For a holiday packed with symbolism, there was nothing particularly significant about the choice of this year’s seder theme at my house, “Passover on a Stick.” My dear friend Cindy and I were entertaining ourselves over cake pops (what’s up with that trend?!) at a Bat Mitzvah not long ago, when she got a gleam in her eye.

It was hard to top last year’s Heavy Metal Seder, but I think we did a good job.

Turns out, there are many traditional Passover items that don’t do well on sticks. Like brisket. And matzo. Matzo balls, wine, meringues, almond cake — and just about anything on the seder plate: not  sitck-worthy.

I did manage to shove some canned macaroons onto lollipop sticks and dip them in chocolate and sprinkles; Cindy had the genius idea to bring the kids Wikki Stix. The rest of the guests got creative, too: rhutabaga in ginger, dipped in creme fraiche and served on toothpicks; fruit and mint on skewers; grilled veggies and fries on skewers; and even gefile fish/cucumbers/tomatoes/horseradish – on sticks.

Don’t worry, we got some seder-ing in there, and even a round of Dayenu. Most of all, it was a lovely evening filled with family and friends — for some, the first seder. (Hopefully not the last for anyone, though we might have scared a couple people away.)

And may I recommend sangria at your next Passover celebration? The vanilla/apple/cinnamon/red wine version I’ve been playing with lately tasted like charoset in a glass.