passover dinner eats!

do you guys celebrate passover and easter?

although i'm a baptist, i got the pleasure of participating in my very first passover seder (educate thyself). i'll try to explain the experience correctly, but please let me know if i'm not accurate!

my friend hunter's dad is a converted jew, and invited a few of us over to celebrate his heritage. we read the traditional passover Haggadah, which is basically the passover story from the book of Exodus.

clearly we're super-traditional/reserved about this meal.

i'm on the end with two friends, new to me (me, sarah, andrew)

the group, some serious, some... not so serious :)

i had never heard of the seder plate before, but what an experience. we read the story of the israelites and the suffering they endured, and how it symbolized the story and suffering of christ.

each part of the story had a symbolic food we added to our plates: bitter herb, drops of wine, charoset (apple salad), lamb bone, parsley, and an egg.

sidebar: charoset is heavenly!

hunter's mom is an AMAZING decorator, and went all out for our meal.

it was gorgeous!

worth noting: the dessert table!

i brought the strawberry lemon curd trifle... so good. (recipe below!)

two new beautiful faces.

i tried to wear an easter color... and how cute is their wallpaper?

our "real dinner" was delicious, as well, but decidedly more modern:

grilled chicken

green beans and tomatoes

strawberry almond salad

sweet potatoes and baked apples

spoon rolls

and for heritage: jewish noodle kugel

the dessert menu:

chocolate eclair truffles

cannoli cake

jelly beans

my trifle

and chocolate covered matzos!

my plate - apples and sweet potatoes, strawberry salad, and green beans and tomatoes.

my seder plate.

the group:

nathan, andrew,

me, elisha, sarah, hunter, heather, and (another!) andrew

what better parting gift than a chocolate bunny!?!?!

strawberry lemon curd trifle:

y'all, i wish this sounded more impressive, but it was TOO easy!

remember that cake i botched royally the other day?

i saved the parts that baked all the way through in the freezer in a ziploc, figuring i could use them for strawberry shortcake sometime this summer. as it turns out, they were perfect in this recipe! score.

disclaimer: this recipe is neither nutritious or a clean eat. don't justify it, just enjoy it :)

recipe:

1 storebought/homemade/failed pound cake (mine was smitten kitchen's)

1 jar lemon curd (they sell this at my kroger in the international section)

2 pints strawberries + 1/2 c sugar

1 box instant pudding (i used classic vanilla because i already had it, but lemon, cheesecake, or vanilla bean would probably be amazing)

directions:

1. wash and slice up your strawberries in a bowl and mix with your sugar. let rest in the fridge until strawberries release juice (maybe an hour? i went shopping and came back to them when i got home!)

2. cube up pound cake into dice-sized chunks and reserve.

3. prepare your pudding mix as directed. RIGHT after so it hasn't set up yet, whisk in your lemon curd to combine.

4. layer it up! i layered enough pound cake to cover the bottom of the bowl, then added a third of the strawberries, then the pudding/curd mixture to cover. repeat two more times, ending with strawberries on top for show :)

serves eight college kids previously stuffed with passover dinner.

and randomly:

breakfast.

the best green smoothie i've ever made:

1 frozen banana, vanilla extract, green tea, ginger, hemp protein powder, 2 small carrots, packet stevia, frozen spinach, and xanthan gum.

and you guys? if you're jewish, is this tradition? if not, do you participate?

i really enjoyed my experience tonight. it was so nice to be able to participate in a part of culture i hadn't been exposed to yet, and to honor how my religion came into being (jesus was a jew).

and the eats were off the hook!

- r