Happy Passover to All!!

[caya]

As the first seder of Passover is this Saturday, April 19, I would like to wish a very happy and healthy Passover to all the families on this site that celebrate it.

Chag Sameach and don't eat too much matzo, cause we all know what that does (keep prunes handy).

all the best
caya

[PinkGirl]

Happy Passover to you and your family Caya.

I don't know what matzo is but I sure understand
the reference to prunes!!!

Happy Passover to all of the Her2ers who celebrate
this occasion.

[caya]

Thanks Pink. Matzo is the flat thin unleavened bread that we eat during Passover. This is because as Pharoah released the Hebrew slaves from years of bondage in Egypt, they had no time to wait for their bread to rise as they were leaving in haste, so they baked the bread in thin sheets.

Check out "The Ten Commandments, that is basically the story of Passover.

all the best
caya

[mimiflower07]

happy passover to you Caya may you have a wonderful celebration with family.
fr your her2 family
suzanne

[PinkGirl]

Thanks for the explanation Caya. Did you mean
The Ten Commandments "movie"??

[caya]

Yes Pink - The Ten Commandments movie (starring the late Charlton Heston) is a pretty good representation of what Passover is - it is basically the celebration of the Hebrew slaves being released from years of bondage in Egypt, returning to the land of milk and honey (Israel) and also the receiving of the Ten Commandments.

Boy, I knew those Sunday mornings at Hebrew School would do me some good some day!!

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

I want to wish all who celebrate Passover a HAPPY HOLIDAY. YOM TOV! It's a celebration of our freedom
-- for those who don't know. Caya, yes Hebrew school had its pluses. (I WENT 3 DAYS A WK FOR ABOUT 8 YRS!!!!!!!!)

The family gathers together at a special meal and conducts a Service, or Seder, including the children, of course. Usually the man of the house leads the Service, but we go around the table, taking turns reading parts. It's a team effort. We each follow along w/our own Prayer Book, or Hagadah.

I have the fondest of memories of Grandma Goldie and Papa Ike coming back to Long Island from Miami for the occasion every yr w/o fail. This is a most important Holiday! We all dressed up and had an elegant meal, w/all the symbols of the hardship our ancestors suffered as slaves in Egypt under Pharaoh. That guy was a nightmare. We eat bitter herbs and dip parsley in salt water (like tears). We eat Charosis (like the mortar of the bricks our enslaved relatives used to build the pyramids). God sent plagues of all kinds to punish the Egyptians, it is said. Frogs, lice, you name it... And there we are -- drinking wine! (The kids get grape juice).

We had to run for our lives, so only had time to make flat bread (matzoh). Moses led us. The army was in hot pursuit, at our backs, and the Red Sea was before us. Moses asked God for help, and as we all know, He parted the sea for us. But the army wasn't so lucky.

After wandering for 40 yrs in the desert (I think we were lost, but Moses wouldn't ask for directions -- lol) something awesome happened. Moses went up on the mountain and received the 10 Commandments for us to live by.

The Seder is full of our thanksgiving for our many blessings. We must never forget the Lessons of our bondage and all that occurred to make our lives richer. At the end of the Service, fun songs are sung. Then the kids go to find the special hidden matzoh (secretly stashed by the leader of the Service). Then, we all can get yummy desserts and the kids get $$$$ or gifts!
HAPPY PASSOVER!
http://cdn-cf.aol.com/se/clip_art/peeps-emt/love/clips/love1-clip3

Andi

[Soccermom]

"Zissin Pesach" from my family as well! Thanks Caya for posting this warm message, Great explanations,Caya and Andi. Another Hebrew schooler here, teehee

Hugs,Marcia

PS Having Seder at my best friends house. She recently recurred so we are especially grateful to be able to celebrate Passover together.

PS No chopped liver this year...sigh...we are lucky to be able to get anything Kosher for Passover here in Mississippi!

