A little bit of this, a little bit of that – Rosh Hashanah 5767

From Guest Blogger, Jill Miller Zimon:

It’s three days before Erev Rosh Hashanah and I haven’t cooked a single dish yet for our New Year’s meal. Oh yes, I’ve added the words “buy food for RH” to my to-do lists that litter my bedroom, kitchen and work desk, but I have neither made a list of what I need to buy nor a list of what I will cook.

No matter. At age 44, I can practically walk into the grocery store and do this holiday’s shopping by memory. Melon, salad, matzoh ball soup, squash soufflé, apple noodle kugel (see the recipe below), green beans, homemade macaroni and cheese and either roast chicken or roast beef (whichever one we don’t have this holiday? We’ll have the other for next week’s meal before our fast for Yom Kippur). Oh – and a round challah, apples and honey. (No, we don’t keep kosher but when we have guests on the holidays who do and who will join us for meals, we keep everything either dairy or meat.)

In less than 48 hours, I’ll break out the good china, set the table with water and wine goblets even at the children’s seats and don stockings for one of the few occasions upon which I’ll wear them these days: attending synagogue.

As for that meal, I continue to use mainly the same recipes every year for a number of reasons. First, because they remind me of my great-grandmother, my grandmother and my mother. Also, the smells of the foods conjure up for me visions from my childhood, of being at a noisy, crowded table with my four male cousins and two brothers, sandwiched between them, trying – often unsuccessfully – to get to the food. Hmm, you’d think I would have been skinny and scrawny, but no.

Jewish food might seem intimidating to those who’ve never tried anything other than a bagel. But really, the recipes are very simple. A wonderful first effort is this kugel recipe from my mother (and her mother before her, and her mother before her). Make and eat it in good health, and L’shanah tovah.

Jill’s Mother’s Mother’s Mother’s Apple Noodle Kugel
Makes 16 servings

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Use a 9 x 13 inch pyrex glass baking dish (you can use metal but glass works better)

Ingredients:
1 pint sour cream (you can use reduced fat if you want)
8 oz cream cheese (you can use light if you want)
4 eggs (you can use egg beaters if you want)
8 tablespoons (yes! 8!) of sugar
1 pound of slightly undercooked egg noodles (WIDE, like Pennsylvania Dutch)
¼ box of white raisins
1 can of apple pie filling
1 stick plus 2 tbsp of butter
Dash of cinnamon

Topping:
2 cups corn flake crumbs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp sugar
Remainder of melted butter

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Beat smooth sour cream, cream cheese, eggs and sugar.
2. Add to mixture, the egg noodles.
3. Add the raisins and apple pie filling and mix.
4. Melt the butter. Pour about 1 ½ tbsp. of butter into the baking dish and distribute onto all the sides and bottom.
5. Pour about 2 tbsp. of the butter into the noodle mixture and mix it in.
6. Add a dash of cinnamon.
7. Pour the mixture into the buttered baking dish.
8. Prepare the topping: In a small bowl, mix together with a fork the cornflake crumbs, cinnamon, sugar and whatever leftover butter you have (about 2 tbsp.).
9. Sprinkle the topping over the noodle mixture until it reaches every corner. Be sure to press noodles under so that they don’t burn.
10. Bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes. Under cook slightly if you’ll be re-heating it before serving.
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Thanks Jill for your thoughts and for the recipe! The wonderful thing about food is that it transcends generations as well as cultural and religious differences.

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year Celebration. It stems from the Bible, from the book of Leviticus, and is both a solemn and a celebratory holiday. It is a time for introspection and repentence as well as celebrating that God is good and merciful. Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset on Friday (September 22) and lasts until Sunday at sunset.

For more information on Rosh Hashanah:

All About Rosh HaShanna, from Lisa Katz, the About Guide to Judaism

More Traditional Recipes and Menus for Rosh HaShanna, from Giora Shimoni, the About Guide to Kosher Foods

The traditional greeting for Rosh Hashanna is Shana Tova, literally "good year." To Jill, her family, and all of About Cleveland's Jewish readers, Shana Tova.

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