Sundown Monday brought the Jewish holiday of Passover, which re-tells the story of Exodus, the Jews enslavement in Egypt and their journey to freedom. This year’s festivities began with Sophie’s annual preschool performance of the re-telling of the story. Sophie and her class played the important role of the items on the seder plate with Sophie being an egg.
We celebrated with the traditional dinner complete with items Sophie made in her preschool class: a seder plate, Miriam’s cup, a Haggadah, and a matzah cover. It was a special night for me, watching Sophie participate so fully in the holiday. She asked – and answered – the four Passover questions (even chanting one of them in Hebrew). She knew the meaning of why the holiday is called Passover and what each of the seder plate items represented. I was in awe of her and so proud of her knowledge and Jewish pride.
Sophie’s Seder plate …
Her Miriam’s Cup (Miriam is Moses’ sister) …
And I’m in awe of her love of matzah ball soup! 
For those of you keeping Kosher for Passover the next eight days – or simply looking for recipes to use up your leftover boxes of matzah – here’s a recipe for Chocolate Toffee Matzah. I tried it for the first time this year and it was delicious!
TOFFEE CHOCOLATE MATZAH
4 pieces of matzah (don’t use thin or salted matzah)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 Tbsp. water
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
Optional: walnuts
– Preheat over to 350-degrees
– Lay matzah out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
– In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt together butter and sugar. Bring to a boil. Mix together for about four minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the water.
– Pour sugar mixture over matzah and cover evenly.
– Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
– Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, spread chocolate with spatula, and add nuts to top (if desired).
– Cool at room temperature. When the matzah is cooled, break it into pieces and store in a container at room temperature.
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Attention San Diego Residents: I am giving away a Family Pack to the Hullabaloo Family Music Festival on April 13, 2013 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Head over to the San Diego Features/Giveaways page for more information and to enter for a chance to win an amazing family fun pack to the music festival with other great prizes!