[MJo]

Happy Passover to everyone here who celebrates it. I don't, but I've always wanted to attend a seder. Not so much for the spiritual significance, but because I've heard the food is out of this world.

[Soccermom]

Hey MJo, Id invite you to Seder IF I was back in Atlantic City (my hometown) Nice hearing your voice at the online HERMOVE gathering today!)
Hugs,Marcia

[Mary Jo]

Thanks Caya for the beautiful wish. May your Passover celebration be a real blessing to you and yours.

Mary Jo

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Hey MJo, Hi! I thought all holidays are about the food. And the getting together with family and friends.

Chocolate covered matzoh (for dessert) is unbelievably good. And macaroons (chocolate w/coconut).

My dghtr has demolishened her kitchen, and I don't have the stamina to cook a 5 course meal. So we're going to the club for Passover. Want to come? Boca is lovely this time of year.

Andi

[Joan M]

Caya,

Have a wonderful holiday!

Joan

[eric]

You guys are too funny!!
Happy Passover to all. Eric.

[Bill]

Happy Passover to all who celebrate this Holiday!

[PinkGirl]

Okay you guys, the truth comes out. First it was unleavened
bread, bitter herbs and parsley dunked in salt water.

Now I find out that the flat bread is dipped in chocolate
and you have macaroons for dessert. This just keeps
getting better!!!

Is Passover just one day?

[caya]

Pink

There are 2 "seders", this year on Saturday and Sunday nights - these are the big dinners where we sit around a table and read the Haggadah - the book that tells the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt after years of slavery. And then we eat, and eat, and sing a bunch of songs - Dayanu!! ( which means Enough already, basically)

Passover (or Pesach, as it is called in Hebrew) is 8 days in total - and believe me, by about the 4th day I have had it foodwise.

Breads, pastas, rice, legumes are all forbidden to eat during Passover. However there is lots of chocolate, matzo brie - this is Passover French Toast - you dip the matzo sheets in warm water to soften, drain the water, mix with beaten eggs and milk, and fry it all up - top with jam or maple syrup - Yummy!!

I must also mention that matzo balls are served in many ways too - not just in chicken soup - they can be fried up with onions etc. And I won't even begin to tell you what a "Bubbelah" is...

lol
caya

[rinaina]

I too want to wish all who celebrate Passover, Chag Someach. This meaningful holiday is a way for all of us to get a chance to express ourselves and my family does this by everyone contributing to a constantly evolving Haggadah which tells the story of Passover. Every year each member of our family and guests adds something current to our Seder that ties into the idea of freedom which in turn adds even more meaning. Fighting breast cancer and becoming a survivor could be a form of freedom for example. We are liberated as slaves to this disease through treatment, positive mental attitudes, good doctors and care, and the support and love from family, friends and all our her2 sisters and brothers.
Cleaning the chometz, (any food with leaven products) from my house as we speak! By tomorrow at this time, my home will be kosher for Passover for eight days. Caya, I have plenty of prunes on hand! Enjoy the holidays.

[Soccermom]

Pink,I just decided I am going to jump on a plane and head to Andis' for Pesach(care to join me?)...the "Club" sounds great AND I happen to know they have excellent chopped liver in S Florida....sigh....I wish....

My daughters favorite thing is Haroses. Someday if we ever have a Her2 gathering I promise to make y'all some.
Marcia;-)

PS CAYA, are your Matzoh balls "floaters" or "sinkers",LOL???? My Dad used to say, if they didnt sink he they werent any good..

[Bill]

Hi Marcia! Happy Passover! I hope you and your family are well. What is/are "Haroses"? Bill

[caya]

Marcia - My knaidlach (matzo balls) are the perfect in-between - and my Dad called them bombs vs. sinkers - My trick is when I make them from one of the mixes, I add extra matzo meal.

