Passover is four weeks away, so tonight my mother and I started putting together our menu. I'll be making gefilte fish, as I always do, plus my vegetarian matzoh balls and a Middle Eastern-inflected salad of butter lettuce with grapefruit and avocado. We'll have classic Ashkenazi charoset, of course...

It's hard to believe, but there's less than a week left until Christmas, and only 4 days until Hanukkah. If you need last-minute advice, come visit the Epicurious Chat Room this coming Friday (12/19) from noon to 1pm, when our editor-in-chief, Tanya Wenman Steel, and I will be answering questions. L...