Healthnotes Newswire (March 25, 2010)—Gathering family and friends for a grand Easter Sunday feast or Seder Night dinner for Passover are cherished springtime rituals. Cooking the traditional dishes that honor each occasion is also a beloved part of the holidays—but it’s possible to add some surprises to give these delicious meals your own stamp.

Update your Easter menu

Of course, you can always serve Easter ham as the main course for your Sunday feast. If that’s not the family favorite, make one or two changes to update your menu while keeping the dishes everyone loves.

• Choose roast turkey for the main course. Brined first and then oven-roasted or grilled on the barbecue, it’s superb for any holiday.

• Borrow an Easter dish from another culture to liven up your menu. Try raisin-studded hot cross buns, eaten in England and Ireland on Good Friday, as a home-baked treat for the holiday.

• Go all out with your spring celebration by making a brand new dessert recipe. Maybe a zesty lemon cake or a decadent chocolate pie?

Add contemporary style to Seder menus

Passover rituals are indelibly interwoven with the Seder dinner, but you can still give the traditional menu a makeover.

• Use matzo meal instead of bread crumbs to make a tasty crisp crust for fried chicken.

• Prepare an exotic version of haroset using dried fruits such as golden raisins, figs, dates, and apricots, plus pine nuts and chopped chestnuts blended with honey and cinnamon.

• Lighten traditional matzo balls by adding carbonated water instead of tap water.

• Keep dessert light and bake golden chewy almond meringues made with brown sugar instead of a rich nut cake.

• Make Passover confectioners’ sugar by grinding 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar with 1/2 cup (80 g) potato starch and use for sprinkling over desserts.