Rosh Hashana

[LaffingBear]

1. I grew up in a home where matzo brie was closer to scrambled eggs with matzo. Not omelet-style.

 

Theres no one right style for jewish food.... its all a variety of, mostly eastern european, traditions handed down through the generations. Stand up at a synagogue Hadassah meeting and ask "what's the right way to make kugel?" and be prepared to be overwhelmed.

 

2. I'm not a big onion fan. So my liver is very light on them. Mostly chicken livers, schmaltz, chopped egg.

[+ FreshFluff]

Shana tova, everyone!

[+ WilliamM]

 

Dietrich in Israel.

[beachboy]

Hauntingly beautiful. Thank you

[+ Gar1eth]

1. I grew up in a home where matzo brie was closer to scrambled eggs with matzo. Not omelet-style.

 

Theres no one right style for jewish food.... its all a variety of, mostly eastern european, traditions handed down through the generations. Stand up at a synagogue Hadassah meeting and ask "what's the right way to make kugel?" and be prepared to be overwhelmed.

 

2. I'm not a big onion fan. So my liver is very light on them. Mostly chicken livers, schmaltz, chopped egg.

 

Y'all should taste my mother's charoseth. Even the non-Jewish members of my family like it. And I'm routinely told I shouldn't take as much as I usually do, so there is enough left for others. Sometimes Mom puts an extra bowl aside for me. Mom does add Mogen David Wine to it so after a few days it seems to ferment a bit and get even stronger. I unfortunately am not home this year. But even if I were, I'm sure my Mom didn't make any. She fell and broke some fingers along with some facial cuts/bruising. Luckily the broken fingers were on her left hand. But I doubt she has felt well enough to make any.

 

Also a bit of a secret here. Mom's charoseth is still great. But it might have been a tad better before she started using a food processor to slice the apples. Now I don't think she peels the apples first. And I think she did when she used to dice by hand.

 

I don't know if Mom follows a recipe on the charoseth. I think she has a basic one and then continues by taste. Of course in Texas we use pecans as the nuts where others may use walnuts. A few others in the family have tried to make it. But it's not usually as good. A non-Jewish family member made some either last Passover or the one before. It was edible, and I told her it was good (being polite and all that)-but she didn't grow up eating it. So she has no deep ingrained memories of what it's supposed to taste like. I think those memories will help me when I finally make some -if I ever do.

 

Gman

[LaffingBear]

Y'all should taste my mother's charoseth. Even the non-Jewish members of my family like it. And I'm routinely told I shouldn't take as much as I usually do, so there is enough left for others. Sometimes Mom puts an extra bowl aside for me. Mom does add Mogen David Wine to it so after a few days it seems to ferment a bit and get even stronger. I unfortunately am not home this year. But even if I were, I'm sure my Mom didn't make any. She fell and broke some fingers along with some facial cuts/bruising. Luckily the broken fingers were on her left hand. But I doubt she has felt well enough to make any.

 

Also a bit of a secret here. Mom's charoseth is still great. But it might have been a tad better before she started using a food processor to slice the apples. Now I don't think she peels the apples first. And I think she did when she used to dice by hand.

 

I don't know if Mom follows a recipe on the charoseth. I think she has a basic one and then continues by taste. Of course in Texas we use pecans as the nuts where others may use walnuts. A few others in the family have tried to make it. But it's not usually as good. A non-Jewish family member made some either last Passover or the one before. It was edible, and I told her it was good (being polite and all that)-but she didn't grow up eating it. So she has no deep ingrained memories of what it's supposed to taste like. I think those memories will help me when I finally make some -if I ever do.

 

Gman

It represents the mortar used between the blocks/bricks hebrew slaves used to build pyramids.

 

What is mortar supposed to taste like?

[+ Gar1eth]

Y'all should taste my mother's charoseth. Even the non-Jewish members of my family like it. And I'm routinely told I shouldn't take as much as I usually do, so there is enough left for others. Sometimes Mom puts an extra bowl aside for me. Mom does add Mogen David Wine to it so after a few days it seems to ferment a bit and get even stronger. I unfortunately am not home this year. But even if I were, I'm sure my Mom didn't make any. She fell and broke some fingers along with some facial cuts/bruising. Luckily the broken fingers were on her left hand. But I doubt she has felt well enough to make any.

