Passover Party Food - for Bowling Party

As a kid, I always remember going over to my Jewish friends' homes around passover and having peanut butter and jelly on matzo. It was awesome. Also, you may be able to find some chicken nuggets that are kosher.

Hi. They can eat hot dogs without buns so you might want to get the mini hotdogs (Nathans or Hebrew National) so they won't be tempted to eat them with buns. You could serve them using toothpicks (if you think the kids won't try to use them as weapons....). You could also serve meatballs or chicken (not breaded) Hope this helps.

Hi E.,

Not all Jewish people keep kosher but do observe the "no bread" during passover rule. You might want to send a bulk email to your guest list and say that you realize that the party is during Passover. You plan on serving Matzo with Turkey and Matzo with PB & J along with some fruit. You can purchase some passover cookies at most supermarkets and offer those. Ask if this menu is acceptable and that you are open to any suggestions from the parents.

Do not mix dairy with meats.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

D. Poe
Personal Chef
Chef du Jour Personal Chef Service
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If they're really observant, they may not eat anything in a bowling alley. I recommend that you check with the most observant parent in the group to see what they recommend so that you don't go to extra trouble to find that they won't eat what you get.

Good luck!
J.
www.shaklee.net/healthyfriends
Free products when you host a green party!

E.,
You could still offer the hot dogs - just without the buns. If your guests are really observant with this holiday, you need to ask what is in the hot dogs - are they 100% beef? Many have fillers that are not kosher for Passover (and if they aren't beef, they're not even edible for someone who doesn't eat pork). You could also do "matzah pizza". Just get some kosher for passover pizza sauce (available at every market right now) and cheese - you know the rest. Pour it over the matzah and bake it in the oven. Cream cheese and matzah is also good - and you can't go wrong with lots of fruits and vegetables. As mentioned above, if you are having things like dip and cake, you also have to be careful. Many observant Jews don't eat anything with corn products in them (it is considered chametz - that which can not be eaten during Passover - but often, this is something only observed by Ashkenazi Jews - those from Europe. Sephardic Jews eat grains and corn). So, if your dip contains corn syrup, it's a no-go for some people. But, truthfully, most don't take it that far. If you want to have some special treats for the kids, you can either buy a box cake, also available in stores right now, or write to me and I'll send you some recipes.
Good Luck,
J. BTW, PEANUT BUTTER IS NOT KOSHER FOR PASSOVER

Well, it depends on how strictly their families observe kosher. Things like fruits and veggies should be fine. Also, their are kosher hot dogs (bunless, of course) that would be acceptable to some people.

Keep in mind that some things that seem to be leaven-free aren't. For example, a lot of frozen french fries have leaven as a preservative and so wouldn't be a good choice.

We eat in n' out protien burgers during Passover, but a strict kosher says you can't have the cheese with the burger, so just plain hamburgers might be a safer choice. (Protein style means lettuce wraps instead of buns).

Dessert will probably be more difficult, just make sure you have a non-bakery alternative to the cake you'll probably be serving - frozen juice popsicles, maybe.

All in all, it can be difficult to accomadate everyone, and I think it's great that you're trying to be sensitive to these kids and their parents - speaking of, they might have some excellent suggestions and be glad to know you're taking it into consideration.

It's very thoughtful of you to consider your daughter's Jewish friends during Passover - their parents will certainly appreciate it! Here are some ideas for you:
If you are into cooking things yourself, check out FabulousFoods.com. On their homepage, look at the right hand side about halfway down and you'll see a category called Holidays with a link to Passover. There are some great, easy recipes there for some simple food ideas for your Jewish party guests.

If you are like me, and don't have a ton of time to cook, try going to your local supermarket to the Jewish food section (I use Ralphs) and grab some Passover coconut macaroon cookies (for kids to have instead of birthday cake). As an easy meal replacement idea, pick up some plain Matzah crackers (also in the same section at the market) and grab some strawberry jelly and cream cheese. The kids can make cream cheese and jelly sandwiches with it (if this sounds like a weird combo to you, don't worry, it won't to them!). Also, having some fruit to serve would be easy and edible for everyone - Costco has a great deal on fruit trays...

Hope this helps!

How about triyaki chicken kabobs, fruit kabobs, no dairy "frozen non dairy yogurt you make in a cheap ice cream maker or snow cones. Unlevened pita bread, hummas dip. You can make all these things yourself or find a middle eastern market that can make them there are many on the West Side. Still kid fun, and portable!

Hi E.,How thoughtful of you.Don't worry,if you go to the store there are many Jewish sections for food.During this time there are so many snacks,and treats for the Passover time.They are really tastey ,all the children will enjoy them.Mazal Tov to you and your family:)!

get a box or 2 of matzo and have sandwich fixins - lunch meat, cheese, PB & J, etc. also veggies, fresh fruits, are fine. I usually make "matzo pizza" every year - which is really easy and tasty - just spread tomato sauce and cheese - and whatever other (non-pork) toppings you want, and bake for a few minutes - long enough to melt the cheese.

basic rule of thumb is nothing involving bread, pasta or rice. highly observant Jews also won't eat/drink anything with Corn Syrup - so most sodas would be out for them as well. Usually there are "Kosher for Passover" sodas / juices at grocery stores that carry lots of kosher products.

