NOTE: Gilda Radner, one of my favorite comediennes, made this saying popular and it popped into my head this morning when I was cleaning out my spice cabinet.

Every Passover I clean out my kitchen cabinets, but did not get to the spice & baking cabinet until today, the next-to-the-last day of Passover. The first jar I pulled out was turmeric and the lid came off and spilled yellow powder all over the kitchen floor. First I just wiped it up with a rag. Then I added some non-chlorine bleach, but even that did not remove the yellow from the grout. Finally, I decided to do the whole floor, using a combination of soap and bleach. Of course, as I was going back and forth between the kitchen and the laundry room opposite the kitchen, I saw water on the floor, so I had to empty that room and mop it up with another rag. I also noticed that the plastic tub holding my washing liquid was dirty, so of course I had to wash that while doing the kitchen floor.

Back in the kitchen the rug under the sink had some yellow on one edge, so I washed that part and hung it over the railing in the dining room. In the dining room I saw that the floor (same as the kitchen) looked dirty, so I swept the kitchen floor and the dining room floor before mopping. When I leaned down to wash under the sink, I saw that the kick plate to the refrigerator was also yellow and there were some dark areas under the sink as well, so I got an old toothbrush from the cabinet under the sink and scrubbed those areas.

Of course, once I went under the sink, I realized I had not cleaned that for Passover, so I emptied the cabinet and wiped it down before starting on the floor. Finally, I filled the sink with soapy water and non-chlorine bleach and scrubbed the floor to remove as much of the turmeric as possible. Then I emptied the sink after washing the mop and scrubbed down the sink so it would not have floor water residue.

Actually, I took care of the spices somewhere in between all of this, but no longer sure of the chronology.  But when the floor was dry, I remembered that the drawer under the stove that holds my aprons and some baking stuff had not been cleaned in months, so I emptied that, washed it down, rearranged the aprons and put everything back.

By the time I finished, two hours must have passed. I think I started around 7:30 am and wasn’t finished until close to 10 am, making a few phone calls in between. Figured that was enough exercise for the day. The kitchen capers replaced the gym. When I related the story to my husband, he said,”Well, at least now you have a clean kitchen!” True, but I felt like I was in a computer, jumping from link to link, with each chore triggering another link.

Of course, I threw all the rags in the wash with no  other clothes, thank goodness. (Good ecology to use rags, no?) But I did add the two bathroom mats. I used more of the non-chlorine bleach and figured everything would come out white. Not so! Now I have yellow mats (fortunately my bathroom has yellow in its color scheme), yellow rags, and yellow ties on my white apron. Lucky for me I like yellow!

One thing I did learn. If I ever want to dye something yellow, all I have to do is reach for the turmeric. Why don’t food companies use that instead of yellow dye #5 or other fake dyes* that could be harmful? Beats me!

* The Center for Science in the public Interest put out a booklet on dyes and their harmful effects. If you want a copy, email Center For Science in the Public Interest. It is called Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks. Their website is:www.cspinet.org/.

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