Passover at Adele's

My friend Adele's Passover Seder was a mixture of tradition, humor, drama and friendship.

My friend Adele had twenty- two people over for

Passover Seder . We sat down to paper plates and plastic forks for the first ritual part of the Seder. The opening prayers were in Hebrew but most of the reading of the Haggadah was in English. Adele with a dramatic flare and a great deal of humor recounted the going out of Egypt. She had us all entertained. When it came to Ma Nista Na - 'Why is this Night Different from all Other Nights?' which is supposed to be sung by the children, everyone sung at the table sang it. We also all sang Dayenu - It would have been enough. Adele's true dramatic flare as a former dancer and actor came into play with the ten plagues . For turning the Nile into blood, she had a long red cloth which we spread out over the tables and for hail she bounced ping-pong balls on the table. It was fun and dramatized the story.

Then came the meal . Matzo ball soup a true classic, her matzo balls are true floaters. Another classic, gefilta fish placed on bed of lettuce and shredded carrots. The main course was matzo lasagna, lots of cheese and just enough matzo so it was crisp. The eggplant with just enough sauce in-between was perfect.

The evening had the right mix of tradition, innovation, humor, friendly casual atmosphere and drama. It was magical.

Tonight I'm off to my mothers.