Passover

Tony Maws at Craigie on Main explains it goes back to his grandmother:

In Baba Hannah's kitchen I whipped egg whites for meringue frostings on her lemon sponge cake and helped shape the matzo balls for Passover Seder. I remember the taste of her split pea soup and the smell of her brisket. It was awesome and I still crave them. Nothing Baba Hannah cooked came out of left field. But she made it and it was good and it was a great excuse for our family to come together. It was the best time I had around food.

Jeremy Marin reports his front door is ready for Passover:

The yam's blood will be a sign on your houses, and I will pass over you.

At the Dedham Stop & Shop, Passover faces off against Valentine's Day.

Dana Reichman reports she was surprised to turn an aisle at the Stop & Shop on American Legion Highway in Roslindale this morning to see a decent supply of Passover goods. She reports the stuff wasn't flying off the shelves, but it was only 7 a.m.

No doubt they meant well, but somebody might want to tell the Chelsea Record that Jews don't celebrate Passover as the start of the Diaspora.

In fact, the start of the Diaspora is mourned with fasting and readings from the Book of Lamentations.

It's the day before Valentine's Day, so of course Stop & Shop in Dedham already has all its Easter and Passover stuff out.

Wicked Local Newton reports the state is refusing to give Newton a one-day extension on an upcoming MCAS exam even though it's the day after the first night of Passover. Newton could give the test in the afternoon so that Jewish students can recover from the exhaustion of finding the afikomen the night before, but the city says students don't do as well on tests after lunch.

Apparently, Fresh City thinks the same thing applies to their wraps. Jocular Schlemiel reports he was grateful the chain had a Passover menu - until he noticed it included shrimp and rice.

... I understand that it is more Kosher style than truly Kosher, and while I think that a Kosher for Passover menu is a great idea, it may have gone over better had there been some research done before drafting an actual menu. The only hint of Passover I really received was a piece of stale matzah. ...

Larry Davidson reports from the annual event, held at the First Parish Church:

... [T]his endeavor is deliberately an interfaith community-building activity, so it's best not to hold it in a Jewish facility even if one still existed in Dorchester. ...

Ever wonder what you'd do if you kept kosher for Passover, made yourself a lunch (since you can't eat at any of your normal haunts), then realized when you were on the Green Line that you'd forgotten your lunch at home? Martin Lieberman explains what he did when that happened today.

Over in Roslindale, Adam Rosi-Kessel kvetches that the Village Market, generally a pretty good supermarket, doesn't have a single Passover item:

... The lack of kosher for Passover products is particularly surprising in our community which has a fairly sizable Jewish presence. In fact, I would be surprised if there were a single large supermarket in all of Massachusetts that didn't at least have a few token items. ...

Carmen reports her aunt served white wine at the family seder last night, so her table cloth wouldn't get stained while reciting the Biblical plagues - which involves dipping one's finger into the wine for each plague:

... This didn't sit well with most of us, as white wine doesn't taste very good with brisket and red wine shows up better on the plate.

"You can't do the plagues with white wine," one of my uncles said. "It's supposed to look like blood. You can't even SEE these plagues." ...

Kosher Blog reports on new trends in Passover cheese (yes, of course there are new trends in Passover cheese!):

... I've often remarked that any holiday on which you can have steak and French fries every night isn't really such a hardship. A well-stocked cheese drawer is yet another reason to believe that Passover could actually be a lot of fun.

Margalit recounts what Passover shopping at the Butcherie in Brookline is like:

... Next we're onto the heart of the store, the meat section. Of course there is an old lady complaining about the available brisket. There is always an old lady complaining about something. The butcher has a heart of gold. He's always helpful even when you can tell he wants to stomp said old lady into the dust. I don't blame him. Today they only had very small corned beef briskets, but I got one because it's a kid favorite. And I got a brisket for Pesach, plus some shish-ka-bob pieces. ...

Lis Riba dishes:

The Malden Stop & Shop still has massive amounts of Kosher L'Pesach Coca Cola, which is made from cane sugar instead of corn syrup. ...

Lis: Monday night, I dreamed that I blogged the history of the Maxwell House haggadah and what a stroke of marketing genius that was.

In Jewish tradition, the youngest child is supposed to ask the Four Questions at Passover. But what if the child is too young to ask anything? Lis to the rescue with Four Questions baby bibs:

... When it's the baby's turn in the spotlight, somebody can just hold the kid up for everybody to read! ...