Seder... New Testament Style

(Note: this post will probably bore most of you so feel free to skip it if you'd like.  I posted it for my sake and for anyone who might be interested :-)


This year for the Easter meal, I did something different.  For a holiday that intentionally coincides with Passover, I have always thought it was ironic to serve ham since it's about as non-Kosher as you can get.  I did a TON of research into Passover foods and the symbolism behind them.  Then I came up with my own version of the Seder (the symbolic meal served a Passover).  In the end, the meal was not Kosher (but that was not as important since we're no longer required to keep to that law), but it still retained much of the symbolism of the original... with a New Testament spin.  

The traditional Seder plate usually has five or more symbolic foods: shank bone (for the Passover lamb),  bitter herbs (to remember the bitterness of slavery in Egypt),  parsley dipped in salt water (for the tears shed in captivity), haroseth (an apple/nut mixture that represents the mortar used by the Jews to build palaces and pyramids in Egypt), matzah (unleavened bread prepared for the hasty flight from Egypt), and a roasted egg (the symbolism here was varied- either representing mourning for loss of temple or the cycle of life and hope for the future of God's people).  

For the shank bone, we had lamb.  Jim grilled it and it was pretty good!  Here he is doing his "manly job" of carving.

Funnily enough, lamb is no longer eaten for the Passover since the Temple was destroyed, making it impossible to carry out the Law.  So while I couldn't find any lamb recipes for Passover, I was able to find Greek lamb recipes for Easter.

For the  bitter herbs, we had crab dip with horseradish.

This was the easiest thing to make, and it was probably the one that was enjoyed the most!  Not Kosher, but very yummy!

For the parsley dipped in salt water, we had parsley dipped in salt water (creative, right?).  Gotta be honest, this was gross!  But I guess that's the point.  SO grateful for the freedom from the slavery of sin!!!

For the  haroseth, we had haroseth (I am a genius ;-).  There are a slew of recipes out there, but here are the ingredients for the one I settled on.

Ethan helped me mix the ingredient in a food processor.  The look on his face was so funny in this pic that I had to include it.

His face is so intense!  His first time using a food processor.  Here's the finished product:

I gotta admit, it looks a little gross, but it tasted better than it looked.  Boy, was it sweet though (and I have a sweet tooth)!  If I make it again, I'll have to take the sugar content WAY down.  Fun to try though.

For the matzah, we used matzah (pictured above with the crab dip).  Okay, so I have a confession to make: I LOVE matzah, so much that I often wish I had a bigger piece of it when the communion plate is passed.  Totally not what I should be thinking about during communion, but I'm sure I'm not alone in this ;-).  So I was pretty excited to have my fill of it this Easter.

For the roasted egg, we had hard-boiled eggs (pictured above with the parsley)


In addition to all of these foods, we also had roasted garlic potatoes

which had about 4 times the amount of garlic it should have (and I'm Italian!) and a roasted vegetable medley, which was delicious.

And here's the whole meal...  a lot of prep work, but a lot of fun.

So in the end, it was a very fun meal and I think it helped me to be more mindful of what Christ has done for us in freeing us from the bonds of sin!  I look forward to doing the same thing next year, making some tweaks here and there of course :-).