 

Also a bit of a secret here. Mom's charoseth is still great. But it might have been a tad better before she started using a food processor to slice the apples. Now I don't think she peels the apples first. And I think she did when she used to dice by hand.

 

I don't know if Mom follows a recipe on the charoseth. I think she has a basic one and then continues by taste. Of course in Texas we use pecans as the nuts where others may use walnuts. A few others in the family have tried to make it. But it's not usually as good. A non-Jewish family member made some either last Passover or the one before. It was edible, and I told her it was good (being polite and all that)-but she didn't grow up eating it. So she has no deep ingrained memories of what it's supposed to taste like. I think those memories will help me when I finally make some -if I ever do.

 

Gman

 

It represents the mortar used between the blocks/bricks hebrew slaves used to build pyramids.

 

What is mortar supposed to taste like?

 

Now c'mon. You know that it's only supposed to look like mortar. If it tasted like mortar, most people wouldn't want to eat it.

 

One year in my late 20's or early 30's I lived out of town and was invited over to some friends of friends for either Rosh Hashanah or Passover. I was really looking forward to getting some charoseth. Well I don't know if their family was Sephardic or not, but their charoseth was made with dates or something like that. I was extremely disappointed -although I didn't say anything.

 

Gman

[jjkrkwood]

I'm not a holiday person, except for certain foods that usually define them. Now retired, if I crave something, I just make it any old time of year. And FYI, you CAN wear white after Labor Day, so if you like

Xmas fruit cake (ewwwww) eat it all year long.

[+ Gar1eth]

I'm not a holiday person, except for certain foods that usually define them. Now retired, if I crave something, I just make it any old time of year. And FYI, you CAN wear white after Labor Day, so if you like

Xmas fruit cake (ewwwww) eat it all year long.

 

Oh yes, I eat matzah whenever I get the urge. And I've been known to dunk apples into honey anytime of the year.

 

Gman

[bostonman]

I'm making a sweet & sour pot roast with buttered noodles, Derma, matzo ball soup and latkes. Maybe a jewish "friend" will drop by ?

 

Happy New Year!

 

My immediate family has never kept kosher, so I'd surely enjoy your menu! But just be aware that more observant jews would have to pass on the buttered noodles, as mixing meat and dairy is a no-no.

 

Also, of course, latkes are a delicacy specific to Hanukkah, though no, there's no real reason why one can't have them anytime. But having them specifically on another Jewish holiday menu is a little like the assumption that Easter eggs would be a normal part of Christmas lol.

 

One of the Rosh Hashanah traditions, however, is apples and honey - a traditional representation of the sweetness of the new year. Since charoset is an apple-based confection, I suppose one could make it for Rosh Hashana - even though yes, the symbolic Passover meaning of the dish would make it a bit odd.

[+ Gar1eth]

Happy New Year!

 

My immediate family has never kept kosher, so I'd surely enjoy your menu! But just be aware that more observant jews would have to pass on the buttered noodles, as mixing meat and dairy is a no-no.

 

Also, of course, latkes are a delicacy specific to Hanukkah, though no, there's no real reason why one can't have them anytime. But having them specifically on another Jewish holiday menu is a little like the assumption that Easter eggs would be a normal part of Christmas lol.

 

One of the Rosh Hashanah traditions, however, is apples and honey - a traditional representation of the sweetness of the new year. Since charoset is an apple-based confection, I suppose one could make it for Rosh Hashana - even though yes, the symbolic Passover meaning of the dish would make it a bit odd.

My family has made charoseth for Rosh Hashanah for years. What's more apples and honey than charoseth? And I'm betting that latkes might have been more than just a Hanukkah dish in Eastern Europe-after all I'm betting potatoes were a lot cheaper than meat or chicken. Of course my family makes chicken soup with matzah balls for both Rosh Hashanah and Pesach (Passover).

 

So is mine the only family that has charoseth for Rosh Hashanah?

 

Gman

[LaffingBear]

My family has made charoseth for Rosh Hashanah for years. What's more apples and honey than charoseth? And I'm betting that latkes might have been more than just a Hanukkah dish in Eastern Europe-after all I'm betting potatoes were a lot cheaper than meat or chicken. Of course my family makes chicken soup with matzah balls for both Rosh Hashanah and Pesach (Passover).

