Morgan Makes Passover

Life long learning is important, but nobody thinks they have time to take up a new hobby.  Now that I am a bit more acclimated and settled in (although I still haven't hung photos on our walls... but it will happen one day I keep telling myself) I have started to branch out to new friends and new things.   I have joined a really cool club with a really cool concept.  It's called the "Learn Something Mystery Club".

This is how the club works: one person hosts whenever they want, and they share a "mystery" topic of surprise with everyone that comes.  No one knows ahead of time what they are getting involved in. The topics are totally random, it can be an easy craft, visiting a local monument, some chemistry, history, a dance, a new recipe, anything.   So I wanted to share a slice of my heritage,  so in the spirit of the Jewish Passover coming, I decided to host my very first Passover.

Once the guests arrived I explained to them about how Jewish families prepare for Passover and we jumped right into a 30/40 minute Passover Sedar.  It was so awesome! I loved every minute of it; it really made me feel like I was close to my family, even though they are so far away.  I explained the different rituals of the Passover, we read from the Haggadah (my aunt sent me just the right amount for the group), and I described the symbolism behind the Matza and items on the Sedar plate.

 The table was all set and ready to go!  We have the apple charoset and everything!

 Some light Jewish literature for the guests to read over

It's very rare to find any sort of Jewish Holiday food when you're in Germany.  In fact, it is almost extinct, unless you are shopping at the Commissary on post, which has a tiny selection.  I am so grateful for my family members (shout out to my mom, my aunt and better than Betty Crocker Jeanie!) and Amazon Prime who really helped make the Passover a success.  It took about two days to prepare the Passover meal.

For starters we had Gefilte Fish, made by the famous Manischewitz.

Then some Matzo Ball soup...the key is to not touch the balls a lot while they are doughy and my mom says to add a little seltzer water!

I ordered a brisket cut from the grocery store about a week ahead and marinaded it for 24 hours.  After 8 hours of cooking, overnight cooling and cutting, it was warmed and delicious to eat!

I served the brisket with a caramelized leek vegetable kugel

For dessert I made chocolate covered matzo, coconut macaroons, and the traditional jelly candies

It was so good and so fun! I am glad I had the opportunity to host such a great event.  

Thanks to everyone who helped and made it a success.  As they say, next year in Jerusalem!