Solving The "Puzzle," First Passover in New Kitchen

Without a doubt, I am extraordinary pleased with the relative ease I had switching my new kitchen into Passover mode, setting it up for Pesach. Even though I made no real/expense effort to plan/build cabinets special for Passover, there ended up being quite a bit of easy to reach/no need to switch cabinets. 

One of the reasons I didn't want to spend extra is because we're not getting any older--meaning that not only don't I host humongous s'darim anymore but even ad meah esrim-we don't have too many left. But that's also a reason to make the Passover switch easier. Yes, that doesn't make sense completely, but we managed to pull it off. And, no, I didn't hire a kitchen planner. Our son-in-law and I planned the kitchen, with one super brilliant tweak by the guy who was hired to be in charge of and do the shuiputz, renovation.

Our kitchen isn't all that big, but it's not small either. My priorities when planning were to have room for two standard Israeli ovens and two separate full-sized sinks. And I have them.

The dairy sink is an "island," and instead of an eating counter, there are closets underneath facing the dining room table. Those closets are full, actually were partially empty, of dairy and parve Passover dishes, pots, etc. They've been empty enough for me to have stored all sorts of Passover pantry items as we purchased them. That was convenient. 

We didn't need to to much switching. I had plenty of room in the big storage drawers to add my mugs and coffee paraphernalia. Then I cleaned and covered the shelves, filling them with Passover mugs, dairy dishes, etc. The only major cabinet switch was for the meat dishes. My husband was able to climb up for that after I emptied, cleaned and covered the shelves. 

My biggest challenge was covering the counters. I was overjoyed to discover that the "oil cloth" I had bought a couple of years ago was more than sufficient to cover all. Cutting to fit required a lot of brain power, engineering skills. I'm very proud that I pulled it off. Here are some photos.

Tonight is the Pesach/Passover Seder, Gd willing, and it is also Shabbat. Blessings and Joy to All.

Shabbat Shalom

Chag Kasher v'Sameach

May You have a Peaceful Shabbat and Joyful and Kosher Passover

An Added Advantage/Bonus From Our Kitchen Renovations

I blogged yesterday about how much I'm enjoying our new kitchen, there's something I left out. Renovating the kitchen required going through all sorts of things, sorting, throwing them out, giving them away and also finding items we're happy to use but forgot we had.

No doubt we're not the only people who just let possessions pile up until the mess is overwhelming just to think about. We aren't great at clearing out stuff. Our stuff increases like yeast dough on a hot day. Or you can say that "clutter is our middle name."

One of the things I found when taking apart, emptying closets etc of the old kitchen was this Havdala candle. Tonight we finally used it, about three years after we got it.

My New Kitchen, Am I Happy With It? Is It Worth The Expense?

For those who have followed the saga of my new kitchen and those who are wondering if it's worth going through all the hassle and expense, I must say that I'm really glad that we did it.

We moved in this house over thirty years ago, and although it was custom designed from head to toe in every way, I must admit that there were elements in the kitchen that were problematic from day one. I did have some really good things which I enjoyed from day one until the very last day.

We have a strictly kosher kitchen, so two sinks on two different walls were a necessity for me. Yes, there are people who manage with side-by-side sinks and double sinks, which I had until then. And when we were living in London on shlichut (doing Jewish Zionist youth work) we only had one sink, for which I needed bowls and had to be more organized.

Another really good thing I had in the old kitchen was a "table" jutting out of the wall, large enough for all the kids to sit around. In the middle of it was a raised section with heat-proof tiles, the same as we had on the walls. And instead of table legs, there was a closet where I kept tablecloths and other kitchen items. Today, that's my heat-proof cabinet for candlesticks. We just had the "table" part sawed off. This piece was my design, so I'm really glad that it could be transitioned and used even now.

In addition, we had plenty of closet space. Another of my demands/requirements/designs was a wall of closets, not very deep, with bookshelves on the side. And that remains in use to this day. The only change is that I got rid of all my cookbooks and sundry books that had been gathering dust. Now, I have mugs and coffee accessories on the shelves.

