And now onto the Passover prep portion of our programming....

 Some of my lovely readers have been asking me how the kiddush went on Shabbat. The little lunch for 150 or so that my friend Sara and I cooked was lovely. Several people commented on our excellent choice of caterer only to find out that we had made all of it  (with the exception of the challah rolls).

I also want to shout out to the excellent maintenance staff of our synagogue. They are a crew of burly macho men who can set out a platter of  food for a crowd  in a truly elegant way. The sides of salmon were placed diagonally on  square white platters and were lovingly decorated with slices of cucumber, lemon wedges and sprigs of dill. Each dish was thoughtfully presented. Even my exacting mother would have been impressed. My mother taught me that even unappetizing food is improved if presented nicely but delicious food is raised to even better heights with nice presentation. The men outdid themselves.

Right after Shabbat ended I began cleaning my kitchen. Sunday my daughter joined me to help me do the big  Passover switch-eroo. It was just the two of us working away and we got the job done in something like three hours.

The Passover meat dishes are all put away in their proper places, and so is everything else.

Yes, you are noticing a bit of crazing in the center of our big roast platter but given that these dishes were made in the 1920s, that is to be expected.

My first task after switching over the house was to start the soup. I went to buy root vegetables in the local market.

I hadn't planned on putting leek in our soup but after finding such a gigantic and gorgeous leek I knew that it had to be added to the soup. I could have defended myself against a potential mugger by wielding the leek. But luckily my neighborhood is much safer than it was forty years ago and there was no need to defend my self against a potential attacker. The leek was 

 cut and well washed before being added to my soup. In addition to the onions, carrots, celery root turnip and parsnips there are just over 18 lbs. of  chicken bones  in my pot.

The soup is still simmering away. Tomorrow is soup straining day. Wish me strength.

Today my downstairs neighbor brought me to a new Mecca of kosher shopping, Bingo, a Glatt Kosher sort of Costco.

The Bingo building also housed a Polish and Slavic bank and a health center.

The store is huge. The produce is gorgeous and well priced.  The fish was priced comparably to Costco. I bought three first-cut brisket for 6.99(!) per pound.

This is just one of them, I didn't think to take photos until after I had sliced up two of them.

To bags of sliced brisket are now awaiting their star turn on the first night of Passover  in the freezer.

In addition to the sorts of things one expects to find in a kosher market, like meat and produce and dairy Bingo also sells toys for kids.

 

I didn't take photos of the matza covers available for sale or the plastic wine cups made to look like

silver ones.

The prices are so good that locals who are not necessarily Jewish shop there as well.

I couldn't find EVERYTHING I needed for the holiday, but I did get most of  what I needed and I wasn't horrified by the total of my bill.

Our beet eggs are now marinating away in preparation for Seder.

I loved spending the day with my friend. I loved wandering the streets of Boro Park with her. it is such a joy to walk in a neighborhood willed with locally owned stores.

My cooking and food shopping are done for the day.