Spring has Sprung! NOT

Spring officially started the other day, and Purim is over, which means that it is time to think about Passover. . . . . designing the menu, purchasing the food and then the dreaded cleaning.  I love spring.  I love how it starts to warm up and I love seeing the little green stems shoot through the mud, after the snow has melted.  (I am NOT even going to think about the possibility of a storm mid week in Boston.)

This year I am hosting BOTH Seders.  The torch has been passed, and this working mom of two, is now hosting both nights.  Driving to my parent's house is nice, however it means the kids get into bed late (since the grandparents live an hour away) and most years the dreaded state MCAS tests are given during Passover.  This year, it means I get to invite friends and family and design the menus, which I like to do.  To me, hosting Seder means you are now a Jewish adult. 

I have designed the menu, thinking about all the things one needs to think about - everything is going to be meat, which means not a drop of dairy, including dessert.  It means that I have to think of TWO vegetarian main dishes for the husband (that don't include dairy).  Since I don't like red meat, it means two different chicken dishes.  It also means, that I am cooking everything from the chicken soup to the dessert.   I have the menu, and I have my grocery lists.  Grocery list #1 contains all the items I need to buy at the local Kosher store (Kosher for Passover knishes, cheese, yogurt, chicken, shank bone).  Grocery list #2 contains the items I can buy at the local grocery store (matzoh, chocolate treats, etc) and grocery list #3 contains the items I must buy the weekend before Passover (fruit, veggies, etc).

Then the weekend before I make my COOK list, which includes Mady's Chicken Soup and Matzoh balls, carrot consume (for the vegetarian), charoset (made with raisins and dates), chocolate chip cookies (Kosher for Passover), Kosher for Passover Granola (from the Temple Emanuel Sisterhood Cookbook - only a very few remain before we are totally sold out), chocolate covered matzoh, mondelbret and a few other things.  I make these things because homemade is better than store bought (yes, I have spoiled my family).

The thing that I find really hard is that once Seder is over, and the leftovers are gone, I have to cook again, and now that the kids are older, I am driving around town.  Thursday at 6 PM is my carpool turn for Hebrew School pick up, so I had to buy three packages of over priced, not so great, cheese blintzes, so my husband can heat them up when he arrives home that Thursday.  Homemade food is always better than frozen, but some nights there is no other choice.

So, while others are cleaning off bikes and storing skis, I will be cleaning and preparing for Passover.