OK. Take a deep breath. You have come this far. Your house is clean. Your shopping has been done. Errands have been taken care of. Give your kitchen a final clean. The steps you followed in Passover Prep – Clean Your Kitchen have paved the way for the final clean. Go over these steps again, paying even more attention to detail, and putting away all your chametz items that don’t need to remain on the counters. We close up our pantry for Passover, selling the contents within, and we put the toaster and the cookie jar and all those items that are out on the counter during the year are stored inside during Passover. Tape up the cabinets that will not be used over Passover.
Once everything is put away you can get to work on the counters and the sinks. I would advise you at this point to consult with your local Rabbi about the correct method of kashering your counters for the holiday. Some people steam their counters, some pour boiling water, some do both AND cover them as well.
Sinks take a little longer to clean and kasher. The way I have been taught (and please check with your rabbi) is that the sinks must be cleaned thoroughly, and must sit for 24 hours without being used. After 24 hours the sinks can be kashered by pouring boiling water over the entire surface. If you are using inserts for your sinks, the sinks still need to be cleaned and kashered.
Before you start covering counters and unpacking Passover boxes, take a moment to look around at your sparkling clean kitchen and know that you have done a great job.
Your kitchen is now ready to start cooking up a Passover storm.
ACTION: Boil up the kettle and enjoy a nice cup of tea, put your feet up and take 10 minutes of peace and quiet to yourself.
DINNER TONIGHT: Now it gets a little tricky to feed everyone. There is no more chametz in the house, but you cannot eat matzah yet. The kosher restaurants are usually over run with people the week before Pesach, but that just adds more stress to the family budget. What can one cook? Here’s a great suggestion: Sausage and peppers. There are some great Kosher for Passover sausages out there – this is a dish everyone can enjoy. You can even crack some eggs in there too, scramble them up.
Leave a Reply