 

So is mine the only family that has charoseth for Rosh Hashanah?

 

Gman

I only saw it on Passover.

 

Matzoh balls at every holiday, except breaking the Yom Kippur fast.

[bostonman]

Matzoh balls at every holiday, except breaking the Yom Kippur fast.

 

For some reason, I tend to feel that matzah balls have become more an ethnic food than anything associated only with Passover - no one is required to have kneidlach on Passover, though you do have to have matzah at the seder. Though I do suppose that latkes are probably similar - after all, they're not associated with the religious side of Hanukkah, it's just a traditional part of the holiday cuisine. (The tradition came from having fried foods in general, as a way to work olive oil into the celebration. A fried donut-like pastry called sufganiot are part of the Israeli custom.)

 

Jesus never said one has to have turkey on his birthday either, lol - and yet I bet most people still do.

[+ purplekow]

Too bad Passover ends 1 week before the Palm Springs event.... or Id see if a Forum-Seder could be arranged

Well i will be willing to get in the reclined position irrespective of the date.

[bostonman]

Well i will be willing to get in the reclined position irrespective of the date.

 

Just none of that slave/master stuff, ok? That's definitely not kosher for Passover.

[LaffingBear]

For some reason, I tend to feel that matzah balls have become more an ethnic food than anything associated only with Passover - no one is required to have kneidlach on Passover, though you do have to have matzah at the seder. Though I do suppose that latkes are probably similar - after all, they're not associated with the religious side of Hanukkah, it's just a traditional part of the holiday cuisine. (The tradition came from having fried foods in general, as a way to work olive oil into the celebration. A fried donut-like pastry called sufganiot are part of the Israeli custom.)

 

Jesus never said one has to have turkey on his birthday either, lol - and yet I bet most people still do.

There are very few prescribed foods for the major holidays. The items on the seder plate are the only specific foods I can think of from the bible.

 

There are many illustratve ideas coming from religious texts. Oil for Hanukkah, sweet foods such as apples & honey for the New Year. Sukkot specifies some fruits & plants used in rituals, but not to eat. Hamentashen are inspired by Hamen and the Purim story; they're not mandated in the bible

 

Most of the foods we eat on holidays are from tradition.... some of which was just common sense. E.g., eating typical fall fare during sukkot. We always broke the yom kippur fast with lighter fare.... no meat, only fish & dairy.

[bostonman]

There are very few prescribed foods for the major holidays. The items on the seder plate are the only specific foods I can think of from the bible.

 

There are many illustratve ideas coming from religious texts. Oil for Hanukkah, sweet foods such as apples & honey for the New Year. Sukkot specifies some fruits & plants used in rituals, but not to eat.

 

Most of the foods we eat on holidays are from tradition.... some of which was just common sense. E.g., eating typical fall fare during sukkot. We always broke the yom kippur fast with lighter fare.... no meat, only fish & dairy.

 

Yes - and this goes along with my mention of turkey at Christmas dinner. Entirely tradition, no religious significance at all.

 

I've done a number of Yom Kippur "break fasts" that were actually "breakfasts" - including "traditional" Jewish cuisine fish such as herring and lox - but including things like omelettes or fritattas, etc - things that perhaps seem more normal in a morning meal than at sundown lol.

 

My father's mother (who was kosher - her whole side of the family was) would make this wonderful lokshen (noodle) kugel for after Yom Kippur - I loved that. When I was a teen and getitng interested in trying to cook for myself, I remember asking her for the recipe. I remember making it one year and she actually told me mine was better than hers! (Maybe she was just being grandmotherly lol, but she sure seemed impressed.)

[LaffingBear]

And.... as an extra little added Happy New Year Joy, we just had a little earthquake here in the SF East Bay

 

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc72895971#executive

[bostonman]

And.... as an extra little added Happy New Year Joy, we just had a little earthquake here in the SF East Bay

 

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc72895971#executive

 

You make it sound as if it wasn't anything major - though of course indeed I hope everyone and everything is ok.

[LaffingBear]

You make it sound as if it wasn't anything major - though of course indeed I hope everyone and everything is ok.

It was tiny. A big truck rumbling down a bumpy road adjacent your home would make as much shaking.

