<p>seiclan, the Chabad is a frequent topic of discussion in our house. Somehow through private donations they are able to offer our kids a “home away from home” as you described. DS frequently attends a free Shabbos dinner at his school’s Chabad whereas there is always a charge at Hillel. His Chabad brings Sunday brunch to his frat each week and offers a weeknight course at his frat (for which the kids are paid a stipend to participate). THAT is where I draw the line. There is something distinctly nonkosher about offering the kids a financial incentive, IMO. But I just can’t figure out why the synagogues and Hillel struggle with channeling monies toward colleges when they charge membership dues whereas the Chabad seems to have ample to go around based on private donations. Someone more familiar with the behind-the-scenes, please enlighten me.</p>
<p>Just wanted to say that I wish I had found this thread earlier. We did our first seder this year, having spent the last 20 years going to cousins that no longer want to have a big crowd. I will have some good recipes to share next year, including a sweet matzoh kugel that my husband made!</p>
<p>chocolate chip cookies- I doubled this and everyone likes them!
3 eggs
1/2 c margarine ( I used butter)
1 rounded cup sugar
1 cup cake meal
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup potato starch
1 10-12 oz bag chocolate chips
3/4 cup toasted walnuts or pecans (I don’t use, we don’t eat nuts here)</p>
<p>beat together egss, margarine and sugar. combine dry ingredients, add to egg mixture. Add chocolate chips and nuts; mix well. drop by the spoonful on a greased (I used parchment paper) cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Cookies should be light golden brown (mine never got very brown, they just looked cooked!)
Remove from pan quickly and cool. Store in an airtight container. These freeze well. about 5 dozen</p>
<p>Always on the hunt for good new recipes:) I’m not Jewish, but I’m going to borrow these recipes if you dont mind!!</p>
<p>enjoy them, papagena! I am off to make passover popover-type rolls (recipe is somewhere in this thread from last year or so)</p>
<p>Went to our annual “leftovers” Seder last night. A bunch of couples get together and bring whatever is “left over” from their Seders. That way, your own family doesn’t have to eat your own leftovers! Much less grumpiness! :D</p>
<p>^^ Thats a cute idea, momof3sons. I went to a “belated” seder last night for people who couldnt pull it off during the work week. There were 18 of us there-- many were not jewish. It was enjoyable to explain what was going on. </p>
<p>The host insisted on doing virtually all of the cooking herself, though she did use many recipes from friends and family.She made a really good passover kugel. Turns out it was MY recipe that I’d given to our mutual friend, who gave to to the host 3 years ago!! LOL!! (the recipe is somewhere in this thread too)</p>
<p>I figured it was almost past time to bump up this thread for Passover 2010 -hopefully it’s not too late for those of you still finalizing plans and finishing shopping. Between DH’s kidney stone followed by our shortened snow bird trip to Florida followed by DS home for spring break, we hardly thought about Pesach until the last few days. We went straight from dropping him at the airport last Sunday to Passover shopping. Our favorite store, while still having their full variety of foods (like 8 brands of kosher ketchup), greatly expanded their candy/sweets aisle. They’re already well known for their wine selection so you could really come up with an interesting seder menu!</p>
<p>Any new and exciting ideas out there?</p>
<p>This thread has almost become one of my holiday traditions but I still miss having DS at the seder table! Now if only someone else would clean the kitchen…:p</p>
<p>I walked by the Passover section of my market and somehow 10 Elite Bittersweet Chocolate Bars for $10 jumped into my cart.</p>
<p>I’m not yet even looking at he Passover aisle. Can someone say denial!!!</p>
<p>Sure. De Nile is the river in Egypt. Yada, yada, ching.</p>
<p>Marilyn, thanks for reviving this thread. Now I’m looking through my Nina Rousso, The Passover Gourmet, and will post in a moment. </p>
<p>I’ve been looking for midweek Pesach brunch recipes, as I’m having 4 young adults camp in all week! Yay! S-2 and a college friend; D and her fiance; my big brother…some hearty eaters there. Let my people come and stay! Past years have been too empty-nested. I’m happy now. </p>
<p>For seder, I have to be more forthcoming for bringing all these people to my brother-in-law’s table. So I’ll be interested in any Seder Meal recipes people bring forward, too. His cousins have the brisket and gefilte fish covered; I need something new to offer, I guess…</p>
<p>I hope it’s okay to post things we haven’t tried ourselves. These sound good from Nina Rousso The Passover Gourmet, as ways to enhance any chicken (or vegetable) soup:</p>
<p>Potato Egg-Drop Soup (serves 6; will thicken the soup)</p>
<p>(6 cups of your soup, e.g. chicken soup…)
l small potato, cooked
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. potato starch
3 tbsp. chopped parsley for garnish</p>
<p>Heat soup to boiling. In food processor w/ steel blade, process: potato, eggs, salt, and the potato starch.</p>
<p>When soup is near boiling, drop mixture in by teaspoonfuls. Drops are ready when they float to surface. Garnish w/ parsley and serve.</p>
<p>Chicken Dumplings (rich, tiny dumplings for soup; from Italy)</p>
<p>Yield: 20 dumplings</p>
<p>Breast of 1 chicken, skinned & boned
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup matzah meal
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of NUTMEG 
(chicken soup already made)</p>
<p>Grind the chicken (my note: or buy ground chicken if that suits you). Mix with: egg, matzah meal, salt, nutmeg. Refrigerate at least 20 min.
Bring soup to boil. Form tiny balls and drop into soup. Cover and cook for 20 min.</p>
<p>Those sound great p3t. I’ll have to save them for next year. This year we are joining my in-laws in their rental house in Phoenix - MIL has “ordered” the entire seder from a local deli. I have no idea what to expect, but I will be taking along a huge box of chocolate toffee matzah just in case! (I’m assuming everyone has a version of that recipe already or it is somewhere in this thread. Let me know if not and I am happy to post.)</p>
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<p>Don’tcha just hate when that happens? Actually, I depend on those bars for the only dish of the week that my family enjoys-- a bittersweet torte for the seder. Haven’t planned much so far, other than that my entree will be glazed corned beef as usual.</p>
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<p>We did that one year; house under renovation, me pregnant. It was a true taste of freedom! Props to your MIL</p>
<p>I do make a yummy gefilte fish from red snapper but I can’t figure out whether I’ve posted it here. Lime horseradish sauce. It’s from Cooking Light, so not my own, but very good.</p>
<p>HI Bethie, bringing down your post #122 from above:</p>
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<p>As I recall everyone raved about it last year :)</p>
<p>I have never made gifilte fish from scratch…but the red snapper one sounds like a winner. Two questions for those who’ve made it:
- Does your house smell much when you make it?<br>
- What do you use for fish stock?</p>
<p>This is an old favorite recipe I originally found hanging from the neck of a Planters Peanut Oil bottle. Instead of just stuffing the bird, I also loosen the skin and put some of the stuffing under the skin; it really makes the bird expand! </p>
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<p>Does anyone have a good chicken recipe you’d recommend for the Seder? My family is really restricted for health reasons on what they can eat, so no brisket for us. I wanted to make something a little different than the typical chicken dish, but can’t find anything intriguing. I’m thinking about some sort of glazed chicken recipe perhaps (with balsamic vinegar and apricot or raspberry preserves). Any ideas?</p>