Wednesday's Wanderings #16 -Passover

We celebrate the start of Passover with a sedar.  The sedar is really the retelling of the story of the exodus of the Jews from slavery in Egypt.  It is really a story about freedom.  It is a combination of thanksgiving and reminder. We use a book called a Haggadah to retell it every year so that future generations do not forget. 

Passover lasts 8 days.  As with most holidays that many people celebrate, it is centered around food.  We are not allowed to eat leavened products like bread, since the Jews had to rush out of Egypt and their bread did not have a chance to rise. There are some other restrictions too, including most grains. It becomes quite complicated with differing points of view.  Suffice it to say, it becomes a challenge to come up with meals that don't include American staples such as bread and pasta.  So we eat matzah.

 

But my childhood memories of Passover are happy ones.  My mother was very concerned with my weight.  I was a bit of a chubby kid.  I wasn't allowed to have cake or other goodies. Every once in a while, I was allowed to have 3 cookies.  Passover was an exception.  We had special kosher for Passover cakes.  They were boxed mixes.  My mom made a lot of them.  And there were certain Passover candies.  I was in heaven.

I wanted to use matzah fabric for my WW block.  Yes, believe it or not, there is matzah fabric.  It is used to make all sorts of items to celebrate this holiday, including potholders and tablecloths and aprons and ties.  The list goes on and on.  When I went to the best website to buy Judaic fabric:

1-800-Dreidel, I found they were sold out.  Sold Out????

I did the next best thing. I made my own matzah fabric. First I took a photo of a sheet of matzah, uploaded it to my computer and then printed it on fabric!  Now I had my fabric. 

And I also included the recipe as a reminder for years to come.

So my WW block this week is based on a journey back in time. A view of Passover goodies. A tradition that I started a few years ago. It is one of the few things I don't make from a boxed mix: Chocolate Toffee Matzah Candy and my block is a tribute to this goodie: