ready to serve – Italian Dinner

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An Italian Dinner

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An Italian Dinner – 7 Miles Bridge Band

 

And That’s How The BBQ Went

What? Memorial Day weekend and no b-b-q? It couldn’t be. Since I was not invited anywhere today; well, not true, just put it this way, I had enough of too much of a good time for one weekend, I put my spin on the good ole festivities but with one added flavor. No, it was not beer or Margarita either but Pisco. Yes, the peruvian drink. Oh yeah! It was oh oh oh sooo good.

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20130525_211311Pisco, peruvian drink

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Classical Recipe, for those not familiar with Pisco:

Take the classic pico sour and shake it over ice and strained, or in a blender with ice.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
•    1/2 cup sugar
•    1/4 cup water
•    1/2 cup key lime juice
•    1 1/2 cups pisco
•    3 egg whites
•    1 1/2 cups ice
•    Angostura Bitters

Preparation:

1.    Make sugar syrup: Put sugar and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, remove from heat, and let cool.
2.    Place sugar syrup, lemon juice. pisco, and ice in a blender, and mix well. Add the egg whites and mix until just frothy.
3.    Serve in small tumblers, with a dash of bitters in the middle of the foam.

Tip: The ratio of 3 parts pisco to 1 part lime juice to 1 part simple syrup makes a strong, tart pisco sour. You can reduce the amount of pisco to make it a little less “fuerte”. The egg whites give the cocktail its traditional frothy top layer, but some people prefer to leave them out.

Serves 6-8
Source: http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/drinks/r/piscosour.htm