Honey Almond Macaroons

IMG_1218

Happy Passover! JudaismĀ is full of holidays and traditions, and for Passover, the tradition of avoiding leavened foods for 7 days (or 8, depending who you ask) is mitigated by the seders held on the first two nights.

A seder is a dinner in which the story of Passover is told, you drink four glasses of wine, you search for the afikomen and many other things. “Seder” is Hebrew for order, and the seder has this name simply because everything is done in a particular order.

During a seder, you read along in a book called a haggadah. The most famous haggadah was actually created by Maxwell House! But in 2010, after I came home from spending 5 months in Israel, my mom and I put together our own haggadah, which we’ve used ever since.

Before this year, the only years that I did not attend a seder hosted by my parents were the four that I spent in college. But since they moved back to New York, this year, I was on my own. I’m happy to say that my husband and I successfully hosted our own seder this year! It was attended by two other couples and a one-year-old, and we had a great time.

Traditionally, four questions are asked during the seder. Here’s a fifth question – what do you make for dessert when you can’t use flour?

Continue reading

Flour-less Chocolate Cupcakes

20140416-164651.jpg

HaveĀ I mentioned how much I love my Martha Stewart cupcake book? This chocolate cupcake is not specifically a Passover dessert, but it only has four ingredients! Sugar, chocolate, eggs and butter are all kosher for Passover, so it was a go for the seder at my parents’ house.

Continue reading

Passover Chocolate Chip Cookies

20140404-145727.jpg

I have a love/hate relationship with Passover. On the one hand, seders are fun and involve delicious food. On the other hand, all my favorite foods are taboo for a week!

In the olden times (like when I was a kid), there was no such thing as a good Passover dessert, besides macaroons. Passover cakes and cookies were always dry and tasted weird. But that is no longer true, and these cookies, snagged from The Shiksa in the Kitchen, prove it!

Continue reading