Red, Red Wine

I really, really enjoy the Easter season.  There are several things our family tries to take part in if possible. One of my personal favorite events is the Something More Easter tour at Henderson Hills.  I have written about on my blog before.  You can read about it here.  

This year, we also participated in a Passover meal with my Sunday School class.  We have had Passover meals with my Grandma Margaret several times.  However, she has always prepared everything.  This time our Sunday school class signed up through email to bring things.  For some reason, the first email slipped through the cracks and I did not sign up for anything.  The Passover meal is Thursday evening.  Wednesday, another email was sent out and I realized I had forgotten to sign up to bring something.  

I texted the person, David, in charge and asked what I could bring.  He asked me if I could bring charoset.  You can find the recipe here.  I went to the link he sent me and noticed it was not going to be difficult to make; however, there was an ingredient I did not know where to purchase.  It was kosher Passover red wine.  I immediately called my grandma.  She suggested calling/going to my local temple or synogogue.  Hmm......

I did what any other person would do and threw it out there on Facebook and also texted David again.  David told me it did not have to be kosher Passover red wine, it could be table wine or cooking wine.  This did not mean anything to me.  I was still unsure where to get table wine or cooking wine.  I was told I'd probably have to go into a liquor store.  I've never been in a liquor store so this would be a first.  I did have a nice friend offer to go in there for me.  

There is a liquor store within walking distance by my house.  I figured on my daily morning walk, I would just walk to my local liquor store and get two bottles of kosher Passover red wine.  Of course, I was told that liquor stores do not open at 7 a.m.  I am getting stressed about not being able to find kosher red wine, but I am also concerned that since I am not cooking in this recipe the alcohol from the red wine will not cook off.  There will be 32 people partaking, including my son and other children, of my charoset.  I really didn't want to get my Sunday school class and all their families drunk.  Not good.  

My friend, Lee, suggested asking the liquor store clerk if they have a non-alcoholic cooking wine.  So at 10 a.m. Thursday morning, I drove my children to the liquor store, left them in the car and walked into the store for the first time ever.  

I asked the man behind the counter, "Do you have any non-alcoholic cooking wine?"  He looked at me with a smirk and replied, "Um...No.  Everything in here has alcohol in it.  It's a liquor store."  "Do you have any kosher Passover red wine?"  Again, "No.  I have regular red wine."  It had 18% alcohol.  18% alcohol that will soak into the apples, raisins and walnuts.  I asked him if he knew where I could at least purchase cooking wine.  He advised me to go to Walmart.

While I drive to Walmart in search of cooking wine, my sister-in-law texts me with some suggestions of what I could use instead of the red wine.  While I am inside Walmart, I finally find red cooking wine.  

However, I see it has 10% alcohol and I see another friend comments on my Facebook post that cooking wine tastes strange.  My Sunday school director emails me and suggest red grape juice.  I put back the red cooking wine and the apple juice I had in my basket.  I purchase all the other ingredients, plus the red grape juice.  

The recipe I am using serves 8 people.  There will be 32 people at the Passover meal, so I have to quadruple the recipe.  I only have a small food processor.  It is 12 p.m. by the time I get home.  I immediately start on the charoset.  It is not hard at all, but using my little food processor is time consuming.  I only make it through tripling the recipe before my food processor gives up the ghost and dies completely. 

I take a taste of what I have.  It is incredibly sweet.  I mean insanely sweet.  I realize with the red grape juice I shouldn't have used the same amount of sugar.  I figure that maybe it will be so sweet that not everyone will eat more than a bite and it will not matter that I did not quadruple the recipe.  It is actually pretty good, even if it doesn't look appetizing. 

I only put a very small portion on each person's plate.  I was very, very surprised that a few people went back for another spoonful.  Another first for my 40s, I ate lamb.  David prepared a leg of lamb for our Passover meal.  I was a little nervous we were going to have to eat it off the bone, but he just cut a small piece for our plate.  It was very, very good.

I enjoyed the Passover meal.  Such a strong reminder of God's deliverance of the Israelites and helps prepare me for God's deliverance of us from sin. 

Tomorrow, the officer's family will go to church with us and we will spend the day together.  So thankful for Jesus' sacrifice for me.  I saw this video yesterday. It's Friday, but Sunday is comin'.

Isaiah 53:5
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities;  The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed."

Matthew 28:6
"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."