Celebrating Passover

Every year I host a Passover Seder for a group of friends of mine that have become my San Francisco family. They join me to celebrate the Jewish traditions and get a chance to eat really good Jew food that you can’t easily get in San Francisco. This year I’m hosting second night — Sunday night — and already the planning has begun.

My menu is basically the same from year to year (there are a few dishes that get swapped in and out) — it’s how I get people coming back — to get a chance to eat homemade Jew food like their grandmother’s and mother’s used to make while they’re living many miles away from where they grew up. That’s what the holiday is about to me — sharing good Jew food with my peeps — and the telling of the story of Exodus through the good Jew food. Isn’t it?

In case you’re wondering, my menu includes teh following (recipes to come in future posts):

chopped liver as an appetizer

Gefilte Fish as the first course — if you look for gefilte in the ocean or the Bay, note that you will not find it — as it;s basically a Jewish fish cake

Matzah ball soup

Chicken dish — I think I’m going with my mom’s lemon wine mushroom sauce

Potato dish — I think I’m going with my mom’s mashed potato pie

A veggie dish — that has yet to be decided but leaning towards my sister’s zuchini pancakes

For the individual seder plates, I’ll make…

Stuffed egg

Charoseth — an apple, date, walnut, wine mixture that represents the bricks and mortar needed to build a new village for the Jews. (If you need to know the full story of Passover, I highly recommend seeing the famous Charleton Heston Film, The Ten Commandments.)

This menu incorporates two of my favorite Jewish foods — chopped liver and gefilte fish — what is your favorite jewish food?