In Remembrance of Messiah - Passover Pictures

It's If you follow me on Instagram you may have already seen a few of sneak peeks of my congregation's Passover meal. And speaking of Instagram, in the past week or so more than 30,000 photos have been posted under #passover. 30,000! Isn't that crazy?! I love checking out Passover photos and would love to see yours! Tag me or send some my way. :)

We had 16 people in attendance for our Seder. This worked perfectly for a square set up of regular folding tables with four people seated on each side.

We had a worship time before the meal with live music. That's not something we have each week at Shabbat service so it was extra special to us.

We did the traditional four cups of wine. To simplify things, we pour the first cup before the service begins.

Our Passover is not as complicated as most, so we stick with a one page overview of the evening instead of a textbook Haggadah.

Homemade matzah! I know I've said this many times, but this seriously ups the quality of the meal. If making it is an option, I would encourage you to give it a try!

Daffodils just started blooming here a few days before Passover!

Wondering what the colored pencils are for? We made a custom coloring page.

Not everyone made a lot of progress on theirs. haha As you can see this was more geared towards adult doodling that a children's coloring book. 

The matzah pinata of course came along; I'm not sure I will ever bring myself to destroy it. haha I made a few of these banners with different Passover related verses. Above the buffet said, "Eat to remember this," (Deuteronomy 16:3).

Reading the story of Israel. We also five lit menorahs - so beautiful!

This picture really symbolizes this year's Passover: a team effort. Many people contributed to make this a lovely and meaningful evening for all. One person brought the dishes, another made the napkins, another supplied silverware, someone else purchased and brought the glasses. Another picture of Paul speaking of the body of Messiah.

Part of our buffet. Our meal was basically the same elements as the Seder plate, plus a few more vegetables.

Menu:

Smoked lamb marinated in balsamic vinegar, garlic, and rosemary
Einkorn matzah
Romaine salad with peppers, cucumbers, and kalamata olives

Baked charoset with apples and apricots

Roasted root vegetables

Two types of hummus with lots of fresh veggies

Hard boiled eggs

Tabbouli salad of parsley and lemon

Kalamata olive tapenade

Coconut yogurt tzatziki

Something we decided to do this year was ask everyone to bring plenty of food so there would be leftovers to share. The day after Passover is a no-work day and it was so nice to be able to take delicious, kosher, organic food home for meals!

I think this is one of our best Passover meals yet.

We had two special attendees with us via Facetime. They live in the south so they were able to enjoy their Seder outside.

About to enjoy the third cup of my homemade, homegrown grape juice.
Matzah ring tutorial here.

Dessert is served: three types of cheesecake with mixed berries, chocolate, ganache, and whipped cream.

We love pavlova for Passover dessert but since it had been raining we decided to go with cheesecake. It's hard to go wrong with cheesecake and these were excellent.

Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to make this set apart time special!