The 8 days that stretch to a month
It gets me every year. The stores are so intent on Pesach stock that a customer finds it difficult to find regular non-Pesach food. For example, last week, I wanted to pick up some drinks for my girls to pack for school. In Brach's the strategy is to have Pesach foods take over all the main aisles and squeeze all the other stuff into the back. I could deal with that. But they also managed to pile a wall of boxes right in front of the drinks. I had to ask for help for someone to climb up and reach behind the boxes. I was not going to attempt such a climb myself. I have stood on shelves just to reach high up, but reach up and behind boxes was more than I cared to venture on.
Now for those who clear everything out of their homes to be ready for Pesach a solid 2 weeks in advance, it is fine to have only Pesach foods available. But as my kids do not want to be on meat and potatoes and are restricted from matza due to the minhag of not eating it during Nissan, we still are on regular food, at least until next week. Stretching the Pesach diet to weeks before actually increases the food bill. The options then are limited to Pesach certified at Pesach prices or eating out in restaurants, which adds up to a lot of money, even for the cheapest option of pizza. It also percludes the easy option of boiling up a pot of pasta, one of the cheapest foods around and a perenniel favorite for my children. They could happily eat it for lunch or supper, though we do try to avoid having it for both meals on the same day. That is why I bought several boxes even with Pesach looming on the horizon.
In any case, this Pesach will likely be stretched to the Shabbos following given the Thursday end. My children have already grumbled about that. So a stetch of even more time before is not welcome to them.
Now for those who clear everything out of their homes to be ready for Pesach a solid 2 weeks in advance, it is fine to have only Pesach foods available. But as my kids do not want to be on meat and potatoes and are restricted from matza due to the minhag of not eating it during Nissan, we still are on regular food, at least until next week. Stretching the Pesach diet to weeks before actually increases the food bill. The options then are limited to Pesach certified at Pesach prices or eating out in restaurants, which adds up to a lot of money, even for the cheapest option of pizza. It also percludes the easy option of boiling up a pot of pasta, one of the cheapest foods around and a perenniel favorite for my children. They could happily eat it for lunch or supper, though we do try to avoid having it for both meals on the same day. That is why I bought several boxes even with Pesach looming on the horizon.
In any case, this Pesach will likely be stretched to the Shabbos following given the Thursday end. My children have already grumbled about that. So a stetch of even more time before is not welcome to them.
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