Charoset

One of the traditional foods that is part of the Passover seder is called caroset. It's meant to represent the mortar that the Jewish slaves made for Pharoh. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the best parts of the seder! We made 3 types this year, but for the really traditional recipe I enlisted my special helper! 

Essentially, the mixture is a combination of apples, nuts, grape juice (or wine), and cinnamon. So first we peeled some apples...

Then the ever multi-tasking toddler ate some of the apples while chopping up the rest.

He tried his hardest to chop the walnuts, but they were stubborn suckers! Once my helper was occupied elsewhere (hehe) I poured in the grape juice and tons of cinnamon.

It's really about eye-balling it and playing with it until it comes together for you. Some people add sugar, but that grape juice is SO sweet to begin with! We made a nice big batch and were able to munch on it for a few days after the seder.

Traditional Charoset:
- 3 or 4 apples, peeled
- shelled walnuts (or pecans or almonds)
- grape juice
- cinnamon

Peel and chop your apples. You want them pretty finely chopped, but not yet mush. Then chop up the nuts. Mix it together in a bowl - you want a pretty good apple to nut ratio. Pour in grape juice and stir to get it to come together. Add cinnamon to taste - you really want it to be cinnamon-y.

It's best to make it a day or so ahead - the flavors really come together the more it sits!