<p>I think you should do what you feel most comfortable doing. We do a traditional seder although it sometimes falls apart a bit after the “festive meal” and we do more skipping at that point. We are not normally kosher but we are Passover observant. For the seders, we use only Shmura Matzah, not something I was at all familiar with until I met DH as he came from an Orthodox family. For my family, it was more like “the festive meal” part. My girls do keep Passover and they are usually the minority of their friends doing so, regardless of the kind of homes they grew up in, plus we have lots of non-Jewish friends and boyfriends that participate, many vegetarians and one vegan so it is a a challenge.</p>
<p>Ours will be relatively small this year. Anyone have a good crockpot brisket recipe to share?</p>
<p>I’ll still make the passover pop ups and the apricot kugel that are posted somewhere back in this thread. And will make soup. Any tips?</p>
<p>I thought everyone used the free Maxwell House haggadah’s that were given out for free at the grocery store. LOL.
My husband and daughter have been in the process of writing our own family haggadah. We like certain parts of the haggadah we have, omit some parts and add in others. The one they are writing is full of the parts we like best. Last year we did a trial run with it and they look notes on fine-tuning it. This year we’ll use version 2.0. If it’s a go, we’ll have several copies printed up and bound. </p>
<p>We always make Matzoh bark (matzoh covered in a butter/sugar mixture and then covered in chocolate). It’s everyone’s favorite dessert. Tomorrow I’m going to Costco to stock up on the large bag of chocolate chips and extra butter. </p>
<p>My tip on soup is to use stewing chickens or capons. I use a recipe from my 40 year old “New Cook’s Cookbook”. It’s pretty basic; chickens, carrots, celery, parsnips, onions, and a bouquet garni with celery tops, parsley, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. Also a dash of ginger.</p>
<p>Thought some of you might be able to relate to this article. I certainly did (just about every paragraph!) </p>
<p>One of my favorites: “Surely it is a touch of Jewish irony that the holiday, which celebrates the escape of my people from Pharaoh’s Egypt, requires two weeks of personal enslavement to domestic chores I skillfully avoid the rest of the year.”</p>
<p><a href=“Preparing for holidays: the matzo ball open | Herald Community Newspapers | www.liherald.com”>Preparing for holidays: the matzo ball open | Herald Community Newspapers | www.liherald.com;
<p>That article is hilarious. Had to share it with my daughter. Thanks for posting!</p>
<p>The asparagus recipe looks delish. I’m afraid if I make the apricot kugel, I will be the only one who eats it. Spinach casserole is on for next weekend – will need to see if I can find lower-fat/sodium cheese.</p>
<p>I use Wegman’s veggie stock for my matzah ball soup – very low sodium!</p>
<p>I began doing Seders the first year my husband and I met (over 30 years!) and I finally converted 8 years later. can’t imagine not doing a Seder at home. We usually spend one night with a good friend who comes from a sephardic background. They have many different traditions and the food is delicious but different (no matzah balls!). While I don’t have the warm childhood memories of Seders I love the feeling of being connected to Jews around the world. I always picture a wave of candlelighting and wine cups being filled traveling around the planet. With both of our sons away now the second night is much simpler but it wouldn’t feel right not to do it.</p>
<p>I make the apricot kugel (which comes out like a souffle) with fat free sour cream and fat free cottage cheese. Its divine!</p>
<p>@jym626- I found your repost of the recipe for the apricot kugel. What are passover pop ups? Can you repost that recipe too. Thanks!</p>
<p>Well, I’ve decided to go ahead with our mini-seder to make everyone else happy, though I still have little enthusiasm for it myself. In any case, here’s a recipe for a non-dairy citrus sorbet that doesn’t require an ice cream machine. I serve it in individual stemmed glass dishes with some raspberries thrown on top. Everyone appreciates having a dessert option that’s light and fruity, and it looks pretty.</p>
<p>Boil 1-1/2 c. sugar with 1 c. water for 5 minutes, forming a light syrup. Allow to cool. Beat three egg whites until stiff, then beat in syrup gradually at low speed. Continue to beat while adding 2 c. orange juice (I think pineapple juice would work well, too) and 3 tsp. lemon juice. Pour mixture into bowl and freeze until firm, but not frozen. Beat it again lightly and re-freeze in serving dish or parfait glasses.</p>
<p>If the raw egg whites make you uncomfortable, I’m sure the pasteurized kind that comes in a carton would work fine.</p>
<p>jym, the non-fat is precisely why certain members of my family won’t eat it. 
And an entire apricot kugel could only mean bad things for me…</p>
<p>Taking back part of what I posted above–apparently the packaged egg whites won’t whip because of the pasteurization process. </p>
<p>LOL, CD. But I am telling you, that stuff is wicked good!</p>
<p>Not much time left to get ready… DS and I did travel east for the funeral this week; got back last night. All foodstuffs are now bought, HB eggs done, soup finishing up, last cleaning tasks listed out. The only issue might be my ankle, which gets very stiff when used too much, which I have been doing while away and traveling. So I have to keep stopping and putting it up. DH is still back east and may or may not be home for the second seder; he has a place to go both nights but that family just lost a young relative so it will be very somber. And this on top of just losing his mother. </p>
<p>On a positive note, DS finally is getting a real job. (This is the boomerang kid who’s been back home with us since last August.) A really decent offer in his field - he got the first call about it while we were driving into Boston Logan yesterday, and they want him to start Wednesday. I think he would have liked a bit more segue into returning to work full time, but no one here is complaining. My delight and relief are boundless.</p>
<p>Definitely a different Passover this year but I will try to make it as traditional and pleasant as possible for my family.</p>
<p>Marilyn- so sorry to read about your MIL. But yippee on the job for your S front.
Brisket made yesterday, ready to be sliced and reheated. Macaroons baked.
My Passover vent- went to find a Passover card in our small city. $4.00 to over $5 bucks for a greeting card! Ridiculous.</p>
<p>For anyone cooking tomorrow…we made a terrific brisket. 12 oz of coke (not diet), a bottle of Heinz chili sauce 12 oz, and a packet of onion soup mix. Mix those together and pour over brisket. Cover and roast in a 250 oven, 40 minutes per pound. For the last hour, uncover and turn hear up to 325.</p>
<p>Easy and delicious.</p>
<p>thumper, your recipe is very similar to mine (ginger ale, ketchup and onion soup mix). I’m always asked for the recipe.</p>
<p>Hope everyone had a lovely seder last night! All our food was wonderful but we used a new Haggadah - The Concise Family Seder (aka Passover For Dummies) and we still managed to screw it up. We would have failed miserably trying to flee Egypt. </p>