Tips for a Successful Passover

The Jewish holiday of Passover begins on the night of April 18 this year, but as anyone who celebrates this eight-day festival commemorating the Israelites' exodus from Egypt knows, getting ready takes a fair amount of time and more than a little shopping savvy.

Observant families scour their homes to rid themselves of any trace of chametz (leaven and grain), prepare an epic first- and second-night feast and hunker down for eight days of leaven-less cooking. 

Whether you're searching for a seder or selling your Costco pack of Cheerios, Patch has put together a list of tips to help you prepare. 

1. Buying the Essentials:

It's traditional to abstain from all grains (except the unleavened ones used in matzo) and legumes for the eight days of Passover, a practice that can leave some feeling a little bland...and backed up.

Over the years, companies have developed all kinds of kosher for Passover workarounds, with mixed results. You can make donuts out of potatoes, but you might not want to eat them. 

Still, there are a few Passover favorites you wait all year to try. 

Trader Joe's offers competitive prices on Empire kosher meat, as well as a variety of desserts and snack foods. It also sells quinoa, the popular South American grain recently declared kosher for use during the holiday. 

Safeway carries the staples, but buyers are encouraged to check the hecksher (kosher certificate) on most items, as KP products are frequently lumped in with the year-round kosher selection.

In addition to the pyramids of matzo and over-priced jars of jellied gefilte fish, a trip to Albertson's yielded two Passover versions of Israeli favorites: Osem soup croutons and the coveted Bissli. 

Finally, those with a more adventurous holiday palette may want to make the trek to Whole Foods, which offers a variety of prepared items that meet holiday restrictions. 

And if you don't find what you're looking for there, there's always Oakland Kosher. 

2. Finding a seder:

 In some parts of the country, finding a seder—the traditional ritual meal observed on the first two nights of the holiday—can be as easy as stumbling out your front door. (Getting reservations—not so much). Restaurants and hotels from Miami to New York offer Passover packages, but here in the Bay Area, a last-minute holiday meal can be hard to find. 

Fortunately, many Jewish Community Centers offer first-night feasts. If you prefer something a bit more traditional, three local Chabad houses—Chabad of the Tri-Valley, Chabad of the East Bay, and Chabad of Contra Costa—will be hosting seders this year. 

3. Selling your chometz:

Even if you don't scrub your house top to bottom and go searching for breadcrumbs with a feather and a candle, you may find yourself irked by the half-finished box of Cheerios on top of the refrigerator you just can't bring yourself to heave in the trash.

Take heart! As with so much of life, the traditional practice of selling chometz to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday has migrated onto the Internet. Transfer ownership of your Pop-Tarts here and put your mind at ease. 

4. Kosher Coke: 

You don't have to be Jewish to yearn for the days when Coca-Cola was made with real sugar. Because corn is considered kitniyot, a category of food forbidden on Passover, corn syrup is likewise avoided.

Since many of us can't go eight hours, much less eight days, without a can of Coke, the company puts out a special "Kosher for Passover" version of the popular soft drink. The downside? Kosher Coke gets snapped up so fast you might never find it. 

Fortunately, the glass-bottle variety fondly called "Mexican Coke" is available year-round at retailers like Smart and Final. Though it doesn't carry a hecksher, it's kosher by ingredient. 

5. A Little Light Reading:

Passover celebrates one of the most epic stories ever told: the journey of the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, through the Red Sea and into freedom. The entire purpose of the holiday is to remember and retell this piece of biblical history—which is why it's surprising there are so few good Passover movies out there.

Sure, Charlton Heston's Ten Commandments is a classic, and The Prince of Egypt (redeemed exclusively by the excellent and much missed Ofra Haza—see video) gets more tolerable after multiple viewings, but really?

Whether you're looking for something a little fresher this Passover or just getting acquainted with the holiday, try out Shalom Auslander's Plagued.