Rebecca's Matzo Balls

A hearty meal, perfect for Passover or a rainy spring day!

Springtime for Rebecca and her family meant they would soon be celebrating Passover, the holiday commemorating the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. This year, it begins on April 19 and ends on April 29, which means we're getting a bit of a head start on the holiday with this post. 

Although Passover involves a lot of food history, arguably the most famous food associated with it is matzo, or matzah or matza depending on the spelling, a large, cracker like baked good that symbolizes the unleavened bread the Jews ate when they fled from Egypt. 

During Passover, chametz or leavened foods are forbidden, so matzo is eaten in its stead. Growing up, many of my Jewish friends would complain about being forced to eat matzo over and over again during Passover because it was boring, while others thought it was cool that they were eating a food that had such a long history. Others looked forward to the season because it meant their parents or grandparents would be breaking out recipes like matzo ball soup, a comforting, hearty dish that turns the bread crumbs into thick dumplings. Read on to see how you can make your own tasty matzo balls.

Rebecca's Macaroons

A snack that's perfect for Passover, or just about any other occasion you can think of!

I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of all things coconut, and while I can't tell you when I tried my first coconut macaroon, I can promise you I was a very, very happy camper. They're not a cookie anyone in my family makes routinely (or at all...), and I've never seen someone make them before, so their origin and how to make them was always something of a mystery to me.

That all changed when I was watching Food Network's Holiday Baking Championship, when one of the challenges was centered around revamping traditional Hanukkah cookies. One of the cookies featured were coconut macaroons, and I was totally surprised! I had no idea macaroons were Jewish.

It turns out their history is a little more complicated than that, and it's one I decided I had to share with you guys this Passover. This year, Passover began on Friday at sundown, and is going to end the evening of April 30th, so even though I'm a little bit late, we're still safely in the window for the most important holiday in the Jewish faith.

But before we get into that, and find out why macaroons are a popular Passover dessert, I'm going to provide a quick aside about why Rebecca suddenly has a twin sister.

Rebecca's Charoset

A tasty, sweet fruit and nut spread that's perfect for Passover!

I've been sitting on this recipe for a long time. A year, actually! Last spring I just didn't do much at all for the blog. I wanted to, but I just couldn't work up the motivation for it, so a lot of ideas got tabled, and some of them got forgotten about entirely. This one, however, did not, because it definitely sounded intriguing, easy and tasty, which is a pretty winning combination and a great way to keep me thinking about it a year down the line.

This year, Passover begins at sundown today, April 3 and ends the evening of April 11. For those not in the know, Passover is a festival celebrating the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. Because they fled Egypt so quickly, the story goes that the Jews didn't even have time to wait for bread dough to rise, so eating unleavened bread - known as matzo or matzah - has become one of the best known culinary and cultural traditions associated with the holiday. While this recipe does involve matzo, it's not going to be what we're focusing on. Instead, we're going to be talking about charoset!