Passover is one of my favorite holidays. I love the readings on slavery and freedom, and the discussions around the dinner table. I also love the food. Matzoh ball soup is one of the world's greatest dishes! Of course, you can't buy matzoh in Jinzhou. There just isn't a market for it here. I wanted to celebrate Passover anyway, so I had to get creative. I baked my own matzoh, and it tasted a lot better than the kind sold in boxes in America. I decided to pass on making matzoh ball soup. Grinding the cakes into powder would have been entirely too much work! One lamb shank, one egg, green herbs, horseradish and an apple-paste called haroset are the other elements of the Passover feast. The lamb and the egg were easy to get. I used cilantro as my green herb and wasabi in place of horseradish. I also made my haroset out of local ingredients: big, asian pears, candied ginger and some dried fruits whose names I don't even know. It was delicious! My Chinese tutor, Jessie, came into our kitchen while I was making haroset and she asked what it was. I told her that it was a very traditional dish for Passover, a Jewish holiday. She had never heard of this before, so I explained it to her. I also showed her my home-made matzoh. The next day, Jessie came to my room for our lesson and said, "Happy Jewish Holiday!" It was really sweet. We drank brandy during our Passover Seder because we have had bad luck with Chinese wine. Some vintners here sweeten the wine, and even add fake grape flavoring. There are also some better wines, but until we learn how to have a conversation with a Chinese sommelier, we will stick to brandy. It is a much safer bet.