Happy Passover

I know some of you may think I am a bit late with this post, but as it turns out, Passover is eight days, so there is plenty of time to still wish you a happy one. Plus, I have been very busy eating and eating at the Seders. 

Let me be clear about one thing: I do not make the Seders at my house. It is simply an unfathomable amount of work. (Although, I do offer to help my mom cook, and she always rejects those offers. Always.) These are two long evenings, and I always feel it is good practice to wear something with an elastic waist. We start with the retelling of the story of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt, we have some matza and horseradish root (not the wimpy stuff that comesin a jar, either),and sometimes manage to sneak in a bit of charoset (a delicious apple, cinnamon and wine mixture symbolizing the mortar used while the Jews were enslaved. I am not sure how mortar translated to yummy deliciousness, but I’ll take it.)

But then it is time for the meal. We start with hard boiled eggs and salt water. This tradition was brought over by FKGuy when, after his first Seder with my family said “Hmmmm. Why don’t you do hard boiled eggs? We always do.” Since it was said within earshot of my mother, the very next night some hard boiled eggs appeared. Then comes the amazing gefilte fish made with salmon and halibut. I know, I know, it is not the traditional lake fish topped with carrots, but it is delicious, and it is the new traditional gefilte fish, at least in my world. This is all followed by matza ball soup and then the big meal.

Brisket, chicken, turkey, kugel (a pudding made with – you guessed it – more matza products and apples), vegetables and sweet and sour meatballs. Just when you were wishing the elastic on the pants expanded a tiny bit more, out comes dessert: macaroons (not the French macaron, although my mom’s are homemade), meringue cookies, brownies, almond horns, lemon cake, chocolate brandy pecan cake, oh, and the gratuitous fruit salad.

After all that, it is time for me to hit the gym (and try to avoid matza for the remaining several days of the holiday.) Let’s see how that works out for me.

If you celebrate, I wish you a Happy Passover or Happy Easter (or both!) Whatever you celebrate, do it with friends, family and of course, great food.