Resident Shiksa Strikes Again

By now you're used to my poking fun at myself, aren't you?

Having married into a Jewish family 15 years ago, and having been raised on Long Island spending Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, etc. in friends' homes, I had no trouble agreeing to keep Jewish customs in our home since hubby feels more passionate about his religious upbringing.  My kids are lucky since they get both Christmas and Hanukkah in December, and they get the Italian "eve" feast at my aunt and uncle's house which is to die for.

I began with a pile of Xerox copies of my mother-in-law's holiday recipes.  They tasted good in her dining room, before she moved to Florida.  In my kitchen, I found that we had to use half or a quarter of the fat content of some recipes to achieve a healthy balance (e.g. noodle pudding is no longer swimming in a sea of oil).  I also bought what is now my Bible for such occasions:  Faye Levy's International Jewish Cookbook.  I have kept my pledge of trying one new recipe each holiday.

Last night, after cleaning up an Italian dinner of macaroni and meatballs, I got to work on this year's Passover feast.  I had pre-chopped some almonds, pecans, and pine nuts for the charoset.  Combined with fruit juice, sugar, and cinnamon, it is a very tasty symbol of the mortar between the bricks that the enslaved Jews used to do Pharoah's building in Egypt.  Son #1 gave thumbs up when he smelled the combined flavors.  It'll taste even better tonight (Passover officially begins at sundown).  I also made a sweet potato kugel (casserole) which included shredded apple and pear, a small amount of matzo meal and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.  Matzo ball batter was prepared (secret to fluffiness is the seltzer in my mother-in-law's old fashioned recipe) and veggies were chopped for the soup.  

The new recipe this time was a pan of brownies with matzo cake meal substituted for flour (about 2/3 of the amount).  Brownies don't call for very much flour so I figured I'd give it a go.  Not bad.  OK so I filched a small piece as I was cutting them up and putting them away.  That's how I know they came out decent.  Is that such a crime?

Hubby will be starting the turkey this afternoon while I'm still at work, so it has a few hours to cook up just right.  We read from the children's Haggadah (story of Passover) to make the seder fun and exciting for everyone, including us kids in our forties and my mother, who can't get enough of my matzo ball soup.  (Neat, eh?)  

Happy Passover to those who celebrate it.  I don't normally do a big Easter meal, but I wish success to those of my friends and family who will be making Easter feasts!