A Purim Seudah To Celebrate

Ask any adult if they remember what costume they wore, as a child on Purim and I guarantee you it will bring a smile to their face.  It certainly brings a huge smile to mine and my husband's.  In fact, most times a giggle, when we think back as to how we  dressed our poor, innocent children for Purim!  At least one of them would go as a walking advert for our butchery, Nussbaums Kosher Butchery, with biltong (Jerky) and dry sausage hanging around their necks, stickers pertaining to every cut on the forequarter stuck to their white coats and a butcher's apron filled with prepacked cold cuts ready to win over the toughest of teachers!   What were we thinking? Probably the same thing my parents were thinking when they dressed us as doctors and painters - my grandfather was a doctor and my father had a paint factory!  My "baby"   brother went 5 years running as a clown in the orange and white family  hand-me-down clown outfit until the costume got so small for him it finally became a health hazard! We celebrate this colourful festival with absolute joy - not only is it Purim, but on this day in 2009 we were blessed with our first grandchildren, twin girls, our very own princesses.  Laylah and Zahara have truly brought us the best Purim joy this chag could ever offer, and more.  So it's party time on Purim in the Lurie household, and nothing could have portrayed this better than the Purim chapter opener in my latest book  "Celebrating with the Kosher Butcher's Wife",  where pretty in pink cup cakes and Barney purple balloons and masks set the scene for the perfect birthday party! The adult celebrations that follow always seem to be Lebberdik with a capital  Lechaim!  So once the Shalach Manot are delivered it's time to get ready for the Seuda where  Persian Carpet Rides,  Fall off the bone Lamb Shanks with Almond Couscous and to Crown- it- all Peaches  will be the order of the day this Purim. Chag Sameach !