Mommyplumber

Or how to unclog the toilet without calling the plumber.

If you have kids, or spouses or house guests, at some point you will be faced with the dreadful sound of rising water in the toilet bowl and then silence. In my house it's followed by a call to action: "Mommyplumber!" Let's face it, the one that wields the plunger is the one with the true power around the house. So here's how to... unclog a toilet.

A Jewish Girl's Easter

"Tick, Tock! TIck Tock!" said the metronome. My son was tickling the ivories and playing around with his new metronome. "Tick, Tock! Tick, Tock!" I stared at 10 lbs of baby red potatoes that I just dumped into the sink. Every single potato has sprouted. "Tick, Tock! Tick, Tock!" the metronome pounded into my head. The potatoes were intended as yet another side dish for the Easter meal tomorrow. I wasn't planning on peeling them. I was planning on dressing them up and cooking them whole with their pretty red skins on. An easy dish to prepare. "Tick, Tock! Tick, Tock!" I wanted to shut that metronome up but I couldn't mess with my son's creative process. I looked at the potatoes. The little green sprouts looked back in defiance. By this point I already cooked 14 lbs of corned beef (that came from an Irish butcher on the South Side of Chicago), made 3 appetizers and crostini for a fourth, made a honey mustard sauce, balsamic vinaigrette, boiled a dozen eggs to be deviled later, cleaned the house, and washed all the serveware. And worked a part time job in the morning. "Tick, Tock! Tick, Tock!" I took a deep breath and, in an act of potato desperation, leaned on a quote from My Big Fat Greek Wedding: "I peel da potatoes." I grabbed my peeler and declared war.