2nd seder meal | Imamother

amother

Valerian

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 12:10 am

amother OP wrote:

Because shulchan orech is so late and we are stuffed by then with matzah,etc., I generally only serve chicken soup with bite -sized pieces of soup Chicken, veggies and egg noodles, plus cookies and compote. But this year we are having guests 2nd seder for whom I feel like a real "main course" is necessary.

Can you all give me ideas for your best liquidy seder main dishes? Nothing complicated please, my 1st days are going to be hard enough.

I'm in the same situation. I always just do large bowls of soup 2nd night. We're too tired and sick of eating to want anything more. This year I have lots of guests coming. A lot of my guests are kids and older people, and it's going to be hard for them to wait so long until eating. I was thinking to serve a light meal before everyone goes to shul and then just sticking with my soup plan, but adding gefilte fish and some sort of salad as a first course to just add to it a bit without going crazy.

amother

Navy

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 12:17 am

amother Valerian wrote:

A light meal is good for the kids, and maybe have a snack for the adults... But it's actually a mitvah to go into the seder with an appetite, and there's a certain time after which one (regular, healthy adult) should not eat.

Older people also can definitely have a light meal .

dankbar

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 12:25 am

I do for Sedarim after Salmon, soup chicken or cream of chicken zucchini soup, then I do chicken fingers or patties that's fried. With side dishes and Compote. Sides can be potato kugel, or potato latkes, or apple kugel or sweet carrots with pineapple.

This way they have munchies to nosh on during day, and sometimes they will and sometimes they won't eat it again at meal.

funkyfrummom

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 9:52 am

We do basically the same on the second night as the first night.

As a hostess, be sure to consider the backgrounds of your guests and what they might be expecting or hoping for out of a seder. Our Pesach guests are either not religious or are less religious and I find that often the expectation is a shorter seder overall, with much more focus on the meal. In other words, they are used to all the parts leading up to the meal to being done much more quickly to get to the meal (so they are used to eating earlier)... and then a big meal. Since we don't speed anything up, I try very hard to have the meal be substantial enough that they don't feel "shorted" when we get to it.

Also, I find there are some common expectations based on favorite seder memories... brisket (we only do chicken though) and matzo balls in the soup (we're nisht gebroks) and, yes, dessert (so I add a dessert when we have guests, otherwise we skip and just do afikomen). I make sure we have more charoses available because some guests like to eat it with matza throughout the meal. Also, I make sure there are enough boiled eggs that everyone can have one if they want.

Here's what we do both nights:

drinks avail: wine, lemonade, grapeade or orangeade

boiled eggs
gefilte fish + salads (romaine salad, cucumber salad, beet salad, charoses)
chicken soup (sometimes with egg crepe "noodles")
chicken
potato kugel
some sort of veg (usually similar to a rattatouille)
dessert (meringues plus either ice cream or sorbet... if guests, sorbet because of the raw eggs in my ice cream)

amother

Valerian

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 11:16 am

amother Navy wrote:

I'm putting the food out. People can eat a much or as little as they want. Or nothing at all. I don't need to police everyone's level of observance.
As for myself and my husband, we are in our early 50's, certainly not elderly, but it's been a long time since we could handle a brisket dinner at midnight without repercussions. We've discussed with our rabbi and were told yes, we could eat a small meal so as not to stuff ourselves with heavy foods at the seder and end up sick.

amother

Ghostwhite

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 12:40 pm

Besides the matza and maror, which we all know there’s a mitzva in the Torah to eat, the requirement is to have a festive meal. Some have a minhag to start with a hard boiled egg (you can ask why at your seder). There’s also a reason we don’t eat any roasted or broiled meats and cook those in a liquid or sauce. Other than that you eat what you enjoy.
It’s nice of op to make sure her guests have an enjoyable, satisfying meal but there’s no mitzva to stuff yourself with brisket and kugels at half an hour before midnight and go to sleep after the seder feeling nauseous. If anything you’ll be losing out on the mitzva of being happy on Yom Tov.

amother

Maize

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 12:54 pm

We keep it light.
Eggs in salt water
Chicken soup with kneidalach
Chicken with peppers, courgettes, carrots, mushrooms in tomato sauce, spices - I cook it erev yomtov on the stove for a couple of hours. It's really easy and you can put it on at the beginning of the seder and forget about it.
Potato kugel
Sorbet

I think someone above mentioned roast meat. Do ask your LOR.

Good to have food on that doesn't need checking on.