You’re probably feeling out of sync with me, reading about my gardening plans when it’s time to get ready for Pesach.  🙂  Just so you know I still remember what week long holiday is coming, I’ll share what we’re doing about Pesach cooking.  We did some Pesach cooking before Shabbos – so far, we’ve made and frozen two kinds of ice creams, baked chicken, carrot kugel, apple kugel, vegetable matza kugel, moussaka, kishke, and mocha squares.  

I planned to go the vegetable store early this morning to get enough to hold us through all of yom tov, but thanks to dh having my car keys in his pocket and being far away, that will wait until tomorrow morning.  Fortunately I have enough flexibility in my schedule that doing my errands tomorrow won’t throw me off.  We’ll do our cooking today with what we have on hand (I think I have basically all I need, except for beets, but I’d like to get some more veggies for fresh salads). 

With so many meals to prepare, I find it easiest to quadruple up on recipes, making several pans of the same thing at one time, put some in the freezer, and pull out a selection of what I want for each meal.  Then it doesn’t feel like much work, it can be spread out over a few days very easily, and we end up with a really nice choice of dishes.  So I start bulking up on recipes when I cook for the Shabbos before Pesach (since the kitchen is turned over by then), and the things in the freezer are for all of yom tov as well as the Shabbos right after Pesach. 

Here’s what we’re planning to make for today:

• chocolate cake
• marble cake
• apple pie w/almond crust
• fruit sorbet
• jello with pineapple and sliced strawberries
• chocolate chip cookies
• mock oatmeal raisin cookies
• meatloaf
• meat balls
• roast chicken
• confetti vegetable kugel
• potato kugel
• quinoa pilaf
• tomato bruschetti salad
• California pickle salad
• cole slaw
• health salad

Different children have requested to make different dishes, so it’s split up pretty evenly between them.  Ds6 is a partner with dd14, dd8 is a partner with dd12 in addition to making one dessert on her own.  Ds10 has been peeling carrots and apples so they’ll be ready when someone needs it while waiting for his turn to make something.  Ds3 is with his grandparents having a birthday trip.  And me?  I’m here with you.  :)))  

Tomorrow we’ll make beet salad, carrot salad, baked apples, and do all the laundry.  A couple of cooked vegetable dishes and fresh salads (including charoses) will be made on erev Pesach.  And that should be basically all of the cooking done through the Shabbos after Pesach, except for breakfasts and lunches until Pesach, and then chol hamoed meals. 

Avivah