Bill - ah , haroses - this a concoction of coarslely grated apples, chopped nuts (I use walnuts), red wine and cinammon - it symbolizes the mortar the Israelites used when they toiled to make the sphynx for the Egyptians. Everybody has their own secret method of making it. My Aunt Norma is the expert in our family and brings it every year in this glass leaf serving bowl.

Marcia - if you want to come up to Toronto, you and the family are more than welcome at our 2 seders - the first night we are at DH's family (14 people), the second night my family - (24)

I've got to get going - I have Herceptin # 16 tomorrow, and I promised my onc. and one of my chemo buddies that I would bring down some of my Passover choc. chip cookies, so I'm baking up about 4 batches today.

all the best
caya

[Soccermom]

TY Bill!
Hmmm, maybe I need to go to Cayas??? Caya, My Moms family (the ones that left Europe, the rest perished) originally emigrated to Toronto from Poland in 1913 (before moving on to Phila.Pa in the 20s). I know I have family there but have no idea where they might be...I saw them a few times as a child when they visited the Jersey shore.
Hag Sameach! We were such large family at on e time we would rent a hotel dining hall for Seder. There were 7 siblings and 52 cousins in the 1960ss.Ahhh the good old days.

Sigh....
Marcia

[PinkGirl]

Hey Marcia, that sounds like a good idea. Wouldn't Andi be surprised if we landed on her doorstep for Passover - you
looking for chopped liver and me on the hunt for macaroons
and matzoh with chocolate chips in it. The Club sounds good
too - no dishes to do after the big feast.

I would make the trip except that I'm on another one of
my diets ... egg whites and hershey kisses. Are egg
whites kosher?

I too am interested in learning what haroses and bubbelah are;
also the sinkers/floaters grabbed my attention.

[SoCalGal]

Hi Marcia-
We are having a gluten free/dairy free passover. Although I make the best brisket in town - this year we will have organic chicken. Healthier for all.

Seder is always at my sister's house - our Haggadot are ones my sister and mom "wrote". We never get through the whole thing without a lot of laughing. 4-5 Teenagers and and several glasses of Manachevitz - need I say more? No Matzah for us just some for the kids and my brother-in-law. Maybe some rice crackers for us with the Charosis. lol. My sister ordered Gluten free honey cake and I found excellent macaroons at Whole Foods (of course).

For Wine lovers this year Bellenda Prosecco (sparkling) is Kosher for Passover. I don't know what that means except that everyone at Wine House was going crazy and buying bottles. I grabbed one as well - hope my family will enjoy.

Okay - nice to be writing about something other than BC although I have plenty to say on that subject:)

Happy Passover.
Love
Flori

[caya]

Haroses - a mixture of coarsely grated apples, cinnamon, red wine and chopped nuts (I use walnuts).

Bubbelah - a Passover pancake, basically egg yolks beaten until thick, mixed with milk, salt and pepper, matzo meal (finely crushed matzo) and then folded into beaten egg white. Then dropped into a buttered pan and fried like a pancake on both sides. There is a real art to making these.

Sinkers vs. Floaters - Matzo balls (knaidlach) are normally made in 2 variations - sinkers - which are more dense and "sink" to the bottom of the soup bowl and -floaters - lighter, airer, fluffier and "float" on the top of the soup bowl. Pink - I have perfected an "in-between" matzo ball, so everyone is happy!!

So that in a nutshell should answer your Passover menu questions. Stay tuned, if you're good, we can tell you about Potato kugel and farfel stuffing...

all the best
caya

( I am exhausted, I baked 13 dozen Passover choc. chip cookies today)

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

A bubeleh (in Yiddish) is a term of endearment. It means darling, honey. All my Sisters and Brothers here are bubelehs to me..

Yet Caya has come up with another meaning I have never heard of!
FYI: My great grandparents emigrated from Russia (maternal and paternal). My mom's family came via England and to Atlanta, Georgia. My grandpa Phil sounded like a southern coronel. The whole family had this charming drawl, y'all that was like music.

