NBR anyone else celebrating Passover?

brooklyngirl46

I love Passover, and I try to keep it the traditional way. I'm already stressing about getting everything done in time. We go grocery shopping little by little, which makes it less stressful. But I already feel like it's not going to get done. DH's family does seders, but they don't keep traditionally kosher for the holiday. So this isn't something he is used to. We are splitting up seders, one at his family and one at mine. 

To add to it, b/c I am an overachiever, we are planning to renovate our bathroom before LO comes. Since we also have to do LO's room, we are doing the bathroom the week before the holiday. This gives us much more time to focus on the bedroom. My gameplan is to kasher (make utensils and cooking things ritually clean for Passover) at my parents house when I stay over during the reno. I can also cook down there to bring items to seders (am making chocolate covered strawberries, and possibly a matzoh apple raisin pudding). I'm trying to reconcile that being pregnant means I'm probably not going to get things done as well as I would were I more full of energy. It's hard though, when I grew up in a household that is fully strict. 

How about you? What are your plans? Any recipes or tips on cleaning/staying calm/getting through this topsy-turvy holiday?

chickpea912

Kosher, Passover keeper here.  We haven't figured out who is hosting the s'darim this year, although I wouldn't be surprised if I end up with one or both.  We kasher our home, we swap out everything, etc.  

Just figure out a game plan that works for you.  Honestly, the chag just isn't top of my mind right now, so I don't have any words of wisdom, but I have my lists from last year, I know what I bought last year and didn't open, so I'm not anticipating tons of work on that end.  

steprozz

I am totally impressed with y'all that go all out for Passover! we have never done much beyond a Seder the first and second night but this year with me being so pregnant and DS being a wild 17 month old, we decided to only go to one Seder this year and since my mom is doing the second night in guess we are just skipping the first night.

she will be out of town the whole weekend before so I am doing ALL of the cooking for her. I actually made all my briskets this weekend and then I cut and freeze them and they taste just as delicious when reheated. I'm getting the chicken from a local restaurant and I have asked as many family members as possible to bring stuff. just figure out if there's anything you can do in advance or work on slowly and just do what you can. don't stress about it, it will get done! good luck

brooklyngirl46

Cooking brisket is super impressive! I've only ever made it with my mom alongside.

I made a bit of a meal plan, and I feel slightly better. We are going to go the store bought route for lunches (tubs of tuna etc), and we will stick to our typical weeknight menu as much as we can. Breakfast for dinner, steak, chicken, and hopefully leftovers from seders.

good luck all!

flerlgirl

I am a Gentile crashing the party but a few weeks ago at my church a speaker broke down what the Passover table meant, from the food to the decorations to the seating arrangements. I had no idea it was so in-depth! Hearing about the tradition was really neat. I hope all of you ladies have a good Passover this year! 

chickpea912

flerlgirl said:

I am a Gentile crashing the party but a few weeks ago at my church a speaker broke down what the Passover table meant, from the food to the decorations to the seating arrangements. I had no idea it was so in-depth! Hearing about the tradition was really neat. I hope all of you ladies have a good Passover this year! 

@flerlgirl - we Jews are ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL about the symbolism.  All the time.  Even down to why we have two loaves of challah (if we're doing it up "right") every Friday evening for Shabbat, or why we light two candles... or any of it.  It's all about the hidden meaning (maybe that's why I'm so weird and constantly looking at the subliminal messaging behind everything)

ETA: Also - what did they say about decorations???  Maybe I'm thinking about this differently, but I'm no Martha Stewart, there aren't any decorations at my seder table.  I feel like I'm missing an opportunity here

JelloBean1

We usually go to my DH's parents house for seder which makes life easy. I'll probably bring a side dish and/or dessert. I like to make matzoh brittle, yum. We don't go all out with cleaning the house/keeping kosher, etc., but I try my best to not eat bread.

flerlgirl

chickpea912 said:

flerlgirl said:

I am a Gentile crashing the party but a few weeks ago at my church a speaker broke down what the Passover table meant, from the food to the decorations to the seating arrangements. I had no idea it was so in-depth! Hearing about the tradition was really neat. I hope all of you ladies have a good Passover this year! 

@flerlgirl - we Jews are ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL about the symbolism.  All the time.  Even down to why we have two loaves of challah (if we're doing it up "right") every Friday evening for Shabbat, or why we light two candles... or any of it.  It's all about the hidden meaning (maybe that's why I'm so weird and constantly looking at the subliminal messaging behind everything)

ETA: Also - what did they say about decorations???  Maybe I'm thinking about this differently, but I'm no Martha Stewart, there aren't any decorations at my seder table.  I feel like I'm missing an opportunity here

@chickpea912 - "decorations" is my word - probably not accurate! I just meant how the table is arranged and how specific it is in regards to what goes where!

LilyGracesMommy

Well all of you are making me feel like a bad jew.... hah. We're doing the second night seder at my parents with DHs family invited ( newer tradition) since his family is catholic. When not pregnant this includes a traditional seder with all 4 glasses of wine . Since my parents host I usually bring some kosher for passover wine and my mom does all the cooking. I will not be switching dishes or keeping passover for the full 2 weeks ( or w/e it is, I used to have to growing up and my parents do, as well as switch all the dishes) But will lay off the carbs for the first 2 days. We're trying to raise our kids both , I've dubbed them "cashews" (catholic jews). Honestly I'm more about the lesson/morals/symbolism; I think if my kids can understand the meaning and know the story of passover, then I'm a happy camper.

brooklyngirl46

Regarding decoration, I've seen families buy frog toys and other little things for the table. Little kids can help make placecards too. I think what makes the holiday meaningful is sharing it, being with family etc. I used to be hard core, would freak out if i couldn't scrub the microwave well enough, covered surfaces. And i hated it. What made the holiday was being together, telling the story, and having soup. Its all about the soup.

steprozz

@LilyGracesMommy‌ I know what you mean about the symbolism and morals... that's how I do religion and I would like my kids to understand things that way. my husband is Southern Baptist and he and his family are all about Jesus which is totally fine but sometimes I feel like he forgets my side too. and while we are raising our kids more predominantly Christian I would like my kids to be able to understand what is going on when we go to my family's holidays. it totally blew DHs mind when I told him the last supper was a Passover Seder hahaha

theamandapanda

Grateful my type A sister hosts every year. I can't wait to eat! Hope everyone's Seders are lovely.

FeliciaTwo

@brooklyngirl46‌ : I love the toy frog idea! I'm so excited to do the kid stuff at future holidays. . .

We do 1st and 2nd night Seders; first night with dh's family who live in the area and second night at our synagogue. We also don't eat chametz, although we don't do the cleaning and selling stuff so none of this really is time consuming.

I did the Seder last year for everyone in the area; I'm hoping to be off the hook for hosting this year!