passover Menu
2023-2024
Scroll down to discover a Fun and Yummy craft for kids, grown-ups, and grown-up kids
Menu planning affords us so many opportunities to express our creativity, but in my opinion, this meal is not one of them. Like the Seder itself, many elements of the Seder menu are predictable, and there’s a certain comfort in watching the parade of dishes, dishes that we’ve been looking forward to all year, arrive at the table. Still, I do like to change it up a bit, just to keep everyone on their toes.
There’s always matzo ball soup and gefilte fish. We always have Marilyn’s brisket and any of dozen or so chicken dishes. There’s always at least one kugel and a couple of vegetable dishes. Last year, the vegetarian entrée got stellar reviews, so I’ll be making that again. I’m currently obsessed with my cauliflower kugel, so that will be making its Pesach debut. All in all, we’ll have …
A Fabulous Meal!
Passover 5784
Gefilte Fish
Prepared horseradish
beet tian with pistachio and dill
Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls / Vegetarian Soup with Matzo Balls
Marilyn’s Brisket
eggplant Bourguignon
crispy potato kugel
cauliflower kugel
honey and ginger carrots
Roasted Asparagus and brussels sprouts with glazed chestnuts
desserts
Pistachio Rosewater Cake
Chocolate Sponge Cake
Macaroons, Coconut and Almond
Matzo Toffee Crunch
Chocolate Frogs
see below
Assorted Traditional Holiday Sweets
chocolate frogs
A fun and yummy activity
Chocolate Frogs are fun and easy to make, and kids can help.
You’ll need—a frog candy mold, food-safe paint brushes, chocolate chips (dark or milk), white melting wafers, (not the famous brand that starts with W; they’re not fabulous…) (this brand makes K for P wafers), green oil-based food color.
(Caution: Ordinary food colors are water based, and if you try to mix them with chocolate, the chocolate will seize up.)
Melt your white chocolate wafers according to the package directions. Add a drop of green food color—a little goes a long way, so stir it in drop by drop until you achieve a color that you like.
Grab your paint brush, dip it into your green chocolate, and paint the interior of the molds so that the surface has a nice coating. Don’t worry about it being even, because that won’t show in the finished product.
Melt your milk or dark chocolate and, using a squeeze bottle, piping bag, or a spoon, fill the molds (but not quite all the way to the top of the mold) with the melted chocolate. For a professional look, don’t overfill the molds.
Tap the molds gently, but squarely, on the counter a few times. The chocolate will find its way into the edges, release any air bubbles, and even out the surface.
Pop them into the freezer for about 10 minutes, or until they’re completely hard.
Turn your molds upside down over a sheet of parchment or wax paper. Your frogs should pop right out.
Optional: Add eyes to your frogs. One way is to pipe a dot of icing or melted chocolate where the eyes should be. To achieve popped-out froggy eyes, pick up a dragée with tweezers, dip it lightly in icing or melted chocolate, and gently place it where the eyes should be.
Wrapped, these treats will last for weeks.