Recipes for a successful family seder

Today we prepare. The kids are on Spring Break. The husband is home from work. In a few hours our house will smell heavenly and we'll be knee deep in matzah meal. But most importantly, we'll be tackling the hundreds of tasks we need to complete before the big seder together, as a family. Our kids are in charge of crafting our seder table, complete with place cards, while my husband and I work on the more involved items on our list. Later, we'll prepare the seder plate and traditional recipes. My three year old daughter and husband will whip up the crunchy haroseth and my nine year old son and I will be rolling small balls of matzo and chopping up vegetables for our matzo ball soup. We'll work hard all day prepping for our sweet, sweet seder feast.

We've learned early on the importance of including all family members in the preparation of the seder dinner, no matter how challenging their age may be. Building memories and traditions that our children will some day pass on to their children is our goal and our seders have become more special because we all have had a hand in making it perfect for our family.

If you're still looking for a few ideas and recipes there are some great sites offering seder recipes ranging from traditional to gourmet. Family Fun, Kaboose and Disney's Family Food all have excellent passover guides that include historical background information, recipes, crafts and activity ideas. For a more sophisticated seder check out NPR's article "Not your Grandma's Seder". To finish things off Martha Stewart offers a recipe for some scrumptious chocolate passover cookies.