 

We had one 10-12 days ago too.

 

I live about 1.6 miles from a fault.

[+ Gar1eth]

 

Most of the foods we eat on holidays are from tradition.... some of which was just common sense. E.g., eating typical fall fare during sukkot. We always broke the yom kippur fast with lighter fare.... no meat, only fish & dairy.

 

I realize that's a tradition in some families but not in mine. I think my Mom and my Dad were the only ones fond of salmon. My brother would eat tuna fish if it were made with mustard instead of mayonnaise (that's actually how my mother grew up eating it. She said she didn't eat tuna with mayonnaise until she married my father). I'm ok with tuna, but I don't really like other fish, cheese, cottage cheese, kugel, or sour cream. So it's a long time ago and difficult to remember, but it seems to me that our breaking of the fast meals usually consisted of chicken soup with matzah balls. I'm also thinking there might have been leftover brisket or chicken from Rosh Hashanah-or if not Mom would cook something new.

 

We were/are Reform (please notice that there is no -ed on that. As I believe my rabbi or rebbitzin (rabbi's wife) used to say, "No one reform-ed us." My Dad used to stay at services all day. I almost never did (my older brother -the good son did). I used to go to the morning service. And in elementary school I would attend afternoon children's service that was very short but was given during an afternoon break for the adults.

 

During college, I would occasionally go to the last part of the Yom Kippur service. I don't really remember my Mom usually staying for services. That's why she could have things ready for Dad when he came home from shul after he had fasted all day.

 

 

Now when my mother was a child/teenager, my grandfather went to an orthodox shul. She talks about going to kiss him-I'm assuming during breaks-as I don't think the men would have liked a girl child coming into their section-unless girls up to a certain age were allowed. When she kissed him, he would surreptitiously hand her some money, so she could go with her friends (other Jewish children) to a local malt shop.

 

Gman

[jjkrkwood]

Happy New Year!

 

My immediate family has never kept kosher, so I'd surely enjoy your menu! But just be aware that more observant jews would have to pass on the buttered noodles, as mixing meat and dairy is a no-no.

 

Also, of course, latkes are a delicacy specific to Hanukkah, though no, there's no real reason why one can't have them anytime. But having them specifically on another Jewish holiday menu is a little like the assumption that Easter eggs would be a normal part of Christmas lol.

 

One of the Rosh Hashanah traditions, however, is apples and honey - a traditional representation of the sweetness of the new year. Since charoset is an apple-based confection, I suppose one could make it for Rosh Hashana - even though yes, the symbolic Passover meaning of the dish would make it a bit odd.

 

Well, I guess it's pretty obvious, I'm NOT a purist... I just like to EAT... (actually, my first thought was to make a Lasagna, but that would be a sacrilege)

[LaffingBear]

Well, I guess it's pretty obvious, I'm NOT a purist... I just like to EAT... (actually, my first thought was to make a Lasagna, but that would be a sacrilege)

Theres nothing sacriligious about lasagne on Rosh Hashanah. Well... might be frowned upon with italian sausage.

 

An eggplant lasagne-like dish might be typical in some jewish populations.

[jjkrkwood]

I think the idea here is that certain foods, like latkes or Hammentaschen are associated with jewish culture, but unless you are Orthodox jew, the specific holiday on which you eat them is incidental. Matzoh ball soup has become the go-to in many cultures to cure a cold as the BALLS are often floating in the "miracle cure" Chicken soup.... So for me, if the food is ethnically jewish, it doesnt matter if I eat it on Passover, Yom Kippur or Hanukah.... it's ALL good ! It's my one identity with the faith I was born into.. Otherwise, I am not "practicing"...

[+ Gar1eth]

I think the idea here is that certain foods, like latkes or Hammentaschen are associated with jewish culture, but unless you are Orthodox jew, the specific holiday on which you eat them is incidental. Matzoh ball soup has become the go-to in many cultures to cure a cold as the BALLS are often floating in the "miracle cure" Chicken soup.... So for me, if the food is ethnically jewish, it doesnt matter if I eat it on Passover, Yom Kippur or Hanukah.... it's ALL good ! It's my one identity with the faith I was born into.. Otherwise, I am not "practicing"...

I'm not really practicing either. If there is a G-d, I'm not extremely happy with him.

 

Gman