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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How Long Can You Keep Matzo Meal?

If this isn’t a burning issue for you, then either you never buy too much food or you don’t care about matzo meal.  In either case, keep reading because this isn’t just about my food-hoarding tendencies, matzo meal, or Passover.

I buy lots of matzo meal every Passover to make literally hundreds of Passover rolls.  We eat them at the Seder and I like to send anyone at the Seder who wants them, home with an extra bag.  Matzo rolls help minimize the need to consume plain matzo.  If you’ve ever eaten matzo (not chocolate-covered of course), you know what I’m talking about when I say that 7 or 8 days of eating it feels like a life sentence around day 3. 

Anyway, I have had 3 boxes of Streit's matzo meal in my pantry during this year, just waiting for the next round of Passover rolls.  But as I considered opening them, I noticed that I couldn’t read the date on the top of the box.  Eventually I held one box at a certain angle in the sunlight and decided that it said 01 27 2013. 

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