[Shai's Mom]

We also had a wonderful Pesach! My son sipped a tiny bit of Kiddush Wine during the blessing but didn't want any Charoset. He and his two young cousins (ages 6 and 3) seem to have weathered this exposure to alcohol without any complications.
I switched out my Pesach Dishes on Motzei Shabbat, while my husband and my father-in-law went on a quest for pita and hummus (a dip made with chick-peas, sesame paste, garlic and other seasonings). That's what we traditionally eat at the end of Pesach.
Then, yesterday evening I managed to snag two oven-fresh, piping hot baguettes at our neighbourhood "convenience store" (Can't come up with a better term). That was sheer heaven..

In Israel, after Pesach, for a day or two it's quite a challenge to find bread, because a lot of people go into a bread-buying-frenzy.

Now we can utilize our left-over Matzot to re-shingle the house, tile our walkway or create miscellaneous art..

[spaypets]

Shai's Mom--One day I'd like to celebrate Pesach in Israel (for one thing, there are more things considered kosher for Pesach there!). I still do the Ashkenazi (sp?) tradition of avoiding beans and other legumes and corn--since I don't eat much bread normally, avoiding my soy is the bigger sacrifice!

It must have been a big sacrifice if I'm looking forward to going back on my diet!

[Shai's Mom]

To Spaypets:

Well.. I'm the lone Ashkenazi in my husband's family. And, frankly, I don't see a problem eating legumes. The rabbi at the temple I used to go to in the US adhered to the following rule: Do you make bread from it? According to him, beans, peas and lentils are okay, corn is not.

I don't really have a problem with giving up bread, but, eating Matza sometimes does horrible things to my stomach, so I do try to not eat too much of it (not a big sacrifice either). I love salads, fruit, vegetables and potatos, so I manage.

For my kids I make matza pancakes for breakfast (follow the traditional pancake recipe, but instead of regular flour use Matza meal), and that went over really well.

I love living in Israel. It is an amazing country. I really hope you'll get to come over for a visit. If you do, maybe we can meet.

[spaypets]

I'd love that. I think though, that a return trip to India (where my dd was born) will have to come before a trip to Israel (I went when I was in high school and thought it was amazing!).

I've found that whole wheat matza do not have the cementing effect that white flour matza have (and of course are more similar to the original matza!). So we have only ww. My biggest problem is that I actually like matza (with lots of butter or full fat cream cheese--hence the Pesach weight gain!).