The weight loss is a side effect of the side effect of greatly reduced appetite. It is a common side effect of ADD meds. In fact, one of the usual ADD meds started out its life as a weight loss drug. I thought it was Adderal, but I'm not certain. Back when I was trying to find a med that would help my ADD, I tried several, only to find that with each of them, they quit being effective after about a month and a half. One of the meds the doctor prescribed was phentermine - the appetite suppressant - he gave it to me off-label, and it did help with the attention issues. My doc insisted on getting an EKG on a regular basis to ensure that I was not sustaining any damage to my heart. I'm not sure that is a standard practice for psychiatrists who deal with ADD or AD/HD, but this was my GP.

US challah probably does taste different than Israeli because I imagine our eggs and butter taste different.

Well, challah doesn't have butter. The challah I remember having in Israel tasted pretty much the same as the challah in the US, but that was all served to US trip groups, so who knows what kind it was.

So, I'm going to Passover Wednesday night. Anything I should know beforehand?

So, I'm going to Passover Wednesday night. Anything I should know beforehand?

Depending on how strictly they follow the seder, it might be a while before you get to food. Eat beforehand.

Um. Depending on the family, you might be asked to read something. There's a book called a Haggaddah that's read aloud, and usually it's done by going around the table and each person reads a paragraph or two. Some people skip over non=Jewish guests for the reading, but others don't.

Oh, fabulously helpful, Hil! Thank you!

Oh! And if it's somewhere that you'd generally bring a hostess gift, bring flowers, not food or wine. Figuring out who will and won't eat what on Passover is way too confusing unless you know both the person and the rules really well.

What is everyone doing this weekend?

Coincidentally enough, baking challah. I've been all about baking with sourdough and no commercial yeast, lately, and the challah recipe has been consistently coming out well. Takes forever to rise, though - this last loaf was around 20 hours on the first rise.

Oh! And if it's somewhere that you'd generally bring a hostess gift, bring flowers, not food or wine. Figuring out who will and won't eat what on Passover is way too confusing unless you know both the person and the rules really well.

Also good to know. I'm bringing a quilt, so I think I should be safe (it's technically their housewarming present, but I'm gonna let it cover Passover too!).

Windsparrow, that's a really lovely memory of your dad.

Also, for pouring wine -- the way it's traditionally done is that, throughout the course of the seder, you have four cups of wine, each poured and drank at a specific time. The tradition is that the wine gets filled right to the top of the glass, and that you don't pour wine for yourself -- each person pours for the person in the next seat. Not everyone does it that way, so just watch how the family you're with does it for the first glass.

There's one part in the seder where you dip your fingers into the wine and spill out ten drops in memory of the ten plagues. It's considered bad form to lick the wine off your fingers. At our seder, it's usually my mother hissing at me, "Don't lick the plagues!" (Though plenty of people do it -- why waste wine?)

Charoset is good. (It'll be a little dish of a weird brown-looking thing. That's chopped up apples and walnuts mixed with wine or grape juice and cinnamon.) Horseradish is spicy. If you've never had it before, gefilte fish is weird and gooey.