Spring cleaning and Passover food

It’s April and there’s a lot of spring cleaning going on in the Tri-Cities and other places. Garry and I really aren’t doing any of it because we’ve only been here for a month and are still putting stuff I paid to move away. (Or trying to find space for it all!) But I digress. We Jews did our cleaning more than a week ago, before Passover, and that’s what a lot of this week’s edition will be about. Food.

Passover could’ve been a whole lot worse. It’s never really a pleasure with the special brands of everything and out-of-control prices. I really like matzah and can eat more than most, even (especially) plain. And living where I am, I thought I’d have to. There’s not much of a selection in these here parts. (Plain matzah was my breakfast for a week.)

I haven’t been one of those people who takes pictures of their food and posts it on Facebook right away. I leave that to others. Yes, there was this one on my first Passover day at work (matzah with jelly).

Luckily, Garry has really become a yiddishe mama, a ballabusta. (Note to Garry: Look them up.) He quenched my hunger with matzah ball soup, apple and raisin kugel that was so sweet he thought it was a dessert (delicious!), so many fruits and potatoes, not to mention matzah! He didn’t think we needed the five pound set of boxes and we fought over it, but I was right.

I mean, three variations of matzah brei, until he found what I like. (Not too hard, and definitely not too soft.)

A lot of thanks goes to the computer and, of course, Garry’s good sense to use it. There are multiple recipes for everything, which really shouldn’t be surprising, considering a population that invented agreeing to disagree. He even found kosher delivery services that are less expensive than the kosher Winn-Dixie in Aventura! My mother said she is proud of him.

Some other holiday highlights: Gnocchi and sauce from actual tomatoes, because tomato sauce from a can is not kosher for Passover.

Also, fresh basil chopped up (nothing processed) and kosher salt. Plus, lots of fruits and vegetables. Not to mention more matzah.

In case you were wondering, this is the first time Garry actually asked to be in the blog (the text, not the pics). You’ve seen him at Food City before. Now, he wants a fryer. I think he earned it.

In other news, this week, one of the reporters asked me how I am liking it here. She is relatively new also. Started in September. I told her I like it but I haven’t seen so much. Usually, I wake up and rush to work. When I get home, I’m exhausted, eat what Garry prepared, and go to sleep. I told her I needed to get out and see the other two of the Tri-Cities!

Last night, Garry and I discovered Johnson City and ate our first non-Passover meal there. We’d actually driven through J.C. (as they call it, not Jesus Christ or Julius Caesar) on the highway with ice and sleet on the way up. It’s nice to see places I’ve written about (the woman from Piney Flats arrested, etc.). We even got to see the airport in Blountville along the way (okay, drive through it, my fault). It was tiny and looked closed! Anyway, that makes 2 of the 3 Tri-Cities. Kingsport, you’re next!

Luckily, I like most of the work and all of the people, even if I don’t know all their names.

Some accomplishments this week: getting into a routine with breaking news (Emory & Henry’s NCAA probation) and reframing images that don’t fit every type of box (the Amber Alert girl, who was found safe after two hours, by the way). I learned to take national IB Lakana stories and localize them, so I can manipulate sections, and also change the Job Opportunities page which is harder than it looks.

Let’s not forget the “Watch News 5 Live” button. It’s a big deal. People couldn’t find the live stream under News on the navigation bar, so the sales and promotions departments wanted it. Anything that helps!

One other event from this week to note: There hadn’t been any decent offers to rent the Miami condo, so I’m now considering selling it. We’ll see which happens first. (Did I mention the pool? Or that pets are allowed?)

Time to wrap (takes hours to make this perfect) and eat lunch (pasta and beans, which I couldn’t have for a week), then get rid of a few more boxes. Less than a month until Mom and Dad come to visit. Don’t worry, you’ll be safe!