I would recommend talking to a few of their parents. Ask what they can have and what to avoid. You may need to do separate foods for them from the rest of the kids.

Wow, how very thoughtful of you!
Here are some passover foods my kids enjoy: chicken skewers, chocolate covered matzah, baked potato skins covered in cheese, matzah nachos, or cream cheese with matzah. There are some good crackers now available (TamTams)that are good for dipping. Fruits and vegies too.
Maybe ask the parents for suggestions too.

Hope this helps,
C. L

I'm not Jewish, so I don't know all the rules of Kosher foods, but my son loves his peanut butter and banana pizzas. I use english muffins, pb and bananas - sometimes honey or jam, but just a little. It's a sweet treat. Or you could try cheese and jam sandwiches, those are a big hit too.

Hi E.,

Eating out during Passover is pretty much impossible if you are from an observant family. Not only do the foods have to be OK for Passover, but the kitchen they were made in has to be kashered as well, which means that really observant kids wouldn't eat anything made in a nonobservant home (even a Jewish one). And BTW, if anyone has suggested that you speak to the parents to see if it's a problem for them, I would ask you not to. In Judaism, it is considered wrong to "put a stumbling block before the blind", that is to encourage activity that you know is not correct.

There are more and more packaged treats available in kosher markets, but it's mostly candy and matzoh-based snacks, and not all that appealing! Fresh fruit would be fine, but what nine-year old is going to want fresh fruit when everyone else gets to gobble down pizza, hotdogs and birthday cake?

I think it's wonderful that you are being sensitive to the dietary restrictions of your daughter's Jewish friends, but I would take it one step further -- why not postpone the party for a few days until Passover is over? You won't have to worry about providing special foods (unless the kids keep kosher normally, in which case they wouldn't eat anything from a nonkosher source, anyway) and the Jewish kids won't feel left out and deprived. Passover ends one hour after sundown on Sunday, April 27.

There's a good book written for your daughter's age group that addresses the feelings kids often have about the impact that Passover dietary restrictions have on their social lives. It's called "Make a Wish, Molly" by Barbara Cohen and Jan Naimo Jones. It's available on Amazon and may be available at your local library. The story is about a young Jewish girl who has recently immigrated from Russia and what happens when she's invited to a birthday party during Passover.

Good luck at your daughter's party! You can contact me directly if you need any other help with kashrut.

R.

Go to www.perpetualpreschool.com/holiday_themes/jewish/passover...

It is a great source for some fun snacks!!

Enjoy!

So this is a bit tricky. The rules of Kosher food are extra strict suring Passover. Some people will be extremely observant of this and some will not. My guess is the ones who are extremely observant will either skip the party altogether or tell their child not to eat anything at the party. My mom would have sent us with our own snacks when I was a kid. So here are a few things you need to know if you want to try to be respectful. I can tell you that I would appreciate it beyond belief.

So first, you do have to use Kosher For Passover products. Being labeled Kosher is not enough. It actually needs to say Kosher For Passover because there are certain ingredients that cannot be eaten during this holiday-Cocal Cola actually specially bottles their soda for Passover with an older recipe that leaves out ingredients that are not suitable for the holiday. Yeah-it's that extreme. Basically anything with leavening is off limits. That means no bread at all. Pizza isn't actually out. You can make matzo pizzas. Depending on what your local grocery has, you might even be able to get little round matzohs to make lots of individual "cracker crust" pizzas for everyone so that those kids don't feel singled out. There are plenty of prepared cookies, macaroons, etc... that you can buy for them. I definitely recommend this because birthday cake will be out as that definitely has leavening in it. Luckily, there is alll kinds of fun stuff now that wasn't available when I was a kid. You can even find bags of cotton candy and bubble gum. But before you go to all the trouble, I think you should just call the parents and ask them what their wishes are. Most will be thrilled you were considerate enough to ask and probably tell you they will send something along so you don't have to worry about it. Oh, and fruit is completely ok to serve. And you should also know that mixing milk and meat is out. So no pepperoni or sausage on the matzoh pizza-just vegies. Good luck, and if you decide you'd like to know more, feel free to email me and I will try to dig up a Passover recipe or 2 that might be easy and fun for your party.

First of all, as a Jewish mom I want to say how thoughtful you are to even think about this! I am sure the other moms feel the same way. However, I need to get ready for the school day, so I will respond with ideas later. But for now, one idea may be veggies and hummus. I will respond when I get home this afternoon.

You can serve brownies instead of cake (or give them the option...not everyone observes the holiday in the same way). I think it is great you are being so considerate!

Talk to their moms! Maybe they would be willing to help you with the menu- or make items that are okay (if they are complicated). but be willing to provide some other items for the kids to eat if they don't like the foods. It could be that the parents would be okay with you giving them pizza (cheese), or other items!

Good luck and have fun!