There were some basic, serious design/planning mistakes in the old kitchen. The refrigerator is on the far left, while refrigerator doors open to the left.  Decades ago, it wasn't a problem, because one could easily have the door switched. Nowadays, unless you have plenty of space and money for a four-door model, it's extremely hard to find one that can have the door switched. Ours is now over ten years old, and it was almost impossible to find one. Our refrigerator is now on the right side of a wall.

One really bad mistake our contractor did was to order the kitchen cabinets to fit our old appliances, the ones we had when building the house. I caught the mistake before the kitchen cabinets were brought to the house, and we gave the refrigerator more space. That's because I had already bought a new wider one. But we ended up with the super small niche for the stove/oven, which was awful. First of all, by the time we had to replace the old one, they don't last forever, there were very few that size still on the market. And in all honesty, I was getting very frustrated baking in super tiny ovens. My dream was to have two full-size (by Israeli standards obviously) ovens, one for meat and one for parve/dairy. BTW, the meat oven hasn't had any chametz, so kashering it for Passover isn't problematic. And the second oven has never had dairy baked in it, so it's really parve.

In addition, the original kitchen was designed for a young family with five children and lots of visiting kids and family. Today, we have an "empty nest" and entertain mostly for Shabbat meals.

Luckily I was able to save a bit of money by not paying a professional kitchen planner. My son-in-law and I planned it, with one little tweak by the guy I found to "do," or more accurately be in charge of all aspects of the renovations.

The old kitchen had upper cabinets to the ceiling on all the walls. Now we have almost none, and amazingly we have more storage space. The lower cabinets are drawers, except for the "island." And instead of an awful impossible to easily access corner cabinet, we have the meat sink there.  And under the sink there's space for the large meat oven trays and the "platta," the large electric food warmer used on Shabbat, plus the covers for it.

I replaced the old "children's table" with another custom designed piece. The new island has the dairy sink and facing the dining room table is a cabinet full of Passover dishes. That island also has a spot to sit and countertop space for dish-drainer and food preparations. 

Of course I now have two full-sized ovens. They are on the left, where the refrigerator used to be. And the fridge is where the old stove used to be. I feel like there's tons more counter space than before, although it may just be an illusion.

The color scheme, wall tiles, formica etc are attractive, as far as I'm concerned. I haven't seen this combination anyplace else. But since aesthetics are very individual, that's not important. I also liked the old kitchen, and the wall of closets that remain blend in all right. There's an option to replace the doors, but I decided that the expense wasn't worthwhile.

Two things my husband kept asking people before we got started was:

How long did you have to suffer without a kitchen?
And did you have to move out of your house while the renovations were going on?

So to answer those questions, it took two weeks until we could begin using the new kitchen, and we never had to move out of the house.

During the two weeks we didn't have a kitchen, we managed without really cooking in the house. I prepared more sandwiches than I had for a long time. We ate out and at neighbors. I also heated and cooked a bit at neighbors and brought the food home. I also used the electric "hot plate," which had been my "stove" for two years. Since it was precarious when mounted on the laundry room sink, I used it only when very desperate. Two weeks aren't forever.

Now cooking is such a pleasure. And I love baking in my new ovens.

Yes, getting a new kitchen was certainly worth the expense and the hassle. 

Following are a variety of photos taken in my new kitchen.

The plug/wire for the light has been fixed since then.

Here's my recycled closet

Practical Low Tech Kitchen Gadget

For someone like me who eats and cooks lots of fresh fruit and vegetables this little sink hanging insert seems like a great idea.

I found it in the Naaman Outlet, Pisgat Zeev Mall, when I was there to buy a dish-drainer. Instead of having to clutter my counter with a plastic strainer for the wet produce, I can now let it drip into the sink.

Before buying it, I had to ascertain that it would be a suitable size.  That was more complicated, since my sink is a bit larger than standard. First I called my husband who was home and asked him to measure the sink. Then I checked all of the labels on the drainer to see who large it is. No dimensions listed, so I asked the young clerk who was manning the shop for a tape measure. He didn't have one. So I looked around at other items of similar sizes to find something with measurements, and I found one. Then I compared the size of the drainer with that item and visually calculated the approximate size. According to my estimate, it should fit, so I bought it. And I also explained to the young clerk what I had done and demonstrated to him. I added that he should request from his boss a tape measure or they may lose sales.

