Passover is coming! Passover is coming!

Today is my day to clean. And not just the bathroom or vacuum the rugs. Passover is coming, so we're talking SERIOUS cleaning!

So far today I have cleaned out the toaster (how many crumbs were in there - can we say "Fire Hazard"?) and scrubbed down the coffee maker, took all my cooking and baking foods out of the cabinets, sorting them into piles of Kosher for Passover and Chumutz (non-Kosher for Passover), scrubbing out the shelves in said cabinets, and putting all Kosher for Passover foods back in the cabinets. All other foods went into either one cabinet that we won't open for the week of Passover or a box. My children have now learned that there is a tradition to "sell" your non-kosher food to someone who is not Jewish and then "buy" it back when Passover is done, so I'm going to have to call my neighbors to find someone willing to store a box of food for the week. The kids are very excited about this idea.

My goal is to be done the kitchen in the next hour and a half. At two I need to be at my in-laws for Easter egg dying with the kids (yes, I'm aware of the incongruity of these two events). When I return I will begin my baking for the week, starting with the Kosher "bagels" my Aunt Yetta passed down to my mom who passed it down to me (or at least she will when I call her as I do every year to get the recipe - you'd think I'd finally write down my own copy).

And my timer just went off, so my ten-minute break is over. Back to work!