Instructions: Imagine being host to your family, close friends and a few people you barely know for a five-course dinner, using special china and a real tablecloth. A lot of basic, everyday ingredients - little things such as flour - cannot be used.

And, for an hour or so before the meal is served, youll be at the table with your guests, not in the kitchen.

Now imagine doing all that on a Wednesday after work.

Thats the situation Jews face March 27, the first night of Passover, which commemorates the exodus from Egypt. The holiday opens with a Seder, a ritual meal that is both a religious service and dinner party.

Besides family and friends, its customary to invite anyone who needs a place to go for the holiday. The dietary rules of Passover are meant to emphasize the hasty flight from slavery - there was not even time for bread to rise, which is why flour or grain-based foods, except those based on the unleavened bread matzo, are forbidden.

A Seder is challenging enough on a weekend, but it takes serious planning to pull it off midweek. To succeed, cooks need to keep the menu simple and do everything possible ahead - from setting the table to making charoset, the mixture of chopped apple, nut and sweet wine that represents the mortar Hebrew slaves used in Egyptian building projects. (It tastes better after a couple days aging, anyway. Just drain off the excess liquid.)

Matzo balls pose a problem. Theyre best when freshly made, but shaping a gooey mix of pulverized matzo and egg into little balls may not be the best idea when guests will ring the doorbell at any minute. Make them Tuesday night, let them cool in their salted cooking water, and refrigerate them in a covered, flat container with a little of the water. Reheat gently, in lots more salted water, and add to hot chicken soup just before serving.

Brisket is the classic make-ahead main dish, but for something lighter, try fish cooked in a vivid red sauce of roasted sweet peppers. Make the sauce Sunday or Monday. The fish cooks, unattended, while everyone - including the cook - is eating matzo ball soup.

For dessert, a chocolate honey sauce can be the basis of any number of ideas.

The simplest? Serve it as a dip for fresh fruit or drizzled over sorbet. Or let its moist richness improve a piece of cake that could use a little help, as egg- and nut-based Passover tortes often do.

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