There wasn't a color that really matched my kitchen, so I chose the lilac for fun.

Cooking in New Kitchen, B"H

Yesterday, although it's still a mess in my house, I began cooking for Shabbat. I used both ovens, though not simultaneously. Since they are large and have a turbo setting I could even use more than one tray at a time. That's a timesaver for sure. I bought Electrolux which is larger inside than the Sauter.

Some of the cooking/baking was done in bulk so I won't need to do it weekly. Challot and cakes freeze well for sure. I may have enough challah rolls to get me through most of the fall Jewish Holidays, Rosh Hashanah, pre/post Yom Kippur meals, Succot and Simchat Torah, depending on how many guest we have and meals we're invited out. The cakes will be enough for a few weeks, especially if I make my traditional Rosh Hashanah Applesauce Cake. And I already froze some of the baked chicken breasts.

So, yesterday's cooking/baking was truly a time investment, besides learning how to use the new ovens.

For those wondering about oven temperatures, something I never paid attention to with my old oven,* I sort of followed the guidelines on the inside of the oven doors:

To whet your appetite, here are some photos of my cooking/baking experiments from yesterday:

Challah recipe

Simple Basic Cake**, with blended banana and mango rescued from the freezer

These Chicken Breasts were simply layered over sliced onion and topped with tomatoes, dehydrated basil and coarsely grated pepper. I baked them covered with foil. I could see their cooking progress, since I used a pyrex baking pan. (Recipe)

Oven Baked Chicken, the food my kids consider my specialty

Besides enjoying the ovens, I'm super happy to be finally cooking on gas after almost two years of using an old two burner electric "hot plate."

The kitchen is almost completely organized. I think that all of the chametz dishes and pots are stored, but I will need help with the Passover things which will be on higher shelves. More updates, Gd willing, in future posts.

Bottom Line:

Was the expense and chaos of a new kitchen worth it?
YES!

*The numbers had long been rubbed/cleaned off the old oven, so it was like telling time from a sundial. 

**I made a few small changes, cinnamon instead of vanilla, and the blended banana and mango instead of some of the water. That's the beauty of the recipe; it's very adjustable.

Kitchen Chaos, Almost in Order

Here's just a sneak view of how my kitchen has been progressing. I am not finished setting it up and cleaning up the mess. And there are still a few things for the "kitchen guy" to complete or tweak.

But the great thing is that it already functions. Yes, I have a stove with four burners, including one large one with a double flame. And I have two large, by Israeli standards, ovens. Actually, the outer size is considered standard, needing a 60 centimeter cabinet, but I got Electrolux, because the actual oven capacity is a bit larger than the other lower priced ones. My previous ovens were tiny, like the size of a large microwave. I had always had a small, about 57 centimeter "one piece" stove that had double-ovens.

When we moved into our Jerusalem apartment in 1971 that was standard and considered very modern. Unfortunately, our "old kitchen" was planned around those stove measurements and there was no way to upgrade to a larger stove/oven without redoing the entire kitchen. It took quite a few years of misery on my part until enough of the old kitchen deteriorated to warrant these major renovations.

The sinks are also a teeny bit larger than I had before and much prettier and better quality. I have almost no upper cabinets compared to our previous kitchen, and the lower ones have drawers, except for those in the "island" for Passover.

Before the new kitchen had actually been built and until I started putting things away, I kept vacillating between confidence that there would be plenty of room for everything and fear that there wouldn't be enough room. As a consequence I had decided that if there isn't enough room I'd just give things away or throw them out. In the end, I've discovered that I have tons of extra space, especially the high shelves, which we didn't need to build at all.

Gd willing, next week I'll blog more about the kitchen with pictures and explanations.

PS I must say that thank Gd we survived the two weeks sans kitchen pretty well. It was easier than I had thought it would be. The first week I was in shock and had trouble functioning, but after a few days I did better. My neighbors were very helpful and generous. We also spent an entire Shabbat with our daughter and her family in Ofra.