I always think charoset tastes better for having some time for the flavor to blend. I usually make it a day or two in advance to allow for that. Hard boiled eggs and the roasted egg for the seder plate can be made ahead. I haven't made charloette or carrot souffle before so I can't speak to those. The chicken in a sauce should reheat fine. Soup and matazh balls can be made ahead but depending on quantity may strain fridge room - at least they would for me at the beginning of Pesach. I haven't made matzah balls from a mix, but the recipe I use has the matzah ball mixture being refrigerated for 30 minutes before forming the balls and dropping them in the soup - I think the mixture could be made up to that point and held a couple of days in the fridge. Matzah crunch and meringues can be made in advance but make sure to pack them away in something air tight especially if you are somewhere that may have humid weather. Brownies can be made ahead but I think they will taste best made that day.

Beachlily, you're right. This is a digression and not about cooking at all really. I find nomenclature interesting, as well as the hair splitting, and I find that it helps to order my mind, which, in the end, also helps my cooking. Rusty, opinion respectfully understood and appreciated. It is nitpicking, and not of interest to many people, I'm sure. I have certain language bugaboos with cooking. I'm entirely aware that they're my issues, and not something that I expect others to cleave to or participate in. It doesn't bother me if people call purchased prepared food that they've doctored "homemade". To me, that just means they have a different definition of homemade. So be it. I do, however, have an issue with opened a bunch of cans and dumped them in a dish being called "from scratch". Again, I realize that my having an issue with what people want to say about their food is entirely my own problem, not theirs. In the USA, at least, there's a tradition of food snobbery in which "from scratch" demands a level of respect. I don't say "from scratch" about my cooking or baking, even when it is. If someone asks, I'll say I made the crust, or whatever, and might even use "it's from scratch" if asked about the process, but it's not a way I identify myself or my work. It goes with the kind of snobbery that insists that something hand sewn is superior to something machine sewn (not counting computer programed sewing machine work, which is its own category). Good results are good results, no matter which tools you use to achieve them. The grated cheese issue is a bagatelle: it's really all the same whether you pare it, grate it by hand, grate it in an FP, or buy it grated. The main reason for doing it oneself is that one often buys tastier cheeses than they put up pre-grated, and it keeps better as a block. Since we have that culture of admiration for the scratch cook, I think the person claiming the honors ought to be honest about it. I wouldn't think ill of anyone who doesn't put the line exactly where I do. That's why I started this thread--to learn where others put the line. But if you tell me that you made a frozen green beans, condensed mushroom soup and French's canned fried onions casserole from scratch, I'm going to think you're awfully naïve... My other bugaboo is people who don't know what the words mean extending them to mean other things. Again, totally my own issue and the world marches the way it does without regard for it. But hummus means "chickpea" not paté or puree, many hummus dishes use whole, not mashed, chickpeas, and you can't make chickpeas out of black beans. Aioli means "garlic oil", not flavored mayonnaise, and can be made without egg yolk (i.e., not like mayonnaise), but not without garlic. Some aiolis aren't sauces at all, but more like a paste or relish, but all have garlic and oil. So, I've learned a lot about how far the words "scratch" and "homemade" can extend without breaking and some points over my own lines that cooking people allow. I hope more people will contribute their ideas. And for those who just don't care, thanks for letting us know that too...

Here's the status. Party is in 3 days and I am nervous. It's morphed into a surprise party. Karaoke or games or what? Up in the air. Costco-will roast tenderloin, perhaps on the grill, slice and refrigerate. Flowers from Costco. Caesar salads from Costco. Bought 4 meat and 1 veggie lasagnas from Gordon Food Service. I would like to doctor them up with meat sauce and gobs of extra cheese (which I bought). Dessert. Ordered a pretty and delicious cake from Dairy Queen. Hopefully it will be enjoyed by all. I made one tray of lemon squares and will make another tray in the morning. A sweet cousin my make some cookie bars. I'll get a traveler coffee from Starbucks-easy. Pick up wine, juice, water, sodas. Still need to hang and rehang lots of pictures, long story, and polish flatware and ice bucket. Thirty dinner plates are washed. Cleaned the front door area and leaves are gone. Need possible paper goods. Very tired! Thanks for all your help. Likely I will make either flourless choc cake or nut torte. Have 3 kinds of cheeses, crackers and pretzels and mixed nuts for nibbles while we all wait. Prolly will add more stuff. I'd rather fuss with flowers, decor, baskets and fabric liners, etc. I think dil will like it.

Interesting article! Totally outside of my experience. I've heard of it, of course, but I think it's a very East Coast thing. There's much more of a burrito affinity here. Beans and rice burritos, cheese enchiladas, fish tacos, etc. Unlike the New York Jews of the stated era, who were really pretty ready to throw off religion (as were people of all stripes at that time), so it was only the cultural feeling of "wrongness" that kept them from eating milk and meat together. There is absolutely nothing kosher about the meat in a non-Jewish Chinese restaurant. Period. And no one who had ever kept kosher would have convinced himself otherwise. In California, while it was liberalized, more kept to some semblance of the laws. Dairy (includes fish) Mexican food was arguably kosher. The main thing would be to be sure that they didn't cook with lard or any other incidental animal product. Many who keep kosher on less than a strictly Orthodox level will eat dairy out. Christmas is tamales with the neighbors. :) I was in a very small town in Arizona one Christmas Eve, however, and while everyone was at the Posadas, we were eating dinner at the Chinese place...because it was open. :)