Who’s in the kitchen: Hey, what’s up Doc?

I might as well start getting ready for Shavuot. It seems Chanukah was just yesterday. How is it possible it’s almost Pesach??? Here we go again….the shopping, cleaning, preparing, cooking, serving and not to mention another Pesach article I have to come up with. Last year I came up with two really funny ones, not sure I can top those. I suggest you look them up on the Internet, seriously.

Those first feelings of panic started about two weeks ago when I was shopping at Gourmet Glatt. Whatever I looked for was in another aisle, due to all the Pesach items arriving. Not that I was in any way ready to start shopping, but I decided to stroll through the aisles to have a look. Not expecting anything to shout out to me, as I thought I had seen everything possible last year….but there it was, how was it we were able to do without it in the past? There in front of me, was marshmallow filled, chocolate covered “locusts.” Why is it no one ever thought of it before? What’s next, flavored ices in the shape of boils? Oy, I sound like those people who think having anything except the basics, as we had fifty years ago, is sacrilegious. Truth is, with the influx of innovative Passover products in the market today, it’s safe to say that we don’t have to subsist on just matzah, gefite fish, borsht, eggs, macaroons and potatoes, potatoes and more potatoes. I know I tend to make fun of all the newfangled products. But I have to admit, I also end up buying some of them in the end. When my kids were younger and the Pesach version of the cold breakfast cereals were unveiled, I thought “I can’t believe they have this for Pesach! It’s ridiculous.” Then I proceeded to place seven boxes into my shopping cart (hey they only contained about five ounces of cereal each). Good thing, as that first year they were sold out the week before the yom tov even started. At $5.89 a box it killed me to throw out six boxes after the chag. They did look like the real thing…until the milk hit the bowl. So, you’d think I’d learned my lesson, right? Um, no. Every year I fall for some new enticing item, and every year I say to myself “not going to fall for this next year.” And so it goes…..