March 2012

Celebrating Passover in a Christian community

Encouraging questions and open communication

 

 

We live in a neighborhood with a very active Christian community. This means that every Easter, we are surrounded by community egg hunts and lots of Easter excitement. Now that our children are older, they no longer mind missing the trappings of Easter, but they are very sensitive to being perceived as different. As we prepare for our Passover Seder and study the meaning of our rituals, our kids naturally ask lots of tough questions about Easter. 

Fantastic Recipe for Bailik

This recipe is an easy and delicious way to make chicken with a Jewish kick. Bailik (pronounced buy-lick) is chicken breast battered and breaded with matzo coating which is seasoned with Hungarian paprika for an unforgettable flavor. This recipe requires 20 minutes of prep time, 20 minutes of cook time and is ready in 40 minutes and yields 4 servings. The nutritional information includes 468 calories per serving with 12.9 grams of total fat and 54.7 grams of total carbohydrates.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of Hungarian paprika

2 tablespoons of yellow mustard

1 cup of oil

2 cups of matzo meal

3 eggs

4 skinless chicken breasts pounded to ½ inch thickness

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Classic Challah Stuffing

Due to the thick nature of challah bread, the stuffing created in this recipe is incredible. Challah stuffing is perfect for you favorite stuffed turkey or chicken dishes. Make sure to judge the amount of stuffing by the weight of the bird. This recipe yields 6 servings and incurs 20 minutes of prep time and 1 hour of cook time for a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

·         1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

·         1 pound loaf of sliced challah bread

·         1 chopped onion

·         2 chopped carrots

·         2 chopped stalks of celery

·         3 eggs

·         Salt and pepper

Directions:

Keeping Kosher

Tough Choices for a Busy Family

 

Our family keeps conservative kosher. This means we eat in restaurants and at non-kosher friend's houses but we keep kosher rules in mind with each food choice. I find that bringing G-d into mundane tasks, like eating, reminds me to think outside of myself.  Even when I choose to eat a non-kosher meal, I pause to think and that keeps G-d in the equation despite my choice to "break the rules." 

 

As our children have gotten older, these choices have gotten harder.