NTBMO

I read and reread my entry about Passover. I'll take just a moment to reword some things -- Christ is our Passover lamb. He is the new covenant. His blood paid the penalty for mankind's sins. We commemorate His passing each year. Every year, we are to examine our spiritual lives and recognize areas where we need to grow, where Christ's shed blood can make a difference. This is what I was implying and getting at when I said, "these days are about self-examination, cleaning, and cooking." The self-examination bit is HUGE, and I don't want to minimize it at all.

At this time, around sundown on the day of Passover, just before the annual Sabbath, the first day of Unleavened Bread, Christ was being laid in His tomb.

Exodus 12 documents what happened the day after the Lord "passed over." By this point, the Egyptians were fed up with the Israelites. They so badly wanted the Israelites to leave that they were throwing their gold and jewels in the streets the morning following the Passover. That evening, 24 hours after the Passover, they had a very special meal. It was the night before the morning they'd leave Egypt. They ate unleavened bread (since they didn't have enough time to leaven it), and they had a huge prepatory meal.

We commemorate this meal every year, and we call it the "Night to be Much Remembered" or the "Night to be Much Observed" (which is just a rewording of Exodus 12:42). Our congregation gets together with food, wine, unleavened bread, and fellowship to start this week of the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Last night, I took cheese sticks, jewish almond bread, a white cake, and roasted veggies.

The cheese sticks are awesome! It's an Ina Garten recipe. A friend once compared me to the Barefoot Contessa. I wish I had hydrangeas like her.

So simple: This recipe called for gruyere -- 1 cup (I got it at Sam's, now I have wayyyy too much), parm -- 1/2 cup, and minced fresh thyme -- 1 tablespoon. You can use whatever cheese and herbs you love. Mix it all together in a bowl and set it aside.

Beat an egg with a little bit of water, set aside.

2 boxes of puff pastry (in the freezer section, unless you really feel like making it), thawed, then rolled out a bit. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg (it will help the cheese stick), layer with the cheese mixture, roll it again to work the cheese mixture into the pastry.

Use a pizza slicer to make strips (I did a strip at a time), and twist. Lay them on parchment lined cookie sheets. Cook at 350 until the cheese is golden.
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Sometimes unleavened bread is referred to as the "bread of affliction" (Deuteronomy 16:3), and I like to make something each year that isn't perfectly enjoyable. The flavor of the Jewish Almond Bread is awesome, but the texture...could use leavening.

4 eggs
1 cup of sugar
3 cups of flour
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of almond extract

I love to whip my eggs until they're stiff, add the sugar, then cut in the butter, vanilla & almond extract. Add the flour bit by bit, then the almonds. (I wonder what would happen if I used less flour...) It comes out kind of like cookie dough, so I make small balls and put them in mini cupcake pans. Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes.
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I googled the white cake recipe. I haven't actually tried it yet, so I'll have to update and let you know how tasty it is.

2 eggs, whipped
1 cup sugar, added into the eggs slowly
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 cup flour, but don't beat for too long...
Fold in 1 cup milk & 2 tablespoons butter scalded (2 minutes in the microwave)

Pour ingredients into an 8 inch greased & floured cake pan & bake at 375 for 22-25 minutes.

I made a chocolate cream cheese frosting, which was super easy: 4 ounce (1/2 block) cream cheese, 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, whipped, add 1 teaspoon vanilla and 2 cups powedered sugar. Then add 2 tablespoons cocoa.
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The last thing I made, not bread, but a side for the meal, was roasted veggies. It's a REAL Simple recipe, and I LOVE it. I made it in mass, to feed 20-30, and we have lots of leftovers. You can edit as you prefer, I always do, depending on what I have on hand.

1 large onion, chopped
4 red potatoes, skins on, scrubbed, and cubed
4 sweet potatoes, peeled, and cubed
1 lb. of fresh green beans, trimmed, and in 2 inch pieces
6 carrots, scrubbed, quartered, and chopped
1 stalk of celery, trimmed, sliced, and chopped

Toss all the veggies in about 4 tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of kosher salt, and 2 teaspoons of pepper. Spread onto cookie sheets (I used 2), a generous (10 sprigs?) of thyme, and roast at 350 for 45 minutes or so. When you can smell the sweet of the sweet potatoes, they're well on their way to being done. I always taste test for texture. Carrots are the hardest veggie in this mix, so they will help you gauge. If they're still hard, give it a few more minutes.

Chop a 1/4 cup of flat leaf parsley. Toss the cooked veggies in the fresh parsley, and you're ready to serve.

The parsley and the thyme make all the difference. I forgot the onion last night, so there wasn't that sweet roasted onion flavor. I missed it!

There really is something significant and quite special about breaking bread with friends! Happy Days of Unleavened Bread, friends :)