Pesach notes

[magid]

• If buying only olive oil for cooking, get two small or one tall container(s).
  
• The foil pans from the Butcherie were noticeably weaker than others I've gotten. Get more from somewhere else next year. (I used about four this year.)
  
• Not surprisingly, the matza cover is pareve. So are all the disposable containers.
  
• Consider getting a new corkscrew that uses a known technology.
  
• Also to get: more plastic plates, one or two more pareve serving implements (possibly salad tongs?)(if plastic, white or dark green), more ziploc-style bags (quart and gallon, perhaps also sandwich size), masking tape.
  
• Other supplies I already have: lots of aluminum foil, plastic cups, napkins, plasticware (the white stuff is pareve), plastic to cover counters (etc), dishsoap.
  
• If I have an unopened box of canning jars, think about acquiring kosher for Passover booze to make boozy (dried) fruit (for the next year), and organic lemons for preserved lemons (also, need to get marbles or some other inert thing to weigh the lemons down appropriately).
  
• Pay attention to what I'm tending to cook; I barely used jam this year, and would've liked some butter. Other years it's different.
  
• Slivered almonds are good in salad or in chocolate; walnuts are good spiced or in chocolate. Consider what I might do with ground nuts before automatically buying.
  
• Food I already have for next year: powdered sugar, cinnamon, ginger, ground black pepper, salt, cayenne, basil, three 28-ounce cans of crushed tomato, a 3-ounce can of tuna, a 26-ounce jar of pasta sauce, one ounce of dried mushrooms, a small (11-ounce) can of mandarin oranges, a 10.5-ounce pop-top can of fried eggplant in tomato sauce, and a 12-ounce jar of hot pepper and eggplant spread.
  
• Four eggplant spreads wasn't quite enough when hosting three meals in addition to solo ones.
  
• The back stairwell shelves are very useful for putting stuff away.
  
• Putting the microwave away meant a lot more counterspace for food storage. Do this again.
  
• Fresh-fruit compote is a good thing (cranberry-rhubarb in particular), in addition to dried-fruit compote.
  
• Taking off for all of the holiday is nice, but I need to anchor time better with at least one thing planned/day, including yom tov.
  
• Fish is good, but the frozen stuff takes more than a day to defrost fully. Also, the boxes of salmon fillet have three pieces each.
  
• Most Pesach things are stored in the usual space, but some are in the cabinet above the refrigerator.
  
• Getting interesting stuff for salads (cans of hearts of palm, nuts, olives, etc) is a good thing.
  
• I'll very likely have seders to go to next year; don't stress about it.
  
• Check which meats Trader Joe's has kosher for Passover before planning menus.
  
• If making meatloaf, it's worth buying ketchup (plus something spicy for the inside) and matza meal.
  
• I used a bit more than three pounds of mazta; I could easily host four meals on four pounds of matza.

Also, see previous years' notes.

Comments

[hyounpark.livejournal.com]

I just buy my olive oil by the tin. But then I really love olive oil. mmmmmm, oil.

Homerly,
Hyoun

[magid.livejournal.com]

The rest of the year, I get mine from Trader Joe's. Finding stuff kosher for Passover can be a pain; most of the stuff I buy on a regular basis is only kosher for the rest of the year.

(Not Homerically?)

[cellio]

Consider getting a new corkscrew that uses a known technology.

This piques my curiosity about the unknown technology you're currently using.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Something rather like this, which looks like it should work just fine, but it took three people quite a long time to extract one cork using it; my rest-of-year one is much easier.

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

For some reason I hadn't thought you could eat dried or preserved food during passover.

[magid.livejournal.com]

There are people who only eat fresh food made in their own home during Passover. They also tend to avoid vegetables that can't be peeled, and probably a lot of other things, too. They're definitely to the right of me, so obviously they're right-wing religious wackos :-).

I'm fine with prepared (canned/frozen/whatever) foods that are certified kosher for Passover. I don't tend to buy a lot of the categories other people find indispensible (fake cakes and cookies, fr'instance), but there are some things I adore, like eggplant spreads.