Off to the Passover Races

 

Last night, with the help of my kids and my husband we switched over the house to Passover mode.

You may ask why I switch the house so early. One reason is that's how my parents used to do it. They switched the house over early and that way the cooking could all take place  in relative calm.

Getting ready for Passover this way means that I am not screaming at my family and I am also not falling asleep at the Seder table.

Some of what we do to prepare for the holiday is law and some of the other things we do is tradition.

My kitchen floor gets mopped weekly.

However i start my Passover preparations by removing the year's wax from the floor. As I worked away this year I remember joining my father on our kitchen floor with a scrub brush and a bucket of Mr. Clean and the two of us deep cleaned the kitchen floor together. Once the floor is done,  I can turn to the rest of the preparations.

Another task that falls under the tradition category is changing our kitchen window curtain. I usually staple one or another collection of vintage textiles to the wooden header board of a paper shade that bit the dust a few decades ago.

This is this year's curtain. An eyelet edged bedsheet with buttonholes to button onto a wool blanket and a kitchen cabinet curtain. Both hail from around 1910 or so. The cabinet curtain reads, "My hearth is my pride". I find it amusing. 

I got our front window washed and washed our curtains.

I did the same for our bedroom curtains but didn't take photos. 

Today we rented a car and drive to Bingo in Monsey, the frum answer to Costco. Why would we go to such effort?

The brisket is now in me fridge and will be cooked in the next day or so.

The chicken bones, all twenty or so pounds of them, are now simmering away in my giant soup pot along with tons of root vegetables.

While there are many things to love about  Bingo, the excellent prices, the beautiful produce and the great variety of Passover goods, I am particularly fond of their toy department.

My husband and I showed some self control and didn't visit the toys until we were done with our shopping 

They sell a wide selection of Menchies, little figurines that depict different aspects of Haredi life.

Here is a set with a Chassidic father and son ready to celebrate Passover.

A Chassidic older couple 

A Litvish older couple. Grandma is wearing such a short skirt! 

Here's the Litvish father and son celebrating Passover.

Menchies also come in bigger sets.

I loved the hat store

They also had a Minyan set.

It lets you set up your own service! 

This is the babysitter set. I was a bit shocked by the adult to child ratio.  None little ones and only one adult, I don't think that's legal in New York State.

This is a Simcha Car.  It lights up and plays music for joyous events.

Hatzalah is an ambulance service that functions primarily in religious communities (and also in mixed communities like mine). 

Bingo also carries products that you just won't find elsewhere.

This is a special Passover slipcover for your loveseat.

Judaism is an especially good religion for people who need to be exact about things.  The unit of measure one needs to eat of, say, matzah is a k'zayit the size of an olive. What if you don't know exactly how much that is?

Here are two products that will help you be sure that you consume exactly the right amount of the foods that are a mitzvah to eat.

The cooking portion of Passover prep has begun. I will keep you posted on my progress.

And one last photo from Bingo, a bonus for Hebrew readers.