Growing up, Passover was my favorite holiday. My mom and I cleaned the house, got rid of chometz and changed our dishes. We shopped until we dropped and made special meals and lots of desserts. My family has a lot of heirloom family recipes for dessert. 1)
We alternated between going to my grandma's house and our house and we had both sides of the family in attendance. On my dad's side, they made and brought their own wine. 2)
The traditional Seder plate (Ke'arah) is used by the head of each household and it contains the necessities for a Passover Seder. 3)
One must have the following: 1) ze'roa – shank bone, 2) beitzah – egg, 3) marror – bitter herbs, 4) charoset – sweet paste, 5) mei melach – salt water, 6) karpas – vegetable, and 7) matzah – unleavened bread. 4)
On the side was a special embroidered afikoman bag, where a special piece of matzoh was placed. 5)
There is no artichoke, no banana,, no beetroot, no fair trade coffee or chocolate, no cashews, no leavened bread or crust, no orange, no olives, no pomegranate, or tomato or any other food on a traditional seder plate. 6)
We are to tell the story of Exodus. How the Jews were enslaved in Egypt and how G-d led us to the Promised Land, Israel.
Read more about Passover here: aish.com/passover/ 7)