Matzo for Mother's Day?

My pal MarocMama kidded me that I should do a post entitled "Matzo in May" after I bemoaned having so much matzo (and matzo meal) left over after Passover. Instead I am writing about the Streit’s matzo company this month and this post has nothing to do with my leftover matzos, Passover, or even Jewish cooking. 

I’ve never been a brand loyalist when it comes to matzo and other Passover foods. I don’t keep kosher, so I don’t look at the religious certifications displayed by Streit’s and other companies producing kosher foods. Up until this year, I’ve bought matzo to eat and for matzo pudding, matzo meal for my Passover rolls, and other products such as matzo farfel (small broken up pieces of matzo that I use for pseudo-granola during Passover) from whichever company’s products I found at my local grocery. 

But this year, after a rather random call to the Streit’s consumer number for help with a question, I made a special effort to reward that company with my business. I blogged about my experience with Streit’s and Rabbi Kirchner, but after Passover, I thought little about Streit’s or matzo, despite the 2 leftover boxes in my cupboard. Until last week. 

Then I saw this:

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What to Expect at Your First Seder?

We've always invited a guest to our Passover Seder from outside of our family and close friends.  (It’s an Eastern European Jewish tradition.)  In recent years, we’ve moved from inviting a Jewish guest without family nearby, who presumably would celebrate with his or her own family if they could, to inviting a guest who has never attended a Seder before.  

Hosting a non-Jew at our Seder is easy for me.  I encourage that guest to relax, enjoy the company and the festivities, and to eat, just as I would do for any other guest.  

But is my first-time Seder guest as comfortable as I am?  What's going to happen at the Seder?  What's it like to be a Seder guest?

For me, being Jewish is not so much about the answers as it is about the questions.  I wondered what questions a non-Jew would have about Passover and the Seder, and who better to ask about such questions than someone who has never participated in a Seder? 

When I talked about this with my friend Yvonne, of My Halal Kitchen, it turned out that she has never been to a Seder and is curious about the holiday.  Unfortunately she can’t come to my Seder this year (I’m in Washington DC and she is in Chicago), but she had wonderful questions.  I hope that Yvonne and I will celebrate a Passover Seder together next year – in DC or in Chicago (where my daughter Eleanor also lives.)  In the meantime, our conversation about Passover and Seders sparked this dialogue.  

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Matzoh Ball Soup

Our Passover Seder may have ended, but we have the leftovers, wonderful memories, and a lesson or two for further reflection.  The food inventory is getting simpler - homemade macaroons and flourless chocolate cake are almost gone, as is the matzoh pudding; small containers of 3 kinds of charoset remain, as well as a few matzoh balls in soup.  It’s that last item that generated the food lesson I’m calling “Never Too Old to Learn.”

There are times when tradition is good and times when it has to fall by the wayside.  In prior years, of my friend and Seder co-host, Jamie  always made the chicken soup and matzoh balls.  But this year, the soup course was my responsibility. 

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