My father's mom and dad each were one of eight children. They built an apartment house where their Borough Park (Brooklyn) house stood, for all their siblings to come stay (after escaping Europe)! So we too had lottttsssss of cousins, which was a blessing in so many ways. We even had a cousin's club that met annually in a park in Westchester each September. We picnicked and played baseball and laughed.

I was raised to always remember the importance of FAMILY. Of loving, and giving, sharing and *listening to my parents*.

Wishing all a warm and loving, HAPPY PASSOVER from my family to yours. Andi

[PinkGirl]

This is such an interesting and informative thread.
Being the "word" person that I am, I immediately
thought of Hermiracles calling her babies "bubbas".
And I have a Ukrainian friend who calls her grandma
Bubba. I wonder if all these "buba" words are connected
somehow.

Thanks for the info on Passover and your customs. I am
finding it all very interesting and educational.

[caya]

Pink,

Bubby is the Yiddish work for grandmother. My Bubby to Canada came from the Ukraine in the mid 1920s. So I would say all these bubbas are related indeed.

all the best
caya

[Jean]

To all who are celebrating Passover, thank you for sharing your beautiful Seder stories and the delicious foods. I especially love Rinaina’s analogy of her Seder stories and the breast cancer journey, how very special. One of my friends has taught me how to cook a great brisket (Seder Style) teehee

I wish all peace and a joyful Pesach.<O:p</O:p
Blessings,
Jean

[Leslie's sister]

Just wanted to wish all a Happy Passover as well. My very best friend is Jewish and introduced me to Seder. It is my favorite Jewish holiday and we celebrate it with her & her family every year. I love the food and hearing the Exodus story. She gets quite creative with the different plagues and has them all at each place setting. As well for us Christians, it ties in so nicely to Easter's Last Supper (most years it even coincides with Easter). Though we won't be able to celebrate this year because of a trip to Boston (yippee!) the book club that I'm in is reading Exodus by Leon Uris and we will have Seder dinner when we meet to talk about the book. I have already finished it and can say that though the fictional part was pretty bad, (Harlequin romance type bad), the historical parts were very informative and make the book well worth reading.

Lisa

[MJo]

I'm trying to lose my last 10 pounds on weight watchers. You guys are killing me. I used to haunt the Second Avenue Deli when I lived in NYC. Derma, noodle pudding, pastrami with cole slaw and russian dressing. Yonah Schimmels knishes!!! I'm dying here.

[PinkGirl]

I just watched Martha Stewart and Joan Rivers
make a Matso House. They joined all the pieces
and attached the decorations with melted chocolate.
Martha's turned out a bit nicer than Joan's!

They were really cute - kind of like gingerbread houses.
The decorations were apricots, candies, macaroons etc.

Martha did warn everyone that it can be difficult to cut
and trim the matso bread.

[Soccermom]

Evenin' ladies..
Just got back (via Amtrak train) from New Orleans. I had to go for a post op appointment with my wonderful breast surgeon. I stay at the Hope Lodge (free) which is an American Cancer Society facility and just wonderful. I rode the streetcars for a bit last night just to relax a bit and visited with the many cancer patients at the Lodge.
Anyway Jazz Fest which is one of the Souths largest and most famous music venues begins next week (I think it runs 7 days)...well becaise Passover coincides with it one of the synagogues in New Orleans is having a JAZZ PAASOVER! They have invited jazz musicians who in town for Jazz Fest to come and have Seder and sing the song portion of the Seder!!! THATS SO COOL...Dayenu sung by a Jazz singer!
Anyway the price os only $10 per person and open to the public if anyone happens to be in NOLA on Sunday...

Glad to see everyone is enjoying our Seder/food stories...sorry mJO for the temptation...buy some matzoh and spread some strawberry jam on it just to satisfy the craving!

Hugs MarPS In the South a "Bubba" is a local

[caya]

Enjoy your seders tonight and tomorrow night - keep the prunes handy.

all the best
caya